Real Estate DLC: Land Auction game design #1

[David]

Here is the first draft of Land Auction game design from the dev team. Please let us know your comments and/or suggestions.

Land Auction

Residential land plots will be sold to companies via government auctions.

When an auction takes place, all companies can make a bid.

When an auction session has ended and nobody made a bid, the land plot will become available for instant purchase – anyone can buy the land instantly from now on.

There will be an option: “Notify me whenever a land auction takes place.”

The game will pop up a window informing the player of an auction, the player can choose to participate in the auction or ignore it.

The player can open a window showing a list of upcoming land auction events. The player can double-click on the list of scheduled auctions to view the locations of the land plots to be auctioned. To get a notification when an auction takes place, the player can check on the boxes of auctions of interest.

Residential and Shopping District, and Commercial District
The government may put a large plot of residential land for sale in a suburban or rural area and restrict its purpose to residential development only. The government may also sell suburban or rural land plots via auction. It is up to the mayor to decide that.

For downtime areas where land supply is scarce, the government may only put a small plot of land for sale via auction each time, which can be 3x3, 4x4 or even 2x2.

Industrial Zone
For an industrial zone, it will not be sold via auction. Instead, the mayor will allocate a large plot of land for industrial development.

Companies cannot buy industrial land plots without investing into building a real business operation. They must build a factory or a warehouse in order to buy the land plot underneath it. When a company shuts down a factory, the land must be sold back to the government.

[Arcnor]

I like the general outline of this idea. One thing I do not is that it seems to be dependent on the City DLC.

I personally don't play very often with the City DLC because I don't like not having the world map nor the smaller city sizes.

I've also wished that the land zone tool was made available in the base game instead of just in the City DLC.

[saffgee]

+1 on what Arcnor said

[David]

I like the general outline of this idea. One thing I do not is that it seems to be dependent on the City DLC.

I personally don't play very often with the City DLC because I don't like not having the world map nor the smaller city sizes.

I've also wished that the land zone tool was made available in the base game instead of just in the City DLC.

That's a good point. I will let the dev team know your suggestion.

[standardplayer]

Questions/Comments:
• So, would this basically mean that all the residential and commercial buildings that you start building at the beginning of the game will be paying land rent to the government unless you get the option to purchase the land in one of these auctions?

• When someone owns a building on land that is owned by the government will that go up for auction or not? If it does go up for auction will there be a preference given to the owner of the building? Say their bid counts as double or some other multiple but they only actually pay their bid.

• How would Company Land Sales Work? Will they have to auction it first then it goes to the government for FMV or a discount if nobody bids.

• What Kind of Auction system would this be? English, Dutch, Blind, etc.

• How about a Max Bid Ascending Auction where you put the maximum bid you are willing to pay then it compares that to other bids and adjusts your bid upward by 1 dollar above current highest bid until you hit your max bid or others drop out of the market. You would have the option to increase that max bid at any time but not downward and you would be required to deposit the max bid amount which would be returned if you lose the auction. This would decrease micromanagement and add a temporary cost to bidding which is basically what Albion Online does.

• How would land values work?
o Would Land have a Base Value that increases with inflation and the land rental rate would be calculated based on that and you would pay a premium or discount on that value at auction which would determine your rate of return?
o Or Would land values in an area be based on the price paid at auction plus inflation and the land rental rate would be calculated based on that?

• How will people be able to value the land? What information will you have on the current or potential land value, rental rates, etc?

• What would the starting bid be FMV, Premium/Discount to FMV, etc?

• Would the AI Bid on land if so how or would they just rent it?

• Would you be able to Transfer land between subsidiaries if so, how would it work?

Albion Online Land Auction System for Reference: https://albiononline.com/en/news/land-auction-system

Ideas:

New Real Estate Buildings (for Suburbs):
• Garden Apartments: 3-6 Stories spread across 2x3, 3x3 or 4x4 plot instead of the typical 2x2 Real Estate Plot
• Business Park: 3-6 Stories spread across 2x3, 3x3 or 4x4 plot instead of the typical 2x2 Real Estate Plot

Additional Zoning Options:
• High Density Mixed Residential-Commercial or simply CBD Zoning: Residential/Office Skyscrapers and Regular Retail Only (for Central Business District)
• Medium Density Mixed Residential-Commercial or simply Suburban Zoning: Garden Apartments, Business Parks, Regular Retail, Shopping Centers, and Mansions Only (for Suburbs)

Default Distribution of Land Use and Property Values:
• Central Business District: Zoning High Density Mixed Residential-Commercial, Highest Land Values in the City
• Business Districts: Zoning Commercial Use, Medium to High Land Value
• Suburbs: Zoning Medium Density Mixed Residential-Commercial, Medium Land Value
• Rural: No Zoning or some Industrial, Low Land Value

[saferain]

Land with higher value needs to be auctioned, and land with lower value can be purchased directly. It is recommended to auction the land once every six months, and the plots are more than 4 * 4.

