Empire of Sin News

Welcome back, Gangsters! Make It Count DLC is just around the corner, and with it, a new way for you to make money in Chicago. It seems right to give you a little heads up on how things are gonna work when money lending opens its doors. Let’s get into it, shall we?

[h2]Loan Sharking[/h2]
Up to now, your rackets have thrived thanks to one ingredient: alcohol. Sure, some places can manage by focusing attention on other forms of vice, but booze is the oil for a well-run machine. That means building breweries, keeping speakeasies fluid, and ensuring that gamblers are carrying full cargoes of Dutch courage to roll the bones down the Craps table.



Loan sharking offers a new source of income, without the need for a constant supply of alcohol, though it takes a particular type of gangster to get one up and running. Any old knucklehead can sling alcohol, but running numbers and ensuring they turn a profit?

That requires business acumen. While all Gangsters in the Black Book have useful skills and talents, not all of them extend to accountancy.

You’ll need a Fixer in your crew in order to open a Loan Shark racket. With brains best suited for keeping track of payments, they can make sure the books stay balanced in your favor. This extends to Chicago’s newest boss, Maxim Zelnick, too. While adept with numbers himself, he is a boss first, and still has to delegate Loan Shark operations to the Fixers in his crew.



Wherever there’s money, there are people trying to get their hands on as much of it as possible. The locals are no different. Open too many Loan Sharks in one place and there’ll no doubt be opportunists trying to borrow from everywhere. To protect yourself from chancers trying to bankrupt you, you can only open one Loan Shark per Precinct. Keeping the Precinct’s debtors tied to one place means a clearer paper trail and reduces the likelihood of losing track of who owes you money.

Loan Sharks require an initial investment. You can’t start lending money until you’ve got some to lend, right? Depending on the size of the racket you take over - and the size of your bank account - Loan Sharks have small or large start-up costs.

A small racket type should cost you around $5,000, and a large one around $25,000. Over a year, Loan Sharks stand to earn a lot through their interest rates, with the potential to earn you up to five times your investment cost.

You might be wondering what types of upgrades are available to Loan Sharking. Given that customers don’t spend all that long there, the ambiance of the place isn’t going to hold much of an influence. There are three possible upgrades for Loan Sharks:

• Deflect: Money lending is still a bit of a legal gray area, so anything that keeps the cops from looking too closely is a good thing.
  
• Security: With wads of hard-earned cash stacked in the back room, it’s wise to keep your Loan Sharks well guarded.
  
• Accountancy: A unique upgrade that ensures your staff knows exactly how to cook the books and increase the earnings of your Loan Shark racket.
  

[h2]Events[/h2]
It won’t be all plain sailing once your Loan Shark’s up and running. In a city of colorful individuals, Chicagoans can have any number of reasons to borrow from you, and twice as many excuses on why they can’t pay you back.

Loan Sharks come with their own unique set of events for you to tackle. However you choose to handle them depends on the type of Boss you are, but be warned: if you let too many things go, it could have negative effects on your honor rating. Each event gives you three options:

• Demand Money: You don’t care what kind of sob story a debtor is giving you, they owe you money and you want it back in full. There is still a chance that they won’t have what they owe and you could lose out on the debt.
  
• Partial Payment: Here, you’re willing to give your debtor the benefit of the doubt. They have the option to pay what they have now and give you the remainder in 30 days. Again, there is a chance that they won’t be able to scrounge together what they owe, but what you do at that point is up to you.
  
• Give More Time: Something in the debtor’s story has made you believe them, or, they just caught you on a good day. Either way, you grant your debtor an extra 30 days to get the payment together. There’s every chance they will, but there’s a chance they could skip town on you too.
  

Given that your debtors come from all walks of life, making their living doing different things, now and then they may present you with an extra option for you to choose in place of payment. Maybe they’re a contractor who can get you a cheap upgrade on your speakeasies, or maybe they know someone who can tell you where an enemy boss’s Safehouse is. It all rides on who the debtor is that’s borrowing from you, and how desperate they are for you not to break their legs.

