シティ オブ ギャングスター - 究極の初心者向けガイド

City of Gangsters の包括的なビギナーズ ガイド。ゲームを開始するために知っておく必要があるすべてのことを詳しく説明しています。さらに、すぐに知る必要はないかもしれませんが、覚えておく価値のあるさらに多くのことを詳しく説明しています。

初心者向けの基本事項の決定版ガイド

基本

City of Gangsters は非常に深く多様なゲームであり、すぐに学ぶべきことがたくさんありますが、ほとんどの場合、かなり直感的でもあります。多くの場合、必要な手がかりは目の前にあるので、コツをつかむまで細部に注意を払ってください。このゲームの序盤を気ままにざっと目を通すだけでも、誤解、フラストレーション、ばかげたミスにつながるだけであり、おそらく少なからず自責の念に駆られることでしょう (そして、おそらくはすぐに殺されることにもなります)。時間をかけて、多くの便利なマップ オーバーレイなど (UI の左上にあるボタン)、さまざまなウィンドウがポップアップしたときに提供される豊富な情報、さらにはプレイ中の建物の説明やキャラクターの会話についても調べてください。これらすべてのものは、多くの場合、いくつかの有用なヒントと手がかりを提供します。それは単なる宣伝文句ではありません….

特に初期の頃は、画面上のさまざまなアイコンやボタン (各ターン中に画面の上部に表示される通知を含む) にマウスを合わせて、提供される情報について実際に考えてみてください。細かい部分を把握するのが早ければ早いほど、うまくいきます。このゲームでは、一見小さなことのように見えることが、一見したよりも重要であることがよくあります.

また、エンサイクロペディア (UI の左上) を頻繁に参照し、ゲームで新しいものに遭遇したときに適切な主題を検索することを強くお勧めします。ゲームで何か他のことをする前に、少なくとも百科事典のメイン セクションを読むことを検討してください。そこには真珠があります。

では、1 つのゲームはどのくらい続くのでしょうか。 「銃で撃たれるか刑務所に送られるまで！」と言いたくなる。しかし、これらの運命の両方をどうにかして回避した場合、1933 年 1 月 1 日に「レガシー ゴール」(勝利条件) のチェックが開始され、禁酒法が間もなく終了するまでに、およそ 660 週のターンが必要になるようです。本当に素晴らしいニュースは、それ以上プレイすることを妨げるものは実際には何もないということです.

アクション ポイント (AP)

通常、ターンごとにわずか 3 AP でゲームを開始します (Organized 特性で開始する場合は 4 AP)。キャラクターが経験を積むにつれて、これをターンごとに +1 AP ずつ、通常はターン 6 ～ 10 ほど増やす機会があります。 AP は、ゲーム内のほぼすべての有益なインタラクション (売買、未知のビジネスの調査、好意を呼び寄せてつながりを広める) で必要とされるため、このカテゴリ (その他の初期のオプションは移動または喧嘩) に最初の経験値を投資することを強くお勧めします。関係を築き、敬意を払うなど

ゲーム序盤のほとんどのターンでは、各ターンのチャンスを最大限に活用している場合は、すべての移動ポイント (MP) を使用する前に AP を使い果たす必要があります。次のターン ボタンを押す必要がある前に、ボス キャラクターでできる限り多くのことができるようにしたいと考えています。 4 番目 (または 5 番目) の AP が利用可能になったらすぐに自分自身に付与することで、実質的に 1 ターンあたり 33% (または 25%) 多くのことを行うことができ、初期の拡張と獲得できる機会を最大化できます。

CoG でのキャラクターの経験値の獲得は、多くのゲームで頻繁に行われるように、単に「提供された時間」ではないことに注意してください。実際、それは主にキャラクターの特徴、そのクルーメンバーが行っている仕事の種類、そしておそらくあなた自身のボスキャラクターにとって最も重要な、実行されたアクションの数と種類などに基づいています.より多くの AP をより早く利用できるようにし、ターンごとにそれらを有効に活用することで、自分のキャラクターがより多くの経験値をより早く獲得できる可能性が高いと思われます.

ただし、未使用の AP は次のターンに持ち越されません。それらは単に失われます – これは機会の損失に相当します。したがって、時々一時停止して (比喩的に言えば!)、実際に各ステップでどのように使用するのが最善かを計画することをお勧めします。この男にあと 2 ～ 5 杯の酒を売るために 1 AP を費やす価値があるでしょうか (つまり、1、2 ターン前に大量の配達物を彼に満タンに仕込んでおいたので、彼の需要はまだ低いのです)、それとも単純に移動するのが最善でしょうか?しばらく何も受け取っていないので、おそらくもっと多くを購入する別の顧客に？ AP は、群を抜いて最も価値のある資産です。可能な限り最高のリターンを得るために賢く使うことで、長期的に利益を得ることができます。

AP と MP の両方が、コーナーのフーリガンまたはライバルの衣装のメンバーに対して暴力を開始した瞬間にゼロに減少します (はい、これはまた、すべてがファンに当たった場合にすぐに逃げることができないことを意味します)。どうしても体力をつけなければならない場合は、少なくともそのターンの最後の AP を 1 つ消費し、場合によっては最後の数 MP を消費するようにしてください。慌ただしさの中で軽率に行動するのはもったいないので、常にビジネスを第一に考えてください。その上、復讐は冷やして食べるのが一番です。

移動ポイント (MP)

通常、1 ターンあたり約 10 の MP でゲームを開始します。スタート時のジャロピーを疾走する場合、隣接する制御されたコーナーまたは未請求のコーナーに移動するのに 1 MP しかかかりません。フーリガンの芝 (黄色の境界線) に移動するか、ライバルのアウトフィット (赤い枠線) の領域を通過するのに 3 MP かかります。その領土 – そして、まったく未知のコーナーを探索し、そこにあるものを学ぶための、なんと 5 つの MP が必要です。未使用の MP も次のターンに持ち越されません。

フーリガンまたはライバルの衣装に属する新たに発見されたコーナーの近くで探索移動を終了し、MP が 1 つまたは 2 つしか残っていない場合は、それらを使用して少し後退し、次の攻撃を受けるリスクを減らすことを検討してください。順番。攻撃的で非常に縄張り意識が強いヤクザがたくさんいて、彼らはあなたが裏庭の匂いを嗅ぐのを嫌がります。可能であれば、通常は誰かと敵対することを選択するまでは避けるのが最善です。そうしないと、彼らは簡単に迷惑になり、遅延し、かなりの時間、気を散らす可能性が高くなります.

各ターンに AP を最適に消費する方法を計画するときは、利用可能な MP の最適な使用方法も検討してください。MP がはるかに多いことを念頭に置いてください。たとえば、初期の積み込みスペースが限られているため、1 回の大きな配達を行った後、次の配達を行う前に基地に戻って再び満タンに積み込むのに費用がかかる場合があります。両方の顧客が同じコーナーを共有している場合でも.確かに、MP のコストが少し高くなるかもしれませんが、トランクに残っているものを販売するためだけに、1 つの大きな販売とはるかに小さな販売よりも 2 つの大きな販売の方が優れています….少数の AP から最大の価値を得ることを目指し、それを達成するために必要に応じて余分な MP を費やすことを検討してください。

AP が足りなくなったら、何も考えずに [次のターン] ボタンを押してはいけません。残りの MP を見てください。そのターンを非常に局所的なエリアで操作し、ほとんど動かなかったという理由だけで、驚くほどの金額が残っている場合があります。では、ターンを終了する前に、そこに向かい、別のコーナーを調査するのに十分な未踏のエリアに近づいているのでしょうか?それができない場合、次のターンの優先順位は何ですか?物事に飛びつくために、ターンを終了する前に別の場所に移動する価値はありますか?可能な限り事前に計画してください。

お金、お金、お金！

これがすべてです。ゲームの開始時、あなたは比較的少ない現金しか持っていませんが、その代わりに売れ残りの酒の山があり、あなたの親戚が所有する合法的なビジネスの倉庫に手軽に保管されています.ただし、実際には安全ではないため、これを作戦の開始基地と呼びます…しかし、そこまで行きます!)

