Have TONS of steel and rare materials - but 0 available to trade?

[Saltynuts]

I have like hundreds and hundreds of thousand steel and rare materials, and large surpluses. However, when I try and trade some for oil, which I desperately need (and to a lesser extent energy), it won't let me move the slider to the right and tells me I have 0 available to trade. Anyone have any idea what is going on?

Thanks!

 

[Saltynuts]

And another question - I don't understand how my resources can swing so rapidly sometimes, like my oil going from being -600 per day to almost +600 per day basically overnight. I was convoying a shit-ton out (presumably to my troops), not I'm convoying almost nothing out. How can it swing so wildly?

Thanks.

 

[Commander666]

I have like hundreds and hundreds of thousand steel and rare materials, and large surpluses. However... it won't let me move the slider to the right and tells me I have 0 available to trade.

You do not trade from your stockpile... which might be in the millions. You can only trade the excess of what is coming in daily. Look at your production tab and check out the daily resource figures listed for energy, etc. And if you are in trade tab, but you can't move slider to trade something, that is because currently you have daily deficit of that item.

 

[Commander666]

I don't understand how my resources can swing so rapidly sometimes...

Whenever a fleet replenishes it creates huge demand on oil. If your daily oil was +600 but the fleet took on 1,200 oil that day, you will show -600 for that day.

The other thing is the auto system which prefers to run mostly supply convoys one day, then mostly resource convoys next day. On days it is sending out supplies, your supply production slider will increase to build those needed supplies. But your daily oil will drop a lot because it is convoying much oil to overseas depots. On those same days your resources will not be coming in, and so will be considerably less as to their daily figure.

This bouncing of supplies (and oil going out) versus resources coming in changing constantly on alternate days is one reason why many players use manual control. With proper management supplies going out can be keep at very similar daily, and resources coming in each day at precisely the same as every other day. That then allows for logical trading decisions. Also, bouncing in the supply slider causes proportionate bouncing in the upgrading or reinforcements sliders because - if more IC goes to one slider, then less IC available to other sliders.

But, if you don't like to do manual control of convoys, here are some tips to help smooth out your game:
1) Build smaller fleets
2) Avoid several fleets replenishing same time... only one fleet should replenish at a time.
3) Smooth out your conquest... don't go from an idle army to most units suddenly moving.
4) Don't over trade.
5) Alternately, run every merchant ship you can for a day picking up maximum energy so you are several hundred plus for a day... and trade it ALL for oil. If you have +100 energy you can trade that 100 an infinite number of times provided the clock is stopped. Now, when it goes back to normal, it will calculate all, and maybe you 1000 energy daily in the red (because you did 10 trades giving away 100 energy each). It will nicely draw that deficit from your million plus energy stockpile while you enjoy ample oil.

BE CREATIVE!

BTW, it is highly recommended that players who have armies doing overseas conquests (and have accumulated several convoy routes world wide) learn how to do manual control of convoys if only to save on merchant ships needed. The auto system is doing a Herculean task, but unfortunately is victim to "digital thinking", and invariably needs far more convoys than really needed while slowly doing a worse and worse job so that - over time - more and more resources are not picked up and sit in depots while the conquest suffers from inadequate abundance of supply and oil so that any sudden change in demand of the conquest army invariably results in supply/oil short fall unless player has provided a few hundred more convoys than actually needed.

 

[Pang Bingxun]

And another question - I don't understand how my resources can swing so rapidly sometimes, like my oil going from being -600 per day to almost +600 per day basically overnight. I was convoying a shit-ton out (presumably to my troops), not I'm convoying almost nothing out. How can it swing so wildly?

One reason is simply army activity. If you have 90 Arm-SpArt that were at rest and then move this will change their oil consumption from 166.5 to 666. For airdivisions and naval divisions the differences might be even larger, at least relatively speaking. In absolute terms the land forces tend to use up most oil, the oil consumption of the other 2 branches is usually low and often below 100 and possibly below 10 or even below 1 at uninterupted rest because their consumption at rest is almost zero.

I have like hundreds and hundreds of thousand steel and rare materials, and large surpluses. However, when I try and trade some for oil, which I desperately need (and to a lesser extent energy), it won't let me move the slider to the right and tells me I have 0 available to trade. Anyone have any idea what is going on?

