District Discount Mechanism

[Ownsya]

OK... I have created a guide which will probably just confuse things more but at least I have tried
If nothing else it collates all the information from various discussions.
If people can check it for accuracy it would be appreciated. Also anything they disagree with I am glad to remove / alter. I am just glad to get to the end of it after CPL_Yoshi's original question in June 2017.
@PotatoMcWhiskey ... said I’d bump you... revisiting your formulas made me realise they are what was in the first post, just must be the English used, hopefully my kiwi English makes sense to an Irishman.

https://forums.civfanatics.com/resources/civ-vi-district-discounts.27783/

Linked on my signature line also.

Note: originally posted this under the resource discussions, I didn't realize this thread had been revived. Since this is a more appropriate place for this comment I've moved it to here and deleted it from the discussions.

Very important and confusing topic to write a guide for. This has great info and tips but some of the wording is confusing and difficult to follow. If I may be so bold I'd make the following comments/suggestions.

Method 2: First few sentences are clear, the rest is explained in a way that's too wordy for my liking and confuses me. But I do get how difficult it can be to explain these types of things. For example, "This answer is the possible number of districts of a particular type that can get a discount but you must subtract from this any districts of that type that have already been placed or finished" might be reworded to, Suggestion: "This answer, minus the number of placed/finished districts of a particular type, is the possible number of discounts available for new districts of that type", or something like that.

Also in Method 2, you have at the end a note about updating the discount check, if this applies to both methods, I think it would make more sense to have it appended as a separate note rather than being part of Method 2. For example, that section would look like (with my above suggestion):

• 
  
  Spoiler :

  
  [*]Method 1 - Look in the production screen, if the number of turns to complete a district is less than another district (apart from Unique districts and the government plaza), you are getting a discount.
  [*]Method 2 - Count up the number of districts you have completed, divide it by the districts you have researched. If the answer is below 1 then you get no discount otherwise round up the answer. This answer, minus the number of placed/finished districts of a particular type, is the possible number of discounts available for new districts of that type.
  [*]Note: If you go to place a district which you expect a discount on but are not getting that discount, you either need to finish a tech/civic to update the discount mechanism or you have calculated something wrong
  
  

Some proofreading:
"This means my average is 3+3+1+1=8. You have discovered 4 districts so your average is 8/4=2" --> Suggestion: "This means my average is (3+3+1+1) / 4 = 2."
"This 2 means you get a discount on your first 2 of any district that you place".
"So we can conclude that the average number of completed districts rounded up is the number or any type of district you can get discounted as long as the average is at least 1." Suggestion: or --> of ?

But you were not. It is an average and knowing that you can do it in your head without spreadsheets.

Indeed, it is helpful to think about it this way. For some reason, when I first read "average" it confused me because to me I think of B/A as a ratio since we're comparing two different things (districts built vs district types researched), I had no idea what average you were talking about at first, but after thinking about it more, in this case the ratio also happens to be an average.

Just a couple of weeks ago I was reading through this long discussion on this topic and it's very helpful to have a well written guide as this with excellent practical/tactical suggestions as well while I'm still learning to make use of this mechanic. Apologies for my criticisms and boldness with the suggestions, merely trying to provide some feedback I think would be useful but I really hope not to be insulting. Thanks again for this educational guide.

 

[Victoria]

This has great info and tips but some of the wording is confusing

Yes, a guide is rarely perfect to start and I never was great at English at school but I try. This needs guides and not many people write them. Happy to take the flak, I had not made all the changes already suggested and will make the changes you have made.
Many many thanks, never insulting.

Great Write up thanks! <3

Thanks, some of my other signature guides are better. As said, needs a bit of tweaking. I was just thinking today how much I am aware of XP mechanics when I play now. It certainly helps my game in an odd and enjoyable way.

 

[RealHuhn]

@Victoria Regarding your guide and rule #7: Moksha and Reyna do use the discounts but you must not place the discounted district on the map before using the ability because a placed district counts as a finished district in the algorithm. I'm 99% sure of that. The discounts work for those abilities. Also good to know that Moksha's ability costs only half as much as Reyna's, for example Reyna may have to pay 500 gold for a district at some point but Moksha only needs 500/2= 250 faith.

 

[Victoria]

I’ll have a play, but naturally if you place a district before purchasing you fix it’s price at the time of placing
Still need to update the other points, will look at tomorrow

 

[Victoria]

Also good to know that Moksha's ability costs only half as much as Reyna's,

Not really as 2 gold = 1 faith roughly. everything faith wise is half price so should not need a specific.

