Let's Play...Capitalism Plus on Sale On GOG.COM!

[RK47]

I remember playing this game when I was barely 14. And kept getting bankrupt. My cousin, who was an undergrad for some programming totally gave up on the game as well when he's taking his exams. Well, I've returned! With a vengeance.

Capitalism is basically a business simulation that challenges the player to dominate the market. Over 30 products are available to research, manufacture and sell. It's a micromanagement hell that starts off easy in early game and starts to kill you slow by mid game when you manage over 4 department stores, 4 factories and other outlets while monitoring your R&D and market share over 10 rivals.

Also, stock exchange are available as the means to overwhelm rival corporations by takeovers and mergers. I've personally overseen one merger in my trial run and I quit when I got over 40 firms, and hired a 26 mil-a-year president to manage half my farm. Only to watch my profit plummet from 70 mil a year to a measle 6 mil after enduring 2 years of loss.

So, let's have some fun with making money, shall we?

Note: This game is available on GoG.com for $5.99. I personally think the sequel suffers from shit interface and cartoon graphics and isn't as pure as the original.

The PCC stands for the Prestigious Codex Company.
Starting with 100% ownership means I have full control of shares and is able to offer more IPO at less risk. This is usually a good strategy to raise better cash, because default shares are priced at $10 at the start. Not a good value, considering you can easily hit $100.00 per share by the first year end if you play aggressive enough.

It's a pity you can't import your own logo or picture or else our beloved mascot would star in our very own company brand.

We'll be playing standard products group. And with product reinvention required. This has a serious effect in the game world, I'll explain why later.

We'll put the competition at random with moderate starting cash. Their expertise level might make the game a bit imbalanced, because they will start with better techs on certain products...we'll probably have to concede some product lines to them simply because competing is unprofitable in the long run.

We'll start with 4 cities with moderate competitive local products...this will pose enough challenge for our budding entrepreneurs to compete with the non-branded local market.

Seaports will serve as starter corporation's main suppliers. Playing without one means you won't have any ready made consumer products to import or raw materials. We won't have enough capital to secure the raw materials ourselves at the start, so ports are a good temporary solution. I say temporary, because if suppliers are disrupted, we'll have to scramble for a replacement.

I'll be updating it later when I get home from work.
Who knows, I might abandon this at page 4 if it proves to be too much of a micromanagement challenge....AND hand over the save game to another Codexer who wants to take over, perhaps.

So..see you!

Table of Contents
01 Operation Market Freedom - The Prestigious Codex Company Arrives in Middle East
02 Challengers Appear - The Market seems quiet...too quiet. PCC makes its bet.
03 The Flour Must Flow - The Middle East tastes western decadence.
04 Operation Gold Leader - The PCC makes its biggest bet ever...
05 Greed is Good - The PCC doubles its profits and introduces more comfort into Middle East.
06 Golden Showers - Pissed with his workload, PCC's CEO hires a President to manage the daily retail operations while he launches PCC's canned beverages.
07 Stop the Decline - PCC deals with a 100 million black hole in profits.
08 Bear With Me - Toddy Bear launches while Steve wraps up 1958 with 400 mil in profits.
09 My Number 2 - The PCC moves into post-Paul era. Is this the start of the great Decline?
10 Wise Men Say - The PCC makes the most outrageous acquisition yet...
11 Chemical Warriors - Gaspar takes charge of retail operations, while PCC chemical products launch continues.
12 No Mercy - It's time to cull the weak.
13 Blessed is the mind - Debt for the Debt God!
14 Gods Eater - Memory Today is forgotten.

 

[Grunker]

Subscribed. Carry on good sir!

 

[RK47]

01 Operation Market Freedom

Alrighty! Let's start with a map selection....

We're going to the Middle East, baby! Everyone starts afresh, aside from playing predefined scenarios, or letting the AI have their time for a year, there's no way to set up pre-existing rival corporations in the game. But have no fear, these guys are really, really mean and dangerous. You'll see why in a year's time.

The year is 1950. And the Middle East is hungry for goods, lacking the technological know-how. Few corporations succeed in claiming a slice of the Middle Eastern market. Until now.

Although the Prestigious Codex Company aims to be the leader in product quality and brand recognition, it must settle for import business for the time being. We only have 5 mil start up capital, and no other assets to speak of, aside from my lone apartment in the streets of Cairo.

Import business is heavily reliant on what the Seaport brings in. So let's have a look.

The first seaport off the coast of Cairo supplies Eggs, Frozen Chicken, and Leather Shoes. Huh. Beggars can't be choosers.

