Help is always appreciated
1. Introduction
Ever since Theotown was introduced, a certain part of the game attracted much following: numbers and charts. These components have become a staple in the game, where players will look at important figures (population, taxes, power, etc.) in charts that records the economic history of the player's city.
1.1 Basic mathematics in Theotown
With the advent of standardised sizing ratios (i.e. 3 pixels = 2 meters), we were able to effectively calculate measures of length in Theotown. This allows for better plugins to be made, since measurements are dependent on accuracy, rather than aesthetics to achieve realism for the player. These are important for skyscrapers, since they can't be oversized, or else you'll achieve hilarious outcomes. The simple 3 pixels=2 meters ratio allows for the calculation for the size of a tile.
In January 2017, Lobby made statements regarding the size of a tile. He stated, according to average measurements, a road is 8 meters in width, hence a tile is 8 meters in length and width. But mathematically, it's not faithful towards the standard ratio. There are two approaches to calculating it, as I did years ago when I was active in the game, was as such:
With such figures, you can calculate map lengths, and eventually, the areas of a map, as what Lobby initially did in his 2017 post. Use the population figures, and you're on your way to calculate population density.A. Where 3 pixels = 2 meters, 1 pixel = 2/3 meters (0.6666...);
B. A single tile is 16 pixels by 16 pixels in size (with a diagonal length of 32 pixels), if we ignore Pythagoras' theorem which increases the length to 22.6 pixels by 22.6 pixels (simple math), each tile would be 10.6666... meters in length and width.
C. The first approach would be to use the Pythagoras' theorem faithfully and get the result of 22.6 pixels by 22.6 pixels, i.e. each tile would be 15.0666 meters in length and width.
Both measurements are pretty accurate, and in some countries 11 meters is the standard width of a lane.
2. Purpose of project
This is a fun-project to determine reliable exchange rates between Theons, the official in-game currency in Theotown, with real life currency. Theons have been the official currency indicated in Theotown since mid-Alpha (circa. 2016). It's unsurprising that these calculations had been made, where a player tries to find their city's equivalent of wealth and purchasing power in real life. Once the rate is found, we can determine a lot of other numbers, one of them GDP and GDP per capita. Games like Europa Universalis 4 and Victoria 2 had several measures where these figures can be reliably calculated.
2.1 Issues within the project
There are several factors that might hinder any reliable calculations in Theotown:
- TT's only form of calculating the economy is through the income and taxes collected by the player. Taxes and personal income are not the only measure when it comes to the GDP of an economy. EU4 and VC2 countered this by including export and import figures, thereby allowing the calculation of production outputs and its comparable prices of raw materials used (both games had mechanics whereby a country produces raw materials, and these materials would have prices that'll fluctuate);
- There are no reliable comparisons we can make regarding comparing the price of an in-game item in Theons and its actual counterparts. The only few components where calculations can be made are as listed:
These methods will be individually tested and calculated in the next section.- Prices of a default plane based on their original models;
- Original maintenence prices of certain power plants or water pumps;
- Prices of electricity / water in the in-game trading system;
- Comparison of low, middle and high income individuals based on tax rates, and according to real life world average figures;
3. Specific introduction of calculation methods
(coming soon)
