Buildings and Building

Buildings and Building

Obviously buildings play a central role in the rebuilding process for Springfield, but as it turns out all buildings are not built equally, and some offer bonus functions that others do not. 

Naturally that means that the path towards acquiring the different buildings is... well... different in many cases!  The following list makes all of that fairly clear, and in addition serves as a reference for their income and the characters that come with a given building on the list, and finally the Task that is associated with that building.  And how cool is that?

Important Note: When the game was first released there were the basic buildings that were part of the main release candidate, and throughout the updates process some new buildings and characters were added, but it was not until the first official expansion / optional Holiday Event took place (in this case the Tree House of Horror 23 Event) that the question of what would happen to the buildings that each event introduces and adds to the game was raised.

The Halloween Event added half-a-dozen new buildings, almost all of which paid off only in candy and XP, but as the entire selection of items and buildings were flagged as “Limited Time” items there was a question as to what would happen to them after the event ended... Would they be removed from the game?  Would they continue to generate Candy and XP?  Or?

As it turns out, when the Thanksgiving Event went live on 8 November at midnight EST the Halloween Event officially ended, and all of the buildings that were part of it were then converted to follow the basic resource plan for the base buildings – that is to say they switched to producing Cast and XP as their revenue!

That being the case, and with this transition having established how the matter is going to be handled, it introduces a new function in the guide in that basically whenever an Optional/Holiday Event concludes the buildings from it WILL be added to this list AFTER they convert to using the established revenue system!  Hence the addition of the Halloween Buildings below...

 
The formula for determining what the daily rates are for Cash Income and XP is simply to multiply the hourly rate by 24, so for example to determine what the actual daily value in income for Willie's Shack is, you simply apply (24 * 18.33) which gives you the rounded up figure of  $440 per day (actually 439.92 but they don't do cents in the game).  The actual daily XP gained from Willie's Shack is (24 * 1.83) which works out to 44XP per day (actually 43.92).

The wide building selection increases with each expansion

Working out the costs for buildings that you purchase with Cash is not as important as working out the cost-to-benefit totals for the Premium Buildings that you can only obtain with Donuts.  While you could easily work those out for yourself, we do it for you for the current buildings to make things easier, thus:

-- Aztec Theatre (80D) 25/2.5
Daily Cash Income = (24 * 25 = $600) Daily XP Income = (24 * 2.5 = 60XP)
Rounded Off Totals = $600 / 60XP
Donuts to Dollars Yield = $7.5 per Donut Spent
Donuts to XP Yield = .75 XP per Donut Spent

-- Duff Brewery (190D) 33.33/3.33
Daily Cash Income = (24 * 33.33 = $799.92) Daily XP Income = (24 * 3.33 = 79.92XP)
Rounded Off Totals = $800 / 80XP
Donuts to Dollars Yield = $4.21 per Donut Spent
Donuts to XP Yield = .42 XP per Donut Spent

-- Frink's Lab (150D) 35/3.67
Daily Cash Income = (24 * 35 = $840) Daily XP Income = (24 * 3.67 = 88.08XP)
Rounded Off Totals = $840 / 88XP
Donuts to Dollars Yield = $5.6 per Donut Spent
Donuts to XP Yield = .58 XP per Donut Spent

-- Lard Lad Donuts (110D) 31.25/3.25
Daily Cash Income = (24 * 31.25 = $750) Daily XP Income = (24 * 3.25 = 78XP)
Rounded Off Totals = $750 / 78XP
Donuts to Dollars Yield = $6.81 per Donut Spent
Donuts to XP Yield = .70 XP per Donut Spent

-- Springfield Observatory (75D) 21.88/2.19
Daily Cash Income = (24 * 21.88 = $525.12) Daily XP Income = (24 * 2.19 = 52.56XP)
Rounded Off Totals = $525 / 53XP
Donuts to Dollars Yield = $7 per Donut Spent
Donuts to XP Yield = .70 XP per Donut Spent

-- Volcano Lair (200D) 20.83/2.08
Daily Cash Income = (24 * 20.83 = $499.92) Daily XP Income = (24 * 2.08 = 49.92XP)
Rounded Off Totals = $500 / 50XP
Donuts to Dollars Yield = $2.5 per Donut Spent
Donuts to XP Yield = .25 XP per Donut Spent


Bearing in mind that these transactions are not one-time transactions, which is to say that once you own a Premium Building it will continue to supply the stated amounts above, our basic consideration is to determine what the best building is for a single yield in order to determine what the best building is to spend the very limited number of Donuts we can obtain, based upon the notion that actually purchasing Donuts is not part of our plan. 

That being the case, based upon the above figures the Aztec Theatre (80D) and the Springfield Observatory (75D) have the best yields, but even though the Aztec actually costs 5D more to purchase, the additional $.5 and .05XP that it yields makes it the better investment over the long term. 

Unfortunately the passive income for these buildings is not the only factor that we must take into consideration, as there is also the added benefit of an additional character that comes with some of the buildings to be taken into account, and the potential income that each character can bring from quests...  For example the Duff Brewery includes Duffman, Frink's Lab includes Frink, and the Volcano Lair includes Frank Scorpio.  Even though that is true, from strictly a practical point of view it makes more sense to acquire the Aztec and Springfield Observatory first, thanks to their lower purchase price, the acquisition of which will permit the player to build up XP and income while working towards acquiring the Donuts that are needed for those purchases as well as the required level (if any) depending upon the building.

The Brown House is a fast track to XP and Cash

== Land Expansions ==

Yes, Land Expansion is an option in the game and it has its very own menu as well!  When you tap the Land Expansions Menu you may only see a single option (there may be additional expansions as the game matures).  That option is:

-- Land Expansion: Quest (Requires: Property Values -- Embiggens your Springfield!)

Keeping an eye out whenever there is an update to see what changes here is probably a very good idea!

Land Grid Costs are broken up by their strategic placement -- the central area land will cost $610 and $1200 respectively depending on how far away it is from the starting area.  Corner grids in the first few expansion rings will cost $2600, but farther out they cost $5400 for center areas and $9100 for corners, so as you can see the farther you go from the starting area the more expensive it gets to unlock new land.

The expansion of your town is an important factor in success in the game however, so you will want to balance it with adding new buildings.  Having subdivisions of the cheaper Brown Houses (which have around a 4 minute timer) is a very smart approach, since you can really rack up XP and Cash during longer play sessions by constantly harvesting them and their $355 price tag is considerably less than the other house options.  This is a tactic you should seriously consider for your game play.