The Fantastic Four: Corporate Culture Powerhouse

[OTAKUjbski]

So between the discussions of State Property & Caste System and Corporations?, I've realized corporations open up a new late-game approach to Cultural Victories.

Competition

Because of competition between corporations, it is impossible for any one city to house corporate offices of all 7 corporations.

However, non-competing Corporate Offices can co-exist in the same city.

These three corporations compete with each other for resources. Thus, only one of these corporations can have a Corporate Office in any one of your cities:

• Cereal Mills
• Sid's Sushi Co.
• Standard Ethanol

These three corporations do not compete with each other for resources. Thus, each of these corporations can have a Corporate Office in the same city:

• Aluminum Co.
• Civilized Jewelers, Inc.
• Creative Construction

However, all three of the above corporations compete with Mining Co. Thus, if Mining Co. has a Corporate Office in any one of your cities, none of the above corporations (Aluminum Co. / Civilized Jewelers, Inc. / Creative Construction) can have a Corporate Office in that same city.

Below is a picture showing the competing corporations. Those corporations connected by a red line are "competing" and so cannot be present in the same city.

Synergy [between Aluminum Co. & Creative Construction]

Consider this:

• Aluminum Co. consumes Coal and, in turn, yields +3 and one Aluminum per Coal resource.
• Creative Construction consumes Aluminum and, in turn, yields +0.5 and +3 per Aluminum resource.

This means if Aluminum Co. and Creative Construction both have a Corporate Office in the same city, then Creative Construction will have a natural synergy with Aluminum Co.'s Aluminum resource production.

Thus, when both Aluminum Co. and Creative Construction have Corporate Offices in the same city, Aluminum Co. will generate an additional +0.5 & +3 per Coal resource [by way of synergy through Creative Construction].​

The Fantastic Four

This brings me to what I will call the "Fantastic Four". There are three corporations which generate culture. None of these consume common resources, so they are non-competing and can thus have Corporate Offices co-existing in the same city. They are Civilized Jewelers, Inc., Creative Construction and Sid's Sushi Co.

By way of the aforementioned synergy, there is a fourth corporation which can generate culture. It is Aluminum Co.

So, these four non-competing corporations can share Corporate Offices in the same city and all generate culture:

• Aluminum Co. - +3 (+0.5 , +3 via synergy) per [Coal]
• Civilized Jewelers, Inc. - +1 , +4 per [Gold, Silver, Gems]
• Creative Construction - +0.5 , +3 per [Iron, Copper, Marble, Stone, Aluminum]
• Sid's Sushi Co. - + 0.5 , +2 per [Crab, Clam, Fish, Rice]

As an example, if your city has access to just one of each resource and has each of these four Corporate Offices, that city will receive a cumulative bonus of +2 , +3 , +3 , +3 , +38 ! (not too shabby for one resource and before applying Civic and building bonuses)​

Maximizing the Corporate Culture ...

... by using Wonders, City Improvements and Civics:

Bonuses granted from the influence of corporations are applied to the city's raw values. This means the corporation's bonuses will be multiplied by the city's appropriate production, gold, science and cultural modifiers.

As a quick reference, the following buildings and civics grant significant percentage bonuses to raw culture points generated by the city they are built in and will thus greatly increase the Corporate Culture:

Spoiler Wonders, City Improvements and Civics boosting culture :

World Wonders:

• Broadway - +50% Culture
• Hermitage - +100% Culture
• Hollywood - +50% Culture
• Rock N Roll - +50% Culture

City Improvents:

• Broadcast Tower - +50% Culture
• Buddhist Stupa - +50% Culture
• Christian Cathedral - +50% Culture
• Confucian Academy - +50% Culture
• Hindu Mandir - +50% Culture
• Islamic Mosque - +50% Culture
• Jewish Synagogue - +50% Culture
• Taoist Pagoda - +50% Culture

Civics:

• Free Speech - +100% Culture

... by trading for Corporate Culture resources:

One of the significant Gameplay Changes made by Beyond the Sword is "You may trade for resources you already have."

Where this may seem like an unnecessary change, corporations benefit from multiple instances of the same resources. Thus, acquiring additional resources from your Vassals, Colonies and friendly trading partners will even further increase the Corporate Culture.

The Fantastic Four corporations consume the following resources:

• Aluminum
• Clam
• Coal
• Copper
• Crab
• Fish
• Gems
• Gold
• Iron
• Marble
• Rice
• Silver
• Stone

The remaining resources do not benefit the Fantastic Four corporations and can be traded at your discretion for resources in the list above to further increase the Corporate Culture.

