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$$$$$$ $$$ $
$$$$$$ $$$
$$$$$$ $$$ IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII
$$$$$$$$$ III III
$$$$$$$$$ III III
$$$$$$$$$ III III
$$$ $$$$$$ III III
$$$ $$$$$$ III III
$$$ $$$$$$ III III
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Game: Captitalism II, by Trevor Chan
Publisher: Ubi Soft
Designer: Enlight Software
Release Date: December (Insert Day here), 2001
I copied the 'find' thing off of other FAQs, as it was an awesome idea.
Highlight the name of the section you want to go to and hit Ctrl-C
Hit Ctrl-F, then Ctrl-V, then hit Enter. Voila.
Table of Contents:
1. Version History
2. Overview of Capitalism II
3. Firm Guide
3.1 Retail Firms
3.2 Non-retail Firms
4. Unit Guide
5. Product Guide
5.1 Input
5.2 Output
6. Running Your Corporation
6.1 Retailing
6.2 Farming
6.3 Manufacturing
6.4 R&Ding
6.5 The Stock Market
7. Scenarios
7.1 The World in Your Hands
7.2 Just Desserts
7.3 Boomtown
7.4 Drug Czar
7.5 Riding the Bull
7.6 Overhead Down
7.7 Merger Mania
7.8 Retirement Plan
7.9 Real Problems Developing
8. Contact Me
9. Addendum
9.1 Contributors
Before the Version History, I have this to say. Ryan Leonard is a
pseudonym for my real name, as my real name is somewhat unusual in the
United States and thus makes me easy to track down.
<><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>
<>This FAQ/Guide is copyrighted by me, and solely me, "Ryan Leonard" aka<>
<>FireballX301. Any attempt to steal this guide and claim it as your own<>
<>will prompt me to unleash my unholy demons (lawyers) and rain burning <>
<>fires (lawsuits) onto your ass (you). <>
<> <>
<>The only, and I mean ONLY, sites that can display this FAQ are: <>
<> www.gamefaqs.com (duh) <>
<> www.angelfire.com/ga4/fireballx301/ (personal site) <>
<> <>
<>If you see any other site besides the ones shown above displaying this<>
<>FAQ, email me at fabriceh25@hotmail.com (I get enough spam already, so<>
<>10 to 20 more doesnt matter) and I will rain death and destruction <>
<>upon said site though cease and desist emails and lawsuits under the <>
<>banner of the ACLU. Booyah :) <>
<><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>
This guide assumes you've read the user manual and have a semi-basic
understanding of what to do, how to access lists, and errata like that. It
also helps if you've done the tutorial (entrepeneurs campaign). Unlike
other games, this game is so unique that doing both is essentially a
requirement. Of course, if you dont have the manual (you have a pirated
version, your kid brother ate it, tsunami, etc), you have this. Matter
of fact, I'm probably writing this FAQ for people like that.
Pop Quiz: What is the object of the game?
1. Earn a profit and dominate all industries
2. There is none
3. Have an annual loss and declare bankruptcy
If you answered 2 or 3, close this guide and sell your copy of Capitalism,
as you are too much of an idiot to play. As a matter of fact, dont bother
and just shoot yourself. It'll save us all trouble.
1. Version History
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-Version 0.6 October 28, 2003
School and the recent San Diego Fires interfered badly. Lucky for me,
some kind souls volunteered contributor information. Lucky me :). R&D
section is done, Unit Guide is going to be worked on, and Scenarios when
I feel like it. Again, I need Scenario contributions, and anything in
general. See the Contact Me section.
-Version 0.5 September 19, 2003
I completely forgot about this thing because of school. In any case, this
is THE first version out on gamefaqs. If anyone wants to help write scenarios
or guides, be my guest and email me.
-Version 0.4 August 28, 2003 1230 Hours Pacific Time
Aunt and her baby came down to visit. I had to take care of the baby, so
I got no time for this FAQ. Sorta hard to write when the baby is trying to
rip off your glasses and eat them. Completed first two sections of the FAQ,
and I will release it onto the net ASAP. I feel like I really need input
from people, as I've sorta hit a writers block on the running the
corporation part.
