RCI graph units?

[Jukelo 2]

Hello everyone, beginner with a question here

So I understand at a superficial level what the RCI graph mean: if there's green above zero, zone more residentials, same for the rest etc...

Now what I'm unclear about, is what exactly is the unit used? I had assumed the R bars showed workers needed by the various industries/services, arnd the rest was how many positions of the various types your existing pops need. But after some quick and dirty tests, I'm utterly confused. 

 

Here is a quick town of 200 (no education, ~60% of working age), in which I zoned ~130 jobs worth of dirty industry. About 80% of the positions there are filled. The RCI graph doesn't look all that different from an empty city, I assume the game always starts you off with a bit of demand to help get things running and avoid a no-demand downward spiral from the start. Anyhow, the ID graph reads ~1000 demand. 

But after zoning another tiny dirty industry zone ( query tool and pop/job  graph tells me it's about 24 jobs total, 20 filled) to the south of the existing one, my ID demand falls to... 500?!

I'm obviously confused here. What do those numbers mean? It can't be outright jobs unless the RCI graph multiplies every unit by 20? Does it? What am I missing? 

[rsc204 21,869]

2 hours ago, Jukelo said:

What am I missing?

Simply the quirks of the simulation. Indeed the demand bars represent the number of workers or residents and these are not multiples. But at the same time, a number of factors will continually adjust the demands, not to mention such adjustments are rarely instant, they can take months to appear.

When you build a certain resource, it creates demand for other resources. So the simulator may have expected you to zone more housing, bringing in more residents and increasing the industrial demand. Instead, you just made industrial zones and demand is reduced for residents, since less jobs are now required. But a consequence of that could also be that with less people needing jobs, demand for workplaces (I-D) also shrinks.

The easiest thing to do is pay attention to demands, but try not to pay too much attention to them. It's best to zone according to what your city needs, also to zone slowly, smaller areas and wait to see how this affects demands. But, at such an early stage in the game, you will need a lot of I-D (or I-AG) and R$ sims to kick the simulator into gear.

[Jukelo 2]

Cheers, that's all good to know. I'll probably report here with more questions

[T Wrecks 10,210]

Don't hesitate to do so - that's what we're here for!

By the way, when you say "query tool and pop/job  graph tells me it's about 24 jobs total, 20 filled", are you referring to the query window of that industrial building saying "20/24"?

Just making sure here because that's one of the most frequent misconceptions in SC4 - and to be fair, Maxis didn't make a good job when it came to showing what's really happening. If you see numbers like "20/24" in the query window of a commercial/industrial building, this doesn't mean that it offers 24 jobs, 20 of which are filled.

Instead, it means that the building could theoretically offer a maximum of 24 job vacancies under ideal conditions, but under given conditions it can offer 20. It doesn't tell you anything about how many job vacancies are actually filled.

You can find that out by using the Route Query tool and clicking on the building in question. Now you will see how many Sims actually commute there. (If this number seems too high for industry, this is beause the game joins several industrial buildings to bigger complexes. You might also have to wait until the simulation has settled a bit.)

Sorry if I bored you with stuff you already know - as I said, just wanted to make sure.

[Jukelo 2]

23 hours ago, T Wrecks said:

Sorry if I bored you with stuff you already know - as I said, just wanted to make sure.

Well it's a good thing you brought that up, as years of Sierra city builders have indeed taught me wrongly!

I assume those ideal conditions are tied to the various desirability factors? I hadn't really thought about how those impact job producing buildings (other than by affecting what buildings develop in a zone), but I can see how they could actually have an economic impact that would limit the ability to provide jobs.

[T Wrecks 10,210]

Yes, the various desirability factors come together to determine the actual number of jobs that a commercial/industrial can offer.

For example, commercial buildings have traffic as a desirability factor. More traffic => more customers => more business => more jobs. So if you have a commercial building in a low-traffic area, it will probably not use its full potential. (IMO the traffic thing is a moot point for office buildings, but that's game mechanics for you...)

Industrial buildings like short freight paths, for example, so this is one important factor. High-tech industry is also very sensitive in terms of pollution and crime.

In practice, you will hardly if ever see a building with full occupation, so there's no reason to fear something is wrong. If you get ~80% or more, things are pretty OK. If it's sitting between 50 and 60%, you know something is really at odds.

So, to wrap it up, the query informs you about:

• actual number vs. theoretical maximum of residents - for residential buildings
• actual number vs. theoretical maximum of jobs offered - for commercial / industrial buildings

To see how many of the jobs offered by a com/ind building are filled, use the Route Query tool. If the number of people is significantly lower than the number of job vacancies offered, then you either lack enough suitable workers to fill the jobs, or your transportation system fails to get them there within an acceptable time.

[Handyman 793]

Thanks @twrecks, I did not know this. Very helpful info. That's why I try to check out a variety of threads, you just don't know where you'll find a nugget.

[T Wrecks 10,210]

You're very welcome! That's what I like about forums and bulletin boards, too - they are a treasure trove full of interesting tidbits of information, and whatever you post may be useful for people you never had in mind, including non-members.