<u>ECONOMICS/TRADE ( vers 1.3 )</u>
Hosted by Harel
Hello again! Time for a new version. This time I tried to group things better, into more catagories. I think you would find it much easier to understand and read the points suggested. I also tried to combine ideas, and think of a way it can be implamnted in the game. AND tried to dig up VERY old ideas, and looked up to a year back in the old forums. ( I am still sure I forgot some ideas
).
As ever, feel free to post anything, and if i forgot something, let me know!
( and guys, you have no idea how much time this took
)
A. Resoucrce managments.
B. Economy in general
C. Trade in general
D. Caravan issues
E. Trade and diplomacy
F. List of posters
A. Resource managment
1. Option A: keep the shield system as normal.
2. Option B: make two "general" values: labor and minerals. Labor is equal 1 per every citizen, minerals are produced by mines. Factories and such increase labor, not minerals.
3. Option C: insteed of one "overall" value, minerals, use 3 basic resources: fuel, metal and exotic. Special tiles can give a bonus to a certain mineral production.
4. Option D: have commodities, ala colonization. End amount of around 20, and evolve them as time progress ( bows replaces by muskets, etc. ). Request and demand makes the value of each commodity flux all the time: much like in stock exchange.
5. Option E: use Imperliasm II system, with the roads, mines on the tiles, etc.
( In otpion B,C,D the cocnept of "labor" being different then resource exist ).
6. You can build a "carrier" unit which function like master of orion freighter ships. They automaticly move X items to a required city. For example, if you build 3 "carrier" you can pass up to 3 minerals from city A that produce many minerals, to city B that have a great labor party. When you "activted" a carrier unit ( by giving her work ), it cost you 1 gold unit. The exchange is done automaticly: any surplus minerals are automaticly passed to were they are needed the most. ( maybe you can also pass food this way? ).
7. Have two specialist: one to increase labor ( 2 insteed of 1 ), and a miner who gives +25% to mining.
8. Having a large variaty of trade goods increase the happiness and economy of your people.
9. Since the automatic delivery carrier units from A.6 are not very realistic, you should be able to group regions, a number of cities into a shared pool of resources. The higher you are on the tech tree, the bigger the region can be ( in term of range and number of cities in the region ).
10. A development to A.9 is a new building called "regional headquarters". When you build it, you select a several cities which must be connected to the home town via roads, river, etc. Now, all those cities act like one city: bonus from wonders or city strcutres are given to all cities ( only from the home town. A minor town can't effect the other ones. So, if the minor town has a temple, NO city [ not even herself ] shell get the bonus. If the temple was at the home town, all the cities would have gotten the bonus ). Popultion, food, labor, all are pooled like it's one big city. ( seems very, very un-balanced. Maybe make the support cost for that building HUGE? )
11. Specail resource should be handled like Birth of the federation dilitium mines. In Birth, several rare solar system had dilitium mines. You can only produce a military unit per mine, even if it doesn't have to be in the same city. Meaning? If you have two mines, you can produce up to two ships, at the same time, max. In civ III, you could have some rare tiles with special resource, like coal, oil or uranium. The name is not important. Point is, you need that support to create a military unit. ( or, maybe, only a fixed number of more powerful units ).
12. You should be able to place several workers on each tile, but every new one would produce less then the original one ( anyone has any idea how can be graphicly displayed?
13. Support for units, ofcoruse, would only got materials, not labor.
14. Another idea is to scrap commodites: the items can be represnted by labor. How? If you are in industrial era and got a coal tile, insteed of trading with coal you simply get a bonus to production. A dye tile, or gold, for give a bonus to trade.
15. An improvement to A.14: if you got a special trade tile that no other country has, you gain a very big trade bonus.
B. Economy in general
1. You can buy your units from a black market for a cheapr price, but it would cost you in repution ( maybe in -1 police or -1 corruption? ).