OK Guide updated. I have also updated the wiki as it was still claiming it was a global average of all districts on the map. - https://civilization.fandom.com/wiki/District_(Civ6)

 

[Architect]

Is there some reason for not mentioning the canal or dam district?

 

[Victoria]

Is there some reason for not mentioning the canal or dam district?

They are in there thanks!
I had put them in the wiki but left them off the guide

 

[Timewarp]

My original plan was to play on King, Standard sized Continent maps with everything Standard, with as many of the nations before moving more permanently to Emperor. My plan got kind of sidetracked.

Alexander was first, since it was first alphabetically. All of his bonuses deal with military expansion, and so domination it was. Here are the districts I unlocked, and the districts I built:

Unlock Barracks, Unlock Government, Build 2 Barracks, not discounted. These steps can be done in any order. Well, unlocking Barracks has to come before building Barracks
Build Government District, discounted (and very cheap)

I was attacked by Nubia, and so I built war type objects. I built Ancient Walls to help defend against Nubia (they were quite effective, especially since the walls had barracks to double up on the attacks).
I built 2 more Barracks. Scratch that, 1 was built, a second was captured. So now I have 4 cities with Barracks.
Unlock Campus building.
I built 3 discounted Campuses. And since my science and culture were still on the low side, they were very cheap.

So how I have 7 districts built, with 3 unlocked. Reviewing the spread sheet from 2 pages ago (I refer back to that spread sheet frequently) shows that I will get 2 discounted districts of anything else I unlock for quite a long time.

I finally find Nubia's last city, take it, and then switch back to Settler production to settle lots of unclaimed land.

Result: My civ was number 1 in military power, I was in the middle for both science and culture, and after I settled the unclaimed land I would have somewhere between 12 and 15 cities. There were 3 other civs on my continent that would be not so hard to conquer. Or I could go peaceful for a science or culture victory. I was friends with the civ south of me, but the other two civs I could conquer and THEN go for science or culture.

I suppose if one of the other unmet countries on the other continent were Korea for science, or China for culture, then I could still lose. But instead, I am moving up to Emperor. And, for now, doing and redoing my positions as I review in detail my early game moves and try to practice good play techniques.

General Rules I am aiming for: start off with 1 district unlocked, build 2, then unlock and build government district. Build 2 more expensive instances of the first type of district.
Unlock a second district. Build 3 of that type, ALL DISCOUNTED. Once the third one is placed, I can unlock 4 more types of districts before I have to worry about district discounts on the first two of any other type.

There are alternatives if it is not possible to get the fourth expensive and third discounted discounts built before the third type is unlocked. My first impression is that what I lose is one district changing from discounted to non-discounted.

QUESTION: What is the priority of the level 1 buildings such as libraries? And are the production prices of the first level buildings dependent upon the initial cost of the district?

 

[Victoria]

So how I have 7 districts built, with 3 unlocked. Reviewing the spread sheet from 2 pages ago (I refer back to that spread sheet frequently) shows that I will get 2 discounted districts of anything else I unlock for quite a long time.

No need for the spreadsheet. 7/3 rounded up = 3 discounted if you have not built any. It’s quite simple really.

What is the priority of the level 1 buildings such as libraries? And are the production prices of the first level buildings dependent upon the initial cost of the district?

Buildings are a set price that does not change. If the district is nearer the beginning of the tech/culture tree the buildings tend to be cheaper, hence libraries are quite cheap, cheap enough to buy if need be.

 

[Ascote]

I know this is kind of late to join the discussion, but why not use a slightly more elegant way of putting this formula:
a = (N of districts you have completed)/(N of districts types you can build)
b = N of districts you started or finished building of the type you wish to build

Rule 1: a>=1
Rule 2: a>b

Makes it easier to aquire the information at a glance for those who are just learning about this mechanic.

 

[Victoria]

but why not use a slightly more elegant way of putting this formula:

Have you read the original post? That’s what was done, I had no issue and left this like that for a year
The guide has what you specify in it, it takes a few different approaches because everyone thinks differently. To me the original formula is fine.

 

[Ascote]

Have you read the original post? That’s what was done, I had no issue and left this like that for a year
The guide has what you specify in it, it takes a few different approaches because everyone thinks differently. To me the original formula is fine.

