User Guide

on the area where you’d like to place some housing.
You can designate housing areas one lot at a time, or
you can hold down the mouse button and drag over
larger areas. You can even drag an area of housing over
roads — the roads remain in place. After you earmark
an area for housing, a “vacant” sign appears on the
land. When immigrants arrive, they will construct
their own simple structures.
All housing must be placed within two spaces of the
road and must be built on clear land. Make sure there
is a clear path between the housing areas you designate
and the Kingdom Road. You may need to build water
crossings (see pages 110-113) so that immigrants can
get to certain areas.
HHoouussiinngg EEvvoolluuttiioonn
As conditions improve in the city, your citizens will
want to live in more attractive structures. They will
upgrade their housing on their own. The advantages of
highly evolved housing are many, including increased
tax revenues and improved prosperity (see page 192).
All you need to do to foster the development of bet-
ter housing is to make sure your citizens live in pleas-
ant neighborhoods and have access to the goods and
services they want.
Dilapidated houses drag down the desirability of the
surrounding area. Ramshackle housing catches fire
easily; as housing improves, the chance that it will
catch on fire decreases. Fine homes also enhance the
desirability of the surrounding area, perhaps even help-
ing other nearby houses to evolve into better domi-
ciles.
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Housing, Roads and Drinking Water
40
Housing, Roads and Drinking Water
can’t get to a building via a road, they can’t acquire the
goods or services that building provides nor can they find
employment there.
To build a road, first make sure the land is clear. Then,
choose the “Road” button, and click on the area where
you would like to place a road. Just as with clearing
the land, you can build large sections of road at one
time by clicking and dragging the mouse. As you drag
the mouse, you see what the road
will look like after it’s placed and
how much it will cost. If there are
any barriers, such as uncleared land
or a building, the road bends around
the obstruction. When you let go of
the mouse button, the road is laid.
When neighborhoods begin to
prosper, the city’s residents take it
upon themselves to pave over dirt
roads. Once a road is paved, you can place Plazas on
them (see pages 113-114).
BBuuiillddiinngg HHoouussiinngg
You never build or improve housing directly. Rather,
you define areas where you want people to settle, and
they do the rest. When your city is new, some immi-
grants always show up to build homes as soon as you
earmark the land for them. After this initial influx of
people, your city must attract new citizens by offering
the things people want — mainly food, jobs and hous-
ing.
To designate a housing area, first click on the
”Housing” button on the Control Panel. Then, click
Road Button
Build Housing Button