The Anniversary Patch is more awesomer than everyone thinks

[TOMMIVS]

The developers have done a huge job optimising the simulation system, in that they culled the majority of the PathFind queries from the most demanding simulation systems, so that simulation speed got a general 3x boost, while the simulation including traffic basically stays the same. Below are the numbers of PathFind queries in a 70k city in 24 hours before and after the anniversary patch.

I wonder why the developers didn't put one word about this would-be highly appreciated optimisation in the patch note, along with other hidden changes like cutting utensil needs from companies or fixating commercial demand with population.

 

[nilesism]

I personally have found this to be a bad thing. 4,000 businesses have closed due to the drop in resource buyer system, and I had to drop taxes on both production industry and commercial to keep the remaining business with customers and profit.

I have noticed it's much harder to fill residential buildings due to the reduced findhome count.

And there is a huge increase in leisure, with taxis it is half the chart. I hope they roll back a majority of the cull.

Leisure overload (too many taxis & small park visitors)

Information When reporting a crash, stability or performance problems, please use the Report a Crash button on the earlier screen [CLICK] I understand Required Summary Leisure overload (too many taxis & small park visitors) Steps to reproduce...

forum.paradoxplaza.com

 

[Civ5rako]

The developers have done a huge job optimising the simulation system, in that they culled the majority of the PathFind queries from the most demanding simulation systems, so that simulation speed got a general 3x boost, while the simulation including traffic basically stays the same. Below are the numbers of PathFind queries in a 70k city in 24 hours before and after the anniversary patch.

I wonder why the developers didn't put one word about this would-be highly appreciated optimisation in the patch note, along with other hidden changes like cutting utensil needs from companies or fixating commercial demand with population.

View attachment 1280500

Question: Did you use the exactly same save for your breakdown? Meaning, there haven't been any intermediate actions before the breakdown in either of the two game versions?

I am asking because the reduction obviously is drastic in most areas, but why ResidentAISystem and TaxiDispatchSystem are increasing at the same moment isn't really obvious (at least not to me). The reduction in HouseholdFindPropertySystem however is by almost 95% which means it would have been just terrible in the past. The same for ResourceBuyerSystem which seems to have been reduced by almost 80%.

And frankly, the pure fact that such a drastic reduction in workload has not been mentioned at all in the patch notes should make us suspicious. It was the "Anniversary patch" after all. You don't have to be a marketing genius to see that this would be such a great advertising chance - yet they didn't make use of it. Why?

Given the track record of CO I wouldn't exclude the option that they accidentally cut something off which by pure chance didn't break the game completely. It did have some apparently unwanted effects on economy though.

 

[TOMMIVS]

4,000 businesses have closed due to the drop in resource buyer system,

The amount of citizens going shopping did not change. This might be rather related to changes in commercial demand system.

I have noticed it's much harder to fill residential buildings due to the reduced findhome count.

It is the opposite: the new system makes households without property more likely to find a new home.

Question: Did you use the exactly same save for your breakdown? Meaning, there haven't been any intermediate actions before the breakdown in either of the two game versions?

Yes

but why ResidentAISystem and TaxiDispatchSystem are increasing at the same moment isn't really obvious (at least not to me).

I am also investigating into this, the preference of means of travel might have been changed.

Given the track record of CO I wouldn't exclude the option that they accidentally cut something off which by pure chance didn't break the game completely.

The improvement in HouseholdFindPropertySystem is definitively intentional, but I am not sure of the change in ResourceBuyerSystem because it just involved one additional return, plus they did mess up with buyers not paying in this system.

 

[Momento Mori]

The improvement in HouseholdFindPropertySystem is definitively intentional, but I am not sure of the change in ResourceBuyerSystem because it just involved one additional return, plus they did mess up with buyers not paying in this system.

I wonder if this explains the industrial apocalypse I'm facing

 

[TOMMIVS]

I wonder if this explains the industrial apocalypse I'm facing

The seller does receive the money though.

 

[nilesism]

The amount of citizens going shopping did not change. This might be rather related to changes in commercial demand system.