2. You can hire mercenries ( extra morale, extra support units? )
3. AI players as companies, and human players can play a company. In older times it could represent arsitocarts and noble-man. Maybe even allow pirates as players? You have a limited form with companies: can only create contracts with them. ( only in a free market? )
4. To show the burden of war, you need to pay an X amount of money every turn. When you end the war, that cost is decreesed along time ( maybe this can be represented by increased supply cost? Or readiness level like in CtP? ).
5. You should have BUDGETS, like in real life. The bonus gotten from libaries, for example would be decided by how much you put in Eductation. That money is divided between all libaries and universties. The higher the gold per institue, the bigger bonus they give. Hospitels bonus by health, wealthfare gives happiness ( divided by all the populs, like Luxary ), military would be divided between the support cost of all units and dedice what morale bonus/minus you get, etc. ( In democracy/republic, the senate should demand a minimum portion to some section. Suggested sections: Science ( labs and science rate ), Eduction ( libaries, universties ), Health ( hospitels ), Military ( military infra-structre and units ), Internal affairds ( Police, intelligence and reducing un-rest ), Wealthfare ( happiness bonus, like luxary ), Transportion ( Support of road tiles and Mans transpot building ), Construction ( reserve money to buy city building and wonders ), Arts ( support for wonder ), Argiculture ( support for farms ), Religon ( the bonus for temples ) and Trade ( caravans are bought of a pool created here ).
6. Cities should be able to build several times, with slider bar to decide how much labor each section gets.
7. The city tile ( center ) doesn't produce anything, but it does give +1 trade/farm/mine to all near-by hexs.
8. Docks, railroads, farms and such can be simply bought, or use a system like CtP public works. If B.5 idea is used, you can buy the improvement from the budget pool available to that improvment section.
9. Inter-city resoruce level should dictate the amount of minerals a city can produce without lost. In earlier times, it took lots of time to bring the ores from the distant mines to the city. High amount of resources can flood the system. You should have a "max-per-tile" output: a farm can't prodcue more then 2, a mine no more then 3, etc. As technology advance, you can build special structre which can increase the maximum level of output. A tile with a road or river in it can has a max+1 ( notice! If a farm can max produce 4, it doesn't mean she always produce 4. Only that she can't produce more. If the farm had a river, beyond the bonus to farming she could produce a max of 5 ).
10. If commodites are used, they can be deptled.
11. Ofcourse, you should have build queue.
12. The economy should flux, like in real life. Every turn, a number between +1 to -1 would dedcide the level of your income ( maybe a +1 or -1 to the economy Social change? ). This should effect free market countries more then controled market ones. ( double to bonus/minus for free market, half the bonus/minus for planned one? ). The number isn't totaly random, and slowly move up and down. If you are doing well, more chance the number would go up.
13. Buy off limiting: if you have commodities, you may only buy the resources ( twice the amount of resource in gold ), but still have to build it with labor. If still using shields, you may only pay to double the construction cost, no more.
14. Once you gain insdustralization, you shouldn't be able to set any tax setting at any extream ( 100/0 lux, 100/0 science, etc. ).
C. Trade in general
1. You may "raid" trade routes. This is either standing in an area where a trade route pass, or where caravan passes in a close radii. A certain percent would be lost from money and resource profit. The amount would be dictated by the raiding unit quality, quantity and adaptbility ( a pirate can do better then a scout plane ). The raid option would be available to every combat unit: you select a spot and press R. Spys can destroy the trade routes competly, killing the caravan. Raiding is an act of war.
2. Keep trade just like SMAC: fully automatic.
3. You should be able to trade with barbian cities.
4. The higher your technology level above the level of the second side, the more bonus you get to profit. However, it increase the research rate of the second side on every tech you have and he doesn't.
5. If you use a commodity system ( see A.2,A.3,A.4 ), trade basicly gives you minerals, not money. However, you should still get a small amount of money for creating the deal. If you don't have a commodity ( using civ II old shield system ), then trade should give you some shield bonus as well. However, the goverment still guys a cut by taxes.
6. On a general note, trade should be much more profitable. Some countries were based only on trade. AI should also use trade much more then he is now.