-Version 0.3 August 15, 2003, 2000 Hours Pacific Time
Completed the Firms Section. Gonna go home for the day, sleep, and then
write up the Running the corporation part. The Unit Guide and Product
Guides are gonna take a while, so I'm writing them last. Besides, the
manual covers both, so I can afford to wait. Heheh.
-Version 0.2 August 15, 2003, 1211 Hours Pacific Time.
The reason I'm on Military Time is because its easier to describe than
PM/AM. And yes, I've increased the version number a mere 45 minutes after
I originated it. I've finished the overview and am writing the firm guide
now.
-Version 0.1 August 15, 2003, 1130 Hours Pacific Time
Well, I tried to go to gamefaqs to find a FAQ on Capitalism. Apparently
nobody's written one. I have tons of time to kill, so I began writing one.
Not much here, is there? Oh well, nobodys gonna read this, because I aint
sendin it out yet.
2. Overview of Capitalism II
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I played Capitalism I, so I already had knowledge of how to play the game.
Its simple, really. You begin with so and so millions of dollars, and you
must use that cash to establish businesses, earn a profit, and eventually
dominate all industries and take over the world. Semi-simple concept,
incredibly hard to implement, as Trevor Chan has created what is basically
the most comprehensive business simulation in the world. Theres a stock
market (unfortunately, with shamefully few corporations), very intelligent
AI competitors, and a massive range of products to market and sell to the
saps/consumers.
Now I assume you've read the manual, but the first time I read it I didnt
retain much either, so here goes.
All firms have what is called a 'layout', or the 9 squares thing that you
see within firms. You establish 'units' that do a specific purpose and
link them to get your desired output. For example, this linkup:
A Purchase-Sales linkup is widely used in all retail stores, as what it
does is simple: purchases 'Socks' from a supplier (usually a seaport or a
factory) and sells it to the consumer.
Another common linkup:
A purchase-manufacturing-sales linkup is used in factories. Note that most
items require more than one purchase unit, as most items are made up of
more than one semi-product.
Playing through the game will get you used to the multiple linkups. There
was no learning curve for me because I had played Capitalism I a loooong
time ago and knew all of this.
The specific things that firms do will be covered in more detail in my
Firm Guide, but heres a short version.
All Retail stores: Sell goods to consumers to earn money.
All Factories: Refine one product into another and sells to other firms.
Farms: Creates products, usually cannot be sold to consumers.
Mines/Logging Camps/Oil Wells: Creates products, cannot be sold to
consumers, only firms.
Seaports: Imports products, sometimes for consumers, sometimes to other
firms.
Apartments and Commercial Buildings: Earns money, but is very fickle, as
profit depends on the economic status of the city, which you cannot
influence.
Radio/TV/Newspaper Station: Used for advertising.
R&D Center: Used to improve the production tech (and thus quality) of
your products.
Mansion: No purpose. Dont bother with em, as they waste time and money.
Headquarters: Multiple purposes, but does not make money directly.
You, being intelligent (I hope), know the basics of supply and demand and
also how to make a profit. Its simple. If supply exceeds demand, decrease
the price until either demand picks up or you get near the real cost of
the product. If demand exceeds supply by a large margin, increase the cost
a bit. Quality, Brand, and Price determine the rating of a product.
You want your product to have either a higher rating than your competitors,
both city and corporate, or to far exceed them in one rating, usually
price or quality.
The training bar allows units to get more experienced in their work. It
boosts the amount of goods the unit can handle. (manufacture, stock, etc.)
Always build in areas of high land value. More people live in those areas
and revenue grows higher.
More on this stuff in the Tips section. That does it for my overview.
3. Firm Guide
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Actually, the Manual does a real good job of describing firms. But since
games are pirated a lot nowadays, you have ME! Shame on you, receiver of
pirated goods! Now that my public service announcement is over, here goes.