あなたの最優先事項は、できるだけ早く、できるだけ多くの酒を売って、この開始時の酒の在庫を現金に変えることです.ホームメイド ビール、ハード サイダー、ブリック ワイン、ムーンシャイン、またはこれらの基本的な精製されていない酒の種類の組み合わせであるかどうかにかかわらず、通常、いくつかの既知のビジネスが存在します (つまり、マップ上にマーカーがはっきりと表示されます)。あなたを知っていて信頼している人々。

これらの取引先の一部は、1 つまたは複数の種類の違法な酒を熱心に取り扱い、「カウンターの下」または裏口で地元の顧客に販売します。あなたの観点からすると、彼らは仲介者、小売業者です。彼らには定期的な卸売業者が不足しているだけです。それがあなたの出番です.さびついた古いジャロピーを積み込んでそこにたどり着きますが、最初の在庫にある酒の種類ごとにリソース マップ オーバーレイ (左上) を使用して、誰が何を購入するかを確認します。

ゲームの開始時には、禁酒法が施行されてから数か月が経過しており、近隣全体がモハベ砂漠よりも乾燥しています。関心のある各企業は、あなたの高級品を数週間持ち続けるのに十分な在庫を喜んで購入します。ゲームの各ターンの長さはわずか 1 週間であることに注意してください。つまり、これらのビジネスが最初の配達のほとんどを売却してから、別の大量の荷物を受け入れるのに十分な空きスペースを確保するには、数ターンかかることを意味します。原則として、緊急または重要な何かのためにほんの少しの現金が本当に必要な場合を除き、最後の配送後すぐにそれらを販売しようとしても気にしないでください。少量で販売するのは重要な AP の無駄です.代わりに、かなりの量を受け入れることができ、喜んで受け入れる新しいバイヤーを探してください (これについては、関係、影響、好意のセクションを参照してください)。

ビジネス オーナーと価格を交渉して、割引を提供したり、より高い価格を要求したり、標準料金を受け入れることもできます (つまり、どちらにしても特定の取引はありません。交渉しない場合のデフォルトでもあります)。まったく）。あなたが行った取引は、その人に販売するすべての酒に適用され、その種類が何であれ、その後かなりの間そのままになります.最終的にその購入者との取引は失効し、その後に支払われる価格は、再交渉しない限り、自動的に標準料金に戻ります。

より高い価格を要求すると、明らかにより多くの利益が得られますが、割引を提供すると、その人と非常に良い関係をより迅速に構築し、より価値のある好意を得ることができます.標準レートでの販売は中間点であり、適切な利益を得ると同時に、良好な関係を着実に築き、恩義を得ることができます。

どのアプローチが最適ですか?まあ、それは物事がトリッキーになるところです。常に余分なお金を要求するのが賢明に思えるかもしれませんが (特にゲームの初期段階では、十分なお金を手に入れることはできません)、ビジネス上の連絡先、関係、恩義、将来の機会を急速に増やしたい場合は、それから、あなたの寛大さがそれ自体の報酬を得る時と状況があります.これは実際には、短期的な利益と長期的で持続的な利益の問題であり、最終的には犯罪帝国をどのように構築するかによって決まります。

最初のセーフハウス

ゲームの最初の重要な全体的な目標は、できるだけ早く $600 から $1000 を獲得することです (開始時に約 $150 もあることに注意してください)。できれば最初のターンで。これは、最初の酒の在庫をすべて完全に売却するのに通常はまったく時間がかからないためです。そのため、密造品ビジネスで大きくしたい場合は、何らかの形で定期的な酒の生産を開始する必要があります (その費用は、利用可能なオプションによって異なります）。すぐに最高の顧客に頻繁にサプライヤーになることで、定期的に生地をかき集め続けることができ、将来の拡大により迅速に資金を提供できます。

あなたにとって幸運なことに、あなたの出発点（あなたの「セーフハウス」）には十分な保管容量があるだけでなく、ここにはかなりの空の奥の部屋があり、合法的な所有者（あなたの親戚であると覚えています）は、あなたの悪党のために使用することに同意しました。多分新しい酒の生産操作をインストールするなどの活動…。家族がいてよかった。

その場所であなたの親戚が経営している実際の合法的なビジネスをよく見てください。運が良ければ、将来の製造目標にすぐに役立つ可能性があります。たとえば、一部の企業では、数週間ごとに固形の「グレープ コンセントレート」の余剰レンガを入手できる場合があります (そうです、このガンクは実際にはレンガの形にパッケージ化されています)。適切な生産セットアップで….酔っぱらう、味なんてどうでもいい！別の種類の合法的なビジネスでは、代わりに数ターンごとに余剰の「モルトシロップ」が生成され、ノウハウを持つ誰か (おそらくあなた) が「自家製ビール」を生産するために使用できます。などなど。

可能な限り、合法的なビジネスカバーによって実際に生産されている余剰リソースのタイプに基づいて、設定するバックルーム生産操作を選択します。これは、単にそのリソースが無料で、進行中であり、いずれにせよ定期的に倉庫に投棄されるためです (つまり、.追加の交通手段は必要ありません) ので、可能であれば有効に利用することをお勧めします。特に、その特定の種類の酒をすぐに購入できる地元の顧客が多すぎるとは思われないという理由だけで、そうするのをためらわないでください。 1 つまたは 2 つの方向に、1 つまたは 2 つの角を曲がったところに十分な数の熱心な買い手がすぐに見つかる可能性があります。 .

必要な現金を集めて、この最初の生産オペレーションを全体の絶対的な最優先事項として設定することを目指してください。これは、物を構築するのに時間がかかり (5 ターン)、最初の通常の生産にさらに時間がかかるため (さらに 3 ターン以上) からです。そこから大量の酒。開始は早ければ早いほどよいです。

また、新しい生産オペレーションのために、いくつかの石器クロック (または、正当な「カバー」ビジネスが実際に独自のクロックを生産している場合は、おそらく別の原材料) を購入する必要もあります。リソース マップ オーバーレイを使用して、必要なものの売り手を見つけ、少なくとも 100 ドルあることを確認し、買いだめします。これは非常に重要です。なぜなら、特定の生産オペレーションが、生産の最後のターンまでに、一杯の酒を生産するために必要なすべてのものを完全に保管していない場合、生産は停止し、代わりにまったく何も生産しないからです.