These three resources are consumed by competing corporations. If you have Corporate Offices for Mining Co., Cereal Mills or Standard Ethanol in any of your other cities, you may wish to retain these resources:

• Corn
• Sugar
• Wheat

The remaining resources do not benefit any corporation and can be traded away at your discretion:

Spoiler Non-corporate resources :

Luxury Resources:

• Dyes
• Furs
• Incense
• Ivory
• Spices
• Wine
• Whales

Food Resources:

• Bananas
• Cows
• Deer
• Pigs
• Sheep

Strategic/Production Resources:

• Horses
• Oil
• Uranium

Bartering Corporate Culture resources for net gain:

It is also possible to trade the "lesser" Corporate Culture resources for more culturally influential resources.

For example, trading Rice for Gems will result in a net loss of -0.5 food but in a net gain of +1 gold and +2 culture.

However, in the above example, you must consider that if the +0.5 food is being used to supplement an Artist specialist, then the net gain once realized may be different.

(I.e., Because an Artist generates +1 science and +4 culture at the cost of 2 food, 0.5 food represents 1/4th of the Artist's food support. Thus in this case, 0.5 food == +0.25 science & +1 culture. This results in the above example a net yield of -0.25 science, +1 gold, +1 culture.)​

Below is a list of each resource and how they benefit the Corporate Culture (other bonuses have been omitted):

Spoiler Corporate Culture resource cultural weight :

+4 Culture (Civilized Jewelers):

• Gems
• Gold
• Silver

+3 Culture (Aluminum Co. and Creative Construction):

• Coal
• Copper
• Iron
• Marble
• Stone
• Aluminum

+2 Culture (Sid's Sushi Co.):

• Crab
• Clam
• Fish
• Rice

Spreading the Corporate Culture

It is not necessary to have founded one of the Fantastic Four corporations nor to possess its Corporate Headquarters to expand its influence throughout your empire. (From the Civilopedia entry, 'Corporations': "Once a Corporation is constructed in a city, that city may produce Corporate Executives.")

Thus, the only requirement for spreading a corporation's influence is to possess at least one city with either the Corporate HQ or a Corporate Office.

So, if you don't have a city with one of the Fantastic Four corporations, make friends with the Civilization in possession of its Corporate Headquarters and hope they build a Corporate Office in one of your cities or conquer a city with that corporation's Headquarters or Office already in it.​

Conclusion

If you haven't already come to this conclusion yourself, then you should probably reread the post:

• By way of these four corporations, Firaxis has given us new possibilities for strong late-game Cultural Victories. This "Corporate Culture" strategy may even prove to be a viable alternative to a Space Race Victory as a "fall back plan".
• The "Fantastic Four" should be high-priority corporations for your Legendary-seeking cities.

 

[Josephias]

Thus, when both Aluminum Co. and Creative Construction have Corporate Offices in the same city, Aluminum Co. will generate an additional +0.5 & +3 per Coal resource [by way of synergy through Creative Construction

I'd wait to confirm this. In my mind, you would only get 1 Aluminium per Aluminium Co, despite the number of coal resources you have. Thus, it will grant an extra +0.5 and +3 , but it will not multiplicate with each coal resource you have. It is still a good deal, tough.

 

[Landstander]

If you're right, Josephias, then Aluminium Co. is a throw-away, unless you actually need the Aluminium. Half a hammer and 3 culture ain't worth much in my book. I do hope the synergy works as Otaku suggests (I think it does)

 

[eoghammer]

landstander this depends if you have 5 or 6 coal... this is worth.
we aren't sure that the ressources works for this as the oil given by Standart Ethanol doesn't seems to work correctly for building railroads and other units that requires oil outside the corporate enclave's city.

Edit : in fact it seems that it works (confirmed in the other corporation post)

 

[OTAKUjbski]

I'd wait to confirm this. In my mind, you would only get 1 Aluminium per Aluminium Co, despite the number of coal resources you have. Thus, it will grant an extra +0.5 and +3 , but it will not multiplicate with each coal resource you have. It is still a good deal, tough.

Confirmed by our overseas friends:

Can somebody with BtS confirm the synergy between Aluminum Co. and Creative Construction I talk about in this post:?

It works great

 

[Nikis-Knight]

You'll probably be paying through the nose with 4 corps... and you are probably playing below your difficulty level if you found all four. You don't need to found them to use them, of course, but you can't exactly ask AI to send their executives where you would like.
Still, if the stars aligned, so to speak, it'd be pretty sweet.

If you're right, Josephias, then Aluminium Co. is a throw-away, unless you actually need the Aluminium.

Ah, but if you do, then it is a life-saver. Though I am in need of oil more often than aluminum, myself, probably because you can't pop oil from a mine.

 

[Eozenig]

landstander this depends if you have 5 or 6 coal... this is worth.
we aren't sure that the ressources works for this as the oil given by Standart Ethanol doesn't seems to work correctly for building railroads and other units that requires oil outside the corporate enclave's city.

Just tried in fact, and this sinergy works.

As for the oil thingie, I don't know if it is a design decision or a bug but I hope it will be adressed in the patch

Some screens :

The whole resource pool


I have no natural sources of aluminium, only two of coals.

The Aluminum Co. / Creative Construction synergy



So it works great Otakujbski, nice catch

 

[eoghammer]

you can produce executive from any corporate HQ or corporate enclave...

