An attempt at mapping using economics.

[tilt]

so when andy gots his drink and food an shack (not the naughty one) - he just need a table, quill and ink and he can start mapping

[Redrobes]

Thanks Alfar. Its going to be slow progress for a while until the engine is more complete then I will be able to add more interesting stuff and see what happens.

so when andy gots his drink and food an shack (not the naughty one) - he just need a table, quill and ink and he can start mapping

Heh yeah that would be good AI wouldn't it. Computer spawns new villager. Computer applies skills to him including level 30 in cartography. Computer makes request of villager what kind of village he wants. Save & Exit !

On my Dev list I have a few immediate things I need to do. In order:
1.) Get human to work out best path to stated transaction location.
2.) Get them walking along path adding to path amounts on the map.
3.) Making character perform the chosen transaction when at the transaction location.
4.) I need to group similar items together into collections. This would allow me to set a requirement of more than 1 arm load of planks to make a shack for example.
5.) I need transactions which don't result in a desire change or an item being produced but are events. One of the events is to modify the quality of an item. I.e. If they are planing wood into planks then the planks should start rough and get better. Or crops get tended to grow faster, or patch up the shack into a better one.

Dunno when I will be able to do some of this next.

[im_sparticus]

One aspect you seem to be preparing for, but not ready to implement, is waste production/disposal and sanitation. If that's the case, great. If you forgot, don't forget he'll need to visit the privy every once in a while.

Also, you had wanted to avoid barter and try money (without a mint) because of the inequalities of trades in barter. Would it be easy enough for you to use the barter method with a minimal amount of money? If everyone had needs and everyone is trading something they have for something they need and the difference in relative values is made up of money you won't have inflation since the money is just an equalizing value, not an absolute value itself. Of course then the whole rich paying for goods and services thing stops working.

Alternatively you could have money enter like it would have for most cities, minted off screen and brought in by a merchant who will pay near the going rate for goods (sometimes more, sometimes less). Once people get prosperous enough, they would rather buy the goods off of the traveling merchant than work for them themselves, but local inflation would still happen a bit between merchant visits. If too much cash is flooding the village and there isn't any food, people are less likely to sell their grain at any price.

I think what makes the most sense, though, is a barter based economy with something (probably grain) required the most and the easiest to produce so that it can also act as the base monitary unit. (i.e. for Andy a log is worth 4 grain, plained wood is worth 7 grain and a full house worth 30 grain.) Since it is consumed regularly, you wouldn't have inflation.

However you do it, you would also likely want to have a way for the AI to own/control the land and buildings, so that the person who owned the lumber mill could get a cut for it's use, same for the person who owned the field, the flourmill, the distillery, the bakery, blacksmith etc. All of these functions the starting AI could do on their own in their hovel (except produce grain), but the AI skilled at the task could do it for cheeper. Perhaps even include skilled carpenter/builders who are the only one capable of building/repairing special buildings like the mills and blacksimiths, that way your first settler doesn't build a hovel and a blacksmith shop, and a bakery and a... These special buildings could accelerate production times or decrease production costs (or both) over the work from hovel model.

You've probably considered all/most of the above, and if so then I'm just feeling all excited for you. I hope that if the concept reminders were unneeded, at least that excitement is conveyed.