The second seaport, far to the east provides industrial goods, ready to be processed into finer forms....except...

We lack the technological know-how to do so. That's right, Middle East in the 50s is really in the dark ages. We only know how to bake bread, manufacture rough paper, and leather shoes. None of them are feasible option for a small start up like ours. Though, bread CAN be profitable if marketed at the right price. But the overhead of maintaining a farm to grow the wheat, a factory to process the flour AND bake it into bread....not to mention a retail outlet is too massive for a 5 mil start up. So, let's be satisfied with imports for now.

Pause, and think. Find a prime land in the heart of the Cairo. 4 mil? Ouch. Let's go for it anyway. Location is everything.

It's a good idea to review the market conditions before taking the plunge, ask the following questions:
- Is your products good enough to compete with the local products or existing competition?
- What kind of price can you sell your products for?
- How populated is the city?

Cairo, a city of 1.2 mil inhabitants seems like a good place to start. The imported goods are on par with the local suppliers and can compete, if given the right pricing. Most interestingly, Leather Shoes have no existing supplier! We can have an early monopoly on this!

Take the plunge. 3rd Jan, the first Prestigious Codex Corporation Mall is set up in the heart of Cairo. A cool 4.7 mil was spent laying the foundation, and hiring of purchase and sales staff. Shelves are ready, now, we just need the goods.

Link a supplier, and let the goods flow!


January 4th, 1950

The citizens of Cairo enters a major retail mall for the first time and enjoys import goods with modest quality and pricing. A sale of on eggs, chicken and leather shoes, first in Cairo was held.

It's not a good idea to charge default price. We shouldn't be satisfied with a small margin, gauge your overall product rating against the local. The local eggs are of inferior quality, despite having better brand recognition can't really compete with our imported ones. At 30 vs 44 rating, we can afford to charge a little bit more...

Perfect.

Don't mess with the chicken.

The local market is unfamiliar with leather shoes, lacking the know-how to manufacture them. We'll be able to charge a mint for these...

Looking good.

9th January, 1950

The PCC accounts are in the red. Literally. It's time to call for a loan!

10 mil is the max credit we can get. We'll take it. We're going for broke.

17th January, 1950

We're diving into Baghdad with a second retail outlet. They will sell the same goods with prices adjusted according to the local market.

One month later...

17th February, 1950

Beautiful. We're in the black.

Both firms are reporting positive cash flows. We can afford to relax a bit. Or perhaps a third mall in another city? Wait a minute...

21st February, 1950

Kuwait has a new mall. And it's not ours!

We shouldn't compete directly. They're selling the same goods as us! As long as we stay in different cities, there's no need to worry about price wars.

Speaking of competition...

Global Link, Memory Today, Shining Stars, and Concept Bright make up our competition.

Gosh, they're flush with cash! But they haven't made their moves yet.

Global Link is managed by Catherine Stockdale and has opened R&D firm. Which leads me to guess that they're probably planning to unleash a new product in a year or two time...Until then, they're operating at a loss.

Among all my competitors, I feel Catherine is the least capable, well, she's got a pretty mug, but that won't carry her far in this line of business.

Memory Today is more focused on retail business, they've opened their first mall in Kuwait. I get the feeling Ms. Nicholson will make her move on other cities soon with her flash-cash.

According to Ms. Nicholson's dossier, she's generally inclined towards agricultural products and retailing sector.

Shining Stars haven't made their move.

Mark Kewl is probably biding his time. With his well-rounded expertise, he can probably set up his own supplies and market his products with ease.

Concept Bright is following in Global Link's footsteps of R&D.

No surprise, Arnold is R&D inclined, always looking for that cutting edge tech.

The Prestigious Codex Corporation takes their consumers' feedback VERY seriously. Please, contribute some ideas, and perhaps you might win a free vouchers to our malls!

The PCC - Doesn't scale to your level (tm)

 

[Vaarna_Aarne]

I for one prefer STATE Capitalism: The Game (aka Victoria 2). If you can't take out your competitors by other means, artillery needs to be an option.

 

[anus_pounder]

Stone your competitors.

 

[spekkio]

DAT Portraits...

 

[Malakal]

Why not Capitalism 2? I had much fun with that one, especially with monopolizing resource production...

 

[RK47]

Why not Capitalism 2? I had much fun with that one, especially with monopolizing resource production...

I tried it before...but the interface really aged badly. I find the first one's much, cleaner and easier on the eye. Not to mention the derp CG portrait....ughhh. It takes away the retro feel from the original.

