Build a Machinations economy...
About this model
Build a Machinations economy model for the current early-game progression of a medieval RPG called **1353**.
The goal of the model is to simulate whether a player can progress from a fresh start to a **Timbered House**, using the exact progression chain below.
Do not invent additional requirements, prices, crafting costs, stamina costs, or progression gates. If a value is not specified, leave it as an adjustable parameter rather than assuming one.
## Starting state
Fresh player starts with:
* Wattle Hovel * 50 stamina * 0p coin * 2 visible field strips * 1 Wheat Seed * storage capacity 40
Tutorial progression eventually gives the player:
* Thatched Cottage * Timber Storehouse * storage capacity 120 * approximately 10 Wheat * 1 Wheat Seed * approximately 26 stamina remaining
Tutorial trade:
* player crafts Wooden Pegs * special tutorial sale: 3 Wooden Pegs for 1p
## Core active action costs
* Plough field: 3 stamina * Sow field: 1 stamina * Harvest field: 2 stamina * Gather Wood: 5 stamina * Shape Worked Timber: 2 stamina * Craft wooden goods: 2 stamina * Hunt: 6 stamina * Village labour: 6 stamina
Stamina regenerates automatically over real time and should not be treated as permanently finite.
## Farming
Wheat:
* crop growth timer: 5 minutes * recurring field cycle after initial ploughing is Sow + Harvest * expected fair yield: approximately 4.3 Wheat per harvest
Market value:
* Wheat average value approximately 1.286p each
Farming must therefore be able to generate both food stock and saleable produce over repeated cycles.
## Woodwork
Gather Wood:
* costs 5 stamina * produces 3 Wood under normal current-game assumptions
Shape Worked Timber:
* consumes 1 Wood * costs 2 stamina * produces 1 Worked Timber
Wooden Peg crafting:
* consumes 1 Worked Timber * costs 2 stamina * produces 3 Wooden Pegs on success
Woodwork improves through repeated wood gathering and crafting.
Woodwork 2.00 is reachable through normal repeated woodwork activity and must NOT be treated as an impossible external gate.
## Early Estate progression
The player must build the following before Timbered House:
### Poultry Yard
Requires:
* 8p * 12 Wood * 4 Worked Timber * 3 Wooden Pegs * 6 Barley retained * build time 5 minutes
### Carpenter's Shed
Requires:
* 60p * 24 Wood * 12 Worked Timber * 6 Wooden Pegs * Woodwork 2.00 * build time 10 minutes
### Timbered House
Requires:
* 48p * 35 Wood * 15 Worked Timber * 9 Wooden Pegs * Woodwork 2.00 * Timber Storehouse already built * Poultry Yard already built * Carpenter's Shed already built * build time 30 minutes
Do not add Iron, Stone, Nails, Smithing or any other material to Timbered House. Those belong to later progression.
## Land expansion
During early progression the player may expand:
* 2 strips → 3 strips for 8p * 3 strips → 5 strips for 16p once Farming 2.00 is reached
These expansions increase farming production but are not themselves the Timbered House material cost.
## Coin generation
Coin is renewable.
The player can earn coin through:
* selling Wheat and other crops * selling crafted wooden goods * village labour * hunting * later livestock produce
Village labour is repeatable on separate game days and must not be modeled as the only source of coin.
Farming and crafting should be modeled as renewable production loops, not one-time sources.
## Simulation objective
Simulate progression until the player can satisfy all Timbered House requirements.
The model must answer:
1. Is Timbered House reachable? 2. Which resource is the main bottleneck? 3. Approximate number of farming cycles needed 4. Approximate number of wood-gathering/crafting actions needed 5. Approximate coin required in total before Timbered House, including Poultry Yard and Carpenter's Shed 6. Approximate real-time progression for a regular player
Total mandatory coin cost from these three specified buildings alone is:
* Poultry Yard: 8p * Carpenter's Shed: 60p * Timbered House: 48p * Total = **116p**
Do not conclude progression is impossible merely because the player starts with 0p. Coin, Wood, crops, Worked Timber and Wooden Pegs are all renewable resources.
## Model structure
Represent:
* Stamina as a regenerating Pool * Coin as a Pool with renewable Sources and expenditure Drains * Wood, Worked Timber, Wooden Pegs, Wheat and Barley as Pools * Farming, wood gathering, crafting, labour and selling as renewable flows/converters * Building requirements as Gates * Building completion as permanent progression states
Make the diagram modular and easy to expand later into Stone House, ironworking, education, Coventry economy and Estate Dues.
Most importantly: **validate reachability before reporting a bottleneck. Never treat renewable resources as finite starting resources.**
"Build a Machinations economy..." is a public Machinations diagram shared in the Community by Ed Jackson, with 77 components.
It was created in September 2026 and last edited in September 2026.
Open the diagram in the Machinations app and press Play to watch the resources move, adjust its values to test how the system responds, or remix it to make an editable copy in My diagrams.