7. Inertial trade: every city can have an X amount of trade routes. Cities can estibled intertial trade routes to pass to swap them between themself. Meaning? Cities around your empires which are inland, can estblish a trade route to a major harbor city. That habor city can now support her original trade routes + what the other cities passed her. This can even be a chain-reaction: from city A to city B to city C... etc.
8. Trade inside your empire it done automaticly ( you get a small, auto bonus, like SMAC ). Outside trade is done by trade routes. This works well with idea A.7: you can move all your "trade power" to a several cities which are in a good spot to do mass trade.
9. Black market: in a high corruption city, some of the trade routes you have turn "rouge": they give you no income. Even if you lower the crime rate they don't disappeer: you need military units to route them. ( according to idea B.3 on the pirates, they become the properity of a pirate AI and give him income ).
10. All trade will be automaticly ruled by the trade advisor. He builds the caravans, send them, etc. You can see this moving around the map. However, you can give his special guidelines: what not to trade, what you want him to try to get the most, what you want despertly to get rid off, etc.
11. As your market and goverment becomes more free, more of the trade options become automatic.
12. Some wonders and city structres should increase trade profit ( local or global ) generated by caravans. Some wonders should also increase caravan speed to increase the usefullness of early trade.
13. As strange as this sound, cities with a big food production should give a small bonus to trade. Cuisine is a very important thing for trade and tourism, and big city which makes lots of surplas food would probaly create some new sort of kitchen.
14. Showing the trade routes graphcily would be a pure mess. Create an economic map where you see all the trade routes. Better yet, make caravan on the map invisible to all but on the economic map.
15. Trade goods should be a conversion of minerals to goods ( by labor ) and sold automaticly for profit.
16. How about that insteed of building caravans, we would have a building ( depot, warehouse, etc ) that automaticly generate trade? You get +1 gold per every city in a certain range from you ( increased with technology ). Like idea C.7, it would be inertial - city A is close to 5 cities and city B. City B is close to a DIFFERENT 5 cities. Therefor, since city A is connected to city B, BOTH would get +11 gold ( ten cities +the other city, A or B ), and so does all the other 10 cities. with idea E.1, you can pay to be able to use the depot of side B city to gain access to a new batch of cities, gaining a very high bonus. Side B would get a cut of all profit gotten this way ( reflects very well the great importance of harbor cities that , more then trading themself, traded for others. Like Constantinopol ).
17. Trade technology: if you trade with a civ that doesn't have trade, he automaticly gets it. Before you discover currency, any trade is X items for X itmes ( barter system ). Only after currency are you able to trade, for example, 100 wood for 10 iron.
D. Caravans issues
1. Caravans should move automatcily. They generate money after X turns it takes them to move. For example, if it would take the caravan 5 turns to reach the city, then the bonus would be automitcly given. Beside building the unit and sending it, you can't control her. Since there is no path-finding or graphics, we can support tons of caravans.
2. You should have special kinds of caravan: one on boat, a plane, etc.
3. The caravans automaticly moves to the most profitable city upon completion ( in comptution of range, size and ETA ).
4. Caravans are not built: you gain one per X number of popultion. They are only replaced when they die.
5. Caravans can build "trade posts", that acts like a airport and fortress, and gives a trade bonus to near-by cities ( only on border-region tiles ).
6. Have a better version of caravan, a one who carry finished goods. Cost more but gains more profit.
7. Caravans can bring support to besieged cities. Side A ( you ), gives side B food when under attack from side C. You get a very big profit, and the attitude of Side B toward you is increased greatly, and your repution. Side C, however, becomes more hostile to you.
8. You can have the caravans moes by fixed way-point.
9. You can give caravans military support: either ordering a combat unit to protect the caravans, or build a new type of caravan: "armed covoy", which is 2/2/2 but cost about three times more.
10. A caravan acts like a limited spy: trade routes slowly reveal the enemy known maps.
11. Caravan, when helping a wonder, should decreese the cost of the production, not give extra shield. Thier bonus is given by offering new apporch to construction.
12. If you got free-market, you can "hire" privateers to trade for you. You pay no construction cost, only a fixed support cost in gold. You also get a lower cut of the profit.