 

[RK47]

02 Challengers Appear

We're not stopping at two cities. Additional cash is spent on launching a third mall.

25th Feb 1950

Citizens of Tehran now enjoys the services of PCC Mall. By capturing these cities early, we get the best spot in the heart of the city.

22nd Mar 1950

Our recent financial reports pleased our creditors, and they have extended our credits by an additional 8 mil. We can't relax yet, our competitors are planning something big. They're mostly focusing on R&D to catch the virgin markets. Once that happens, we'll be playing catch up with a limited budget...We need something to call our own.

What about leather shoes? Sure, we're importing them now, but if the overseas suppliers pack up and sell elsewhere, we'll have to rely on ourselves. Perhaps additional loans can be secured to fund a ranch, and a rubber farm...but that's for another time.

25th Mar 1950

Memory Today attacks our Cairo market, forcing us to match their lowered prices. Ms. Nicholson knows her limits and refuses to go below certain price points. We may say goodbye to our lucrative prices, but at least we retain our market share.

Shining Stars opens a ranch. Mark Kewl's product is slightly above local market quality. He's offering leather, but I'm more interested in selling his cold cuts...

We take those beef off his ranch and sells them at slight profit. A small, promising partnership. But it still doesn't ease the PCC future concerns...we can't rely on third party suppliers for our products. We need something to call our own. Something the common folk will buy and say, "I'm only buying the PCC's finest!"

What do these sand niggers eat everyday, anyway?

Hmm. We wait till July.

18th May 1950

Memory Today opens another mall in Abu Dhabi. I never considered that city as profitable due to the distance from the supplying port. But whatever, she decided to eat the additional cost to capture the market.

We're a little flush with cash, time to clear up some loans to cut the interests...

We need a farm for our wheat. The prime spot lies far in northwest Africa. It'll add additional logistic costs...I can't accept that.

I will take this one. Just near the outskirts of Baghdad.

Checks are written, and the banks honor their papers.

22nd Jun 1950

The PCC farm opens. Specializing in wheat. We propose an immediate 50% training budget increase to improve the crops quality and productivity.

This, gentlemen, is our target market. The humble bread. I want 50% of the household in this region to eat and taste the finest bread from PCC's factory within two years time!

Making bread is a two-step process. First, the harvested wheat is turned into flour...

The flour is then baked into bread in our factories...ready to be sold in our malls.

On the same day, we open a new R&D center to improve our flour manufacturing technology.

A small breakthrough within 6 months should improve our bread quality, just as the wheat is harvested. We're betting it all on bread.

6 Jul 1950

Our enemies are hedging their bets as well. We mustn't lose this race...

11 Aug 1950

It seems we have new competitors...

More beef? Sure!

2 Dec 1950

Looks like Concept Bright won the Textile production race. With another breakthrough they can probably smash the apparel industries...

19 Dec 1950

We're not sitting idle, either. Our R&D on flour production is complete. We'll be switching to building our secret weapon...

The Europeans and Americans enjoy a higher quality of life, having the luxury of sweet, little chips of chocolates with their baked flour. We'll have to find a recipe that suits the local taste and bring decadent cookies to the Middle East.

 

[laclongquan]

...

Interesting.

You are scratching my greedy capitalist heart.

And this game look nicely detailed, kinda like Patrician 3.

 

[RK47]

Oh yeah, the bad part: there's no music at all in this gog version I got.
Pity, the sound track in the original wasn't so bad and quite catchy, but here's a song I love to listen to while playing this game: Money

 

[Malakal]

Better interface than 2? Seriously? Uh, ok.

I laughed how flour and bread are made in factories. We truly live in industrial times!

 

[Wyrmlord]

I played Capitalism 2, but never the first game.

Uh, I am amazed that both games are exactly the same, except the second had MP and better graphics.

 

[Luigi]

:cocksup:

 

[Vaarna_Aarne]

Oh yeah, the bad part: there's no music at all in this gog version I got.
Pity, the sound track in the original wasn't so bad and quite catchy, but here's a song I love to listen to while playing this game: Money

I think this would be much more appropriate:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_K7IKT4cvAE

 

[KickAss]

sweet!

 

[Kashmir Slippers]

I will be following this.

 

[JagreenLern]

BOURGEOIS FILTH!!!

Actually, I'm gonna pay attention to this LP. I may not like capitalism, but I sure do love management games. Now I'm gonna go play some Communism (aka Dwarf Fortress).

