Production: I understand, but can't do anything with it

[Bob the Inept]

I really like the commerce-industry aspect of grand strategy games, and I love the way it is in this game. It is sad that I don't really know how to play that aspect. There are many points where I am lost, but the Production tab in Production screen has confused me more than it helped me.

Here's what I understand, no problem:
What POPs do, how they earn money, how they buy stuff to meet their needs etc
RGOs, how factories obtain their inputs, what they do with their outputs
The local vs global market, spheres, buying in order of prestige etc

And then I look at that big ole map and try to plan some development... Wow, that sure is a lot to take in. Well, OK, in my country government doesn't build the factories, so I don't need to make that decision, but I should probably know what we are producing and goods we are short in. The Production tab in Production screen seems to be made just for that.

But wait a second, something doesn't seem right:

Canned food: I am selling a lot less than I produce, not good. I assume these sales include ALL canned food that somebody has taken off the hands of the factory (stuff like my stockpile as well as POPs buying and any army construction going on)

Ammunition: Whatever I produced, my domestic market bought. Nothing left to export (sell to world market). However, the same amount was sold to the world market. Huh?

Cotton: Combined sales to domestic and world markets is 166% of production? Wait, does Enron go all the way back to the 1840s?

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That last one could have been unsold inventory from previous days, except... I have seen several instances where the domestic and world market sales are the same (and equal to the production, as in the ammo case), and as far as I noticed, the domestic sale values is always higher. Can anyone confirm/rebut my hunch?

Sold(Domestic) is really Sold(Total). Sold(World) is what is seems to be. The real value sold to domestic market is the difference. For example, in my example picture, all produced ammunition was sold, all of it to the world market. 350.37 of my cotton was sold in total, 267.06 of that sale was to the world market. My domestic market bought 350.37-267.06=83.31 cotton.

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Is this what the World Market section is showing:
Supply: The total amount of a good from ALL COUNTRIES that was not sold in their respective local markets. In other words, how much of that good was available in the global market.
Actual bought: The total amount of a good bought by ALL COUNTRIES from the world market (NOT from their respective local markets)

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Sorry for the long post, and I will probably keep asking questions as I figure out one thing and get stuck on the very next one.

 

[grommile]

Each day, POPs earn money from:

• Aristocrats, Laborers, and Farmers earn a slice of the profit from selling the RGO goods of the province they live in. I'm not sure whether Minimum Wage laws apply to Laborers and Farmers; it's a long time since I've played the game.
• Capitalists, Craftsmen, and Clerks earn a slice of the profits from the Factories in the province they live in. If you've passed Minimum Wage laws, then the Craftsmen and Clerks will always earn at least as much as the Minimum Wage... unless this results in the factory becoming unable to meet its costs, in which case they will become unemployed.
• Officers, Clergymen, and Bureaucrats are given a paycheque by the government.

They then buy goods to fulfill their Life, Everyday, and Luxury Needs and consume them. If their income exceeds their outgoings, they put money in the bank. If they can't afford all their needs from their income, and they have no money in the bank, they go without. Unpleasant things happen if your POPs can't afford their full Life or Everyday Needs.

Each day, factories obtain inputs by buying them, and consume those inputs to produce output goods to sell in order to pay for the next day's inputs. Unlike RGOs, which have perfectly elastic output behaviour (if demand drops, production, and thus employment, drops immediately), factories will destroy any outputs that they fail to immediately sell.

And IIRC, the screen you're looking at is... kind of buggy.

 

[Bob the Inept]

So when I look at a good in this screen and I see it was not sold at all, that may not be the case either?

More to the point, if the information is buggy, is there any use to this screen, or do I just not look at it?

I guess what I'm trying to figure out is, how can I check a few things like: Are there factories that cannot find enough inputs on the market, or how much of it can I meet myself and how much do I import? Are there products that I am producing but not consuming all of it?

It's kinda tricky to even ask for advice, because I understand how the economy works in the game, but to do anything with it you have to look at a lot of information and I am not even sure I am looking for the right information.

 

[Gaamel]

Th big production screen is kinda messy, you should for instance stick with one good (let's say steel), add all iron/coal factory inputs and compare these 2 figures to your own provinces' RGO production. If you require more iron/coal than you produce in your nation/empire then it's time to sphere some market or to annex some ore provinces. Eventually you'll realize that most resources are overabundant and don't require any attention (especially food resources), only a handful of them are really worth fighting for (iron and coal if you lack mines, tropical wood and silk for luxury goods, dyes for clothing, sulfur for ammunitions/weapons, and rubber/oil later in the game).

But it's very important to ensure access to most raw resources if possible, otherwise your industrial production could crash in case of war against let's say, the UK.

 

[Bob the Inept]

Thanks! That seems arduous for a large nation, but it makes sense.

By the way, is it just me, or is direct/micromanaging of economy very limited in governments which can not open factories?

 

[magitsu]

Thanks! That seems arduous for a large nation, but it makes sense.

By the way, is it just me, or is direct/micromanaging of economy very limited in governments which can not open factories?

Basically you can get the factories you want anyway by using proper national focus and shutting down any wrong ones that the AI tries to offer immediately when they start building.
You just need to have the previous one almost filled (80%+) and craftsmen growing to make the AI to start a project.

Once you have enough of factories (esp if you go to laissez-faire that has 10% throughput bonus) at each state then the economy management comes really simple. You don't need to do almost anything, just grab some resources with conquest and sphering. And NF clerks/craftsmen if you want to minmax.

 

[Bob the Inept]

Basically you can get the factories you want anyway by using proper national focus and shutting down any wrong ones that the AI tries to offer immediately when they start building.
You just need to have the previous one almost filled (80%+) and craftsmen growing to make the AI to start a project.

Once you have enough of factories (esp if you go to laissez-faire that has 10% throughput bonus) at each state then the economy management comes really simple. You don't need to do almost anything, just grab some resources with conquest and sphering. And NF clerks/craftsmen if you want to minmax.

Thank you.

 

[Will Steel]

They then buy goods to fulfill their Life, Everyday, and Luxury Needs and consume them. If their income exceeds their outgoings, they put money in the bank. If they can't afford all their needs from their income, and they have no money in the bank, they go without. Unpleasant things happen if your POPs can't afford their full Life or Everyday Needs.

But what happens when people are unable to buy even the life needs?

Do they simply starve (considering life needs are all food) or do they just jump on the boat and sail off to USA out of anger, like every other damn person in this game, without a hint of death?

 

[WankoStankins]

As far as I can tell nobody can starve to death.

 

[DunkFunk]

I'm pretty sure buying is sorted by rank and not by prestige alone. http://forum.paradoxplaza.com/forum...buys-first&p=15650709&viewfull=1#post15650709

 

[AmpsterMan]

Non fulfillment off life needs (not sure everyday needs) increases militancy in that pop. After a certain point, high militancy induces a pop to emigrate. Emigration only happens in civilized nations (one of my favorite strategies As U.S. is to help China civilize so I get all their migrants and cheap cheap RGOs )