 

[Nikis-Knight]

you can produce executive from any corporate HQ or corporate enclave...

Yeah, that's true. But since it doesn't spread on its own, you still have to wait for them to decide to spread it to you in the first place.

As for the oil thingie, I don't know if it is a design decision

The resources only work for building in the city that the corporation is in. This is intentional, so if you want tanks everywhere, you need to build enough Standard Oil execs. Kinda sucks for Railroads, though, you're right.

P.S. corporation bonuses scale to map size, iirc.

 

[OTAKUjbski]

You'll probably be paying through the nose with 4 corps... and you are probably playing below your difficulty level if you found all four. You don't need to found them to use them, of course, but you can't exactly ask AI to send their executives where you would like.
Still, if the stars aligned, so to speak, it'd be pretty sweet.

No star alignment required. Nor do you need to found any of these corporations to reap their benefit (though possessing the Corporate HQ will help to offset corporate maintenance fees).

Once a Corporation is constructed in a city, that city may produce Corporate Exectives.

If you were not lucky enough to found any of these corporations, you need only acquire one city with a Corporate Office of the desired corporation.

From that point on, you can generate Corporate Executives and expand the corporation to whichever cities you desire.

EDIT: double post ... sry

 

[Nikis-Knight]

you need only acquire one city with a Corporate Office of the desired corporation.

Ah, 'aquire'. I gotcha, I wasn't thinking of war for a corporate office. Might as well take the whole HQ while you're at it.

PS, thanks for clearly posting which one's conflict, makes it easier to remember if they're divided into groups like that than to try to remember the resources of each one.

 

[Eozenig]

The resources only work for building in the city that the corporation is in. This is intentional, so if you want tanks everywhere, you need to build enough Standard Oil execs. Kinda sucks for Railroads, though, you're right.

P.S. corporation bonuses scale to map size, iirc.

Well, gameplay-wise it would have been one of the two ways builders choose to acquire oil instead of getting it by force.

When reaching industrial age in my party, I concentrated on research and GP production for a long moment to found this corp, specifically as I didn't have nor coal nor oil to build railroads and I didn't have any resource of interest to trade for them. At the end, being able to build railroads would have been a nice builder reward for builder means to acquire it. If I knew I would have been only able to produce military units, I don't think I would have put so much emphasis on getting it and built a horde of infantry and artillery to acquire oil the other way

I understand why it wasn't put in the global resource pool but so it is only a technical matter ? It's not possible to give the ability to build railroads without permitting cities without the corp to build oil-based units ?

 

[Seidrik_The_Gray]

To the OP:

I originally thought that you were just boiling down our other lengthy discussions into one place. (Not a bad idea) Then I realized that your strategy is actually different than the one I had been thinking of. I was thinking more along the lines of crippling the AI and soaking up money, and also along the lines of wealth and production.

Your cultural synergy strategy is actually original, and should get credit for being so.

Thank you for posting this.

 

[mrt144]

as pointed out though, the initial cost of this will be quite large. maybe 3 or 4 turns of 100% wealth at that point.

 

[Nikis-Knight]

I understand why it wasn't put in the global resource pool but so it is only a technical matter ? It's not possible to give the ability to build railroads without permitting cities without the corp to build oil-based units ?

Are you saying you can't build RR even within the city radius? I didn't know that, seems like an oversight.

 

[frob2900]

landstander this depends if you have 5 or 6 coal... this is worth.
we aren't sure that the ressources works for this as the oil given by Standart Ethanol doesn't seems to work correctly for building railroads and other units that requires oil outside the corporate enclave's city.

Don't railroads require coal? Can they be built with oil in BtS?

 

[OTAKUjbski]

Are you saying you can't build RR even within the city radius? I didn't know that, seems like an oversight.

I'm hoping it is. But that is correct. You cannot build Railroads through Standard Ethanol's Oil production.

Don't railroads require coal? Can they be built with oil in BtS?

Yes. Railroads require either Oil or Coal according to this screenshot.

 

[Eozenig]

Are you saying you can't build RR even within the city radius? I didn't know that, seems like an oversight.

Nowhere at all

It is a screen of an unmodified savegame. No natural oil nor coal resources but the standard ethanol HQ and the resources needed to make oil.

 

[UncleJJ]

If you were not lucky enough to found any of these corporations, you need only acquire one city with a Corporate Office of the desired corporation.

From that point on, you can generate Corporate Executives and expand the corporation to whichever cities you desire.

I presume corporations work like religions in that if you capture the city they're in you capture them as well. In which case it could be fairly easy to to acquire one branch with some grenadiers and then spam executives to your other cities once it's out of revolt. Even better acquire the HQ and effect a corporate takeover

 

[Horizons]

Shouldn't a branch of a foreign corporation generate the culture of the civilization that founded the corp in the first place? How is the British culture of London enhanced by the presence of McDonalds?