Morale, war weariness and unemployment

Such wonderful topics, don't you think? Let's dive into the depths of Kaiserpunk, far away from the hardships IRL and see how these work in the game.

Morale
All your citizens have Morale. It's a general overview of how they feel about you, your reign and your capital. There are some simple rules to remember:

1. If Morale is low, so is your tax flow.
2. If Morale is high, you're good to fly.

• Vegetables – The most basic food there is, besides picking berries in the woods. Vegetables are easily produced (grown) on Farms.
• Bread – While not the most nutritious, and with dubious health effects, it does fill the stomach. Getting Bread will take a bit more work. Plant Wheat on Grain fields, refine it into Flour in Flour mills and then bake the final goodie in the Bakeries.

• Fish – Lakes and seas are your sources of Fish, as expected. Organizing the production isn't complicated, but you do have to (surprisingly :P) build Fisheries on the coast.
• Meat – Ranches are your go-to place to produce fresh, tasty meat.
• Water – Unlike Laborers who get by, Manufacturers expect to have running water in their homes. Fresh drinkable water is pumped from Water deposits by building Water pumps (surprise!) and then distributed via Water towers. So we're adding a bit of complexity here. Not too much though.

• Fish soup – These guys aren't big on cooking. They're more interested in having stuff premade, just for them. Fish soup is produced in Soup kitchens.
• Juice – A nice vitamin injection in the form of fruit juice, produced in Juiceries. You'll also need Orchards to produce the Fruit.
• Electricity – We could hardly call them Technicians without them wanting electricity. Similar to Water, Electricity is first produced (in power plants, that also require fuel to run like coal or diesel) and then distributed via Power substations.

• Sushi – Yup. Sushi. Guess what resources you'll need for that? Fish and Algae (produced in Algae farms).
• Pie – Here's an unexpected wildcard to satisfy the specialists' sweet tooth. Pies. Baked in bakeries from fruit and flour.

• Clothes – Sure, they have their work clothes, but what about another set? Two even? Without holes? Maybe a different dress or trousers? Take cotton, make cloth and sew some clothes at the clothier.
• Newspapers – Gives them a lot of topics to talk about. Refine wood into cellulose, use it to produce paper and the rest is handled by the Printing press.

• Ale – Something to take the edge off after a long day of work in the factory. Another use for wheat, only this time at the brewery.
• Gramophone – For those rare vinyls they find laying around. Appliances factory can get you hooked up.
• Radio – Can’t beat the good old radio waves. Produce the boombox in the Appliances factory.

• Telephone – Technicians like to talk to their relatives. Mothers-in-law likely.
• Fine garments – Only the best clothes for them, made from the finest silk.

• Wine – When ale just can’t flush the horrible away.
• Jewelry – Fashionable doodads made from silver and gold.
• TV – A television set, no smart functions… barely any functions at all, but it does show the moving images.

• Fire station – Reduces the chance of fires erupting in your capital, keeps the Laborers happy and jumps into action when a fire eventually does happen.

• Police station – Reduces the chance of a crime wave happening and keeps the Manufacturers happy. In case of riots, police crews are dispatched to handle the situation. If left unchecked, riots can cause a lot of damage and even escalate into full-blown rebellions.

• Prison – Technicians are all about rehabilitation. Or maybe they just want the criminals to be taken somewhere out of sight. Prisons are good for that, which in turn is good for Technicians’ mental health. Prisons, however, can become hotspots for riots and opens up the possibility of prison breaks.

• Courthouse – Specialists are keen to handle grievances in the court of law, even just for appearances. I guess when you have everything in your life taken care of, litigation is the only thing left.

• Elementary school – Basic education, but still important. Laborers won’t be looking for more than that. As an added mechanic, you can use Elementary schools to convert Laborers into Manufacturers. Comes in handy if you’re having problem getting Manufacturers the standard way (through immigration).

• Highschool – Manufacturers are interested in making that step forward in their knowledge of the world. High schools have the added ability to convert Manufacturers into Technicians.

• University – A nice almost top of the ladder for Technicians to aspire to. A nifty bonus mechanic of universities is Research funding. You can allocate funds (cash) into different development branches to speed up research in those areas. This offers a direct control of boosting development in your capital.

• Research center – Specialists have already achieved university-level degrees. What they want is to apply their knowledge on exciting new projects. Research centers, along with satisfying Specialists’ thirst for education, can produce breakthrough points. You can use breakthroughs to quickly boost development of a research branch of your choice.

• Record label – A simple building, used to distribute records to eager vinyl fans.

• Radio station – Listeners all over your capital can enjoy the best and latest tunes.

• TV station – A good television drama in black and white can occupy time and minds with ease.

• Jazz club – This is the place for the discerning customer to take the weight of his chest, have a great enjoyable night and forget about the worries of the world.

As is usually the case in Kaiserpunk, for every positive, there is at least one potential negative. The buildings noted above can become the epicenter of great stories… which includes tragedies as well. Radio and TV stations are perfect entry points for enemy propaganda for example…
 
Unemployment
No, I haven’t forgotten about the last two. Unemployment is a tricky bugger. You need citizens, workers if you wish. You need them for the capital to have any chance of working in an organized manner and at full capacity. You also need citizens to be recruits and form your mighty armies. Taxing citizens is also your primary income… That said, you can have too many citizens. Apologies for the crassness. Remember… it’s just a game 😉.

So, what happens when you build a bunch of houses or residential buildings and a whole lot of people move into your capital? You’re pleased, taxes are coming in, the treasury is filling up nicely. Great… Have you considered what all those folks will do? No? Congratulations! You’ve just created a problem from nothing. You’re an absolute wizard!

Your citizens generally want to be employed. They want to work. If there are no opportunities for them here, they will of course leave. But they won’t leave quietly. They’ll ransack your capital first, make some nice bonfires, trash the place and then leave… maybe. Maybe they don’t. Maybe, for example, Laborers with a general hypothetical unemployment of 40% look at the Technicians with a 3% unemployment and think “Hmmm… seems to me that the governor’s been pumping cash into their jobs, but not ours. We’re going to take what should rightfully be ours…” which causes bloody clashes between the individual classes… And last but not least maybe, just maybe, the rioters decide YOU are going to leave instead.

Unemployment is not a joke. Remember that and plan accordingly 😉.


War weariness
With this subheading, we arrive at the final component of morale in Kaiserpunk. War weariness: the feeling of being tired and overwhelmed by the constant war happening in the world, war that for one reason or another, involves your fledgling new nation.

People get tired of war. Winning or losing, they get tired, weary if you wish. And make no mistake, the I’m tired of this c*** starts accumulating the moment a war ensues. It will take time, but ultimately, it will come to bite you. It’s war for god’s sake! People die in wars! Who wants wars to last eternally!?

You might be asking “Is there anything I can do about it?” and the answer is, of course; you’re the governor. Propaganda is your primary tool. Regions that are on the front lines of a war get destabilized. Unstable regions make war weariness grow much faster. Losing battles cause a massive hit to war weariness. Well, a boost, not a hit. Losing an entire region… don’t even ask what this does to the perception of war in your capital…

All the things noted in the previous paragraph also work the other way around. Winning will slow down the accumulation of war weariness. Winning battles, conquering regions, stabilizing your regions etc.. This all helps, but as I’ve said before, this will only postpone the degradation of morale in general. Perpetual war is not a viable or at least a desired state.
 
To conclude



The gameplay focus in Kaiserpunk is on efficient production and keeping your citizens happy or at the very least content is an intricate part of that. You can’t have a functioning war machine or a society in general if your folks are miserable. Kaiserpunk will remind of you that every step of the way.