E. Trade in diplomacy
1. Free-pass trade: allow your caravans ( only ) to go over the side B to trade. Side B get a cut of the profit.
2. Fixed trade: a swap that occurs every turn: you give X items to side B, side B gives X items to you. Can also trade food.
3. Embargo: you may ask side B to cancel all trade with side C, in a UN meeting or on direct contact.
4. Funded trade: side A gives side B a sum of money to build caravans. Side B trades with side C, and side A get's a cut of the trade profit.
5. War automaticly destories all trade routes: caravan return to thier home city.
6. Trade increase the diplomatic realtion between the two nations.
7. Trade treaty: like Master of orion II, signing this treaty gives an automatic trade bonus. Caravans are not needed. Another way, is that you use caravans till a certain tech level ( railroads? or maybe advanced sea navigation? ), and after that it's automaticly done via the diplomacy screen.
8. Demand monopoly: you can demand from a certain country to only buy a specfic commodity from you. Therefor, allowing you to greatily increase the cost. Microsoft rings a bell?
( see Idea A.5. ).
9. Ask for harbor: you can pay Side B to build for you a habor or airport in his terratory.
F. List of posters
Special thanks: Pythagoras.
Bab5tm, Bubba, Bulrathi, CapTVK, Chowlett, Colon, Crashn, DanS, Delcuze, Dinoman2, Diodorus Sicilus, Don don, Druid, E, Ecce Homo, Eggman, Ember, EnochF, Flavor dave, Fugi the great, Gregurabi, Gordon the whale, Hans2, Harel, Isle, Itokugawa, Jakester, JamesJKirk, Jele2, Kaiser, Kerris, Kryllon, Korn469, Lancer, Maniac, Matthew, Mark_everson, Mindlace, NotLikeTea, Prefect, Scooter, Sir David, Stefu, Technophile, Theban, Trachymr, Utrecht, VaderTwo, ZenOn, Zorloc
<font size=1 face=Arial color=444444>[This message has been edited by Harel (edited August 02, 1999).]</font>
Hosted by Harel
Hello again! Time for a new version. This time I tried to group things better, into more catagories. I think you would find it much easier to understand and read the points suggested. I also tried to combine ideas, and think of a way it can be implamnted in the game. AND tried to dig up VERY old ideas, and looked up to a year back in the old forums. ( I am still sure I forgot some ideas

As ever, feel free to post anything, and if i forgot something, let me know!
( and guys, you have no idea how much time this took

A. Resoucrce managments.
B. Economy in general
C. Trade in general
D. Caravan issues
E. Trade and diplomacy
F. List of posters
A. Resource managment
1. Option A: keep the shield system as normal.
2. Option B: make two "general" values: labor and minerals. Labor is equal 1 per every citizen, minerals are produced by mines. Factories and such increase labor, not minerals.
3. Option C: insteed of one "overall" value, minerals, use 3 basic resources: fuel, metal and exotic. Special tiles can give a bonus to a certain mineral production.
4. Option D: have commodities, ala colonization. End amount of around 20, and evolve them as time progress ( bows replaces by muskets, etc. ). Request and demand makes the value of each commodity flux all the time: much like in stock exchange.
5. Option E: use Imperliasm II system, with the roads, mines on the tiles, etc.
( In otpion B,C,D the cocnept of "labor" being different then resource exist ).
6. You can build a "carrier" unit which function like master of orion freighter ships. They automaticly move X items to a required city. For example, if you build 3 "carrier" you can pass up to 3 minerals from city A that produce many minerals, to city B that have a great labor party. When you "activted" a carrier unit ( by giving her work ), it cost you 1 gold unit. The exchange is done automaticly: any surplus minerals are automaticly passed to were they are needed the most. ( maybe you can also pass food this way? ).
7. Have two specialist: one to increase labor ( 2 insteed of 1 ), and a miner who gives +25% to mining.
8. Having a large variaty of trade goods increase the happiness and economy of your people.
9. Since the automatic delivery carrier units from A.6 are not very realistic, you should be able to group regions, a number of cities into a shared pool of resources. The higher you are on the tech tree, the bigger the region can be ( in term of range and number of cities in the region ).