[h2]Economy[/h2]
So, there’s a new racket type to broaden business horizons and Precincts mapped out to occupy and defend. That could be a lot to manage while still making time for missions and other Boss tasks.
Worry not, we’ve streamlined economic controls for Make It Count, so managing your empire has never been easier.

The updated Neighborhood Overview screen is where you get the lowdown on other gangs operating in this part of the city, broken down by which Precinct they own. You can also see your earnings from this neighborhood so it’s easy to tell at a glance if you need to step things up or not. Any racket synergies that you have, as well bonuses specific to this neighborhood, can be found here too. Hovering over each synergy will show you what synergy you have, the rackets included in it, and the bonus you get from it.



[h2]Precinct Overview[/h2]
The Precinct Overview allows you to manage all your rackets, and their upgrades, on a Precinct-wide level. This offers a more sleek and efficient way to manage your empire and keep tabs on parts that need attention. No more will a speakeasy on the outer reach of Municipal Pier get overlooked due to having heaps of rackets scattered around different parts of the city.

Available buildings can be purchased and the cost of each potential racket is displayed on the right-hand side of your screen. The Precinct Overview also allows you to keep track of the Police activity in your area, your customers, and the amount of money you’re earning from the Precinct. Lastly, you can toggle the type of alcohol you want to serve in that Precinct.

When you own a Precinct you also have the option to open an Improvement building. These are non-physical buildings that provide bonuses to specific parts of your Precinct. For instance, opening a Boxing Club will buff the security on your rackets in the Precinct, whereas a Mob Lawyer can influence the Police Activity number.



[h2]Customers[/h2]
Of course, all these rackets and upgrades would mean nothing without customers coming through the doors and spending their money. With the introduction of Precincts, there is a new customer model. Each Precinct has a small number of customers. Building rackets in a Precinct means that more customers will become available. However, if a Precinct gets too crowded and there are too many options available, customer growth will be slow.

Each racket type plays a role in garnering more customers for you. Speakeasies are the workhorse for your empire, bringing in the main source of your income. Casinos, with all their flashy lights and promises of wealth, lure customers to your Precincts. Brothels help to grow the customer base for the Precinct.

As you upgrade your rackets, the number of customers will increase, as people are drawn to swankier places and the option of a better quality of alcohol. However, if not managed wisely, your Precinct could end up with negative customer growth. If the Police Activity number gets too high and their presence is felt around the Precinct, people are less likely to indulge their vices. What’s more, if you have a busy Precinct, you need to serve good quality alcohol to entice more customers in.



Loan Sharks can also lower your customer growth. Though they are a good source of revenue, people who are struggling to repay you are not likely to spend any spare cash in the pub. Like any other racket, they increase criminal activity and so the cops cannot ignore them forever. It’s all a balance, to fine-tune and perfect so that your empire comes out on top.

Well, that should leave plenty for you to chew on for the next little while. Once Chicago lets slip on some more updates, you’ll be the first to know. Until next time, keep Sinning!

[h3]Bio[/h3]
Maxim Zelnick is a compulsive problem solver. If he wakes up facing Doomsday, he has it in a vice by breakfast and turning a profit by lunch. In the chaos of prohibition Chicago, he’s the eye of the storm. An accountant for organized crime, there’s no room in his head for a hot temper, that just overcomplicates things. He deals only in two currencies: money and violence. It’s all business.

It didn’t matter to Zelnick that he was born poor, success was always going to be the outcome. As a butcher’s son, he got used to blood and bones from a young age and saw the direct relationship they had with earning a living. His was a head better suited for what he calls ‘real-world numbers’ and he dropped out of school young to hustle a floating dice game around the streets of Brooklyn. By sixteen, his enterprise had him earning more than his father, though he was just as reliant on the butcher’s knife.

He began bookkeeping for the family business after noticing his father’s accountant was skimming their already meager profits. When the accountant disappeared Maxim drew the attention of a local criminal gang. Seemingly the Zelnicks were not the accountant’s only clients. With his handiwork leaving no trace of a body, and his obvious intellect talking around the local heavies, Maxim was offered a new job as an accountant for Murder Inc. The instructions were straightforward, cook the books and trim the fat from the organization.