Firms are the business. Without firms, you dont have a corporation, you
have a bunch of money lying around doing nothing. Each firm has its own
specifications and purpose. These are described below.
Land value is automatically added on to the cost of the building when you
build it. Also, I group electronic and electrical products into one
category, as the manual does it because of a typo and neither one can be
sold without the other being a choice. There is no store with only one or
the other.
The type of firm determines where to build your structure. Retail stores
should be built in areas of high land value. Factories and Farms should
be placed in optimal areas (low land value but close enough to city to
minimize shipping costs).
Costs of buying supplies and placing units is automatically added onto your
monthly upkeep costs. Both Cost and Upkeep Cost are baseline, i.e. built as
if land value is zero (landfill? toxic waste site?) and no units are placed.
DO NOT use the specialist stores in the beginning, as you wont have the items
needed to make use of the unit space. Build Supermarkets and Department Stores
until you begin manufacturing products. Then, use the products you manufacture
and sell them in a specialist store, as most products of the same type use the
same ingredients.
All Retail stores can support these units:
Purchase
Sales
Advertising
Private Labelling
Inventory
To use a retail store, just click on the 'add a product' and choose a product. When
you can't add any more, stick a unit in the middle (usually advertising) and link it
to whatever thing you're selling. What the units do is explained later.
After adding products, you should see something like this in the layout.
Notes: This is the store that sells anything. Think Costco or WalMart.
The problem is, it is still bound by the rules and can only sell 4 items.
The excessive cost and the availability of cheaper alternatives makes this
building pointless. Also, since people will go to specialist stores to
find specific goods, that decreases the profitability of this firm even
more.
The only redeeming factor is that this is the only retail firm that can be
built in 'one' retail games.
2. Department Store
Cost: $1 million
Upkeep Costs: $100000
Size: 3x3
Products: Apparel, Bath SUpply, Computer, Cosmetic, Electronic Product,
Footware, Furniture, Jewelry, Leather, Photography Product, Sport Equipment,
Toys, Watches
Notes: This is one of the 2 splits from the Discount Megastore. Roughly, it
sells anything that isnt food or disposable products. Highly recommended in
the beginning, as it can still make a tidy profit despite the semi-high
costs and can stock almost as much as the megastore.
Notes: This is the other of the 2 splits. Sells foods, household cleaners,
and other stuff. Makes more money than the convenience store because units in
the supermarket have a naturally higher capacity. (The difference between
7-11 and your local grocer, for example)
Notes: Smaller version of the Supermarket. This is an awesome choice, as it
offers almost the same products as the Supermarket. However, it should not be
placed in a city center, as a Supermarket will be better able to fulfill the
demand. Place them in peripheral areas of land value, like suburbs and whatnot.
5. Drug Store
Cost: $500000
Upkeep Costs: $50000
Size: 2x2
Products: Bath Supply, Cosmetic, Drugs
Notes: In one of the scenarios this will be your primary store. Its a specialist
store, which means that it stocks a very limited range of goods. However, between
a supermarket and a drug store that stock the EXACT same products, the drug store
will get more. Use it if you're shooting for dominance of the pharmacutical
industry.
Notes: There are only 3 apparel items, which means you'll have a few units empty.
Use the space either for inventory or added capacity if demand is really high.
Use only if you're going for dominance of the Apparel industry.
Notes: Theres only two automobile items, and this store costs a bit much. However,
cars are VERY profitable, and you'll definitely need the extra capacity if your
cars are particularly good. Its also the only store that can stock cars too, so
theres no alternative if you're already manufacturing cars. Use only if you're
using cars at all.
8. Hardware Store
Cost: $1 million
Upkeep Costs: $100000
Size: 3x3
Products: Computer, Electronic Product, Photography Product
Notes: Use if you want a more specific store than the department store. Can be
very profitable if you're manufacturing electronic products. If you're doing
computers, build the computer store, as computers in a hardware store dont sell
as well.
Notes: There are 4 footwear items, so you're ok if you're making all of them.
Stocking em all here will quickly turn a profit. Use only if you're going for
footwear dominance.
