So the server's kinda died.
I think most people agree this is due to it being too easy to "beat".
Now I gotta figure out how to fix that.
Well let's look at some core game mechanics and compare how they are start and end game, shall we?
Planting
Start-game
Just click on a few plants and you're done.
End-game
With large fields gets annoying because you have to click on hundreds of bricks, sometimes even thousands.
My suggestion
Add some sort of tool in shops (Oh hey, player shops) or a vehicle to spread crops.
Tilting
Start-game
Kinda 50/50, since there's not much crops the job is pretty easy, though due to low level it is isn't as fast as others are.
End-game
Once again, you have to tilt hundreds or even thousands of bricks. Worst part? Each requires multiple hits. Tilting skill does help here a bit, though the amount of soils can increase in size much, much faster than you lvl up tilting. Solution? None as of yet. Some decide to get out of this by hiring people to till, but that's not the best workaround.
My suggestion
Add some sort of vehicle to tilt ground. No, not a brick.
Watering
Start-game
Not that much of a problem really, you just have to be near you plants every minute or so. Get's a bit annoying with more plants, but, *khem*, START game. Rain can thankfully help out here, though you can't rely on it.
End-game
It's not end-game at all, sprinklers are super easy to get. Just plant a few down and you don't have to worry about watering at all. What's even worse? Better splinkers. Rain becomes fully useless feature just for atmosphere. Doing it manually / hiring workers is stupid, especially since plants near a sprinkler grow faster due to being watered immediately.
My suggestion
Eh, not really sure about this one. Better sprinklers are definitely a goner. Normal sprinklers too, or maybe just heavily nerf the latter (For example need to re-fill it, maybe automated with some sort of pipes and tanks, which can be re-filled with rain collectors or by buying water for it) . Maybe add more time before plants need watering and a vehicle that can water plants.
Weeds
Start-game
Due to their low chance to appear sometimes you don't even see weeds at all. If they do spread while you were looking, it's not hard to get rid of them even with lvl 1 weeding.
End-game
Welll you see this is where it gets tricky. Say, let's do it manually. Well firstly they appear more commonly due to larger fields, if you do not catch them fast they will get your whole field. Yeah, good luck clearing that. Yeah let's go with the automated route. How? Weed killers. Just for $200 you get a brick with 10 charges, which are more OP that you might think, because they will clear weeds immediately before they spread. One of those bricks can last you a while, but plant a few of them and weeds won't be a problem at all. Hell, they're good at clearing jungles of weed too.
My suggestion
Remove weed killers, and make weeds spread a bit slower. Also, some sort of chemical to make plants more resistant to weeds. Maybe gloves sold by shops to get of weeds in a small area (3x3, center being block clicked). Maybe plants which are more resistant to weeds by nature.
Temperature
Start-game
Sometimes can really forget over new players. Can be avoided by planting in spring or hoping the winter won't be freezing. 1k is enough to buy a heater and a few plants yeah, but there's players unaware of this.
End-game
$500? Pfft, pennies. The only problem would be that you have to manually set the temperature, but if slowed down growth doesn't worry you, you can always just leave them at 15 and you'll be fine. Plants dehydrating faster? Phah, sprinklers!
My suggestion
Add more plants that "sleep" during winter, and also plants that are more picky about weather and plants with their own lower/higher "perfect temperature". Maybe not allow plants to be planted on a certain temperature (which is higher than 32)?
Harvesting
Start-game
Not a problem, just click a few plants.
End-game
Can get out of hand because not all plants get to their mature stage all at once, so picking manually can lead to plants overgrowing. Of course, you could plant plants at different times, but, there's auto harvesters for a cheap price of 2.5k! (Trust me when you get to the stage where doing it manually isn't fast enough you will have such money) They ignore your harvester level yeah, but for some that's not an issue. With them you basically can forget about your plants.
My suggestion
Removed/EXTREMELY nerfed auto harvester . A tool sold in shops that can harvest specific plants in an area, also a vehicle.
Other stuff
Residential area
Currently, it's useless. Why, you may ask? Well, currently, the only profitable way to get cash is to farm. What does that require? A lot in agricultural zone. Bam, there's the problem. Of course, you could earn some dosh from farming and start building in residential, but not everybody gets out of the start game to be able to afford that. Plus, what are the benefits of owning a lot in residential are? That's right, none. You do get a discount on building, but, *khem*, it helps when you build there yes, but it doesn't give a reason to build.
No way to spend cash
The classic CityRPG deal, you spend cash to earn more cash, but what when you earn enough? Well, you can build, that's it. There should be something you can buy which would give you benefits other than more cash (It still needs to have some benefits for people to buy it). Cars? Maybe schools where you can pay for education/earn skills? Clothes? hats? etc
Economics
Yup. First of all, when we sell crops it goes nowhere. You just get cash from air. Our crops should be actually used, so, for example, we would be able to build a factory which would turn wheat into bread. Then, said bread can be sold to shops. This can really expand the gameplay. If you ever seen a store, the shelfs are not just filled with tomatoes are they? Well, then if there's a shortage of, say, potatoes, they will sell for more while selling price on tomatoes will drop. See how this goes? And this idea can be really expanded too, say, stocks, businesses (Which require workers too, and a lot in residental), etc.
Shops
Just adding to economics, this would add a reason to own a lot in residential. Prices shouldn't be the same too, they should go up/down depending on shortages/excessive amount of X resource. There should also be some sort of education/license needed for this, and some system to integrate businesses and workers.
Vehicles
Yup, all sort of vehicles. From some family hatchback to a tractor. Agricultural region will only allow farming vehicles, residential only civilian ones and, of course, it will require a lot. Maybe even add gas and ability for people to build gas stations, but I think that'll make it annoying more than anything.
Banks
You can't store millions in your pockets, there should be somewhere where you can store cash. Either in your house (Hey, people would be able to rob houses!) or some sort of bank which would take a % of it and maybe give loans. Could be also player made banks which would be able to make that % lower, but that will require a player that has a high lvl business
Crime
Rate of crime really came down in the city after removal of crop stealing. IMO you should completely remove crop stealing, but add other ways of stealing, GTA? Robbing houses? Stores? Banks? Maybe different drugs that can be illegally grown in residential (Permit only works on agricultural).
So yeah hope this helps. Anyway,
back to modeling!
Poll