Copied from another thread that deals with trade ROUTES instead of just CoTs.
Originally posted by anti_strunt
This sounds great! I have longed for some representation of the trade ROUTES and not just the CoTs... But why would someone trade something away from the CoT?
Because every CoT represents an area with its own supply and demand values. The things that will be traded away is surplus goods. Surplus goods are cheap because of lack of demand.
The trade within a CoT area should be covered by the income levels of individual provinces. Depending on supply and demand, the price of different goods should vary per CoT area. For example, silk and Chinaware should be cheap in China where they are produced (and where likely a surpluss would exist), and expensive in Europe. The prices in the CoT represent the supply/demand level of the whole CoT area.
Trade routes should link CoT areas together. A trade route should have a yeary upkeep cost (based on length of route, and can be influenced by tech levels), and a yearly revenue based on the price difference between the CoTs.
More trade routes should increase demand for provinces producing surplus goods so they get better prices (more income).
High prices for goods should lead to switching production (e.g. the high demand for Chinese porcelain caused the Dutch to create a similar product called Delft`s Blue.) however it is best to let the AI manage this (or limit the player influence to perhaps a manufactory) to limit micromanagement.
The program should limit the increased tediousness of this new system by making choosing easy. There should be a screen that gives an overview of available trade routes, price to establish, price to maintain, revenue, and the resultant profit, sorted by best choice.
As more trade routes get established between the same CoTs, profit will go down and turn into a loss, causing the trader to go bankrupt. Only the best traders (based on tech level) will survive if competition is harsh.
Embargoes will sever trade routes for certain countries, which lower competition.
It may be possible to have a supply chain of several CoTs. E.g. Arab traders move Chinese goods to Istanbul while traders of other countries move those goods to other European CoTs. This can be steered by supply/demand per CoT.
Opium and Hashish should have the extra negative effect of lowering all the production in CoT areas where demand is high and satisfied.