たまたま最初から実行可能な生産セットアップを得ることができなかった場合 (つまり、正当なビジネスを開始しても、すぐに利用できる基本的なリソースが実際に生産されない場合)、絶望しないでください。通常はそうであることが多いです。法律ビジネスを開始することによって生成されるリソースは、間違いなく将来の用途があるため、すべてが失われることはありません。その間、ストレージには、現時点でその出力を単純に備蓄するための十分なスペースがあります.これは、最初の酒の在庫を販売しながら、最初に連絡先を探索して話をするのにもう少し時間を費やす必要があることを意味します (また、1つまたは2つの新しい戦線を確立し、代わりにテリトリー/保護収入を早期に構築して支援することに集中する必要があります)物事を進めてください – 詳しくは以下を参照してください)。

そのようなイベントでは、最初のバックルーム生産の可能性をよく見て (特に、実際に設定するスキルを既に持っているものに関して - 通常、ゲームの開始時にリストの一番上にあるもののみ)、どの原材料( s) それらのいずれかを先に進める必要があります。たとえば、「モルト シロップ」と「コーン シロップ」を混同しないでください。それぞれのリソースには異なる目的があります。周囲の地域を探索し、新しい連絡先を作成し、良好なビジネス関係を構築するために支援を呼びかける際に、リソース マップ オーバーレイを使用して、必要なリソースを正確に見つけることができます。

必要なものを提供できる明確なサプライヤーがなくても、絶望しないでください。探索を続け、新しいビジネスを探し、人々と話をしてください。適切な取引を提案してくれる人に出会うのは時間の問題です (特に、マップ上のビジネス マーカーの下に突然表示されるミッション アイコンを探してください。これは、所有者が何かについてあなたに話したいことを示しています)。開始時の現金と特定の種類のコンテナをいくつか提供することに同意した場合。空の小さな樽、彼らはあなたが望むリソースを喜んで提供し、必要な場所に届けます.これらの特定のタイプの「リソース供給」ミッションは、通常、好きなだけ繰り返すことができるため (つまり、ミッションを開いたままにしておくことができます)、継続的な供給と、必要に応じてそのリソースを実際に備蓄する能力の両方を確保できます。

最初のバックルーム操作で最初の生産実行に必要なすべてが最終的に保管されたとき、世界はあなたのカキです.ビジネスコネクションをさらに拡大する時が来ました….

関係、影響、恩恵

あなたが接触するすべての人は、彼ら、彼らの家族、友人とのあなたの関係に基づいてあなたとの関係を築きます（あなたが同じ民族性を持っている場合にもかなり役立ちます）。間に。これは、あなたが知っている各人物の便利な関係バーとして表示されます。これは、すべての意図と目的に対して、その人物に対するあなたの影響力と見なすことができます (詳細な内訳については、バーの上にマウスを置きます)。緑色のバーは良好で、赤色は不良です。緑色のバーが高いほど、関係が良好であり、基本的に彼らとの影響力が大きくなります。ここまでは初歩的なことですが、ご了承ください….

何でこれが大切ですか？簡単に言えば、あなたは違法な商品を扱っています。つまり、高貴で強大な、あなたよりも神聖なタイプが決定した密造酒は非合法化されるべきです。もちろん、これはこれまでになくばかげた考えですが、あなたに関する限り、これは素晴らしい考えでもあります。これらの馬鹿は実際に液体の金を作成しました.

あなたの近所の事業主の多くは、物を静かに売買することを厭いませんが（そして、彼らが運営する合法的な事業の種類に惑わされないでください - それは文字通り何でもありえます！）、アダムから、彼らは単にあなたから購入するのに十分なほどあなたを信頼しません.彼らが知っている限り、あなたは彼らを閉じ込めようとする禁止エージェントのスツールである可能性があるため、ここから少し複雑になります。まず、その関係、本質的なレベルの信頼を築く必要があります。ここで、非常に便利な好意の出番です。

誰かとの関係が良好になればなるほど、彼らはあなたに借りがある恩寵が増えます。彼らのために何かをしてください - 彼らのニーズを提供するだけでも - 彼らはあなたのために何かをしてくれます. 「あなたは私の背中を傷つけます…」など。AP と手持ちの現金に次ぐ重要な資産は、好意です。賢く使ってください。

誰かがあなたのためにできる最も有用な好意の 1 つは、彼らが知っている他の誰かにあなたを紹介し、そうすることであなたに良い言葉をかけることです.あなたを保証するために、彼らはあなたにその新しい連絡先との最初の関係のボーナスを与えます（その程度は、彼らがこの第三者を実際にどれだけよく知っているか、または彼らがどれほど密接に関係しているかに基づいています）、少なくとも少しの信頼を植え付けるのに十分であり、彼らがあなたに対処することへの最初の抵抗を克服するのを助けてください.

これは、相互に有益な長期にわたるビジネス関係を築くために構築できるものですが、信頼できる人からの良い言葉がなければ、多くの場合、それは実現しません。売り物を持っているか、必要なものを売っていますか?」友好的な連絡先が利用可能であれば、おそらくこれまでで最も有益な質問の 1 つです。もちろん、利用可能な AP やその他の現在の優先事項が許す限り、遅かれ早かれ電話する価値のある 1 つの好意です。

地元の「トラブルメーカー」（つまり、特定の、通常はかなり近くにあるコーナーのフーリガン）との紹介に関連して、非常によく似た好意リクエストが利用できる場合もあります。これらも同様に追求する価値があることが多く、AP が許可します。これらのマイナーな凶悪犯に実際に対処することにあまり興味がない場合でも、関係ブーストは通常​​、その特定のフーリガンがクルーを直接攻撃するのをかなりの間防ぐのに十分です.

新しく紹介されたビジネス (またはフーリガン) の連絡先は、まだ探索していない隅にある場合があります。そのコーナーはクリアされ、あたかも自分で探索したかのようにマップ上に表示されますが、実際にそこに移動したり、5 MP を消費したりする必要はありません。これは素晴らしいボーナスです。これは、特定のエリアを実際に探索するのに多くのMPを費やす前に、常に「誰か知っていますか...」タイプの好意を遅かれ早かれ使用するもう1つの正当な理由です.

好意はゲーム内で他にも多くの用途があり、このトピックはおそらく戦略ガイドに値するでしょう…しかし今のところ、実際に酒を売ったり購入したりするために AP を使用する必要がない場合は、少なくとも心に留めておく価値があります。必要なリソース (特に初期の段階では、この点で静かなターンがあります)、またはまったく新しい連絡先に紹介される場合は、既存の関係をさらに向上させるために余剰の好意を呼び寄せることも検討してください。

既知の連絡先の 1 人に、（特に）親しい家族や親しい友人と一緒にあなたに良い言葉をかけてくれるように依頼することは、たとえあなたがすでにその第三者を知っていて対処していたとしても、その人とより良い関係を築くだけでなく、 （彼らがあなたをもっと好きで信頼すれば、将来あなたにとってより多くの、またはより良い機会につながる可能性があります）。その後、これらの新しい好意の一部を現金化して、ビジネス上の連絡先をさらに広げ、さらに多くの既存の連絡先とより良い関係を築くことができます。また、そうすることで、さらに多くの新しい好意を得ることができます… ローマの帝国建設者が言っていたように、無限に.

ビジネス上の連絡先と全体的な良好な関係の広範なネットワークを着実かつ継続的に構築することは、将来の犯罪帝国全体の基礎の 1 つです。それに応じて処理してください。

家族、友人、支援 / 人を傷つける

近所に家族や他の既存の連絡先があるように、あなたが接触するすべての人にも、家族、友人、知人が散らばっています。これらの社会的つながりは、ゲームにおいて非常に重要です。

特定の人の既知の連絡先や関係を見るときは、あなたがまだ完全に知らない人を知っていることが多いことに注意してください.その第三者に偶然会った後（たとえば、新しいコーナーを探索してそこでのビジネスを調査するなど）、その後関係が明らかになるため、この新しい人の連絡先を確認して、すでに知っている可能性のある他の人を確認することもできます。あなたに良い言葉をかけて、この新しい関係を築くのを助けることができます.

