Distribution center

We posted about this before, but with the new play field, and another expected soon, the need for one tool that will enable us to distribute goods to commercial building is more pressing.
I was thinking of an extension to the warehouse, which would allow us to see all commercial buildings and their current stock, and to deliver -- using one interface -- resources. Perhaps table format, with an entry for each commercial, but maybe others here would have better ideas?

 

I like the idea, as I said on the previous thread, an extension of the warehouse system. A central delivery listing of all commercial buildings and their needs with a quick link to fulfill their needs would be a great asset.

 

You do realize that, if they do such a thing, it will cost 60MM and last for 12 hours ... right?

 

Hmm.. not really. The idea is not to have an automated shop supplier (like the automated rent collector) but a new interface. In this interface you will still need to feed each store separately (and remember for yourself what needs it should supply, i.e. how many houses are within its range). The only benefit would be that you could do this by opening one window, rather than hopping from shop to shop, or from field to field.
They do, occasionally, try to improve the gaming experience without charging extra money.. Well, as long as the improvement is not too pronounced.

 

It would be better if the rent collector was just extended to supply shops. After all the goods are already there its just a time saver.

 

Sounds way too much like the rent collector. Yep, it'll cost MM if they do this.

 

No, Tamy is suggesting a single interface window listing all of the commercial buildings with the ability to individually stock those buildings. This is not like the rent collector. There is a significant difference in activity. One is collecting something that is there, if there is no rent due it does not get collected, versus deciding how to distribute various individual products to multiple sites. The programing difference is mind boggling. What do you do if there is not enough product to meet demand? What if you do not want to stock a particular location for a reason. etc.

Tamy is suggesting a tool to simplify the activity not to replace the decision process.

 

i would like this idea

 

I think I am going to nag. We have four play fields, all of which have some kind of commercials. And we all have more and more residents whose needs we should supply. A distribution center will make our life easier, will help us plan and distribute resources wisely, and overall will be a nice tool to play with. Come on BP, it doesn't demand that much programming, right?

 

Or just have the commercial buildings take from warehouse directly, with a toggle to serve or not. I was actually thinking a toggle in the buildings for each good would be nice. I don't think a complicated management console would be a real benefit. A button to fill them all, maybe, but warehouse-direct just seems nicer to me.

 

Anything that simplifies the process would work for me.

 

The advantage of the more complicated system is that you could decide how to distribute scarce resources (=buns ), rather than filling the first few commercials and leaving the rest empty. But I agree, that simplicity may be better -- and this would be a huge improvement to what we have now.

 

That's what a toggle would be for. You could toggle the commercial on/off, by clicking for example, to easily switch between giving or not giving for the entire radius. The only downside is that you need to remember to toggle it, and which buildings you want to give goods to.

Toggling buildings individually, for example by clicking on the each commercial building in the building's info box, could allow you to better select for goods. I like this option because it also gives you the most freedom when laying out your city, since you could have two buildings that need one commercial in that commercial's radius but only supply one. It makes the rent collector more attractive as well since you'd no longer have to worry about goods being delivered.

I imagine programming one interface to to handle tasks in other fields will be relatively difficult as well — or at least overly-complicated for the desired effect — and you'd still be relying on the present, inefficient system.