Income plummets after building a factory

[unmerged(110866)]

I'm playing as the Orange Free State, and its around 1870.

I saved up to build a Steel Factory, but as soon as I clicked to build, my daily balance went into the negative and I go bankrupt. Previously, I was on around +3 income per day.

Any ideas why this is happening?

 

[unmerged(42621)]

You probably started buying machine parts and other resources needed for the factory.

 

[unmerged(110866)]

But I must have had them stockpiled already surely?

I tried turning off auto-trade in case it was trying to replenish the stocks, but it still happens...

 

[unmerged(48686)]

You must have had them stockpiled in order to build but in your trade options
those goods are set to "buy: ..." or "sell.." so when you use them you will start buying new ones to refill the stockpile or stop selling those that you normaly sell untill your stockpile is back to normal.

Edit: To avoid this you can set all the needed goods to "sell above 0" after building but you will still have to buy the goods before building your next factory.

 

[unmerged(110866)]

Sorting out the trade goods has helped, but the money still plummets as soon as I build the factory. There seem to be different figures in the budget menu from those I see when I however over the bit in the top right that shows the current treasury:



Any ideas what's wrong?

 

[unmerged(77251)]

You need to exit the budget windows in order to have the engine register the change you just made. Just click somewhere on the map, and you'll be fine...

 

[unmerged(48686)]

Have you set the product the factory produces to sell? Maybe the factory just isn't profitable. If the goods the factory consumes are worth more than what it produces it could explain your loss of income. In that case you should build another type of factory or close this one until you have a tech and infrastructure that would make the factory worthwhile.

 

[Orm]

But I must have had them stockpiled already surely?

I tried turning off auto-trade in case it was trying to replenish the stocks, but it still happens...

You shouldn't try to turn off auto-trade. You should just turn it off and never turn it on again. The AI doesn't know what you need or want.

 

[henryjai]

your income is a bit horrible for steel factories...

 

[fbaker4]

if you look at the factory, you'll be able to see the cost of the inputs and the value of the output...

I've never played OrangeFS, but what are your sources of iron and coal?

also also, the mix of craftsmen and clerks working at the factory?

3 craftsmen and 2 clerks for every 5 slots is a good rule of thumb.

Has anyone run the effieciency metrics on pops and pop size for each type of factory?