10. A development to A.9 is a new building called "regional headquarters". When you build it, you select a several cities which must be connected to the home town via roads, river, etc. Now, all those cities act like one city: bonus from wonders or city strcutres are given to all cities ( only from the home town. A minor town can't effect the other ones. So, if the minor town has a temple, NO city [ not even herself ] shell get the bonus. If the temple was at the home town, all the cities would have gotten the bonus ). Popultion, food, labor, all are pooled like it's one big city. ( seems very, very un-balanced. Maybe make the support cost for that building HUGE? )
11. Specail resource should be handled like Birth of the federation dilitium mines. In Birth, several rare solar system had dilitium mines. You can only produce a military unit per mine, even if it doesn't have to be in the same city. Meaning? If you have two mines, you can produce up to two ships, at the same time, max. In civ III, you could have some rare tiles with special resource, like coal, oil or uranium. The name is not important. Point is, you need that support to create a military unit. ( or, maybe, only a fixed number of more powerful units ).
12. You should be able to place several workers on each tile, but every new one would produce less then the original one ( anyone has any idea how can be graphicly displayed?
13. Support for units, ofcoruse, would only got materials, not labor.
14. Another idea is to scrap commodites: the items can be represnted by labor. How? If you are in industrial era and got a coal tile, insteed of trading with coal you simply get a bonus to production. A dye tile, or gold, for give a bonus to trade.
15. An improvement to A.14: if you got a special trade tile that no other country has, you gain a very big trade bonus.
B. Economy in general
1. You can buy your units from a black market for a cheapr price, but it would cost you in repution ( maybe in -1 police or -1 corruption? ).
2. You can hire mercenries ( extra morale, extra support units? )
3. AI players as companies, and human players can play a company. In older times it could represent arsitocarts and noble-man. Maybe even allow pirates as players? You have a limited form with companies: can only create contracts with them. ( only in a free market? )
4. To show the burden of war, you need to pay an X amount of money every turn. When you end the war, that cost is decreesed along time ( maybe this can be represented by increased supply cost? Or readiness level like in CtP? ).
5. You should have BUDGETS, like in real life. The bonus gotten from libaries, for example would be decided by how much you put in Eductation. That money is divided between all libaries and universties. The higher the gold per institue, the bigger bonus they give. Hospitels bonus by health, wealthfare gives happiness ( divided by all the populs, like Luxary ), military would be divided between the support cost of all units and dedice what morale bonus/minus you get, etc. ( In democracy/republic, the senate should demand a minimum portion to some section. Suggested sections: Science ( labs and science rate ), Eduction ( libaries, universties ), Health ( hospitels ), Military ( military infra-structre and units ), Internal affairds ( Police, intelligence and reducing un-rest ), Wealthfare ( happiness bonus, like luxary ), Transportion ( Support of road tiles and Mans transpot building ), Construction ( reserve money to buy city building and wonders ), Arts ( support for wonder ), Argiculture ( support for farms ), Religon ( the bonus for temples ) and Trade ( caravans are bought of a pool created here ).
6. Cities should be able to build several times, with slider bar to decide how much labor each section gets.
7. The city tile ( center ) doesn't produce anything, but it does give +1 trade/farm/mine to all near-by hexs.
8. Docks, railroads, farms and such can be simply bought, or use a system like CtP public works. If B.5 idea is used, you can buy the improvement from the budget pool available to that improvment section.
9. Inter-city resoruce level should dictate the amount of minerals a city can produce without lost. In earlier times, it took lots of time to bring the ores from the distant mines to the city. High amount of resources can flood the system. You should have a "max-per-tile" output: a farm can't prodcue more then 2, a mine no more then 3, etc. As technology advance, you can build special structre which can increase the maximum level of output. A tile with a road or river in it can has a max+1 ( notice! If a farm can max produce 4, it doesn't mean she always produce 4. Only that she can't produce more. If the farm had a river, beyond the bonus to farming she could produce a max of 5 ).
