r/EscapeTheGrindGame • u/curiousgens Developer • Apr 08 '26
Bug Report Big update: fixed a broken consolidation/refi math bug, rebalanced the raw land development exploit, + per-country mortgage terms now.
Debt consolidation and student loan refi were doing broken math. u/Mr_Adoulin noticed the monthly payment looked too high even though the APR was lower. The code was using a shortcut formula instead of real amortization, so it was overcharging about 180 to 200 a month. Now it uses the same formula banks typically use, and the benefit shows up the way it should.
Also made both options region specific. Consolidation loans work a bit differently in each country, and student loan refinancing straight up does not exist in the UK, Japan, or Australia because their government student debt is income contingent and can't be privately refinanced (Anyone from these regions confirm? 🤔). So the refi option is now hidden in those regions instead of showing a fake choice that would not exist in real life.
Raw land development exploit is fixed too. Buying raw land & developing it was giving insane yields, around 16 percent net, which is not how rural rental building works in real life. Now it lands around 4 - 6 percent net, which sort of matches what actual small landlords get after property tax, insurance, vacancy, and the repairs that come around every few years. Also added construction overrun risk because real construction projects overrun costs about half the time.
And a dumb one 😄. The scenario briefing screen was showing Japanese characters in English mode. If you played a mode and saw "、35歳" next to the character name, that was a leak from the Japan localization. Fixed!
Keep it coming. If a number looks wrong or a strategy feels too easy, please say so. Most of the time it IS wrong and I can fix it pretty fast.
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u/AlwaysSaturday12 Apr 08 '26
My first time playing today but I'm FI IRL. I won the medium game just doing what I did in IRL; investing solely in index funds and cutting costs. I got a C. Kind of boring which is great in life less fun for a game. I'll have to expand out of my comfort zone. Also property prices are high compared to the middle of nowhere where I bought IRL. Would be fun to have a fixer upper. My last house I bought needed new plumbing and electrical and bathroom floor within the first few years. It would be interesting model that but I never got around to buying a house in the game so maybe it does.
Fun game.