Looking for some takers...

[jimmybgoode 0]

Greetings!

I have a dream... and this is the best place I could think of to post it.

There is no name for this project as of yet. I am looking for the best (2-3 people) for concept development of this project.  The best I can offer right now is a stake in the profits if it ever comes to fruition. If you're interested please PM

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I need ideas like this one:

Concept: Citizens keep animals. Animals get loose and aggravate the neighbors, bite children, etc. There is a need for animal control, which would cost money. Animal licenses could pay for animal control.

Just dealing with cats and dogs, let's assume that 30% of citizens keep one or the other and of those 30%, roughly 60% keep multiple cats or dogs. If a pet license costs $10 and your city has 100,000 residents that means 12,000 keep one animal and 18,000 keep more than one animal.

This might have to be randomized but if the average multi-pet household had 2 pets, fees from a pet license program would net $480,000. This would pay for a local shelter, a couple of animal control officers, a vet, vehicles, pet adoption program. This has a positive affect on desirability but continued city growth would create an over-crowding of the shelter. Euthanizing could be an option but would have a negative affect on a mayor's polls. Another option is to build another shelter creating more costs...

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I have a small foundation for this project but the scope is beyond one person. There are links I wouldn't make, alot of things I wouldn't dream of and more important what I enjoy is certainly different and I would like everyone into simulation games to be able to enjoy this.

Plans are to have 3 options for gameplay:

1) Management  - micro manage everything

2) Building - handles budgeting and accounting and various other aspects so you can focus on city building

3) IYBITWC - If you build it they will come, meaning most aspects are lost and people and businesses will descend upon your city as long as there is space for them

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Some details on the project:

   Realistic bloated governments can that cost millions.  Take into account city councils, engineers, public works, judicial centers, parks and rec, even the mayors office. These need to be accounted for and budgeted.

  Taxes and fees to make the money to pay for everything. Cigarette tax, fuel tax, sales tax, income tax, merchant taxes, banking taxes, court fees, car registration fees, drivers license fees, pet licenses, airport taxes, emissions testing fees, etc. You set the taxes and fees but every change has an impact on something.

  Funds in which to deposit taxes and fees into. All funds are interest bearing, can be borrowed from and accounted for then allocated to education, health, transportation, public safety, public works, etc?

  I don't want micro-managing down to, say the salary of a city council person or the cost of school books for students, but I would like to see a unified expense report to take into consideration when budgeting. Like, a school's budget includes Administration staff, teachers, janitors, building maintenance, supplies, file keeping, etc.

  OK, enough about government, how about transportation.

  Most local road projects are partially(usually up tp 80%) funded with grants from the federal and state government depending on your budget for road projects(which depends on fuel tax and usage). Sooo, if you allocate $120m for a road improvement project, the feds fund you an additional $96m. You must budget for projects a year ahead to tap into federal grants. If you don't, the tax payers might get a little angry.

  Road projects cost a ton of money, take forever to complete, lower land value during construction, cause traffic delays... of course they also create jobs, increase awareness of your city, maybe draw bigger corporations and businesses to yor city...

  No road/rail will have to be straight. Fluid curves, esses, loops... the only problem I could think of with this concept is connecting paths, like at intersections, but I'm sure it could be overcome.

  Traffic studies, enviromental studies, local impact studies(workforce, jobs, displacement)...

  An example - Click a button called "Studies," that brings up a window that shows a duplicate of your city. You click another button labeled "traffic study," now you do to this copy what you propose to do in the "real" city, like build a highway through town. You draw a highway on this map and click "Run study", let the simulator run the study and then it shows you what effects that will have. Increased congestion, more pollution.  It also tells you what it will cost, how long it would take, how many workers it will employ, how much revenue from tolls, if you want. It's an almost endless possibility. And it costs money, just like real life studies. Maybe it's required to secure federal funding.

  Zoning - You don't have to zone indivdually.  Imagine this... You place the main transportation networks and zone an area(not a 1x3 or similar size, it could be a big blob) for low density residential.  The simulator takes into account the land value, transportation access, nearby employment, enviromental factors, etc and determines if it is usable and if so who would live there. The computer sort of acts like a land developer.  After it figures that out, it sub-divides the area into plots that conform to roads, hills, water. No more NS-EW alignment. These plots are then developed at the pace it is needed. Maybe they fill in only 1 year, maybe it takes 10 years or more. It depends on the desirability, land value, resident income...

  My idea is that depending on where you zone there will be different layouts. If you plop that residential down a mile from the city, it's likely going to be a suburban development with curved streets, cul-de-sacs, possibly a park for the kids. The simulator will figure out the best layout for the area and lay the streets and sub-divide plots. This might be a pipe-dream. It's also an idea for another simulator

  Utilities - Most cities don't produce their own power, and if they do they sure don't lose money on the deal. How about just tying into an existing power grid? No more paying for power line maintenance. A small thought here: a city doesn't pay for it's citizens electricity, although I kind of like that idea. Of course government will have to pay for it's own usage and that needs budgeted.

  You want to produce your own energy? Build a power plant(it could take couple years) and the citizens still pay for it and maybe you make some money on the side selling into the "grid."  It will cause pollution too, of course, and affect land values. You'll have to pay for administration, the skilled workers needed to keep it running, you'll need to set the price per unit and jeez, that ice storm brought some lines down....

  Ok, my household uses a well system but when I lived in "the big city" I sure as heck paid my water bill every month and I'm betting that the city didn't lose any money on that deal. Water treatment plants cost money and the citizens are going to have to pay for it through higher water bills.

  Some thoughts on pollution - a run down neighborhood is ripe for some urban revitalization money but the city council wants an enviromental study before you invest millions to bring that area back to life. You do the study and it determines there is a high lead concentration from that electronics factory that was there years ago. Now you have clean up the area by replacing soil, which is going to cost millions, before the council will consider allocating fucnds. Of course, you can always apply for a federal grant to help with the clean up.

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 Lots of ideas, some good some not so good I'm sure but I'm tired of typing.

Anyone else have any thoughts?

[DuskTrooper 314]

Try looking for one of those Nigerian guys who will give you 10% of his millions to help you out.

[jimmybgoode 0]

sure

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why not. Because I was asking for money.

Last time I checked, and it wasn't that long ago, concept development didn't mean pony up. If I wanted money I sure wouldn't be asking for it on a fan site.

[Joesocwork 4]

What are you asking for? Help w/ homework? A partner in a business venture? ...