Full Trade Rework
Explanation
Trade in its current form is effective but not entirely accurate. Current day Earth trade has benefits for all sorts of resources and is created from all sorts of jobs where as stellaris in stellaris only few jobs interact with it and (generally) only one resource is created. Instead I believe Stellaris should have a more widespread trade system affected by all economic choices.
How this would work
Resources from Trade Value
To express the variety of resources created from trade it would provide 0.5 energy, 0.2 minerals, 0.2 food and 0.1 consumer goods. This will no longer be changed by trade policies as they will be reworked.
New Trade Value Mechanics
To improve the usefulness of clerks and merchants they will become the only way that trade value can be created and will produce (around) 5 trade value. They will however require a new planet-based resource, tradable assets, which are consumed at the same rate as trade value is produced. E.g if a clerk has a +10% production it will consume 10% more tradable assets. Tradable assets are produced by normal pops (pops that are not slaves or being purged).
Tradable Assets per job:
Unemployed: +0.1
Miner/Farmer/Technician/Most workers: +0.25
Soldier: +0.1
Researcher: +1.5
Most Specialists: +1
Enforcer: +0.1
Entertainer: +3
Most Rulers: +5
(All numbers depend on balance)
Trade Policies
With these changes, new trade policies are also available. These are my suggestions for how they might work:
With this change to the trade system I'd also suggest a change to piracy to make it less of a nuisance and more interesting.
Trade Piracy
Instead of piracy being decided by the amount of trade and the piracy being galaxy map based it would instead be based off the ratio between the trade passing through a system and the piracy protection available. It will also be system based as a new tab would be added to starbases showing the growth of piracy in the system. The growth of piracy would be calculated in the equation:
piracy growth per year=(trade value/protection+2) -5
This means that if 20 trade value passes through a system with 0 protection it will generate 5% piracy growth a year. Whereas if there was 10 protection it would decrease by around 0.2% a year. After the piracy growth has occurred piracy steals trade value equal to the percentage of piracy times the trade value passing through a system (pirate bases steal all trade).
Space Pirates
Instead of simple, weak space pirates this system allows for scaling piracy difficulty. This would work by when a starbase reaches 100% piracy it is converted into a pirate base. This will have strength equal to that of the original starbase +25% due to pirate modifications. If there are any planets in the system they will have -10% resource production due to a "Piracy" modifier. When the star base is converted a fleet will spawn with strength scaling to the amount of trade that passes/passed through the system. For <10 nothing, for 10-20 three corvettes, for 20-50 five corvettes and two destroyers, for 50-100 five corvettes, three destroyers and one cruiser and one battleship and for 100> ten corvettes, five destroyers, 3 cruisers and three battleships. They will have technology equal in strength to your empire but randomized. For example you might have tier 4 lasers and tier 2 mass drivers and they might get tier 1 lasers and tier 5 mass drivers. After a pirate base spawns if trade is passing through the system or adjacent systems it will spawn a fleet every 3-12 months with strength equivalent to the trade value (as seen in spawning fleets)
Resort World
Due to these changes resort worlds can also be made more realistic. Instead of providing clerk jobs they now provide Guest jobs which produce 1 unity and 4 tradable assets. This means that it will be important to have a large amount of clerks to run the resort. All other features are the same.
Other Possible Minor Tweaks
Indentured Assets gives +0.2 tradable assets from slaves
The Galactic Market placement would be based off empires' trade values.
Barbaric Despoilers gain energy equal to the trade that was passing through a system (except capitals) when capturing it for the first time.
Explanation
Trade in its current form is effective but not entirely accurate. Current day Earth trade has benefits for all sorts of resources and is created from all sorts of jobs where as stellaris in stellaris only few jobs interact with it and (generally) only one resource is created. Instead I believe Stellaris should have a more widespread trade system affected by all economic choices.
How this would work
Resources from Trade Value
To express the variety of resources created from trade it would provide 0.5 energy, 0.2 minerals, 0.2 food and 0.1 consumer goods. This will no longer be changed by trade policies as they will be reworked.
New Trade Value Mechanics
To improve the usefulness of clerks and merchants they will become the only way that trade value can be created and will produce (around) 5 trade value. They will however require a new planet-based resource, tradable assets, which are consumed at the same rate as trade value is produced. E.g if a clerk has a +10% production it will consume 10% more tradable assets. Tradable assets are produced by normal pops (pops that are not slaves or being purged).
Tradable Assets per job:
Unemployed: +0.1
Miner/Farmer/Technician/Most workers: +0.25
Soldier: +0.1
Researcher: +1.5
Most Specialists: +1
Enforcer: +0.1
Entertainer: +3
Most Rulers: +5
(All numbers depend on balance)
Trade Policies
With these changes, new trade policies are also available. These are my suggestions for how they might work:
- Wealth Creation: +5% pop tradable assets
- Mining Boom: +15% miner and metallurgist tradable assets
- Energy Market: +25% technician tradable assets
- Farming Community: +25% farmer tradable assets
- Information Trading: +20% traceable assets from pops working with research
- Utopian Trade: +10% tradable assets from pops with happiness above 90.
- Collection Scheme: +15% trade value and +30% clerk tradable assets consumption
With this change to the trade system I'd also suggest a change to piracy to make it less of a nuisance and more interesting.
Trade Piracy
Instead of piracy being decided by the amount of trade and the piracy being galaxy map based it would instead be based off the ratio between the trade passing through a system and the piracy protection available. It will also be system based as a new tab would be added to starbases showing the growth of piracy in the system. The growth of piracy would be calculated in the equation:
piracy growth per year=(trade value/protection+2) -5
This means that if 20 trade value passes through a system with 0 protection it will generate 5% piracy growth a year. Whereas if there was 10 protection it would decrease by around 0.2% a year. After the piracy growth has occurred piracy steals trade value equal to the percentage of piracy times the trade value passing through a system (pirate bases steal all trade).
Space Pirates
Instead of simple, weak space pirates this system allows for scaling piracy difficulty. This would work by when a starbase reaches 100% piracy it is converted into a pirate base. This will have strength equal to that of the original starbase +25% due to pirate modifications. If there are any planets in the system they will have -10% resource production due to a "Piracy" modifier. When the star base is converted a fleet will spawn with strength scaling to the amount of trade that passes/passed through the system. For <10 nothing, for 10-20 three corvettes, for 20-50 five corvettes and two destroyers, for 50-100 five corvettes, three destroyers and one cruiser and one battleship and for 100> ten corvettes, five destroyers, 3 cruisers and three battleships. They will have technology equal in strength to your empire but randomized. For example you might have tier 4 lasers and tier 2 mass drivers and they might get tier 1 lasers and tier 5 mass drivers. After a pirate base spawns if trade is passing through the system or adjacent systems it will spawn a fleet every 3-12 months with strength equivalent to the trade value (as seen in spawning fleets)
Resort World
Due to these changes resort worlds can also be made more realistic. Instead of providing clerk jobs they now provide Guest jobs which produce 1 unity and 4 tradable assets. This means that it will be important to have a large amount of clerks to run the resort. All other features are the same.
Other Possible Minor Tweaks
Indentured Assets gives +0.2 tradable assets from slaves
The Galactic Market placement would be based off empires' trade values.
Barbaric Despoilers gain energy equal to the trade that was passing through a system (except capitals) when capturing it for the first time.
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