10. Jewelry and Watch Store
Cost: $500000
Upkeep Costs: $50000
Size: 2x2
Products: Jewelry, Watch (duh)
Notes: Exactly 4 items that can be stocked. See above, but replace 'footwear'
with 'jewelry and/or watch'.
Notes: Leather Jackets can't be sold here. I dont know why. Otherwise, there are
4 leather items to be stocked and all can turn a semi-hefty profit. Use for
leather dominance (Ok, that sounds wrong.)
Notes: Beds, Chairs, and Sofas can be sold here. 3 items only. Demand will be high
if your products are good though. Use for furniture industry dominance.
Notes: What the hell? What happened to baseball bats and footballs? Oh well,
golf clubs, in-line skates, and backpacks (WTF is that doing in a sports
store?) can be sold in this very strange store. As always, demand will be high
so you can put the extra unit space to work. Use for sports equipment dominance.
16. Toy Store
Cost: $500000
Upkeep Costs: $50000
Size: 2x2
Products: Toys
Notes: They lump in toy dolls with video game consoles. Bah. Oh well, see above
comments, I'm getting tired of repetetitive typing.
3.2 Non-retail Firms
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If you want to have any control over the products you sell, sooner or later you'll
want to manufacture your own products. Thats when you need these firms.
1. Factory
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Cost Upkeep Size
Small $750k 50k 2x2
Medium $1.5 mil 100k 3x3
Large $2.5 mil 180k 4x4
Obviously, Manufacturing will be the key unit. Heres how the factory works. Use the
manufacturers guide or my own product guide to figure out how to make a specific
item. Example: Car Body, Wheel and Tire, and Engine are used to make a Car. After
you've located a source for them all, you can set up a factory like so:
In this layout, the 3 ingredients are put together in 2 manufacturing units to
create cars. However, lets say you cant locate Engines, but you can locate steel.
Since Steel can be made into engines, we modify the layout thus so.
Factories can potentially make ANYTHING, given the right ingredients.
The size of a factory is highly relevant to the item. If you have a
small factory, not as much quantity of the item is manufactured and
profit is lost if the factory cannot fulfill demand. However, if you
have a large factory but your product sucks, profit is lost due to
your factory not selling jacksquat. It all depends. Hey, I'm gettin
a bit better with ASCII art!
Increasing the training of factory workers increases production and capacity. It
does not, however, increase quality of the product. Training is a viable option
if your factory cannot handle the demand.
2. R&D Center
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Cost: 1.5 million
Upkeep: $100000
Size: 2x2
The R&D Center is a must if you want to have a quality advantage over your opponents.
Only one unit can be placed, the R&D unit. To reasearch, create an amount of R&D
units, link them together, and select the one that connects to all of the others.
Choose R&D Tech if you wish to improve a product. Choose R&D New Product to research
a wholly new product. Choose the duration of the project, then you can leave the center
alone until it finishes its research.
The more units connected, the greater the technological advancement over an amount of
time. However, the law of diminishing returns comes in. The more units are added, the
less percentage increase is gained. A table is already in the manual, so I wont use it
here. I personally use 3 units for any research project.
Training increases the amount of technological advancement possible.
R&D Centers eat about 600 grand a month or so if used to full capacity. If your
profits are slim, dont bother with these and try to increase your profits another way.
3. Farm
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Cost Upkeep Size
Medium 1 million $100000 3x3
Large 1.8 mils $180000 4x4
Strangely enough, the 'small' farm was taken out in a beta. Go figure.
Farms are like mines in that they 'create' raw material. You can either grow
crops or use livestock to create the items of your choice. If you're going for
domination of food industries or clothing, this will be your key firm.
Non-organic products like computers and stuff instead rely on mines.
Farms can support these units:
Livestock Growing
Livestock Processing
Crop Growing
Inventory
Advertising
Sales
Training in Farms increases productivity, capacity, and quality of the products.