[David]

I like the general outline of this idea. One thing I do not is that it seems to be dependent on the City DLC.

I personally don't play very often with the City DLC because I don't like not having the world map nor the smaller city sizes.

Just wanted to mention that it is possible to replace the fictional names of cities with real names in a mod. The file that stores the fictional city names for the CES DLC is \MOD_KIT\Data\Fictional_Cities.DBF

As for city sizes, it is possible to grow a city up to 1-2 million population in CES DLC. What it lacks in sheer population size, it makes up for in much more detailed simulation of city economy. (FYI: https://www.capitalismlab.com/ces-dlc/u ... imulation/) The decisions you make as a mayor or a corporate CEO will have more impactful effects on the local economy and population growth.

[David]

Questions/Comments:
• So, would this basically mean that all the residential and commercial buildings that you start building at the beginning of the game will be paying land rent to the government unless you get the option to purchase the land in one of these auctions?

• When someone owns a building on land that is owned by the government will that go up for auction or not? If it does go up for auction will there be a preference given to the owner of the building? Say their bid counts as double or some other multiple but they only actually pay their bid.

• How would Company Land Sales Work? Will they have to auction it first then it goes to the government for FMV or a discount if nobody bids.

• What Kind of Auction system would this be? English, Dutch, Blind, etc.

• How about a Max Bid Ascending Auction where you put the maximum bid you are willing to pay then it compares that to other bids and adjusts your bid upward by 1 dollar above current highest bid until you hit your max bid or others drop out of the market. You would have the option to increase that max bid at any time but not downward and you would be required to deposit the max bid amount which would be returned if you lose the auction. This would decrease micromanagement and add a temporary cost to bidding which is basically what Albion Online does.

• How would land values work?
o Would Land have a Base Value that increases with inflation and the land rental rate would be calculated based on that and you would pay a premium or discount on that value at auction which would determine your rate of return?
o Or Would land values in an area be based on the price paid at auction plus inflation and the land rental rate would be calculated based on that?

• How will people be able to value the land? What information will you have on the current or potential land value, rental rates, etc?

• What would the starting bid be FMV, Premium/Discount to FMV, etc?

• Would the AI Bid on land if so how or would they just rent it?

• Would you be able to Transfer land between subsidiaries if so, how would it work?

Albion Online Land Auction System for Reference: https://albiononline.com/en/news/land-auction-system

Ideas:

New Real Estate Buildings (for Suburbs):
• Garden Apartments: 3-6 Stories spread across 2x3, 3x3 or 4x4 plot instead of the typical 2x2 Real Estate Plot
• Business Park: 3-6 Stories spread across 2x3, 3x3 or 4x4 plot instead of the typical 2x2 Real Estate Plot

Additional Zoning Options:
• High Density Mixed Residential-Commercial or simply CBD Zoning: Residential/Office Skyscrapers and Regular Retail Only (for Central Business District)
• Medium Density Mixed Residential-Commercial or simply Suburban Zoning: Garden Apartments, Business Parks, Regular Retail, Shopping Centers, and Mansions Only (for Suburbs)

Default Distribution of Land Use and Property Values:
• Central Business District: Zoning High Density Mixed Residential-Commercial, Highest Land Values in the City
• Business Districts: Zoning Commercial Use, Medium to High Land Value
• Suburbs: Zoning Medium Density Mixed Residential-Commercial, Medium Land Value
• Rural: No Zoning or some Industrial, Low Land Value

Good questions. I've forwarded them to the dev team.

[chengtsai]

I think this Auction if done correctly it would push the fun level for Cap Lab to another high level.

If auction is done correctly, we could expand this auction feature to sell technology as well as natural resources.

[David]

Some answers from the dev team:

So, would this basically mean that all the residential and commercial buildings that you start building at the beginning of the game will be paying land rent to the government unless you get the option to purchase the land in one of these auctions?

The current design of the auction system does not depend on the land lease system to work (as there is still some design hurdles on the land lease system). The player must buy a land plot prior to building a building.

When someone owns a building on land that is owned by the government will that go up for auction or not? If it does go up for auction will there be a preference given to the owner of the building? Say their bid counts as double or some other multiple but they only actually pay their bid.

As mentioned above, the player must also own the land on which the building is built.

How would Company Land Sales Work? Will they have to auction it first then it goes to the government for FMV or a discount if nobody bids.

It will be the same as the current system. The land will be sold to the government at FMV.

What Kind of Auction system would this be? English, Dutch, Blind, etc.

This hasn't been decided yet. Which one would you suggest?

• How about a Max Bid Ascending Auction where you put the maximum bid you are willing to pay then it compares that to other bids and adjusts your bid upward by 1 dollar above current highest bid until you hit your max bid or others drop out of the market. You would have the option to increase that max bid at any time but not downward and you would be required to deposit the max bid amount which would be returned if you lose the auction. This would decrease micromanagement and add a temporary cost to bidding which is basically what Albion Online does.

This is a good suggestion.