A Guide to Trade Routes (long)

from Stardock Forums
The importance of trade in a game depends on the size of the game that is being played. On smaller maps, trade the the bread and butter of the empire. On larger maps, trade is just the icing on the cake. But every little bit counts and sometimes it is the 100 extra bcs that you received from trade that will make the difference. So here is a guide to understanding trade routes and using them effectively.

Establishing Trade Routes:
You can establish trade routes by making freighters. The origin of your freighter determines your end of the trade route. By moving your freighter to a foreign system, you set the foreign end of the trade route. Since the income from a trade route depends on the wealth (PQ, economy bonus, population) of the two systems involved, build your freighters at the wealthiest systems you have. In addition longer trade routes eventually produce higher income.

Choosing a Foreign Planet:
Your freighters give you and your trade partner equal benefits. By building enough trade routes to a major, that major may become economically dependent, and be open to an alliance. But if you do not intend to ally, be careful who you are trading with since you just might be helping the enemy. Some players trade solely with minors because most minors are not a militaristic threat.

Path of Trade Routes:
The path of trade routes is NOT the blue line that you see on your trade screen. The path of the trade route is instead traced out by the mini-freighters representing the trade route. In most cases, the trade route traces a parallelogram that has the blue line as its longest diagonal. Two of the sides are either entirely vertical or entirely horizontal.

         /|
       / |
     /   |
   /     |
 /       /
/       /
|     /
|   /
| /
|/

The trade route will travel clockwise on the parallelogram if your planet is 'south', the lower system. The trade route will travel counter-clockwise on the parallelogram if it is in the 'north', the higher system. The mini-freighters do return by a different path!

If there are OBSTABLES (star systems) in the path, the path become unpredicatable (not enough observations to determine a patter). For simplicity, many players choose to make their trade routes between systems sharing the same vertical or horizontal coordinates. This way the return path is the same as the outgoing path and usually better for maximizing trade income.

Determining Income:
Determining income is a complicated equation involving wealth (PQ, economy, population) of both systems, and the position of the mini-freighter on the route. Position (AA/BBB) is given in the trade routes screen:

AA is the distance traveled (in parsec)
BBB is the distance of one trade route cycle

The higher the AA, the more income from the trade route.

Maximizing Trade Income:
Trade income can be modified by either building TCs (trade centers) or S+ (speed nonuses) into SBs (starbases).

Trade Centers:
TCs affect one sector and one sector only. They are pretty much self-explanatory, giving a +50% trade income at the cost of 4 constructors and 5 bc maintenance.
Construct these in the sectors that mini-freighters spend a significant number of turns(T) and produced a high income(I).

In a trade route that takes(LT) turns to complete and several trade routes(C) running, the PER CYCLE
bonus generate by the TC will be:
50% x T x I x C
cost of maintaining the TC will be:
5 x LT

If the bonus isn't greater than the maintenance DO NOT build the TC! For most TCs to be worthwhile you wil need a high number of trade routes(C) running. By using S+(speed bonus) you can also decrease the turns to completion(LT) and make a TC more worthwhile.

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[Message Edited]
2,956 views 6 replies
Reply #1 from Stardock Forums Top

Using Speed Bonuses
S+s are used in sectors WITHOUT TCs. Later, you can add TCs to S+s, but it isn't recommend. S+s are usually added to make your TCs more worthwhile (by decreasing the LT).

Say you have 6 TCs along a trade route spanning a bit more than 2 sectors long LT=48. One sector does not have any TCs, but the mini-freighters spends 12 turns there. Adding a S+ you cut the time down to 4 turns. You have just shaved off 8 from the time to completion.

The PER CYCLE maintenance decreased of your TCs while leaving your benefits intact:
Since your LT has just decreased by 8, the per cycle maintenance of your S+s isn't as high either.

So with a number of TCs (#TC) and turn decreased (TD)

Benefits
5 x #TCs x TD
in our case 240 bcs per cycle
Cost of Maintenance
5 X (LT-TD)
in our case 200 bcs per cycle

-----------------------------

And now for some stuff that might not make sense!

S+ SBs increase the AVERAGE income of a trade route. Yes, S+ might cut out 50% of a trade route. You WILL get less income for completing a cycle. But now the mini-freighter travels the whole cycle in half the time. You have time to complete the cycle AGAIN, and get TWO cycle's worth of income in the same time you would have gotten only one.

To Illustrate by simulating a trade route:

A trade route is 20 turns long and gets income equivalent to its distance traveled
Income: 1,2,3,4,5 ... 19,20
Per Cycle income: 210
Per Cycle length: 20

Now the trade route travels faster and eliminated 10 turns from the lower end, keeping only every third number.
Income: 1,4,7,10,13,16,17,18,19,20
Per Cycle income: 125
Per Cycle length: 10

So by the first method every 20 turns produces 210
By the second method every 20 turns produces 250

Add in trade centers and the difference is HUGE.
Reply #2 from Stardock Forums Top
Using Speed BonusesS+s are used in sectors WITHOUT TCs. Later, you can add TCs to S+s, but it isn't recommend. S+s are usually added to make your TCs more worthwhile (by decreasing the LT).
End of quote


You lost me here, I usually put in the TC, THEN the S+ in all the sectors along the Trade Route.
Sins of a Solar Empire II
Reply #3 from Stardock Forums Top
His idea about putting the S+ bases in sectors without a TC is that it would reduce the time spent in non TC sectors.

But if you already have a starbase in that sector I think I would always choose to add the 50% trade bonus anyway, since it's only costing me 3 constructors and no additional maintenance.

~SDC~
Reply #4 from Stardock Forums Top
That's right Gert.

If you have a starbase with speed bonuses already built, you might consider upgrading to a TC since you won't paying any additional maintenance. However, the returns from investment for adding the TC is very small, and therefore usually not worth it.
Reply #5 from Stardock Forums Top
How do people get these massive money making routes without filling each sector full with TC's?
Reply #6 from Stardock Forums Top
After some trial and error, the best setup I have had was a bit of luck in how the races got placed in the game setup. Not that you can't find something similar in most games, just that this one was as near perfect as I can think of. It looked like this :

==============
|........|........|........|
|.......T|........|A.......|
|........|........|........|
==============

T = Terrans (my best system)
A = Alexians homeworld

It was obviously a very short traderoute, but I routed all my trade to them, and plunked down a bunch of tradecenters in between. Since we were both on the border of our sectors, most of the time the minifreighters were in the sector with the bases. Since I also like to tech trade, having a cash cow next door was doubly helpful.

The things you have to watch for in a situation like this are avoiding culture flipping the planet you are trading with, and protecting it from assault. Easy to avoid a culture flip by giving a base or two some culture mods and selling it to your trade partner. Protecting it from assault is up to you for what method you choose, I personally prefer to ally with the minor thus serving notice to the AI opponents not to mess with him (only works if you can back up the threat of course).


Edited to get the example to look right.
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