Thus, whenever you use a farm, quickly max out your training bar. Also, note
that, even when crops are 'waiting' for the sowing season, the unit is still
at 100 percent utilization and thus can level up. Higher quality goods from
the farm can help prevent negative brand loyalty. More on this later.
4. Mines/Oil Wells/Logging Camps
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Mine/Oil Well cost: $5 million
Mine/Oil well upkeep: $300000
Logging Camp Cost: $1.5 million
Logging Camp upkeep: $100000
Size: 3x3
Like farms, this firm produces raw material. Much of this material is required for
dominance of industries such as automobile, computer, electronic product, etc.
Units supported:
Mining
Inventory
Sales
Advertising
Training increases capacity and productivity. However, mines have a finite limit of
material that can be dug out of the ground. Forgo training. Quality is determined
by the ore deposit in the ground and cannot be influenced by you.
5. Apartment/Commercial Buildings
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Costs: $5 million to $18 million
Upkeep: $100000 to $360000
Size: 2x2, 3x3
Unlike other firms, this firm does not retail goods nor create them. This building
creates revenue based on the occupancy rate and rental price. Lower prices attract
more tenants. Occupancy rates are influenced highly by the state of the economy.
I don't use these because they suck. Unlike firms, you have very little control
over the profitability of these buildings.
6. Headquarters
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Costs: $3 million
Upkeep: $100000
Size: 4x4
Here it is, your center of business. From here, you can do many specialized actions
with the units that can be placed. However, this structure should NOT be built until
you are making a profit of at least 10 million, as it eats up a hell of a lot more
cash that 100 grand a month if you bother to use it.
Since the units are not normal, I will go over them here instead of the units section.
Financial Department
Sets the dividend. Dividend is a set amount of cash paid out for every share
outstanding. If I owned 1 million shares of X Corp and they paid out 3 cents
a share, I would instantly earn 30 thousand dollars. Dividend is a good way
to increase your personal wealth.
Human Resource Department
Highly useful department. Company-wide training can jack up your unit levels by big
amounts. Dont do em too often as they eat a ton of cash per training.
Public Relations Department
Influences brand awareness and ratings if you're using the Corporate Brand.
I dont use it because I hate the corporate brand.
Investor Relations Department
Increases the stock's value and performance. I dont give a **** about my stock in
most instances, so I dont use this.
CEO's Office
Allows you to set your pay and acquire technology. I use it to acquire technology
usually, as I dont bother with my wealth. I usually set my salary around 5 grand.
COO's office
If you hate micromanaging, hire a COO. I hate them though, because they're bleeding
idiots and sometimes set prices below total cost.
CMO's office
Makes your advertisement units more effective. I dont use it.
CTO's office
Lets them run your R&D and also lets you acquire technology. I dont use it.
7. Mansions
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Dont use em. Waste of corporate money and time. They're so cheap that theres not
too much point in listing price. Apparently the CEO can live on the streets.
8. Media Outlet (Radio, TV, Newspaper)
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Buying one of these guys is a pain in the ass, but it's worth it. Competitors are
forced to pay you to advertise and these guys rack up a hefty profit if run right.
Max out the bar on new programming and set the ad prices a bit lower than the
competition. Note that these cannot be built, but must be bought when they're on
sale. If you can, snap one up immediately.
That does it for firms.
4. Unit Guide
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6. Running your Corporation
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Ah, time for the meat of this guide. Of course, one could say that the product
guide would be the meat, but I essentially cut-and-pasted from the manual
and/or the game itself.
To begin with, retailing is usually the main way to get a profit. The concept
of retailing is simple. Link to a supplier to get a good, resell that good at
a somewhat higher price than the cost of that good, and gain enough cash to cover
the firm's expenses and gain a profit. Of course, theres tons of stuff Chan
put in to influence how things work in the game.
Retailing should be the first thing you do when you start out in the game. Although
you cannot influence the quality of seaport products and you have limited control
over the price, most of the time they are high quality enough to help you establish
a profit. Try not to retail other company's products unless the seaport products
suck badly.