口コミがすべてです。間違った人を動揺させたり傷つけたりすると、他の人があなたと取引をするのを嫌がるようになるかもしれません。あなたが筋肉をつけたり、殴ったり、殺したりしようとしているその男は？たぶん、彼のいとこは、あなたが本当にすぐに必要になるかもしれない貴重でかなり希少な資源を販売するビジネスを経営しています.あるいは、彼にはいつの日かあなたの最も熟練した価値ある乗組員になるかもしれない甥や姪がいるかもしれません。

注意しないと、このゲームで自分の足を撃ってしまうのは非常に簡単です。

一方、他の人を助けること、または相互に有益で繁栄するビジネス関係を通じて、または共通の友人に良い言葉をかけてもらうことによって、単に彼らと良い友達になることは、あなたに大きな利点と新しい機会をもたらす可能性があります。事前にすぐにわかるとは限りません…。口コミは双方向に作用します。

最終的に自分に害を及ぼす可能性のある行動をする前に考え、その人と本当に体を動かす必要があるかどうかを自問してください。攻撃的に行動する前に、少なくとも相互に知られているつながりを確認してください。これは、あなたの暴力行為によって実際に誰が動揺する可能性があるかをよりよく知るためです.これは、地元のビジネス オーナーと同じように、地元の片隅のフーリガンやライバルのギャングのメンバーにも当てはまります。最も重要なサプライヤー、最も収益性の高い顧客、または最もつながりのある連絡先は、実際にはその特定の悪党の親戚または親しい個人的な友人である可能性があります。 'ちょうどそれの地獄のために'レッスンを教えようとしています'.

しかし、ミスター・ナイス・ガイ（ほとんどの人が関心を持っているところ）であることは、あなたのケーキのスライスを探して、帽子を手にしているように見える人が増えていることにもつながります.だまされてはいけません – 額面上、配布資料のもう 1 つの魅力のように見えるものでも、最終的には、その人とのより良い関係を構築するという点だけでなく、何らかの形であなたにとって有益であることが判明することがよくあります。彼らを助けるために。もちろん、すべての機会を慎重に検討してください。ただし、対話で何かがどのように表現されるかという理由だけで、否定的な結論に飛びつかないでください。これらの一見帽子をかぶった会話には、最初に目にする以上のことがよくあります。

新しいビジネスの探索と調査

せいぜいほんの数ターン以内に、通常、最初の酒の株を売ったことに気付くはずです。最初の生産操作は順調に進行しており、必要なものがすべて揃っています。また、あなたはおそらく、利用可能な初期の好意を、慎重に行うように思われる限り多く呼びかけました。特に、新しい連絡先を紹介してくれるものです.新しい生産オペレーションが最初の大量の酒を大量に生産し、販売に戻らなければならない前に、少し息抜きができることを願っています。この時間を賢く利用してください。

自分のすぐ近所以外では、基本的な通りのレイアウトしか認識しておらず、密室で何が起こっているかは、1 つまたは 2 つの角だけではわかりません。酒の新しいバッチが生産されるまでに何回のターンが空いているかを再確認し、新しいコーナーを探索するたびに 5 MP かかることを念頭に置いて、適切な探索回路を大まかに計画します。今後の酒の配達の合間にも定期的にこれを行い、身の回りにあるものについての知識を徐々に広げていきます。 Where possible, aim to always be exploring quite a way ahead of your actual territory expansion in any particular direction, so you can better plan in advance exactly which businesses might make the best ‘Fronts’ (see below) for your future expansion into that area.

As you explore each new corner, any businesses located there will also be revealed, each costing 1 AP to then carefully ‘scope out’ and learn what might be going on there of possible interest to you. Do take the time to also interact with each such business owner after scoping them out (it doesn’t cost APs to merely introduce yourself to them, only to take the conversation further in some specific way). Although most will be unknown to you – and vice-versa – and so reluctant to deal with you just yet, occasionally one may also know an existing contact of yours and will be pleased to finally meet you in person, having heard (you hope) only good things about you…. Those sharing the same ethnicity as you will generally also immediately be more open to a possible fruitful relationship, as will some business owners with certain traits (if particularly Friendly, for instance).

Actually interacting with each newly-discovered business owner also gives you chance to better assess how valuable this business might be to you in future, either as a supplier or a potential customer, or perhaps even as a Front for local territory expansion. Check out the character traits of potential Front operators, in particular, for example with a view to minimizing the Heat they would generate in that role, or to determine how resistant they might prove to the idea of operating a Front for your organization (e.g. someone who is a staunchly Upright citizen would outright refuse to become too closely involved with your illegal activities).

As you explore in the early days, it’s always worth remembering that it’s often a good idea to back off a little or simply change direction when you encounter a Hooligan or rival Outfit territory, to avoid antagonizing them and becoming distracted by their tendency to leap into immediate hostility…. You have more important things to do with your time and energies than to tussle with every two-bit, lowlife hood out there – you have an empire to build.

Also bear in mind that all vehicles suffer wear &tear, and will slow down with increased wear (automobiles in the Roaring Twenties were rarely known for their reliability!). In particular, before heading out on what might prove to be a lengthy exploratory journey heading well away from a friendly garage owner, do first check your vehicle’s status bar to see if it’s anywhere near in need of repair.

Fronts, Territory, Respect &Protection

First up, note that a ‘Front’ in this game refers specifically (and only) to any legitimate business whose owner you have convinced – by calling in a Favor – to act as the local presence of your organization for the express purpose of building your local Respect and extending the territory under your control (and thereafter to collect on your behalf any ‘protection’ money you may have convinced other local &nearby businesses to pay you each month).

Conversely, the legitimate businesses providing hidden backrooms in which you can store resources and set up illegal operations – such as the starting ‘Safehouse’ owned by your relative – are in this game known as ‘Cover’ businesses, not ‘Fronts’. It’s an important distinction to bear in mind to avoid confusion.

Think very carefully about which business owners you approach to act as a Front for your organization, and always take the owner’s own character traits into consideration – such as with a view to possibly reducing the Heat they may generate in this role, or maybe their ability to more strongly resist a rival gang member’s attempts to intimidate &‘subvert’ them. A person’s traits may also affect their willingness to even operate a Front on your behalf, sometimes needing a better, more trusting relationship with that person before they will agree. You may need a mutual contact to put in a good word for you to overcome their reluctance, or perhaps merely to boost relations a little by delivering more booze to them first, if this is something they’re interested in dealing in.

In addition to calling in a Favor, each Front will also cost you cash to set up. The amount increases substantially for each additional Front based on the number of Fronts already under your control, and also costs more the farther away its own location relative to your original Safehouse. In effect, future potential Front operators know you need them far more than they need you, and they will charge accordingly to compensate themselves for the risks involved – especially the farther away they are from the protective heart of your Outfit’s territory.

As soon as a new Front is in operation, that corner will immediately become part of your territory (it doesn’t need to be adjoining your existing territory, or even anywhere close for that matter). You can then instruct its owner to begin working on increasing your Outfit’s local Respect and expanding your territory into an adjoining, uncontrolled corner. This takes both time to complete and a little bit of cash each subsequent month to maintain and increase your Respect there. If the Front expands into a corner you have yet to explore, upon completion that corner will clear and any local businesses will become visible on the map, as if explored for yourself.

Although you cannot set up another new Front while an existing one is actively working on territory expansion, it is possible to instruct all existing Fronts to simultaneously work on expanding your Respect &territory in their particular area – where still possible for each to do so – simply by visiting each one in turn and discussing the matter with them.

Each Front is capable of steadily extending your controlled territory into all immediately connected, adjacent corners, so you will want to avoid overlapping potential expansion too much as there’s little sense in having two Fronts both being able to expand into the exact same corner, since only one of them will do so. That said, depending on the local street layout, sometimes it may be better to overlap Fronts expansion a little where needing to be very precise in their placement, e.g. to avoid leaving too many gaping holes in your territory as you expand (especially, perhaps, in terms of the higher movement cost for rival gang members moving into / through your territory, compared to them speedily whizzing through any gaps you may have conveniently left for them to use).