 

[RK47]

03 The Flour must Flow
Music: Mark II

That's one year on the helm...and things are looking great. The PCC projected profit is at 14.4m per annum and our loans are slowly being whittled back.

Concept Bright starts to develop all sorts of patent for new products, both industrial and consumer goods...

These guys...they can actually carve a niche out RIGHT now. If they play their cards right.

March 28 1951

Our harvest begins..

We're gonna need some cash to kick start the factories. We take out another 10 mil of loan on top of the existing 5 mil.

March 31 1951

Baghdad hosts the first major factory plant in Middle East. The PCC Flour Plant begins their mass hiring and promises another plant to follow...

April 3 1951

The PCC baking plant opens, citizens were exposed to the sweet aroma for the first time and wonder what it was. Time to put these puppies to the shelves.

Get rid of non performing stocks...these eggs...we're selling them for less of the import cost! Must've slipped my mind.

This should help with the decline of profits.

Memory Today remains the largest retailer in the country. Basically, only the PCC and MT is actually playing in the retail field. The rest seems to be on a long hibernation period or content with R&D.

We will start spending our monies on advertising. Each city has their own set of brand awareness. We'll spend roughly 50k a month on the local TV station to advertise this wonderful product of ours. This is important, because brand makes up 25% of the overall perceived value by the market. So, even if the product quality does not improve, several carefully placed words and hype can create additional premiums we can charge to our consumers. We call this the 'Todd Howard' effect.

Concept Bright continues to break new grounds in technology...and does absolutely nothing with it. You know what, maybe they're on to something. Let's...

Take a little risk.

Jul 5 1951

PCC buys 5% of Concept Bright shares at $11.77 - Let's see how it goes in a year.

July 18 1951

This...sweet little things will help us diversify and rape the virgin market.

Switching the R&D to Flour seems like a good idea, because it is the main ingredient for both of our original product lines.

Concept Bright shares drop to $10.00 after sitting on their asses on a pile of unused technology. What the hell?

What the fuck are they doing? I held off the buy button. This may look like an opportunity. Or it could be a trap. Or both.

Year Two

Surprise, surprise. We have a luxury provider all the sudden! SSA might be a newcomer, but they got their microscopes on the right target. Now let's monitor the gold mining sector and hope they're actually smarter than Concept Bright.

Come on...

Jan 9 1951

Good news.

Feb 1 1952

That's our cue! *Dials the stock brokers*

I'd buy more, but I need the cash for something else...

Something sweeter. (Yeah, cookies use sugar, not cocoa.)

Feb 26 1952

Sugar planters are hired. The PCC is now biding their time on sweets.

...Yeah, CB. It's nice to have techs...but we're here to MAKE MONEY. NOT STUDY.

Apr 23 1952

In order to bolster our investments in SSA, we decide to retail their jewelry for them in all of our malls.

SSA won't know what they're missing. We're jacking up their sales price since it's the ONLY jewelry in the market.

Oh, fuck. Credit limit reached and we're out of liquid. Time to issue shares.

$381.35 per share? That's inflated as fuck. Yeah, gimme my 38 mil, baby. I have some ideas on what to do with it...

May 3 1952

The SSA shares stand at $10.27 - We nearly doubled our investment. But I want more. SSA can go far...as long we provide them with the backing on the field. Buy, buy, buy.

Fuck you, CB.

Shit. That's some minor damage...we're still doing fine on the retail sectors.

Jul 14 1952

Alright! Let's implement the changes immediately. Note: tech upgrades may improve the product quality, but that doesn't mean it improves productivity. Machines may have to be replaced, and workers retrained, as a result your factory may suffer from productivity loss. Hence, it's not a good idea to keep upgrading your factory every 6 months. Give it a year or two.

In an effort to bring in more decadence to the Muslim populace of Middle East, we will bring in this strange, bittersweet, liquid from the west into their soil. The white devils call them...'beer'.

More good news from our investments!

Sep 14 1952

Sweet!

PCC opens a second factory to manufacture cookies near Baghdad.

And that's how the cookie market crumbles! And just in time, too...

Our suppliers from overseas have stopped delivering the leather shoes, sounding concerns of lack of democracy and high chance of future conflict in the region. Fuck'em. We have cookies. Notice that our annual profits start to take a plunge due to the increased import prices as well as local competence. Let's hope our cookies and bread can drag it back to the 10 mil+ figures. It could also be attributed to the overhead of running 2 farms and 3 factories.

And another supplier comes into port bringing chocolate bars...we'll take it.

Challenging us in our turf, Ms. Nicholson?