10. If commodites are used, they can be deptled.
11. Ofcourse, you should have build queue.
12. The economy should flux, like in real life. Every turn, a number between +1 to -1 would dedcide the level of your income ( maybe a +1 or -1 to the economy Social change? ). This should effect free market countries more then controled market ones. ( double to bonus/minus for free market, half the bonus/minus for planned one? ). The number isn't totaly random, and slowly move up and down. If you are doing well, more chance the number would go up.
13. Buy off limiting: if you have commodities, you may only buy the resources ( twice the amount of resource in gold ), but still have to build it with labor. If still using shields, you may only pay to double the construction cost, no more.
14. Once you gain insdustralization, you shouldn't be able to set any tax setting at any extream ( 100/0 lux, 100/0 science, etc. ).
C. Trade in general
1. You may "raid" trade routes. This is either standing in an area where a trade route pass, or where caravan passes in a close radii. A certain percent would be lost from money and resource profit. The amount would be dictated by the raiding unit quality, quantity and adaptbility ( a pirate can do better then a scout plane ). The raid option would be available to every combat unit: you select a spot and press R. Spys can destroy the trade routes competly, killing the caravan. Raiding is an act of war.
2. Keep trade just like SMAC: fully automatic.
3. You should be able to trade with barbian cities.
4. The higher your technology level above the level of the second side, the more bonus you get to profit. However, it increase the research rate of the second side on every tech you have and he doesn't.
5. If you use a commodity system ( see A.2,A.3,A.4 ), trade basicly gives you minerals, not money. However, you should still get a small amount of money for creating the deal. If you don't have a commodity ( using civ II old shield system ), then trade should give you some shield bonus as well. However, the goverment still guys a cut by taxes.
6. On a general note, trade should be much more profitable. Some countries were based only on trade. AI should also use trade much more then he is now.
7. Inertial trade: every city can have an X amount of trade routes. Cities can estibled intertial trade routes to pass to swap them between themself. Meaning? Cities around your empires which are inland, can estblish a trade route to a major harbor city. That habor city can now support her original trade routes + what the other cities passed her. This can even be a chain-reaction: from city A to city B to city C... etc.
8. Trade inside your empire it done automaticly ( you get a small, auto bonus, like SMAC ). Outside trade is done by trade routes. This works well with idea A.7: you can move all your "trade power" to a several cities which are in a good spot to do mass trade.
9. Black market: in a high corruption city, some of the trade routes you have turn "rouge": they give you no income. Even if you lower the crime rate they don't disappeer: you need military units to route them. ( according to idea B.3 on the pirates, they become the properity of a pirate AI and give him income ).
10. All trade will be automaticly ruled by the trade advisor. He builds the caravans, send them, etc. You can see this moving around the map. However, you can give his special guidelines: what not to trade, what you want him to try to get the most, what you want despertly to get rid off, etc.
11. As your market and goverment becomes more free, more of the trade options become automatic.
12. Some wonders and city structres should increase trade profit ( local or global ) generated by caravans. Some wonders should also increase caravan speed to increase the usefullness of early trade.
13. As strange as this sound, cities with a big food production should give a small bonus to trade. Cuisine is a very important thing for trade and tourism, and big city which makes lots of surplas food would probaly create some new sort of kitchen.
14. Showing the trade routes graphcily would be a pure mess. Create an economic map where you see all the trade routes. Better yet, make caravan on the map invisible to all but on the economic map.
15. Trade goods should be a conversion of minerals to goods ( by labor ) and sold automaticly for profit.
16. How about that insteed of building caravans, we would have a building ( depot, warehouse, etc ) that automaticly generate trade? You get +1 gold per every city in a certain range from you ( increased with technology ). Like idea C.7, it would be inertial - city A is close to 5 cities and city B. City B is close to a DIFFERENT 5 cities. Therefor, since city A is connected to city B, BOTH would get +11 gold ( ten cities +the other city, A or B ), and so does all the other 10 cities. with idea E.1, you can pay to be able to use the depot of side B city to gain access to a new batch of cities, gaining a very high bonus. Side B would get a cut of all profit gotten this way ( reflects very well the great importance of harbor cities that , more then trading themself, traded for others. Like Constantinopol ).
