Getting Beams

what's the best way to get beams?
cos i need a lot to build stuff and i can't make my own as i never have enough production points
i tried the marketplace, but the prices of the beams are too high for me to afford... is there any other way?

 

Upgrade your lumber mills meet the needs of your workers as you need pp in the early stages of the game you need more workers than capitalists or students and as your game progresses the balance will change slightly grow tomatoes to stock your vege stands as well
as your workers will need the tomatoes to produce pp
is there anything else that we can help you with on this topic

 

there are a load of quests and they require the use of beams, such as building the brickyard and vintage duplex. i already have one of my three lumber mills to level two, but upgrading also require beams.
thanks for the help!
so u suggest that i grow lots of tomatoes?

 

toatoes in the early stages are needed in the vege stand to meet the needs of your workers

 

other than that there isn't much of a use for it?

 

To grow anything or produce anything you need Production Points (PP) (Black gloves). To get PP you need to feed the workers in your homes. To feed the workers, you need tomatoes in a vege stand, potatoes in a hollywood diner, etc. Each of these needs to be placed close enough to your residence otherwise it won't work. So, however many PP you get, always make sure you can grow enough tomatoes/potatoes etc to keep the PP production going, before you build too many beams. In time, it will get easier - tomatoes only give you 4 PP at a time, whereas potatoes give 12 or so, all the way up to pilsner which gives around 1000. Also, later on, you will get access to Tenements (from Flea Market, I think), which is a worker only home, and that gives out PP instead of CC for rent. And there are other worker only homes you can use for PP production, but they're also a bit further down the line.

 

ohh ok thankss
so to get beams technically i need to grow tomatoes and potatoes to supply to the veg stand and hollywood diner
and it takes a lot of time to get enough pp to make beams, so i just need to be patient with it...right?

 

Right! Patience is what you need in this game.

You could of course be keen, and make lumber instead, and sell that on the market to fund your beam purchases. You'd probably need 5 or 6 lumber per beam, given current pricing, so not sure how effective that is in the long run vs PP. Let's see - 10PP in a L1 mill gets you 4 lumber. So 30PP would get you 12 lumber in 15 mins. If you then sell those lumber and get 2 beams, that's 15PP per beam. Otherwise you're spending 100PP in a L1 mill to get 8 beams, which is nearer 12.5PP per beam. So selling lumber is not actually worth it. Patience it is then. See this FAQ for more details on production and PP required (just be glad you don't need to make roof-tiles yet!).

 

The thing to realize is this is not a quick game. It is a long term strategy game. You need to make a plan and stick with it. Figure out what you need and want and build towards that goal. It may be days or weeks till you reach that goal, especially at the begining. There is a natural desire to want every thing NOW. But, you have to build up to those levels. Keep your city in balance and adjust that balance as your needs change.

Right now:

You need workets for production points so most of you residents need to be workers; Workers need Veggie Stands and Hollywood Diners near by to make more pp's; The Veggie Stands and Hollywood Diners need tomatoes and potatoes from Farms to make food; Farms need pp's to make tomatoes and potatoes; and Lumber Mills need pp's to make lumber; You need lumber to make more houses for more workers. The cycle continues and gets ever more complicated as you progress.

These needs and relationships will change as you move further into the game and get more sophisticated issues. So enjoy the simple life while you can. Have fun and relax and do not rush through the process.

 

Just another tip.
By doing the tasks on the left hand side of screen quiet often gives PP(gloves).
When I started I only put workers in and kept doing those tasks and never ran out of PP.

 

thanks every one for your help on this. I am moving this thread to speakers corner for further comments

 

Someone is currently trying to sell 70m CCs worth (100k @ 699) - good luck with that.