Challenge accepted. We build another bread plant to flood the market.

Don't let me down, SSA...

Yeah, back in the 10 mil annual profit range! We're on target.

Jan 1953, three years after the major houses descend on the desert lands...

The PCC may have taken a hit to its import business, but is growing strong with its two product line. Global Link has yet to make any meaningful gains into the market while Memory Today continues to rely on third party suppliers for their retail operations.

The Shining Stars have lost their shine, unless things change soon. Concept Bright...continues to be dim in the money making aspect of running a business. Phat Group is a relative unknown.

The SSA is starting to pull up from its inital losses by being the pioneers of jewelry manufacture. A 7 mil annual loss projection may seem grim, but a monopoly on gold is nothing to be sneezed at. The rest are just small players and newcomers.

More good times ahead for the PCC? Only time will tell...

 

[Drakron]

Damn, those newspapers are retarded.

 

[RK47]

Damn, those newspapers are retarded.

It serves as event reminders in game. I really can't keep track of opening new dept stores and such, but yeah, 'unvieling'

 

[laclongquan]

It's strange that there's no instruction to insert your mug and your logo into the ancient creaky game. People doesnt feel interested in modding during the olden days?

 

[RK47]

It's strange that there's no instruction to insert your mug and your logo into the ancient creaky game. People doesnt feel interested in modding during the olden days?

I fear the modding appeal of the game during its time is rather limited, it was 1998-1999, I struggle to recall any heavy modding on classics during that time. We just run with what we got basically, even if we could import our own photograph, there's no readily available digital cameras to upload.

Billionaires top 10 in 1998:

 

[RK47]

04 Operation Gold Leader

Music: Merchant of Death

It's time to flood the southern cities with our heavenly bread and cookies. Funding secured. The banks are opening their vaults..

Kuwait flour mill established. Followed with a bread and cookie factory.

Kuwaitis are enjoying decadence brought by the PCC.

Soon, trickle of our bread products invade the 1.8 million population of Abu Dhabi as well.

Wow. This is their FIRST factory. I wonder what are they making?

Faggot shit. I consider that money spent on Concept Bright's shares to be ill-spent.

Fuck. Ion Industries breaks into the lucrative Cola market!

I don't give a shit about what you invent anymore...

Global Links joins the herp-derp market.

Too many retards in the market, we need to seize the promising firms for ourselves. The bread and cookie money will bankroll our plan to initiate Operation Gold Leader. After much deliberation, and missing the deadline on barley sowing season - (Yes, I was THAT involved in day to day pricing of the malls that I forgot to kick start operation Barrel Roll)!) - I've decided on seizing the SSA's entire asset into our company, including their expertise in Jewelry craft.

Let's kick start by adding another 5% stake on their shares. Which is severely under-priced IMO.

Another PCC R&D Division is started, this costs us 5 mil. We'll be focusing on our core component: The Flour for two years.

We'll be doing a gradual buy out of the SSA's share. While this is happening, Concept Bright opens another Chocolate Bar factory at Kuwait.

Need. More. Money.

We're betting it all on SSA.

Operation Barrel Roll will have to wait until next year...this frees our R&D division to invent new product...

I think a bed would be quite a luxury.

Global Link threatens our bread monopoly in Tehran. This is worrying, because logistics cost from the Baghdad factory will hamper our price competitiveness...

But it's a minor setback, Operation Gold Leader is still a go.

Memory Today markets a cheaper bread for Global Link. Ms. Nicholson will have to do better than that.. Our branding will keep a slight price parity for now...

SSA's stocks are actually slumping due to the CEO's ineffectiveness in capitalizing on their gold monopoly. Hopefully, once the PCC takes over, we'll change that.

What's wrong, Ms. Nicholson? That's 5 mil down the drain. Hah!

My decision to wait till the shares price drop cost me a few more mil...the SSA shares RISES to $13.23! We can't afford to delay any longer!

What does this actually mean?

We can actually make use of the SSA's liquid cash. Their fixed assets, as well as the management of their firms are still out of our hands, but that situation is only temporary...

We'll consolidate the PCC's ownership of SSA's shares by using their own cash to buy back their own public shareholders! It just so happens the net value of their stocks are at $170mil and that's just as much as they have in their bank account.

Mr. Mikko Kangasoja...your services are no longer required.

One down, more to go!

 

[Vaarna_Aarne]

I dare say mr Kangasoja is... Finnished



EDIT: Also, wouldn't acquiring Concept Bright be relatively cheap? Couldn't you just take their tech and liquidate the rest of their assets?