Fully expanded into all adjacent corners, a Front will typically cost $20-$40/month to maintain your Respect and territory, and if this cash is not provided in fairly timely fashion you risk losing all the territory so far accrued around there. There are two ways to cover the cost of maintaining your Fronts / territory:the first is to visit them every month or so and simply hand over the necessary cash out of your own pocket (perhaps not the best use of your personal time and energy, but necessary now &then).

The second way to pay for your Fronts is to put a little time &effort into extorting at least some of the local &nearby business owners, by visiting each of them in turn and asking them nicely to each pay you $20/month for ‘protection’ from all the nasty people out there… “or else”. You can only extort a business if it is located within territory you already control, which is just one good reason for steadily but continually expanding your Outfit’s territory.

Once again, pay careful attention to the owner’s character traits, as some will be much more resistant to intimidation than others. Being unable to convince a particular business owner to pay up on demand is bound to negatively impact your local Respect, forcing you to take ever more extreme measures to enforce the demand, or face having to embarrassingly skulk away with your tail between your legs…. Neither outcome is the desired one:immediate (and preferably, willing) compliance is the only satisfactory outcome from your point of view – even if they mutter under their breath on your way out the door.

Your local Front will collect all such ‘contributions’ for you each month thereafter, will automatically subtract the monthly cost of maintaining your Respect / territory in their area, and will hold any surplus / profit for you to collect whenever you feel like dropping by to pick it up (bearing in mind this costs 1 AP for each, so only do so when it’s actually worth collecting, or if you really need just a bit more cash for some urgent purpose). Later on, with more Crew members on your payroll, you will be able to delegate &automate these envelope pick-ups / payments to Front owners for monthly maintenance where needed.

While the ‘Protection’ racket can build up to provide quite a lucrative additional income stream over time, do bear in mind everything we have previously discussed concerning violent acts, social connections and word of mouth… or else, to borrow an appropriate phrase. Actually ruining your relationship with too many business owners just for the sake of $20 each per month could prove extremely detrimental in the longer term. Willing contributors, however (i.e. those with whom you still have a reasonable relationship despite the negative impact of extorting them), are less likely to affect you badly in some way, and in time most people will come to accept that the protection racket is just another unavoidable cost of doing business in this particular neighborhood. That said, while they may one day cease resenting it, that doesn’t mean they will ever actually like it.

Cover Buildings &Backroom Operations

A backroom operation is an illegal business set up behind the ‘Cover’ of a legitimate business; your starting ‘Safehouse’ being the first such building already available to you for this purpose. As you grow your local Respect and expand your territory with Fronts – and build up your business connections &relationships – new opportunities will become available to you, via your business contacts, to increase the number of backroom operations under your control, by investing in other people they know who would be willing to run new legitimate ‘Cover’ businesses for you.

The base cost of investing in a new Cover building, in which you can then install a backroom operation, is heavily dependent on the amount of storage space it has available (so the cost of just your second such building will on average range somewhere between $500-$1,000 based mainly on its available storage capacity) but also on the rarity of this particular business type and other factors such as what, if any, useful resources it also produces.

In addition, just like for establishing new Fronts, the cost will also be higher the more Cover buildings you already control, and is also further increased by its actual location relative to (i.e. its distance from) your starting Safehouse – just as it is for each new Front. There may however also occasionally be a very pleasant surprise waiting for you in the new building’s storeroom, if you’re lucky….

There are three overall types of illegal backroom operations able to be set up in a controlled Cover building, each requiring cash, one or more known Skills, and certain types of construction resources to build. You must place the needed cash &materials in the building itself in order to set up its backroom operation (the same applies for any future upgrade or expansion). Each building can have only a single backroom operation installed, however, so choose carefully from the options you have available at that time (determined by the Outfit-wide Skills you have acquired up to that point – see further below). All backroom operations essentially fall into one of three possible overall types:

• Production operations – Presses, distilleries, stills, bottling and manufacturing operations which refine ingredients into valuable alcohol resources.
• Logistics operations – Garages, depots, and repair bays that support the expansion and upkeep of your vehicle fleet.
• Sales operations – Bootleggers, speakeasies, and clubs which sell alcohol direct to the public, cutting out the middleman and substantially increasing your profits by doing so.

Buildings with higher storage capacity – i.e. those tending to be the more expensive ones you can buy into at any given time – are perhaps best reserved for production facilities wherever possible, since these types generally have greater need of extra storage capacity in their day-to-day operations (especially when fully expanded / upgraded).

While it’s entirely possible to place a production operation in a smaller (i.e. generally cheaper) building, you may over time find that its more limited storage capacity proves problematic and could even hinder its smooth operation when you begin expanding &upgrading it…. This is however still pure conjecture on my part, based entirely on the significant differences in available storage space for different building types noticed in the Demo game (i.e. there must surely be a good reason for the substantial size and cost differences, and this is the most likely one I can think of! I could be completely wrong though).

In addition to storing supplies and alcohol output – i.e. any actual resources – any of your controlled buildings can also be used to store cash and spare weapons. Storage in buildings is generally safer than carrying any excess around with you in your vehicle(s), but given the game’s setting there’s a strong likelihood they may at times be raided by such as Prohibition Agents, and definitely by rival Outfits (once these actually explore the area and learn of its existence). As a general rule, don’t put all your eggs in one basket if you can possibly help it – the term ‘Safehouse’ is only a label, and not one to be taken literally. Even your starting one.

As you expand, you will also be able to assign new Crew members to act as Managers for your various backroom operations. Where possible, choose people with appropriate character traits for the task you have in mind. For example, intelligent or hard working people are ideal for managing production operations, while talkative, friendly or kindly types are better suited to dealing direct with customers, either by making booze deliveries or in managing an actual backroom sales outlet of your own.

All backroom operations have upgrades and expansions possible over time (again, derived from the actual Outfit-wide Skills your gang has acquired to date), improving efficiency and productivity, and ultimately, profits. In some cases, Managers need specific traits (or even particular personal skills, for some much later, high level upgrades) in order to take advantage of many backroom expansions &upgrades, so choose your Managers wisely according to trait descriptions, and also increase personal skills appropriately when the opportunity arises.

In the Demo Game at least, it was possible to move a Manager from one building to another (simply by removing &reassigning them) in order to perform some basic upgrades, and the upgrade continued to work even when the Manager moved on again – handy until you have more good Managers available. However, do note that on the turn a particular backroom Manager gains experience and gets to improve a personal skill, some of the options available for that new skill gain will be specific to the type of operation they are currently running, so remember to always move them back to the operation you want that person to actually specialize in.

Any building under your control can also be used by yourself or any Crew member to lie low for a while and recover from any injury sustained. To do so, simply drive that person back to a building’s corner:if currently injured, on arrival there a button will appear beside that person’s listing on the right, which when clicked will have them rest up for the remainder of the turn and in doing so recover some health. APs and MPs will probably be reduced to zero at this point, so maybe consider using some of these first if that Crew member is only ‘Roughed Up’ and can still perform some useful tasks along the way.

Your Crew, Traits &Personal Skills

The maximum size of your Crew at any given time is directly linked to the amount of territory and the number of buildings you control. Every five corners or each new building allows one additional Crew member; the rough idea being that for every five corners you add to your territory you can also have one additional new member driving around and helping to keep things running smoothly, and for every new building you buy into you can shortly after also hire a new manager for its backroom operation. The type of Crew member you hire, and the role you assign them, is however entirely up to you and is more likely to be determined by the sort of people you currently have available for hire, as well as perhaps such as your actual current truck capacity / spare cash with which to invest in new vehicles.

Generally speaking, the more good business relationships you have, the more options you will have in the number and type of people available to you for hire as actual Crew members, as many of your best contacts will know of interested people they can introduce you to as soon as you have spare Crew capacity. This is just one more reason why the bigger your network of good business relationships, the better. Hiring a relative or close friend of an existing contact will also boost your relationship with that particular contact (as well as your relationship with other relatives and friends when they hear of your good deed), so even this consideration may at times have some bearing on your actual choice for the next new Crew member.