17. Trade technology: if you trade with a civ that doesn't have trade, he automaticly gets it. Before you discover currency, any trade is X items for X itmes ( barter system ). Only after currency are you able to trade, for example, 100 wood for 10 iron.
D. Caravans issues
1. Caravans should move automatcily. They generate money after X turns it takes them to move. For example, if it would take the caravan 5 turns to reach the city, then the bonus would be automitcly given. Beside building the unit and sending it, you can't control her. Since there is no path-finding or graphics, we can support tons of caravans.
2. You should have special kinds of caravan: one on boat, a plane, etc.
3. The caravans automaticly moves to the most profitable city upon completion ( in comptution of range, size and ETA ).
4. Caravans are not built: you gain one per X number of popultion. They are only replaced when they die.
5. Caravans can build "trade posts", that acts like a airport and fortress, and gives a trade bonus to near-by cities ( only on border-region tiles ).
6. Have a better version of caravan, a one who carry finished goods. Cost more but gains more profit.
7. Caravans can bring support to besieged cities. Side A ( you ), gives side B food when under attack from side C. You get a very big profit, and the attitude of Side B toward you is increased greatly, and your repution. Side C, however, becomes more hostile to you.
8. You can have the caravans moes by fixed way-point.
9. You can give caravans military support: either ordering a combat unit to protect the caravans, or build a new type of caravan: "armed covoy", which is 2/2/2 but cost about three times more.
10. A caravan acts like a limited spy: trade routes slowly reveal the enemy known maps.
11. Caravan, when helping a wonder, should decreese the cost of the production, not give extra shield. Thier bonus is given by offering new apporch to construction.
12. If you got free-market, you can "hire" privateers to trade for you. You pay no construction cost, only a fixed support cost in gold. You also get a lower cut of the profit.
E. Trade in diplomacy
1. Free-pass trade: allow your caravans ( only ) to go over the side B to trade. Side B get a cut of the profit.
2. Fixed trade: a swap that occurs every turn: you give X items to side B, side B gives X items to you. Can also trade food.
3. Embargo: you may ask side B to cancel all trade with side C, in a UN meeting or on direct contact.
4. Funded trade: side A gives side B a sum of money to build caravans. Side B trades with side C, and side A get's a cut of the trade profit.
5. War automaticly destories all trade routes: caravan return to thier home city.
6. Trade increase the diplomatic realtion between the two nations.
7. Trade treaty: like Master of orion II, signing this treaty gives an automatic trade bonus. Caravans are not needed. Another way, is that you use caravans till a certain tech level ( railroads? or maybe advanced sea navigation? ), and after that it's automaticly done via the diplomacy screen.
8. Demand monopoly: you can demand from a certain country to only buy a specfic commodity from you. Therefor, allowing you to greatily increase the cost. Microsoft rings a bell?

9. Ask for harbor: you can pay Side B to build for you a habor or airport in his terratory.
F. List of posters
Special thanks: Pythagoras.
Bab5tm, Bubba, Bulrathi, CapTVK, Chowlett, Colon, Crashn, DanS, Delcuze, Dinoman2, Diodorus Sicilus, Don don, Druid, E, Ecce Homo, Eggman, Ember, EnochF, Flavor dave, Fugi the great, Gregurabi, Gordon the whale, Hans2, Harel, Isle, Itokugawa, Jakester, JamesJKirk, Jele2, Kaiser, Kerris, Kryllon, Korn469, Lancer, Maniac, Matthew, Mark_everson, Mindlace, NotLikeTea, Prefect, Scooter, Sir David, Stefu, Technophile, Theban, Trachymr, Utrecht, VaderTwo, ZenOn, Zorloc
<font size=1 face=Arial color=444444>[This message has been edited by Harel (edited August 02, 1999).]</font>
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