After you add all your products and fill in the last unit space, information about
the products you are retailing are shown in the row where you saw the add-a-product
sign. Clicking on one of the products brings up a list showing the market share of
the product, price, and a comparison between your products and the overall city
average (you, competitors, local businesses that you can't see).
The 3 bars that are used to determine a product's rating (and thus its comparative
value) are shown. Here they are:
Brand (Orange): Shows the overall brand rating of an item. Compiled from two
factors, brand awareness (does the consumer know about your product), and brand
loyalty (does the consumer like your product and will he/she come back to buy
the product based on the brand name). Advertising units are used to increase brand
awareness. Brand loyalty increases quickly if there is high brand awareness and the
product is high quality/low price. Brand loyalty increases slowly if there is
low brand awareness. Low quality (benchmark: below 30) breeds negative brand
loyalty. If one of your products is low quality, do not advertise it.
Quality (Green): Shows the overall comparative quality of a product. Quality is
determined based on the individual product. All products have their quality
determined by the quality of the raw material used to manufacture the product
and the technological prowess of your company. CPU quality is based mostly on
tech ratings, while the rating of bottled milk is based mostly on rmq (raw
material quality). Items that do not go through factories (frozen meats) are
not influenced by technological skill and also cannot be researched at R&D.
There are 2 ways to increase quality ratings. One way is to locate a source of
higher quality raw materials (finding a better mine, switching sources to
another company) or increase training at farms if you are getting your raw
materials from them. The other way is to research better technology using R&D
centers.
Price (Yellow): Shows the price of the product. Compare it to the total cost and
the city average price to figure out what to do. Since you can influence price
directly, there is no need to do anything else. If you have low demand, lower prices
until you go below the city average or hit 110 percent of the total cost (in other
words, if total cost is 10 dollars, your minimum price should be 11 dollars). If
demand is far outstripping supply, increase your prices to increase profit.
The vertical bar with the semi-large number under it is your overall rating. Usually,
you want your overall rating to be larger than the city average. The color that is
most prominent represents the reason why consumers are buying your product (cheap,
high quality, or has a good brand).
What to do if you cannot get your overall rating above the city overall? You must
make one of your 3 factors far outstrip the others. Consumers will buy your product
if:
You have an insanely low price compared to other products, even though their product
is high quality.
You have an insanely high quality compared to other products, although theirs may have
a very low price.
Your brand loyalty is high, even though your competitors offer cheaper or higher
quality products.
If you get caught in one of those situations, you will still make money, but your
position will be shaky. Invest money in R&D and lower prices at factories or farms
in order to make your products competative again.
The supply and Demand bars shown on the item picture are KEY. Ignore them at your peril.
They are the main factors in determining your prices.
Other than that, make sure your price is above your cost, and you should make a profit.
Finally, build your stores in areas of high land value to sell more goods.
Farming is the slightly cheaper way to get raw materials if you are beginning to
manufacture. If you farm, you should focus on building supermarkets and convenience
stores.
Unlike mines, where the quality is set, you run out of ores eventually, and the
initial price tag is a painful 5 million, farms are cheaper to use. However, using farms
requires patience and enough of a profit so you dont eat it 6 months later waiting for
your farms to harvest crops.
In a farm, you can do 2 things. Grow Crops, or raise and process Livestock. Crop growing
takes the longer of the two, and you must plan ahead, as the crops can only be sown and
harvested at a certain date. Livestock raising, on the other hand, is immediate. However,
the products that a farm produces initially SUCK. Because product quality on a farm is
based on unit level (and thus training), in the beginning you'll get crops with only 20
quality. Thus, investing in training is a must.
Here are the crops that can be grown on a farm, and the type of products they produce.
Crop Sowing Harvesting Use
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Cocoa April October Foods (such as Chocolate Bar)
Coconut August April Bath Supply
Corn August April Foods (such as Corn Flakes)
Cotton February June Clothing/Apparel
Flax August April Polyester, for Backpacks
Grapes July December Grape Juice, Wine
Lemon August April Citric Acid, used in various products
Rubber May February Rubber, used for Car Tires
Strawberry February August Foods
Sugar Cane August April Sugar for Foods
Tobacco November March Tobacco Products
Wheat August April Flour for Foods
With farms, your focus is on clothing and food, nothing more.