Zelnick excelled at both. Within a year his sharp eye had doubled their profits and sniffed out the dead weight, leaving no sign of a paper trail. Now, Zelnick’s at the top of his game, but for all his success, he remains tight-lipped about his business and values discretion. Still, he knows what he wants and Chicago is next on the chopping block. As far as he’s concerned, his new venture in this city is just another opportunity with ‘blank cheque’ written all over it.



[h3]Maxim Zelnick’s Choice Cuts[/h3]
The following is a letter taken in evidence by Chicago P.D. It is an alleged correspondence between Mr. [REDACTED], a high-ranking alderman, and Maxim Zelnick. The packages cited in the letter have never been found.

60603 21st Place LK,
Loop, Chicago.

Dear Mr. [REDACTED],
I trust this finds you well. I hope you don’t mind, I took the liberty of procuring your home address. The personal touch may have been lost in transit had this arrived at your office. Worse still, it may have never reached your desk, and with the sensitive nature of this message, I could not risk that happening.
I’m sure you understand. Mr. [REDACTED], I hope you can tell from my decision to contact you directly that I am a fair man, interested in upholding the utmost discretion, provided we can reach an agreement. 

I appreciate that I must be something of a novelty around the city. Having just moved here, there must be some interest among you locals as to my intentions and potential business ventures, so I can understand your inquisitive efforts to find out more. What I do not appreciate, however, is your insistence on plunging your nose into my business. My affairs, business or otherwise, are of no concern of yours, and if I may be direct for a moment, Mr. [REDACTED],to find your employees snooping around my establishments appeared highly unprofessional on your part. 

Still, I was sorry to hear of their disappearance afterward. Missing over four days now, and still no clue as to their whereabouts? It's a shame to think that three grown persons can disappear like that in broad daylight. It’s audacious, really. I can imagine it must be deeply unsettling for you, a high-ranking city official, to feel so defenseless at present, to know that no one in this city is truly untouchable. 

It is why I feel it necessary to forge good relationships having just moved here. In a place as wild as this, it would be helpful to know that there are allies amongst us, that we can help each other out when the time comes. As I’m sure your little birds told you, I was a butcher in a past life. To show you there are no hard feelings between us, and that I know you will not be dabbling in my affairs again, please accept the enclosed as a little peace offering. 

Package #1: Some may recoil at the thought of eating tongue, but I assure you, Mr. [REDACTED], it is a fine cut of meat. Given the quality of this one, in particular, I imagine it was used extensively prior to finding its way to my butcher's counter.

Package #2: Admittedly, limbs are generally the tougher cuts of meat, but I went to the effort of tenderizing this leg for you before dicing and sending it. This is perfect for a stew if you don’t mind a little gristle.

Package #3: This little piggy seemed to be fed well. I took this cut from the shoulder, you can see an abundant marbling through the meat. One for the slow roast, if I may offer a suggestion. 

Package #4: Honestly, there’s not much that can be gleaned from the head, but it could make a nice centerpiece at your next high falutin dinner party. I feel it really makes a statement, don’t you think?

Now Mr. [REDACTED], I’m sure there is a part of you that is only crying out to make a song and dance about all this, but please, there is no need to thank me. There is plenty more where that came from, should I ever find myself in an excess of meat again. Perhaps you and I could do business once I’ve fully settled in. Until then.

Sincerely,

M.Z.


[h2]Introducing the Fixers[/h2]
Maxim Zelnick isn’t the only new face around Chicago. Along with him is a whole new type of gangster that specializes in making problems disappear without raising a bullet storm. Though they may offer roughly the same service, each of these fixers has a different background, traits, and are more diverse than the last. Let’s allow them to introduce themselves.

[h3]Judge Ma “The Pillar” Miller[/h3]
A judge from Arkansas, Judge Miller earned the nickname, “The Pillar”, for being such a pivotal part of her community. Little did the public know, she was a pillar of the criminal underworld, too, using her connections to enrich herself and her criminal compatriots. She believes she can get anywhere with slick talk and the life she’s made for herself has proven it. After being run out of Arkansas by a crusading, idealistic young lawyer, she’s come to Chicago to get back to her old ways. 