There is great room for spekulation left as to the cause. Did you (accidently) block exporting that resource? Did AI block importing it? As a little exercise please try the following: Open negtions with one of your puppets to that you have direct land connection. Give it 5000 of all 4 resources. On the next day the puppet will give it back, leaving you with a large daily surplus of oil, energy, metal and rares, but only for one day. On that day you can trade them away for good money. For efficient trading only export resources in return for money.

On a different day you can import resources in exchange for money. For efficient trading only pay with money for resources. There are of course a few exceptions, the one of relevance is that due to rounding issues you cannot set the optimal amount of money, thus adding or subtracting a few 0.1 of energy(or metal) can help to balance the trade in your best interest.

 

[Zsar1]

Usually, as @Commander666 rightfully points out, the most visible, if usually not most severe oil and supply consumption is that of fleets.

Land units resupply continuously (every hour), air units resupply at base (~every day), naval units resupply at base, but stay out for up to weeks and carry large stockpiles with them to sustain them out there. Their daily drain once in port is relative to the size of their stockpile, so upon return for a day or two they will suck up copious amounts of resources until full again.

As to the lack of resources available for trade: If you can reproduce cases where your income is positive but does not translate into availability for trade, I would like to receive a bug report. As usual save games (if they exhibit the problem after load) and screenshots (always) help, as do detailed descriptions.

 

[Saltynuts]

Thanks a ton guys. I'm sure the deal is with AI running my convoys on and off - I have HUGE amounts of land units overseas in Canada in particular, and tons of subs overseas as well. Interceptors too. Even though none of them are moving I bet they along with crummy AI are causing it.

I'm going to try and learn how to do it manually, but next game. This game all I have to do is crush the USA and I'm done.

Zsar1, indeed, I cannot trade steel and other things if though I have a LARGE daily surplus in the production screen. Will try and save game, open it back up, and see if it is still there and if it is post it. Another bug which I'm about 99% sure exists - when I open a saved game at least some of the time (maybe all the time), all might aircraft in occupied lose org until they hit 55 org. Then they don't move at all from 55. I can fix it by moving them to another airport (it starts to climb from below 55 and doesn't stop until it hits 110, for example). But its just a hassle. Will try and post as well.

Thanks!

 

[Saltynuts]

Well, Pang nailed the question as to why I couldn't export even when I was running a surplus - I have AI doing trade and early in game I'm sure I blocked those exports. So no issue here.

The "bug" where the org on my interceptors dives straight to 55 and stays there did not happen on this re-load - will post it if it does again.

Thanks!

 

[Commander666]

I cannot trade steel and other things if though I have a LARGE daily surplus in the production screen.

This is critically different from your earlier report of "I have like hundreds and hundreds of thousand steel and rare materials". If you have a daily surplus but can not trade something, you must have blocked the item in the TRADING "Auto control window." See just under where all your trades list appears to get to Automate Production Sliders and Trade... AND REMOVE ALL CHECK MARKS.

BTW, letting AI do the trading for you is a bit like sending an idiot to the grocery store. I have yet to get rid of Germany's several hundred excess daily energy using Auto Trading, but can easily accomplish it in one day done manually. That adds up to thousands of lost dollars over the course of a game. You should do your trades on DAY 3 of a new game (when most countries are at the maximum need for energy and have not yet filled that need finding energy elsewhere); and occasionally trade what you have in excess or need.

Trade your excess energy directly for what you need to get away from the "everything in dollars approach". That will let you capitalize dispersing your excess to countries who have resources you need, but may not have any money to buy your excess. BESIDES, setting up with any country to be getting a lot of $ is extremely insecure. All countries experience monetary difficulties, and your trade with that country will go red if you are over asking on their dollar capacity. However, countries never experience resource difficulties if they have that item available for trade because - even if a temporary daily negative - the needed amount to fulfill trade commitment comes out of stockpile. But money as part of a trade stops immediately when that country has daily $ deficit.

EXAMPLE: If you trade Romania surplus energy for oil that trade is secure for ever. If you sell energy to Romania to have dollars to buy oil from Romania, that deal will fail whenever Romania has a $ shortage. Besides, why needlessly double your trades when there are numerous countries that need your excess resource and they have in surplus the resource you want?