When you design a layout for your farm, take this into account. All crops are seasonal,
and if demand is high, you're likely to run out of crops to sell. Make sure to use
inventory with all crops and also Wool. Also, note that Livestock quality is fixed at 30
until unit levels are increased.
BUild your farms in areas of low land value but close to your factories. In the old
Capitalism, fertility would determine where to build, but now, look for spaces or inlets
within the city where you can build a farm most cheaply.
Manufacturing allows you to create products of your own and is the main way to create
your own products. The 'Factory' part goes over the how-to aspects, so here are some
pointers.
1. Before you build your factory, scout out sources of raw material. Dont build a
factory and wait for a source of ores to show up.
2. Choose which category of product you wish to manufacture. Usually, items within
the same category take the same ingredients and thus allows you to use your factory
to its fullest potential.
3. If you are just introducing a newly made product with low quality, use a smaller
factory. If your product has already been manufactured in another city and is high
quality, use a large factory.
4. Upsizing a factory takes lots of time and effort into destroying the factory and
creating a larger copy. Usually, investing in training can help negate the need for
upsizing.
5. Finally, build them the same way you build farms.
Thats about it. The Manufacturing Guide will tell you what products can be made.
R&D is essential after you've stabilized your corporation. Quality ratings are determined
in relation to other companies, so if your competitors initiate R&D projects before you
do, your quality rating will actually go down. R&D is vital to a long term strategy;
however, R&D centers eat quite a bit of cash to set up and maintain.
R&D centers are effective wherever you place them, so place em wherever you want, but
outside the city.
6.5 The Stock Market
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I personally haven't used the stock market too much, but here goes.
The stock market functions almost exactly like a real-life stock market, albeit without
the number of corporations you would expect. The value of a company's stock depends on
a few variables.
Shares outstanding: The amount of shares that the company has issued. The lower this value
is, the higher the individual price.
9.1 Contributors
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Orlanth emailed me with this VERY useful general tip on how to beat the game.
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Stock Market:
The stock market can be quite useful. When playing at extremely difficult
levels, it's often impossible to survive in any business without funding an
extensive R&D program first; and to afford that, you'll need to generate funds
from trading. Experience is the best guide, but in general buying stocks
significantly below equity per share or with low P/E ratios and rising earnings
will work well. By looking at the firms and products of the corporation and the
aptitudes of its CEO you can often tell which stocks have a bright future and
which have none. Take advantage of your own stock price, having the company buy
back shares when it is cheap and issue new shares when it seems overvalued. If
you want to accumulate really serious amounts of personal wealth & maximize your
score, you'll have to own most or all of your own company before it gets big. A
long period of losses or no revenues will often cause your stock price to fall
far below its actual equity value, letting your compa
ny buy back large blocks of shares on the cheap. Of course you can take over
rival corporations and merge them into your own, or just take a controlling
stake (50% I think).
Officers:
The corporate officers also can be extremely helpful. The Technical Officer will
effectively upgrade your R&D units for free, and the Marketing Officer can
really enhance the effectiveness of your advertising; choose candidates with
high Research and Marketing aptitudes respectively. The Operating Officer can
improve all your Farming, Manufacturing, Retailing, and Raw Materials operations
through the appropriate aptitudes, but requires a much higher salary. Employing
people will gradually improve their relationship with you, though I don't know
what effect this has.
R&D:
Can get you a big permanent advantage in product quality. Important: focus your
R&D efforts on products where a high % of the product quality comes from
production technology (e.g. cola) rather than raw materials (corn syrup).
Sure-fire product combo for Cap 2:
Construct a single R&D center, then hire a Chief Technology Officer with a high
aptitude for Research. For 5 years, set the 9 units on: Cold Tablets, Cough
Syrup, Headache Pills, Shampoo, Toilet Cleaner, Toothpaste, Eye Shadow, Bath
Lotion, and Plastic. If another company has high technology in these items, buy
it from them first. While you are waiting, generate as much cash as possible
through department stores selling imported goods, stock trading, and buying real
estate below its fair value; and if at all possible make your company fully
owned through share buybacks.