[h3]Gertrud Brandt[/h3]
The daughter of a Herero government official and a German artist, Gertrud’s family came to America when she was young. A trans woman, she flourished in New York’s underground scene. The strong community she found fostered a sense of kindness in her as well as a belief in finding one’s tribe. Used to creating spaces for her and her chosen family, through less than legal means, she is a skilled organizer. Brandt has a warm open heart matched by her cold ruthlessness in dealing with those who threaten her and those she cares for. 

[h3]Rachel Steinman[/h3]
Rachel Steinman grew up poor in New York’s Lower East Side and was the only Jewish kid in an Italian neighborhood. Before long her shrewd mind and sharp tongue had her working as a teenage drug dealer, loan shark, and as a numbers runner for a Sicilian crime syndicate. Still, she found her Jewish heritage made her an outsider among the mafia. Rather than letting this destroy her, she turned it to her advantage and moved to Chicago, using her underworld connections to develop with all of the criminal communities in the city, becoming a friend to all, but loyal to none but herself. 

[h3]Dr. Ada Santos Souza[/h3]
Dr. Ada Santos Souza grew up in São Paulo to a wealthy family that fell on hard times. Though her circumstances changed, her tastes did not, and Dr. Souza used her high-class connections to commit high-class crimes, selling museum artifacts on the black market. But, she found a sense of adventure that pushed her to take even greater risks. This resulted in one of her co-conspirators turning her in for their own skin and she tumbled down to the underground where her circle of influence grew larger. Now, with the high-stakes thrill that such a life brings, she has found she may be exactly where she belongs. 

[h3]Dixie Chan[/h3]
A resident Chicagoan, Dixie is the only son of decent law-abiding parents. As lawyers, they worked hard to get their son a good education, though, after years of watching them fight injustice to gain nothing more than squalor and early graves, Dixie vowed never to forgo a good payday in favor of doing the right thing. Becoming a lawyer solely for profit, Dixie found his niche representing criminals desperate to avoid prison and willing to pay anything to find a loophole. As the owner of several properties, with several high-profile criminals on his Christmas card list, Dixie has never looked back. 

Well, that’s all we could squeeze in for this month. While you get yourself acquainted with the new blood, our moles will be out there getting more information for next month’s update. See you then, Boss!

Hey Gangsters!

Everybody still Sinning? Great!

With Make it Count and The Precinct updates getting ever closer, we devs are only dying to know: what are you most excited to see in the new updates?

In previous Dev Diaries, here and here, we let you in on some details about what’s in store for Chicago. Any features in there that you’re really looking forward to? I’ll bet some of you are already thinking of strategies. Tell us all in the comments below or hop over to our forum to leave your thoughts.

Oh, and before we go, we’ll have another Dev Diary coming real soon that’s gonna put the spotlight on one of Chicago’s newest residents. Y’hear that whistle? Sounds like the hype train is rolling into Platform 1.

All Aboard! 😎

Hot from the streets of Chicago we’re back with another bulletin from a city in flux. Bosses are claiming their territories and setting up supply lines. Meanwhile, the police are preparing for a new way to engage with gangs. It’s all about to go off in Chicago, and there’s a bunch to get through. Here goes!

[h2]Precincts[/h2]

As we found out in a previous Dev Diary, precincts are subdivisions of the neighborhood that you control. With a larger chunk of the neighborhood to win or lose in one fell swoop, your decisions and strategy hold a lot more weight.

Right now, you can open a racket anywhere in the city. Gather enough rackets throughout your time in Chicago and it’s fair to say that losing one or two won’t have a major impact on your overall empire. Give the bosses larger territories to compete for, however, and suddenly the stakes are a lot higher. Every inch of the city becomes a valuable asset that nobody can afford to lose.



What’s more, not all precincts are equal. Some are larger than others, are better located, and stand to make more cash, so there are advantages to occupying certain precincts. The AI is aware of this and will look at the number of buildings a precinct has, as well as the number of connecting precincts, before making its move to strike. With more calculative factions to consider, it’s going to mean more strategy from you, too. Having more on the line will demand more interesting and meaningful choices from you in how you run your empire.