Your main consideration in choosing a new Crew member, however, should concern their specific character traits and abilities. Some of these are clearly positives (intelligent, hard working, strong, etc.) while some are decidedly negative. Some are however very good in certain ways, or maybe specific situations, but bad in others. Such people can still be very useful, even advantageous for you, if you are careful in the type of role or even specific tasks assigned them – study the full descriptions for all the various character traits &abilities very carefully indeed, to really make the most of each Crew member.

One thing you should not do is wait too long before hiring someone new whenever you have the spare capacity and can afford to do so, even if you’re not certain you can make full use of that person just yet. There are enough indications to suggest that both current Crew size and their capabilities (available weapon types / quantity in particular, but maybe also certain traits and personal skills, where these would logically enhance the fearsome reputation of your Outfit in the underworld) have a direct impact in various ways. For example, having a bigger / tougher Crew will definitely help give your Front operators the confidence they will need to more firmly resist any attempt by rival Outfits to intimidate &‘subvert’ them / nibble away at your territory. It stands to reason that this could therefore also be an important overall factor considered by the actual bosses of rival Outfits, when deciding if they should even risk making an enemy of you in the first place (although their own personality could at times be the main, overriding factor in all such decision-making).

All Crew members gain experience while working for you, often specific to the type of role they’re currently involved in. Someone spending their time active on the street and driving around will, like your boss character, be able to choose skill gain in APs, MPs or Brawling. Regular delivery drivers will also have additional options for skill gain, specific (and very beneficial) to that role. Managers of backroom operations will instead gain experience in entirely different areas of expertise, some general in nature to all Managers, and some specific to the actual type of operation they are currently running for you. Specialization in expertise is likely to prove very advantageous in the long term, so again, plan ahead wherever possible when deciding how best to improve each of your Crew member’s personal skills.

Unsurprisingly, the people you hire to work for you expect to be paid. If they’re not paid each &every week, they won’t work. While any Crew member out on the street carrying some of your cash (e.g. from selling your booze) will happily draw his or her salary directly from that wad in their pocket if needed, any Crew members not necessarily dealing in cash – such as Managers for your production operations – can only draw their salary from cash currently stored in any controlled building. No pay, no work:unpaid Crew will become unassigned from their current role, won’t perform any work that week (and probably also won’t gain any experience that turn), and will need reassigning again.

Always aim to leave enough cash in one or more buildings to cover your wage bill each turn (or ideally for several turns, to be on the safe side) to avoid potentially costly disruption to your vital operations. In the early days especially, this means you will have to remain acutely aware of precisely when your next batch of booze will actually be produced / ready to sell, and be certain to not spend / invest too much of your current cash-on-hand before more will come in again to cover your regular wage bill.

Outfit Skills

In addition to skill gains personal to each individual Crew member, mostly based on the role they are currently performing, there are also a significant number of broader, Outfit-wide skills which, once gained, may be utilized by any member of your Outfit as needed. These main skills generally relate to backroom operations (and associated logistics activities), such as Brick Wine Production skill needed to install a backroom operation to produce – yes, you guessed it – Brick Wine.

You start the game knowing only one or two of these major Outfit skills, and the pursuit of more is (or at least, should be) one of your main aims throughout the game, as there are a significant number and variety of these to benefit from and help grow your criminal empire in diverse and interesting ways.

Also included in this category of skills are all the ones needed to improve the actual efficiency and/or productivity of the various backroom operations, in the form of expansions and upgrades for each, often specific to a particular type of operation. For example, your Outfit having Sanitary Measures skill will allow your Managers to upgrade various types of booze production facilities and gain some worthwhile benefits for a relatively low installation cost.

There isn’t any sort of ‘tech tree’ in this game. Instead, these Outfit-wide skills are gained from your various business contacts semi-randomly, usually as a reward for the completion of missions, so once again it pays to have a substantial network of good to excellent relationships so you have a lot of new skills options to consider. Call in a Favor, do something nice for them (often at considerable cost, sometimes in time, APs and MPs spent as well as actual money), and they will reward you with some new &very useful knowledge – while also looking even more favorably upon you as a result.

You will generally find, if you steadily grow your business connections and relationships, that there is no shortage of new skills on offer – or at least, the missions available to gain such. The limiting factor at any given time will instead be your inability to pursue them all straight away due to a simple lack of spare cash on hand, making it necessary to choose very carefully indeed which to pursue. There’s probably little point in gaining a new main Outfit skill unless you are fairly sure you can put it to good use shortly after, otherwise it will be little more than a sinkhole for a sizable chunk of your working capital until such time as you can make proper use of it…. Granted, if it sounds like something immediately worthwhile, sometimes you just have to take a gamble, cross your fingers, and hope for the best!

Cars &Trucks

All vehicles in the game fall into one of two broad categories:cars and trucks. As you would expect, cars are generally faster but have limited load space, while trucks are slower but can carry much more. The number of each you can have available to your gang is determined by different things. The number of cars you can have is simply limited to the number of Crew members you currently have, while your truck capacity is instead mostly determined by the number of ‘parking spaces’ provided by your controlled buildings / certain types of purpose-built backroom operations such as garages, depots and repair bays (once you have gained the appropriate Outfit skill for each, of course).

Expanding and maintaining the logistical side of things will, over the course of a full game, undoubtedly prove every bit as important as building your production facilities, sales outlets, Crew members &Outfit skills, available weaponry, network of business &underworld connections, and overall good relationships.

Maintaining your delivery fleet in good working order will also prove vital to the smooth operation of your growing criminal empire. All vehicles suffer wear &tear when in use and will require periodic repairs to avoid grinding to a halt by the roadside (i.e. do keep an occasional eye on the status bar displayed below each vehicle in use, on the right of the screen). Any friendly garage owner will perform this service – for a fee, usually $50-$150 – if you have the cash on you, until such time as you are able to develop your own repair facilities.

Be aware that you may have to call in a Favor for such an introduction, as these guys are just like any other business owner – they won’t often deal with a distinctly shady-looking character like you unless someone they trust tells them you can be trusted, too… then they’ll quite happily turn a blind eye to the bullet holes, strong whiff of stale booze, and often suspicious-looking cargo.

In addition to ordinary wear &tear, vehicles can also suffer extra damage when in the vicinity of violence, so it’s logical to assume that any actual gunfire is likely to increase both the risk and perhaps also the extent of damage possible – maybe even depending on the actual number of people blasting away in a sidewalk shootout, and the type of weapons being used. Keep an eye on this when the lead starts flying, just in case sudden major repairs are urgently needed.

Experience in the Demo game, albeit limited in this particular respect, seemed to suggest that prices for new vehicles can and do vary, so it may well pay to shop around. Always at least talk to every suitable business owner you come across to see what they have available and at what price, even if not yet ready to buy (it does not cost APs to merely inquire, only to buy), and make a mental note for future reference. Given the importance of Relationships in the game in general, it also seems likely that you may get a better deal – or better options in some other way – from someone with whom you have built an excellent relationship, compared to buying from someone you barely know.

Note that some missions from business contacts can also provide you with additional vehicles, either cheaper than normal and/or simply as a bonus for fulfilling that mission. It’s also possible to acquire cheaper vehicles by other means. A friendly, business-minded Hooligan, for instance, may occasionally lay their hands on a stolen or junked vehicle and be willing to sell it to you for a fraction of its value – though it will often also be in dire need of repair before being of much use for the purpose intended.