Locate an area close to deposits of Oil and Chemical Minerals, preferably also
near a city. The deposits can be of very low quality but should have high
reserves. Set up a mine and oil well, and between them two large factories, each
producing three of the researched products: Purchase Oil in the upper right
linked to Manufacture Plastic in the right center; Purchase Chemicals in the
left center; three Manufacture Products down the middle column and three Sales
units in the remaining corners. You can add a third factory for the last two
products later. Hire a Chief Marketing Officer, build several drugstores and
supermarkets in the cal area and advertise your products heavily. If you are low
on capital, build only the drugstores and one factory first, and issue debt if
necessary. You will soon generate huge amounts of cash. Continue to raise retail
prices, expand to other cities and find new product groups to dominate.
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Again, thanks to Orlanth for this info.
There *was* a tip on the board, but I waited too long and the topic disappeared,
so I dont know the contributor. Nevertheless, I remembered his info, and here it
is.
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In the general layout for a retail store, you can also link the purchase
units to the advertising to double maximum capacity.
(Note: This is *very* costly, so I don't use it. However, if you have the cash,
go for it, it'll jack up your brand rating really quickly.)
When you buy a media station (radio, newspaper), set your advertising units
to link to your station and max out the bar.
(Note: I can't believe I missed this either. You lose no money overall, as its
merely a transfer from one firm to another. Excellent tip.)
Items Wish List
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Pistol 2 units, manufactured from Steel, 5 pound, and must be researched
80 percent raw material quality, 20 percent tech
Brand is top concern
Apples, Oranges, other fruits, for sale from Supermarkets
100 percent raw material quality
Quality is top concern
VR Helmet 1 unit, manufactured from CPU, 2 units, Electronic Components, 1.5
pounds, and Plastic, 3 pounds, and must be researched
20 percent raw material quality, 80 percent tech
Quality top concern
Potatoes, grown on farm
100 percent raw material quality
Quality top concern
Potato chips 10 units, manufactured from Potato, 1 pound, and sugar, 1 pound
50 percent rmq, 50 percent tech
Brand top concern
Water, mined from the ground or harvested from a river
100 percent rmq
Cannot be sold to consumers
Bottled Water 30 units, manufactured from Plastic, 1 pound, and Water,
40 pounds
98 percent rmq, 2 percent tech
Price top concern
Video Games for Video Game console 5 units, manufactured from Electronic
Component 1 pound
3 percent rmq, 97 percent tech
Quality top concern
Batteries 10 units, manufactured from Electronic Component 5 pound and
Aluminum 8 pound
60 percent rmq, 40 percent tech
Brand and Price equal top concern
Table 1 unit, manufactured from Timber 25 pound
65 percent rmq, 35 percent tech
Quality top concern
Truck Body 1 unit, manufactured from Steel 700 pounds, Plastic 50 pounds,
Glass 60 pounds
80 percent rmq, 20 percent tech
Cannot be sold to consumers
Truck 1 unit, manufactured from Truck Body 1 unit, Engine 1 unit,
Wheel&Tire 8 unit
75 percent rmq, 25 percent tech
QUality top concern
T-Shirt 20 unit, manufactured from Textiles 1.5 pound, Polyester 1 pound
Brand top concern
Computer SOftware 15 unit, manufactured from Electronic Component 1 pound
1 percent rmq, 99 percent tech
Quality top concern
Contributions? See 'Contact Me'.
Thanks to:
CJayC for makin GameFAQs
Trevor Chan for making Capitalism
Pepsi for keeping me awake at night
Sony for making the laptop I'm writing this on
Typing Tutor 5 for teaching me to type
Ubi Soft for publishing this game
Alvarado Hospital for patching up my wrist when it exploded while writing this
The real Ryan Leonard for letting me borrow his name
