Just thought someone else might be interested in the formula for how spectators are calculated.
Unlike what the game implies, spectators are not carried over from day-to-day; they are recalculated every day.
The most interesting aspect is the tower_type_bonus, which is not mentioned anywhere in the game, but can give up to a 20% bonus from day 1. See below.
tower_type_bonus:
The tower type bonus is the most interesting because it's not mentioned anywhere in the game. Basically, it gives you a bonus for spreading your money out between multiple tower-types, rather than investing it all in one type of tower.
The equation is Min(20%, 5%*Sum(tower_type_costs)/Max(tower_type_costs)). In other words, it sums up the total money spent on each tower type (different levels of the same type of tower are considered the same tower-type - also, oddly enough, Annihilation tower and Corruption tower are considered the same tower-type, as are Crossfire/Chaos), then sums them up and divides by the max. Your bonus is that * 5%, with a max of 20%.
So, for example, if you invest all your money into one type of tower, you will get a 5% bonus to spectators. However, if you invest evenly in two different tower types, you get 10% bonus; evenly in three gives you 15% bonus; and evenly in four gives the max of 20%.
As another example, if you've invested 100 gold in one type of tower but 10 gold each in two other tower types, you would get (120/100)*5% = 6% bonus. If you had spent that same gold to spend 50 on one tower-type and 35 on each of the others, however, you'd get (120/50)*5% = 12% bonus. So diversifying your tower-types can pay off.
upgrade_park_planner_bonus:
Bonus for having the Park Planner upgrade (up to 16% bonus per tower type, depending on the max upgrade). Note that the bonuses are added, not multiplied, so the bonus for having two level-V towers is 0.16+0.16 = 32%, not 1.16*1.16 = 35%
leak_penalty:
Every time you leak, you lose ⌈day/5⌉ spectators. So, for rounds 1-5 you lose 1 spec/leak, rounds 6-10 you lose 2 spec/leak, etc.
impressive_kill_bonus:
Every impressive kills nets you ⌈day/10⌉ spectators (or more, if you have the pyrotechnics upgrade) for that day. So, rounds 1-10 gives 1 spec/impressive kill, rounds 11-20 give you 2, etc.
special_day_bonuses:
On day 30, you randomly get between 140 and 160 extra spectators.
On day 40, you lose 5 spectators (and 5% popularity) for every civilian that dies.
On day 50, this variable is set to negate all other bonuses; that is, you get *no* bonuses on day 50.
Also on day 50, if your spectators are below 250, they will be set to a random number between 250 and 270.
upgrade_transit_bonus:
Randomly (40% of the time), you get extra spectators for having the transit bonus
yesterdays_spectators*upgrade_facility_bonus:
The facility bonus gives you extra spectators based on how many spectators you had yesterday.
More specifically, the game looks at the difference between the "tower tier" (see previous link) and the "Day tier":
Days 1-5: Tier 0
Days 6-15: Tier 1
Days 16-25: Tier 2
Days 26-35: Tier 3
Days 36-45: Tier 4
Days 46-50: Tier 5
If the difference between tiers is 2, the tower is only worth 60% of its stated crowd-appeal. If the difference is 3 or more, the tower is only worth 10% of its stated crowd-appeal. Thus, try to have only tier-3 (or greater) towers by day 36, and tier-4 by day 46.
Just thought someone else might be interested in the formula for how spectators are calculated.
Unlike what the game implies, spectators are not carried over from day-to-day; they are recalculated every day.
The most interesting aspect is the tower_type_bonus, which is not mentioned anywhere in the game, but can give up to a 20% bonus from day 1. See below.
-Spectator equation
Max(5, (5 + total_crowd_appeal)*tower_type_bonus*upgrade_park_planner_bonus - leak_penalty + impressive_kill_bonus + special_day_bonuses) + upgrade_transit_bonus + (yesterdays_spectators*upgrade_facility_bonus)
tower_type_bonus:
The tower type bonus is the most interesting because it's not mentioned anywhere in the game. Basically, it gives you a bonus for spreading your money out between multiple tower-types, rather than investing it all in one type of tower.
The equation is Min(20%, 5%*Sum(tower_type_costs)/Max(tower_type_costs)). In other words, it sums up the total money spent on each tower type (different levels of the same type of tower are considered the same tower-type - also, oddly enough, Annihilation tower and Corruption tower are considered the same tower-type, as are Crossfire/Chaos), then sums them up and divides by the max. Your bonus is that * 5%, with a max of 20%.
So, for example, if you invest all your money into one type of tower, you will get a 5% bonus to spectators. However, if you invest evenly in two different tower types, you get 10% bonus; evenly in three gives you 15% bonus; and evenly in four gives the max of 20%.
As another example, if you've invested 100 gold in one type of tower but 10 gold each in two other tower types, you would get (120/100)*5% = 6% bonus. If you had spent that same gold to spend 50 on one tower-type and 35 on each of the others, however, you'd get (120/50)*5% = 12% bonus. So diversifying your tower-types can pay off.
upgrade_park_planner_bonus:
Bonus for having the Park Planner upgrade (up to 16% bonus per tower type, depending on the max upgrade). Note that the bonuses are added, not multiplied, so the bonus for having two level-V towers is 0.16+0.16 = 32%, not 1.16*1.16 = 35%
leak_penalty:
Every time you leak, you lose ⌈day/5⌉ spectators. So, for rounds 1-5 you lose 1 spec/leak, rounds 6-10 you lose 2 spec/leak, etc.
impressive_kill_bonus:
Every impressive kills nets you ⌈day/10⌉ spectators (or more, if you have the pyrotechnics upgrade) for that day. So, rounds 1-10 gives 1 spec/impressive kill, rounds 11-20 give you 2, etc.
special_day_bonuses:
upgrade_transit_bonus:
Randomly (40% of the time), you get extra spectators for having the transit bonus
yesterdays_spectators*upgrade_facility_bonus:
The facility bonus gives you extra spectators based on how many spectators you had yesterday.
-Also note the throttling of crowd-appeal for lower-level towers mentioned here: http://www.sc2mapster.com/forums/general/general-chat/36457-tower-defense-tycoon-millionaire-contest/?page=2#p30.
More specifically, the game looks at the difference between the "tower tier" (see previous link) and the "Day tier":
If the difference between tiers is 2, the tower is only worth 60% of its stated crowd-appeal. If the difference is 3 or more, the tower is only worth 10% of its stated crowd-appeal. Thus, try to have only tier-3 (or greater) towers by day 36, and tier-4 by day 46.