Here is some data from my saves:

(pre-patch save in current game version)
Apr 2044
11,000 Commercial companies
140,000 commercial jobs
2154 shopping
687 commercial vehicles
56% utilization
168% capacity
625 empty

4,400 industrial companies
190,000 industrial jobs

11,000 office companies
1,075,000 office jobs


(save just before I reset all cims in dev mode)
June 2044
8,300 Commercial companies
105,000 commercial jobs
3173 shopping
1775 commercial vehicles
50% utilization
417% capacity
2925 empty

4,400 industrial companies
200,000 industrial jobs

11,500 office companies
1,100,000 office jobs

(6 months elapsed no mods)
Feb 2045
7,900 Commercial companies
81,00 commercial jobs
6242 shopping
1872 commercial vehicles
84% utilization
136% capacity
2662 empty

4,450 industrial companies
245,000 industrial jobs

12,500 office companies
815,000 office jobs

==
11,000 / 1.68 = 5,900
7900 / 1.36 = 5,800

47% drop in commercial demand
42% drop in commercial jobs
52% of businesses from before the patch are likely to survive (adjusted; based on Info Loom reported capacity)

190% increase in active shoppers (reported by cim census)

So for commercial you are partially correct, there are more active shoppers on the streets and a significant reduction in demand. Electronics, Food, Beverages & Plastics seem the hardest hit. This might explain why people who used to go to the bar are now looking for Leisure elsewhere.

I cant comment on Pathfind data as I dont have a prior version to test, and I find it takes about 1 sometimes up to 4 hours for the game to settle and report consistent paths. If you want to test, my most recent save is here.

 

[campcreekdude]

Its a great patch if you overlook nerfed tourism, ballooning residential wealth, 5/5 office bug and thats a short list of bugs im experiencing that are new and old but new to my city.

 

[Civ5rako]

Its a great patch if you overlook nerfed tourism, ballooning residential wealth, 5/5 office bug and thats a short list of bugs im experiencing that are new and old but new to my city.

Sounds like a traditional CO patch.
Some things get improved and some new bugs are introduced (or re-introduced if you so will).

Really makes you wonder what is going on there in Finland.
Since one year it is always the same story: first big excitement about the noticable improvements resulting in a general "Oh yeah!", then some raised eyebrows "Hmmm???" and finally is slowly turns to an "Oh well... this doesn't work anymore, nor does that..."

I mean, they are working on their own code for crying out loud. They are working on it since at least five years now (seven, if the cancelled first attempt is taken into account as well). They should literally know it by heart.
And yet....

 

[Stevo Wallis]

The latest patch is the best one so far, but that’s not saying much.
I think there’s a conflict between getting the simulation to work and getting it to run. The current version of the game is a dumbed down potato machine version of the original game that has been worked on for 5 plus years.
Their original version of the simulation may have been working a lot better but was too intense on hardware.
Since release or shortly before, cutting it down to run on average pc’s has been a major factor.
This could explain the mess we have today and why they are still struggling to get it to work after 5 years.

 

[Civ5rako]

The latest patch is the best one so far, but that’s not saying much.
I think there’s a conflict between getting the simulation to work and getting it to run. The current version of the game is a dumbed down potato machine version of the original game that has been worked on for 5 plus years.
Their original version of the simulation may have been working a lot better but was too intense on hardware.
Since release or shortly before, cutting it down to run on average pc’s has been a major factor.
This could explain the mess we have today and why they are still struggling to get it to work after 5 years.

I think it is even worse.

Someone over there may once have had some kind of vision of the economic model, which apparently was a very detailed one. I mean, we do have how many goods and materials? 38, I think.
Having that many different things for the internal economic routines and functionalities to handle and to deal with only makes sense when those procedures have been set up in a very detailed way - and they have to work flawlessly or the whole system will crumble down.
That is what we are obversing right now - nothing really works, at least not in ways which would be easily understandable and therefore allow the player to react within time and accordingly.

Instead they are dabbling around with the most incredible stuff. Someone found out around December that they even are calculating the charging status of electric busses. But that is pure waste of computing power as - to the best of my knowledge - there isn't any way in which different charging states would impact or trigger player actions. You actually seem to need a certain mod to retrieve that information. So, why have it in the first place?

It seems to me that at one point in time prior to release they abandoned that vision and - rather cluelessly as it seems - made use of some components, but quite obviously not in a way in which it once was intended.
I think it is safe to say they are knowing at best as much about the economic "simulation" part of the game as the playerbase does - and that is not very much.

And in some weeks there shall be even an addition to that economic part. Even more functionality, even more options.
I am lacking the fantasy to imagine how that will work "out of the box".