Well, that’s maintaining your empire covered, but what about expansion? When it comes to taking new precincts, there are changes to combat, too. Every precinct has a depot, which is the control building for the whole precinct. Claim the depot, claim the precinct. Depots are heavily guarded and when under attack, draw reinforcements from surrounding rackets to help with the onslaught. This gives you two options when taking over a precinct: attack and loot the rackets to get rid of those reinforcements or go right for the depot. Attacking the depot offers a longer, more tactical fight, with a bigger risk. Although, if you win, gaining a whole precinct could potentially swing the balance of the larger game in your favor.



You can also use Sal’s taxi cabs to your strategic advantage. To accommodate the turf wars, Sal has made more taxi ranks available, but still, not all precincts have them. From the World Map, you can see that taxi ranks link the neighborhoods. When moving to attack a new neighborhood, you go from a taxi rank you control to the rank it links to. This makes taxi ranks vital real estate as controlling the taxi ranks means you can control where the AI attacks you. Also, controlling the ranks will provide you with the links to expand further into the city.



[h2]Supply Lines[/h2]

A quick recap on supply lines: when you own two adjoining precincts, you set up a supply line. Supply lines are essential to your empire, providing a path for you to get supplies out to your precincts while ensuring your money has a safe trajectory back to you.

Breaking a supply line can really disrupt an empire. If your precincts are cut off from the rest, then you have no way of supplying them with product and the negative effects of this are immediate. Beyond that, the introduction of supply lines means the AI has become a lot more focused on how it operates and is making some clever deductions. Currently, the AI can attack any of your rackets across the city, and depending on the health of your empire, losing one or two of these buildings may not be a critical loss for you.



With precincts and supply lines, the AI now has fewer options to choose from in where it attacks and has a larger focus on breaking supply lines specifically, creating another reason to ensure you keep a firm grip on your supply lines. When you take over another precinct and break a faction’s supply line, don’t expect them to forget about it too easily. Once the line is broken, the AI works to value that broken line and puts all of its efforts into claiming it back.

Supply lines also demand a more involved strategy. As soon as a chain is set up, precinct positions become a factor, which in turn affects what type of upgrade you choose to invest in for each precinct. For example, supply lines mean there are frontier precincts that are most likely to be attacked first. In that case, it’s worthwhile to beef up security in those precincts, leaving more protected precincts to pick up the slack with more financially lucrative upgrades.

[h2]Police[/h2]

Precincts also affect how the police interact with you. By introducing Police Activity to the game, the crew in blue are not only more present as you build your empire, but their intentions are a lot more transparent. The suspicion value that police have on your rackets can be a little hard to decipher at times. Given that it affects each racket differently it’s difficult to keep on top of and requires you to rely on your own judgment. With precincts, Police Activity is a precinct-wide value that is easier for you to keep track of and easier for Police Chief George MacDonough to collect bribe money.

Bribing police through the diplomacy screen will directly improve your standing with law enforcers and turn them off raiding your rackets. This has made the connection between the police on your diplomacy screen and the police on the street more apparent and offers clarity on how to navigate your relationship with the police while taking over Chicago.



Why is the Police Activity number so important? The more active the police are in your precincts, the harder it is for you to make money. Customers are less likely to indulge their vices when police presence is strong and your racket profits will dwindle. With every upgrade and racket you invest in, it becomes harder for police to ignore the illegalities involved. That’s why it’s good to manage your relationship with the police just as you manage the rest of your empire.

That about covers it for this bulletin. We’ll be sure to get back with more updates as soon as our moles manage to uncover more. Let us know what you think of the upcoming changes and what you’re most looking forward to seeing in the comments below.

Until next time, Happy Sinning.

Join us tomorrow, crew, as Maezza and Fiona return to 1920's Chicago!

It will be our last sitdown for the summer. Our goals?
💲 Buy Goldie the Golden Tommy Gun (because she deserves to shoot in style)
👊Take back our rackets lost from our last session.
🐝Be the Queen Bee.

5PM CET at https://twitch.tv/paradoxinteractive