Paying a king's ransom...

[Didz]

OK! That makes mathematical sense of the Treasury balance and I can see that 11,678 - (522+8,160) = 2,996. So, that explains that, although it seems strange to me that if the AI has already allocated the (522+8,160) on my behalf it hasn't actually shown that as having occurred in the End of Turn Summary. Then at least the summary would have a mathematical integrity and tie in with the Treasury Balance.

Anyway, going back to my earlier example from 1376 AD. These figures were taken from the Financial Summary screen, and so, show what my income is expected to be for this turn (50,260) less the money I actually spent last turn (38,812).

So, whilst I didn't make a note of it, the projected profit figure must have been 11,448. This was the figure which was confusing Tristram and myself as it suggested to us that there was more money in the pot than the AI had actually spent. But in fact the 11,448 has already taken into account last turns expenditure of 38,812 and has not yet deducted any expenditure for the current turn.

So, its not that the AI hasn't spent all the money it could, its actually that it hasn't spent any money at all 'yet' and won't do until I press the End Turn button. Whereupon it will show what it actually spent as a deduction against the predicted profit for the turn after next. The fact remains that last turn it only spent 1,600 florins on building construction, but that might be the result of several factors affecting last turns income which have been lost as the income which produced that expenditure only appears in the End Turn Report, and may have been much lower than the current predicted income of 50,260. For example, income may have been reduced by seiges or blockades which have since been lifted.

In fact there is no way of establishing from the Financial Overview Report what factors determined the level of expenditure shown on that report and so there is no way to establish why the AI only spent 1,600 florins on building construction that turn.

[HoreTore]

Time for some more explanations:

The End of turn report:

Here you see three things that matter to your economy. The income and expenditure is what you made and spent last turn. The profit noted is how much more money you have compared to last turn. The total is what I called balance. This is what you have in your treasury at the very start of the turn, before the AI spends money on queued items. The number in the lower right corner is what you have left after the AI has done that. In this example, the AI has spent 8000 on construction and 500 on recruitment this turn. You are left with 2500.

As to why the AI only spent 1600 on construction last turn, the answer is simple: it wasn't ordered to spend any more.

[Didz]

The total is what I called balance. This is what you have in your treasury at the very start of the turn, before the AI spends money on queued items.

I understand that except that in fact the AI has spent money on queued items which is why the balance is not the sum that appears in my treasury.

As to why the AI only spent 1600 on construction last turn, the answer is simple: it wasn't ordered to spend any more.

Not quite, the AI WAS ordered to spend more, because all my settlements have buildings in their build queues and the 'queue is stalled'. Therefore, the explanation for the fact that it only spent 1,600 florins on building must be that it COULDN'T spend any more due to a lack of funds. However, there is no way of checking that because the figures for last turns income are not available on the Financial Overview, only the expenditure.

[Shahed]

I've read through the thread but I think I did'nt quite understand the problem.

Everyone knows that the End of Turn report is from the beginning of this turn i.e end of last turn ..... and the Financial Overview is a projection of the status at the beginning of the next turn.... right ?

[Didz]

Everyone knows that the End of Turn report is from the beginning of this turn i.e end of last turn ..... and the Financial Overview is a projection of the status at the beginning of the next turn.... right ?

Nope!

It appears that the End of Turn Report does not take into account money already spent by the AI before the start of the turn. Therefore the balance shown does not correspond with the balance in your treasury at the start of the current turn.

To arrive at that figure one has to take the balance from the End of Turn Report and deduct the figures shown on the Financial Overview for expenditure on Recruitment and Buildings.

It also follows that the predicted balance shown on the Financial Overview for next turn will not actually be the balance in your treasury because it doesn't take into account the money the AI will spend before that turn starts.

Or thats my revised understanding anyway.

However, the main reason for the initial confuse was that Tristram and I could not understand why with a projected profit of over 11,000 florins the AI was only spending 1,600 on new buildings. I think that issue at least is clearer now, in that its impossible to determine why the AI didn't spend more without checking the End of Turn report for the previous turn.

[TinCow]

It appears that the End of Turn Report does not take into account money already spent by the AI before the start of the turn. Therefore the balance shown does not correspond with the balance in your treasury at the start of the current turn.

You definitely understand it, but I think it's wrong to think of the money as "spent." The money is still there, it's just pre-allocated to queued buildings and units. Construction has not begun, there has been no recruitment, and you can get all of your money back without penalty by removing the queued buildings. You still have access to every last penny of the 11,678 florins if you want it. It's important to remember this if you find yourself needing some emergency mercenaries. Just go into your cities and remove something that is unimportant from the build queue to pay for the recruitment.

[Shahed]

The money is there. If you remove the ques the money will return to your treasury. It shows it as "gone" because it's invested in the que, for next turn.

EDIT: heh I was too late... again.

[Didz]

Fair enough, but mathematically it looks odd. Certainly in the End Turn Report.

However, I agree that once you realise whats happening its less confusing, so this thread has been useful to me.

[Foz]

Nope!

It appears that the End of Turn Report does not take into account money already spent by the AI before the start of the turn. Therefore the balance shown does not correspond with the balance in your treasury at the start of the current turn.

Technically that money is being spent this turn. If you start a turn and do not already have things in the queue that start building this turn, the totals will match. What you see is exactly the same as if you had went to each of those settlements this turn and chosen those items to build.

To arrive at that figure one has to take the balance from the End of Turn Report and deduct the figures shown on the Financial Overview for expenditure on Recruitment and Buildings.

It also follows that the predicted balance shown on the Financial Overview for next turn will not actually be the balance in your treasury because it doesn't take into account the money the AI will spend before that turn starts.

Or thats my revised understanding anyway.

Right. It's worth noting here that if you don't queue multiple buildings in your building queue and multiple turns worth of troops in that queue, then your finances are infinitely easier to keep track of with the game functions. You'll actually start a turn with all of your funds still left to be allocated, which means all the numbers match up how you are first inclined to think they should. This especially makes sense if you intend to look at each settlement each turn anyway, as it's little extra trouble to simply choose the next building to build in any settlement that requires it. It has the upside of keeping you from having to think about all this crap too much, but I could see the argument for using longer building queues too if you prefer to be able to mostly ignore your settlements for a while.

[Didz]

Right. It's worth noting here that if you don't queue multiple buildings in your building queue and multiple turns worth of troops in that queue, then your finances are infinitely easier to keep track of with the game functions.

Agreed, and in the past thats been the way I've played. The advantage of using the queuing system is that you don't have to try and remember what the game told you three turns ago and never bothers to repeat. So, for example its much easier just to queue the city upgrade as soon as you get the warning that the city is ready to be upgraded than to try and keep a note to go back to it once you have the cash.

Also its much easier just to scan the map confirming that every city has a build icon showing than to click through every city trying to decide which one to spend your money on.