Automating Deliveries

As your organization grows, you will be able to automate many of the activities needed to maintain a well-oiled machine dedicated to churning out ever more profit. It is also relatively easy to adjust and fine-tune each of these over time, to make sure each remains as time- and cost-efficient as possible. As things develop and expand, it will likely pay to occasionally double-check each of the older automated routes in turn, with an eye to tweaking things to make the most of recent opportunities and ensure that each Crew member assigned to automated activities is still doing the best job possible.

In addition to scheduling the delivery of surplus alcohol to your growing network of business contacts, and buying in fresh supplies of needed resources, you will also be able to automate the process of moving resources between your own operations, such as regularly transporting basic, unrefined booze (e.g. Brick Wine) to a separate refining operation (e.g. to turn it into more profitable Sparkling Wine), and of course supplying booze to your own established backroom sales outlets as a top priority, maximizing your profits by cutting out some of the middlemen.

You will also be able to automate the process of collecting Protection money from your various Fronts, as well as automatically providing your Fronts with any cash needed to continue maintaining or expanding your Respect / territory in that area, wherever there’s currently a shortfall due to a lack of local Protection income.

Do remember, however, that Cash is also considered a ‘resource’ when automating things. It needs to be specifically dropped off and/or picked up, as needed, at appropriate buildings along the scheduled route, just as other resources are. While this may seem glaringly obvious to you and I, for some reason this simple fact seemed to escape several YouTubers covering the game to date… so I figured it was maybe worth a reminder.

The question of precisely when to begin automating things a little is the important one. On the one hand, your first additional Crew member will prove absolutely vital to you in helping to free up more of your own time to devote to expanding your business contacts, setting up new Fronts and dealing with their operators, building better relationships, and exploring unknown territory / scoping out new businesses. He or she could, for example, keep your booze deliveries (and profits) flowing smoothly while you are personally otherwise engaged, but to really make the most of this person’s time as well (APs &MPs, and the ability to easily vary their activities accordingly each turn) it is probably best done manually for a while, as with your boss character’s activities.

Conversely, however, you would actually gain a further relationship bonus with each contact buying your booze if they know you value their custom highly enough to have become part of your regular (automated) delivery schedules, rather than continue to be treated as just an occasional outlet as &when you have spare stuff to sell…. The sooner you can provide more of your valued customers with this high level of reassurance, by being included – and supplied – as part of a regular, automated delivery schedule, the better for your relationship with them.

By the same token, while your production is limited and booze is still in relatively short supply, spreading it around more contacts – some here, some there – may cost your first automated delivery Crew member more APs and MPs overall, but in this instance at least, it may pay dividends in building more and better relationships over the wider neighborhood (rather than with just a small number of very local, but often fully-stocked, businesses), by including more of your customers on an automated delivery schedule and thereby potentially earning that extra relationship bonus with each one.

This could in fact be even more useful if your delivery guy also happens to be the type that naturally gets along very well with most people – thereby earning an extra relationship bonus with each visit, or possibly some other benefit, during his regular dealings with them – and he or she may then also work on improving appropriate personal ‘delivery’ type skills to boost this further….

It’s all a matter of pros and cons, but it’s certainly something worth thinking about.

Cops, Police Precincts &Heat

Each and every corner of the map falls under the jurisdiction of one particular Police Precinct, and for each Precinct there will be one main cop physically represented on the map to show where such as increased police activity is taking place in their local area. From your point of view, however, you may also consider this person to be the local Precinct ‘bagman’ – the cop responsible for collecting pay-offs from shady characters such as yourself and quietly spreading it around the boys back at the station, so they are all more inclined to look the other way and leave your Crew alone to conduct your business (and make the money to continue paying them off!) without interference.

Until such time as you can spare some cash to pay off the cops, however, you will need to be very careful about where you or any other Crew member end each turn’s move – or at least, with what you are carrying in your vehicle at that time. Prohibition era cops were very poorly paid in general, so unless you are bribing them to leave you alone they will have no hesitation in shaking you down if given sufficient cause (and just being on the wrong corner at the wrong time is deemed ‘sufficient cause’!), confiscating your cash, weapons and illicit cargo before slapping you on the wrist and sending you on your way. This could prove extremely expensive and damaging – especially in the early game when you desperately need every dime you have – so it can definitely pay to have some local cops in your pocket sooner rather than later.

Before the local cop ‘bagman’ will even consider accepting a pay-off from you, however, he will need to know and trust you a little, making it necessary to first gain an introduction from a mutual friend that can vouch for you. Cops are only human though, so they also enjoy being praised for their sterling efforts in maintaining law &order in the neighborhood, and will respond accordingly if approached…. Hypocrisy knows no bounds, on either side of the law.

Once you have the local cops securely in your pocket, you can thereafter effectively ignore the Heat being generated by your Outfit’s criminal activities, at least while operating within any Precinct boundary currently on your payroll, and provided you avoid doing too much which even they cannot blithely ignore (excessive murder &mayhem, for instance).

Until such time however, or when operating outside of friendly Precincts, you have to be very careful to never end your turn carrying illegal goods in an area of high Heat, otherwise the risk of being apprehended &stripped of your valuables is also extremely high. You will also find yourself unable to deal with any business owner who is wary of the local police presence (if you’re not yet paying them off, that is), when drawn there by high Heat, and those cops may hang around and get in your way for several weeks until the Heat dies down a little – obviously also in hope of a pay-off to go away. Use the Heat map overlay often!

Given the sheer nuisance potential of the local cops, it’s perhaps even worth studying the Precinct map overlay very early in the game and decide where best to expand your initial Fronts / territory and (ideally, where possible) sell your booze. If you can confine your early activities in this respect to mainly just one, or at most two, Precincts, you’ll soon be able to have the most dangerous cops in your pocket quite cheaply (the first Precinct for maybe as little as $170-$250 or so, which will suffice to keep them happy for several months) and be able to expand &operate much more freely, thereafter having to be careful only on those occasions where you might wander into Precincts you have yet to bribe – or perhaps where the bodies are piling up on the sidewalk.

This will become increasingly important as time progresses. In the early days you are only small fry, not really worth the trouble of more than just a slap on the wrist / confiscation of your cash &illicit goods in a police shakedown. But as the money begins to really flow and your Outfit grows – and your reputation and renown (and the Heat you generate) with it – you and your Crew will become increasingly likely to begin receiving much stiffer prison sentences, which may even result in removing some valuable Crew members from the streets for the remainder of the game. Ouch!

Having friendly cops in your pocket also brings other benefits in addition to better protecting your Crew, operations and assets from interference, such as occasionally having ready access to weapons confiscated from other hoodlums… surely they can spare a little something for such a good friend as you? And if you’re having trouble with a rival Outfit encroaching on your territory, maybe the local cops would be willing to use official channels to cause that gang some legal problems of their own, even outside their own Precinct (since bootlegging is a Federal crime and the Prohibition Bureau often rely on local police to tip them off about such activities). Having a dangerous rival gang member taken off the streets and locked up for a while would at least save you the trouble of having to send the boys round to, ehm, ‘reason’ with him.

Street Corner Hooligans

Hooligans are petty criminals and minor local street thugs who have staked out a single corner as their turf but lack either the brains, abilities or ambition to aim for more than this. They will be found all over the city as you explore, with each one’s territory bordered in yellow and costing 3 MPs to enter (whether or not they are physically present, since you naturally proceed with caution). Many are very territorial and will object to your presence in the vicinity, but they also chase &fight (and sometimes, succeed in killing) each other as often as not. Each has a safehouse on their corner which may contain cash and other valuables if you – or anyone else – whack that particular Hooligan. Keep an eye open for these freebie gifts as time passes and the local thugs inevitably, and sometimes fatally, squabble among themselves – but bear in mind that you cannot carry away more than your own vehicle has free space for.

