Return-Time Planning
Return-time planning is the estimation of when a farm's available resources will meet a stated need and when production will reach its ordinary storage limit. It relates displayed net rates and unreserved inventory to the timing of Civic Needs, while Dispatch comparisons also account for replacing consumed goods.
- Civic estimate
(remaining amount - free inventory) / displayed net rate, with a negative result treated as zero- Dispatch cycle estimate
travel time + (goods needed x minutes to replace one input bundle)- Capacity rule
- Ordinary production stops when ordinary storage is full.
- Rates and costs
- Displayed in the current catalog
Resource estimates
A Civic Need counts only inventory that is not reserved for another commitment. A Work requiring 20 items, with 12 unreserved items available and a displayed net rate of two per minute, has an estimated four-minute wait. Five items reserved by a Work Order remain committed to that order and do not satisfy another need.
Capacity and returns
Return timing is shaped by both a producer's displayed rate and the free space in ordinary storage. A Storehouse raises that limit, allowing more real-elapsed output to be accepted between collections without changing production rate. Once storage reaches capacity, ordinary output stops rather than accumulating as an unlimited backlog; the Lost-and-Found Cart provides only limited post-cap recovery.
Delivery cycles
Delivery timing combines travel with the replacement time for the required inputs. In a representative comparison, Road takes 10 Trail Mix for 40 minutes and River takes 11 for 36 minutes. At four minutes to replace one Trail Mix, each cycle totals about 80 minutes. Road, River, and Aerial therefore function as scheduling choices, with the current Forecast and available stock determining their practical fit.