04 · City & Buildings

Status: Skeleton · Owner: TBD · Updated: 2026-09-23

Purpose

Define the city layer: the building set, how it upgrades, how it gates progression, and how it looks as it grows.

To define

• Full building list, with category and purpose
• The gating building (the "town hall" — what it is called per dynasty)
• Upgrade cost/time curve and prerequisite graph
• Build queue rules: how many slots, how extra slots are earned or sold
• City layout model: free placement, fixed plots, or expanding districts
• Visual evolution across ages
• Per-dynasty unique buildings
• Decoration / cosmetic layer

Building categories

Category	Examples	Role
Core	Palace / Throne, Storehouse, Walls	Gates everything; level cap for other buildings
Economy	Farm, Quarry, Mine, Workshop, Market	Resource generation and conversion
Military	Barracks, Stable, Archery Range, Siege Yard, Academy	Unit unlock, training, capacity
Research	Library, Observatory, Scriptorium	Tech tree access
Social	Embassy / Alliance Hall, Tavern	Alliance help, hero recruitment
Faith / Culture	Temple, Stupa, Shrine	Buffs, faction identity, event currency
Unique	One per dynasty	Faction identity made physical

Think about

• The town-hall bottleneck is the spine of the genre. Nearly every mobile 4X gates all buildings behind a single core level. It works, it is legible, and it is the main thing sold. Decide the top level at launch, and how long the last levels take — that curve is the endgame pacing.
• Fixed plots or free placement? Free placement is expressive and loved by players, but it makes every future art and UI change harder, breaks screenshot-based help, and complicates tutorials. Fixed layouts let you art- direct the skyline per age. Whiteout uses a largely fixed city; AoE is free placement. You cannot have full freedom and a hand-authored silhouette.
• The city must visibly change with age. This is the single strongest retention image in the genre — the screenshot a player sends a friend. Budget 3–5 visual tiers per building minimum, and make the age transitions dramatic. A city that looks the same at level 8 and level 25 kills long-term motivation.
• Build queue slots are the most reliable monetisation lever in the genre. Decide now how many are free, because it changes the entire cost curve.
• Every building needs a reason to be tapped, or it is furniture. If the Temple only exists to hold a passive buff, players stop seeing it. Give buildings an active verb — collect, assign, sacrifice, garrison, craft.
• Upgrade costs must line up with the war calendar. If the big alliance war is weekly, upgrades that take nine days feel like they exclude you from the content you came for. Tune the curve against the event calendar, not in isolation.
• Unique buildings are how the dynasty fantasy lands. Khmer baray reservoirs that irrigate neighbouring plots, a Pagan temple field that grows with faith, Majapahit harbour docks — mechanics drawn from real infrastructure are memorable and pitch themselves.

Open questions

#	Question	Blocks	Owner
1	Fixed plots or free placement?	Art, UI, tutorial, tech
2	Core building max level at launch?	Economy, live ops, scope
3	Free build queue slots?	Monetisation, pacing