All Hooligans are essentially classed as either business-minded or tough brawlers (although their personal traits may at times blur this distinction a little, so be aware of that). As with all other contacts in the game, you can over time build a relationship with Hooligans of either type should you be so inclined. Generally speaking, business Hooligans often deal in stolen or other illicit goods of possible benefit to you, if on good enough terms (cigarettes being especially useful, since you can often sell these on to businesses which don’t yet trust you enough to buy your booze, and in doing so build a better, more trusting relationship). Friendly brawler type Hooligans may be encouraged to target their belligerent tendencies in a direction of your choosing – against a particular rival Outfit, say. Watching from the sidelines is often more fun than being in the middle of a damaging fracas, and certainly much more satisfying if you’re the one that sneakily caused it.

It’s probably generally a good idea to remain on friendly terms (or as ‘friendly’ as these things get, anyway) with as many local corner Hooligans as possible, as much as possible, if only to avoid being distracted by their petty activities being directed against your own Crew. A single introduction from a mutual contact (which also makes visible that Hooligan’s corner turf on the map, if not yet explored for yourself) and growing local Respect should suffice in most cases, with perhaps further dealings in some cases as time, need or opportunity allows. It’s also possible to hire a promising local Hooligan into your own Crew if you know them well enough, or to encourage them by some other means to give up their life of petty crime and so free up their turf for your own Outfit to expand into.

Rival Outfits

Actual rival Outfits, on the other hand, are a whole different kettle of fish underworld mobster. Expanding their red-bordered territory just as you do your own, via the establishment of Fronts and growing local Respect, these are well-organized (and sometimes, well-armed) gangs of tough hoodlums operating protection, Cover buildings and backroom operations in potential competition with your own Outfit, and just as determined to conquer the entire city – or at least, your territory, should you happen to be anywhere near them.

There will generally be 5-10 rival Outfits to contend with, with the exact number mostly depending on which actual City you’re trying to take over (larger cities will naturally have more organized gangs fighting for control). Each Outfit will be named for their boss, just as your own Outfit is, and those names become visible on the map – once some part of a rival gang’s territory becomes known to you – and can be seen simply by zooming out a little.

While rival Outfits may grudgingly respect your achievements and will probably tread more warily if you have considerably greater Respect / territory and a stronger Crew (and perhaps especially if they’re currently already fighting another nearby Outfit), and while they will also find it harder to intimidate &actually subvert your Fronts / take over your territory if you have more and better-armed Crew members than their gang… at the end of the day it simply means they will view you as just a somewhat tougher nut to crack. All the indications seem to suggest that it’s not so much a question of if a particular Outfit will come gunning for you, it’s more a question of when. Being unlucky enough to have more than one rival Outfit do so at the same time is likely to prove especially challenging.

Interaction between different Outfits in the game (including your own) is however presently limited to either open rivalry, full-scale gang warfare, or a shaky truce before hostilities break out again, with no other diplomatic nuances or business interactions currently possible. It’s a dog-eat-dog world out there, so as you grow make sure your own bite is much worse than your bark – otherwise you’ll be the one left yelping (…sorry, couldn’t resist!).

Going to the Mattresses

Where possible, it could prove advantageous to time your own initiation of hostilities to coincide with an ongoing and brutally damaging war between two nearby rival Outfits, although do bear in mind that helping to eliminate one of them won’t make the other gang view you any more favorably – you’ll usually just be considered the new potential competition for that now-vacant territory.

Since recuperating in a controlled Cover building is usually the only early-game means by which an injured Crew member can regain their health, if you plan to initiate a major gang war with the aim of actually eliminating a substantial rival Outfit and ultimately taking over their territory, do consider – if at all possible – waiting until you actually have a controlled building relatively near that gang’s border, and preferably one also able to conduct vehicle repairs.

Bear in mind that the movement cost of driving through rival territory is 3 MPs per corner traversed, so it’s just plain dumb to wage war too far away from your own nearest Cover building if you can possibly avoid doing so. Ideally, you want to make sure any badly injured Crew members can always make it back to a controlled building immediately on the following turn (to avoid the very great danger of being hunted down and easily eliminated on their way back – especially if their vehicle is also badly damaged and barely able to limp home), and to then also be within immediate striking range as soon as they recover enough health. Outright gang warfare will undoubtedly often be a process of damaging and relentless attrition, so plan at least some of your building placements specifically to benefit from such a tactical advantage where it seems likely to be needed, and thereby minimize your own losses as best you can.

If you fail to keep your own fatalities to a minimum it will certainly cost you in the long run – literally. The families of deceased Crew members will require regular financial support for the remainder of the game, which, if you outright refuse to pay, will negatively impact your relationship with those particular family members (e.g. business owners) you have dealings with. It’s entirely possible (although this is pure conjecture on my part) there may also be wider, more subtle consequences, such as a lessening of your Respect in the immediate neighborhood of any such family members (that oh so important word of mouth, remember), or perhaps more difficulty – or increased cost – when it comes to hiring future Crew members, due to being the bread winners in their family and now wary of how you would treat them if the worst happens….

Enemy Outfits will aim to strike at your Crew members on the street, your Fronts (any Front successfully intimidated &thereby ‘subverted’ by an enemy gang member could cost you all of your territory and protection income in that area if you don’t respond quickly enough, plus time and a chunk of cash to actually reassert control) and even your backroom operations, once discovered. The latter, and their valuable, highly skilled Managers in particular, are likely to be the prime targets once discovered by a particular enemy gang, as these form the backbone of your entire criminal operation, store the bulk of your spare weapons, cash and resources, and ultimately generate most of your income.

Indeed, allowing rival gang members to scout out your territory unmolested – maybe in the vain hope they’re just looking for someplace where they can buy a decent cannoli – is perhaps just begging to be hit where it really hurts… and probably sooner rather than later. Where rival Outfits are concerned, it seems likely offense may at times prove to be the best form of defense.時が教えてくれる。 On the positive side, you will also be able to loot the vehicles and buildings of deceased rivals (up to your own vehicle load limits, anyway), so some careful targeting / planned raids on your part could at times also prove extremely lucrative.

Actually killing a rival gang member will however result in a protracted, angry vendetta against you by that Outfit, whereas sometimes just inflicting a fair amount of pain will be enough to get your message across and cause them to back off. That’s always an option worth consideration, since it could sometimes buy you more time in which to expand and grow – especially if at that time you’re in no fit state to actually engage in open warfare on the streets.

Sometimes, killing the rival gang boss may settle a dispute for a while – provided their replacement isn’t an actual family member, which would of course serve only to heighten the vendetta – and at other times you may be able to buy a truce if you’ve bitten off more than you can chew (and can actually afford to do so). A rival boss’s own personality will however often figure highly in all such matters, e.g. there will probably be no reasoning at all with a rival inclined to be violent or vindictive – short of lead poisoning – but a boss somewhat less inclined to violence may secretly be pleased that you removed their predecessor (if not an actual relative, that is) and may be willing to let the matter subside – provided you don’t push it, either.

All that said, it’s worth noting that only two of the twelve ‘Legacy Goals’ (victory conditions) of this game are even vaguely related to actual gang violence in any way. This fact alone is a clear indication that this is most definitely not intended to be a game about making money purely in order to wage war, as so many other games are at their root (especially mobster games). Instead, City of Gangsters is a game where you sometimes have to wage war in order to protect the money you’re already making… and yes, perhaps also occasionally to smooth your way to making even more.

It’s a fine distinction, but a very important one:at the end of the day it’s all about the money, not the body count – that’s the real difference between a successful Gangster and a dead (or imprisoned) Wannabe in the “Roaring Twenties &Troubled Thirties”.

Bear that in mind, at least, and you won’t go far wrong.

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