I know I'm not making a new formula, I'm just putting the original one into a simpler way as it had one variable in excess. Its just aesthetics, makes it prettier, smaller and more concise.

 

[Fimbulvetr]

Not completely offtopic I hope:
Is this discount mechanic part of the ominous COST_PROGRESSION_NUM_UNDER_AVG_PLUS_TECH, which would mean I could remove this feature by using a different cost progression model, or is it hardcoded?

 

[Victoria]

Not completely offtopic I hope:
Is this discount mechanic part of the ominous COST_PROGRESSION_NUM_UNDER_AVG_PLUS_TECH, which would mean I could remove this feature by using a different cost progression model, or is it hardcoded?

It makes perfect sense that it is, yes. Some of the cost progression model may be hard coded, prob need to ask in the mods section.

 

[Timewarp]

@PotatoMcWhiskey: I just watched your video

How to get 40% off Districts using the District Discount Mechanic in Civ 6 - Civilization VI guide

Well described, and your examples are completely awesome. I really enjoyed watching the video. Thank you for creating that.

 

[Vreetore]

Hi, new forum poster here. I'm playing my first new Civ6 game since the May 2020 Update (no mods, all dlc EXCEPT NOT the New Frontier Pass dlc, standard speed, immortal), and I'm encountering something odd regarding the district discount mechanism. I was wondering if anyone else noticed a recent change in this functionality, or maybe I'm just missing something... I saw nothing about this mentioned in the patch notes for the new update, but it wouldn't be the first time that some alterations went unreported in the change notes.

TL;DR: Now the discount does not seem to apply to the 1st district placed of a new type, even though the previously understood discount conditions are met.

Here's the case I've encountered:

1) I have 5 available specialty districts from researched techs/civics (holy site, campus, encampment, theater square, government plaza)...
2) and I have 6 holy sites completed and no other placed districts of any kind (specialty or not), and...
3) a tech that just finished between the end of last turn and the start of this turn:

But placing my 1st campus and/or entertainment center costs full price, even though the conditions of the formula are met (a=5, b=6 and c=0, thus b>=a and b/a>c). Once I lock in the cost/placement of this 1st district by momentarily making it the active production item, if I subsequently place a 2nd of the same type in another city, then I DO receive the discount cost on this 2nd district placement. Placing a 3rd of the same type is back to full price, as expected based on the previously understood formula.

The cost shown in the UI for placing the 2nd new district only updates to show the discounted cost when I rearrange whatever items are in the production queue (as far as I can tell it can be any rearrangement, e.g. switching the active production item from settler to monument, or moving the not-yet-started district from spot 3 in the queue to spot 4). However, this rearrangement trick doesn't do anything to affect the price of the 1st campus/entertainment district prior to placing it; I couldn't find any way to get the discount on that 1st new district.

So it seems like the formula might have gotten tweaked by the new patch, intentionally or not.

 

[Victoria]

placing my 1st campus and/or entertainment center costs full price, even though the conditions of the formula are met

So it seems like the formula might have gotten tweaked by the new patch, intentionally or not.

Will look into it, thanks
It makes sense in a way that the first time your civ builds a district, it should not be cheap.
but the discount was always restrictive and not many people use it intentionally because of that... so to make it more so would be a shame.

 

[RealHuhn]

Will look into it, thanks

Nothing has changed as far as I can tell. Two holy sites still unlock the discount for the 1st campus. I haven't noticed any difference in my full game either and I almost always go for at least 1-2 discounts per district. The upcoming addition of a new district will be interesting though.

 

[Victoria]

@Vreetore have you got a save of this situation, as @RealHuhn said, things seem normal.

 

[Vreetore]

Nothing has changed as far as I can tell. Two holy sites still unlock the discount for the 1st campus. I haven't noticed any difference in my full game either and I almost always go for at least 1-2 discounts per district. The upcoming addition of a new district will be interesting though.

@Vreetore have you got a save of this situation, as @RealHuhn said, things seem normal.

Interesting, so it is probably just something screwy in my particular game file. I'd rather not upload my save files from this game, since I personalized city/unit names and thus it contains some private info. I will check myself to see if the issue is reproduced in my future games.

One more detail I neglected to mention is that I was playing as Hungary, but this should be irrelevant, especially since it turns out none of the completed or new district placements are on rivers since rivers were lacking in my territory.

Thank you both for sharing your experience!