Trade Routes

[BuilderR]

What affects the profit I get from trade routes.
And how EXACTLY it affects.

Tnx

[Smash]

The amount of trade ARROWS being generated in the 2 cities concerned.This is controlled by city size,location,improvements,government type etc.

Some techs also have an effect.Not sure about all of em but Invention and Navigation decrease bonuses.

Distance between the 2 cities.The farther apart the better.2 seperate continents are even better.

Foreign or domestic city.Foreign routes tend to be more lucrative but early domestic routes are better than nothing.And you get both sides of the routes.

Demanded or not.

You get a gold bonus but you also get an equivilant amount of science beakers as well as trade routes which add arrows to the city longterm.

You could generate ALL your research by just delivering caravans if you so chose.

There are many interesting Trade threads.Go back to show topics from last year or the archives.

[Scouse Gits]

Scrolls of Wisdom


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Scouse Git[1]

"CARTAGO DELENDA EST" - Cato the Censor

[Oldman]

Damn, i was going to say that?!?!?
but, erm... like Scouse says!!

[tonic]

Yes! And I have reproduced this for the benefit of Apolytoners in the thread http://apolyton.net/forums/Forum3/HT...tml?date=12:18

[patriot]

When we are talking about trade and expansion going hand in hand, can anyone elaborate on a balance between them? Maybe a fictional timeline...like building 1 caravan, then settler, then 2nd caravan, ...

Any ideas? How many cities does everyone typically have by the time they have their first caravan built?

[Scouse Gits]

The conditions of the game dictate when the first caravan arrives. Even on a large map you can find yourself on a small continent sharing it with the Mongols. If this is the case, then the elimination of the neighbours takes priority!

Early caravans are "food" for wonder building, however I try and stick a couple for trade on a trireme as early as possible. This is usually in the BC years. If you like trading early then MPE is useful as you can locate where civs are situated. Always try and trade with those powers which have gone to republic early - as they have more arrows.

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SG (2)

[William Keenan]

I have been working on the formula for trade lately, in preparation for a tip on the topic.

Trade Revenue = ((combined trade of both cities + 4) / 16) * Modifiers

Transport Modifier is the best ONE of the following three:[*]x150% if both cities have Airports[*]x150% if both cities are connected by roads[*]x200% if both cities are connected by railroad

Superhighway Modifier
x150% if city has Superhighways (effects only the city with the improvement)

Foreign Trade Modifier
x200% Trade is with another civilization

The formula for the Trade Revenue done by Robert Lancaster, which can be found in the scrolls of wisdom link above, was pretty close to accurate and formed the basis of my work on the topic.

His Trade Payoff formula is not accurate, however. In fact, there are two ratically different formulas for the Payoff. One for small trade routes (under 255 gold) and another for large Payoffs (over 255 gold).

[Jim W]

quote: Originally posted by William Keenan on 07-09-2000 08:17 PM I have been working on the formula for trade lately, in preparation for a tip on the topic.

Various people have posted formulae for trade benefits, most of which cause my eyes to cross and my brain to scream "General Protection Fault!"

(Though I've never considered it a fault to protect my Generals. But that's beside the point.)

However, I go along on my nice non-mathematical way, trying to get stuff to (a) the foreign city that requested it, (b) some foreign city in the same country as the requesting city, (c) some other foreign city, (d) one of my own cities that has requested the item, or (d) one of my own cities that I think might appreciate it.

I'm not one of the super-greats of the Civ-2 World, and I think I may have graduated from the rank of super-loser, but I agree with all those who say Trade is Very Important Stuff.

At the very simplest, think of it like this: Trade brings in more cash to be spent on all those neat gew-gaws like Riflemen, Heavy Armour, and First Class seats on the Alpha Centauri Flight.

Jim W

[tonic]

quote: Originally posted by Jim W on 07-09-2000 10:14 PM At the very simplest, think of it like this: Trade brings in more cash to be spent on all those neat gew-gaws like Riflemen, Heavy Armour, and First Class seats on the Alpha Centauri Flight.

If I could expand that slightly and say it can also bring in a science bonus - essentially reducing the number of science turns - in Fundy, everytime your caravan/freight reaches its destination city. It seemed to me the central strategy to overcome the science handicap in Fundy-based OCC12.

Perhaps the science-bonus component could also be included in your analysis, WK?

[William Keenan]

quote: Perhaps the science-bonus component could also be included in your analysis, WK?

I'm currently working on that part of the formula. It is very complex. There are actually two formulas an no less than sixteen variables. I'm not altogether sure that I can crack this one.

Normally I don't post partial findings, but this part of the formula is very interesting.

Cargo Modifier
x100% Any cargo not in demand
x200% Hides, Wool, Beads, Salt, Copper, or Dye in demand
x250% Cloth, Coal, Wine, Silver in demand
x300% Silk, Spice, Gems, Gold in demand
x350% Oil in demand
x400% Uranium in demand

[William Keenan]

Tonic, the amount of science "beakers" you get is the same as the amount of gold you get.

[tonic]

WK, thanks that makes sense. It's just that in Fundy eg in my OCC12 game several hundred beakers were equivalent to a paltry 12 turns for science, so that when I got the equivalent of say 124 gold it hardly make an impact on the progress bar at F6!

[tonic]

quote: Originally posted by Campo on 07-11-2000 12:19 PM So any undemanded cargo is equivalent? Does that apply to initial bonus only, or to ongoing trade benefits?

If you go by the Lancaster formula reproduced in the forum thread I cited above, then it only applies to the one-off bonus not the ongoing trade.

quote: My impression (not based on any facts) was that the more prestigious cargos gave greater benefits, even if not demanded.

My own experience tends to confirm the Lancaster formula again, in that only certain commodities especially oil and uranium have an effect. In any case, try it out empirically by using the Cheat Menu.

[William Keenan]

Campo, it's kind of complex because there are multiple formula for the trade payoff. In the first formula hides delivered to a city that demands is worth twice as much as a uranium shipment to a city that does not demand it.

Demand is not a factor in Trade Revenue. In other words, a trade route produces no more trade arrows because the item is in demand than if it is not in demand.