Do You Use the Luxury Slider?

[Harovan]

The effect is calculated city by city and depends on the commerce the particular city makes after corruption. So if, for instance, a city after corruption makes 20 commerce and you have the slider at 20%, you're purchasing 4 (0.2 x 20) happy faces, which make content citizens happy as long as there are some, and unhappy citizens content, if none.

[Arrian]

I always use it. Normally between 10-20%, though it can get up to 30%. Depends on the luxury resources situation, if I'm religious, etc.

-Arrian

[Arrian]

...suppose the only time I use the slider is during revolution...

Not possible, by the way. If you're in anarchy, adjusting your sliders (tax/sci/lux) will have no effect. All commerce (and production) is lost in anarchy.

-Arrian

[Catt]

I use it extensively in the early game -- somtimes getting as high as 40% - 50% if REXing growthor early war demands it. It usually levels off to no more than 10% - 20% by the end of the ancient age through the Middle Ages (with a spike or two occassionally )and hopefully goes to 0% permanently by the Industrial Age.

Catt

[MrWhereItsAt]

If you're just starting to get unhappy faces due to size (in Despotism, Monarchy or Republic) and more military police is either impossible or impractical, putting 10% luxuries on tends to cost you very few gold and give you a happy face in almost every city - almost always enough to tide you over a few more pop points, or at least until you can fix your happiness problems long-term.

[SorvinoBackhand]

Precise Effect of Lux Slider

Sir Ralph,

I liked you your equation. Basically, you said that for each gold piece of commerce I spend in a city on luxuries, I receive one happy face from a content citizen or one content face from an unhappy citizen. For example, if my city produces 10 gold, after corruption, and my lux slider is at, say, 20%, then I am spending 2 (20%) of my 10 gold pieces from my city on luxuries. This brings 2 citizens either to happy from content or from unhappy to content. The direct correlation between spending 2 gold and achieving 2 improvements in happiness is pleasingly precise. That is the exact effect, what one 'purchases' with the slider.

I am repeating this because, 1) I want to be sure I understand, and 2) I am curious if anyone can verify that this equation holds. If it does, then happiness and contentment are rather reasonably priced.

Anyone on this ?

[Harovan]

Originally posted by SorvinoBackhand
1) I want to be sure I understand
2) I am curious if anyone can verify that this equation holds. If it does, then happiness and contentment are rather reasonably priced.

1) Yes, apparently you do.
2) You can take my word for it. It's verified many times.

A "content face", like a temple, colosseum or cathedral produces, can only make an unhappy citizen content. If there are no unhappy citizens in this city, the effect is lost.

A "happy face", like luxury access or the luxury slider produces, tries first to make a content citizen happy, and if there's none in the city, it tries second to make an unhappy citizen content. Only if all citizens already are happy, the effect is wasted.

Example:

Emperor (1 citizen born content), size 12 city, Despotism
U = unhappy, C = content, H = happy.

Without any improvement, the city looks like this:

C U U U U U U U U U U U

Let's now add a Temple (1 content face)

C C U U U U U U U U U U

Now let's place 2 units in the city (2 more content faces)

C C C C U U U U U U U U

Now let's imagine, the city has access to 4 luxuries, but no marketplace (4 happy faces). The four content citizens are made happy:

H H H H U U U U U U U U

Now let's imagine, the city makes 20 commerce (even though that'd be hard under despotism) and we set the slider to 10%. That makes 2 happy faces.

Since there is no content citizen in the city, the first one will make one unhappy citizen content:

H H H H C U U U U U U U

The second one makes this content citizen happy:

H H H H H U U U U U U U

Still the city would revolt. Let's try 20% luxuries, makes 4 happy faces, or 2 more than with 10%:

Since there is again no content citizen in the city, the first new one will make one unhappy citizen content:

H H H H H C U U U U U U

The second new one makes this content citizen happy:

H H H H H H U U U U U U

Voilà, this city won't revolt.

[vondrack]

Keep in mind there is a downside, though... the lux slider operates on ALL of your cities - even on those you do not need extra happy faces in.

[Harovan]

True, but the cities that aren't supposed to grow and don't need the extra happiness (mostly corrupt cities) don't make much commerce anyway, so that not much is wasted.

By the way: The commerce is counted before improvements like libs and marketplaces add their percentage. So don't be fooled if a city with a lib and a market gives less happy faces than it seemingly should.

[realpolitic]

I agree with the majority. The slider is greaaaat!! My first Emperor game I found myself "hopelessly" behind. the I realized that the best way to catch up is with lotsa cities, and expanding with settlers wasn't going to work, because the computer would do it faster. Since people on this site were claiming to win at Diety, there had to be a strategy. That strategy is conquest, and the edge you get in production is extremely useful in war.

If your outer cities still need entertainers, you may want to build workers or settlers there.