Trading in dollars should be secondary to trading "resource for resource" whenever a resource swap satisfies both country's needs. Firstly trade all the energy you can that is needed by other countries for resources they have in excess and that you need. Later (when nobody needs any more energy) sell off surplus energy being careful to not set up too big a dollar export commitment in any country. Finally, buy what you need once you have gotten rid of most your excess energy. Leave 100+ daily surplus to satisfy greater resource need once Retooling finishes (depends on what you do in Production at start.

 

[Saltynuts]

" If you have a daily surplus but can not trade something, you must have blocked the item in the TRADING "Auto control window." See just under where all your trades list appears to get to Automate Production Sliders and Trade... AND REMOVE ALL CHECK MARKS."

Yep yep Commander, that is just what I did - I removed the check marks and all better now.

And yes, I'm sure using the AI trade is hurting me big time, but I simply wanted to concentrate on other things this game - will definitely do it myself the next game. This game I've been liberating countries like crazy, even Russia (which gives me a huge 30% revolt, and I get a lot of dissent, but they seem to give me a ton of resources). As you know these give me tons and tons of boxes where they offer to trade me resources (and tech plans) for nothing. Just answering these in the affirmative takes up a lot of time! By the way, while I'm thinking about it, is there a way to have the AI automatically accept ALL trades where they give me something for nothing? Kind of stupid to not have the default automatically accept methinks.

Thanks!

 

[Commander666]

This game I've been liberating countries like crazy, even Russia (which gives me a huge 30% revolt, and I get a lot of dissent,

I have never done that... and it sounds like a nightmare. Why do you do it instead of liberating the about a dozen smaller nations possible in Asia which also give you huge resources... but your dissent never exceeds 5?

By the way, while I'm thinking about it, is there a way to have the AI automatically accept ALL trades where they give me something for nothing?

You can only auto-reply to all trades, or not auto-reply to any. The setting is in the TRADE Auto Control Window.

A good habit is that you always stop the game at 23:00 hours. Regardless of any war activity, at 23:00 hours with game paused you check convoys and especially depots for their minimum supply, deal with trades, and other maintenance issues. Running the clock to mid-night is reserved for checking resources and changing convoys on any routes that went green to routes that went red. Usually only one route needs changing daily if run properly.

Midnight is also the optimal time to change bombing missions... which follows concluding the maintenance issues. From 1:00 until 22:00 you can focus on battles... but 23:00 to 24:00 are reserved for keeping all else in control.

As regards annoying messages that fill the screen, you can change setting in Options/Messages to instead get tiny message notifiers that line up on right side of screen and don't block any view until you click them to open them. I let them harmlessly collect there until I deal with them at 23:00

 

[Saltynuts]

Thanks Commander! Liberating Russia is indeed a bit of a pain, but not too too bad. I just wanted to see if it turned out to be a strong ally. And it seems the risk. Still, not sure I'll do it again if I restart my game to deal with the nuke issue. But I do liberate all those Asian countries - in fact ALL countries I can get liberated one after another as soon as my dissent is back down to zero.

 

[Commander666]

I don't understand how you can be liberating Russia and the dozen or those other nations in the territory of old SU. I have never seen a Russia puppet. Is it the area around Moscow and between Trans-Ural Republic and Byelorussia and the Ukraine.... that big area taking in Archangel, Leningrad, Rostov and Stalingrad with Moscow about in the middle?

Can you provide a screen shot?

As said, I not really sure what you doing as I never had choice to liberate Russia. But I wouldn't want to for 30 dissent. Instead I give away all the area I described variously to the surrounding puppets so I eliminate me having that revolt risk only for the diplomatic cost of giving away provinces. Trans-ural gets the majority of it. So they will have that revolt risk, but I don't think it hurts their army given the small size, being all INF only, and mostly I use them just for guard duty anyway.

Liberating nations is a good way to improve ESE at distant places, save on GAR, gain puppet armies, and get far more resources than if you controlled same area. The headache is giving them all blueprints. How ridiculous that landlocked puppets are smattered with every Great War naval tech possible.