victoria money help

[unmerged(85800)]

hey guys

i need serious help with victoria:

im playing as sardinia, have also tried other countries and all are the same: i simply cannot make money, i have followed instructions some guy's left and it worked for a while then i suddenly started losing money again

i have no idea where the money is bleeding from and it makes it unplayable as in a year of play my treaury empties

im probly just a proper idiot at the game but help would be greatly received as i want to be able to enjoy it

thanks

 

[Ivan Rogov]

If you go to the Budget screen, where are your fund being applied?

 

[Eärendil]

Make sure that you are not importing goods because they can be a real drain on the economy in the early years. Also check army maintenance and naval maintenance. Unless you are planning to go to war early, it might be a good idea to scrap the wooden ships. They cost a lot of money and will be useless in a few years when you research better ships.

 

[unmerged(49082)]

Unless you are planning to go to war early, it might be a good idea to scrap the wooden ships. They cost a lot of money and will be useless in a few years when you research better ships.

And I find them somewhat useful towards unification. Yeah, they will not be useful vs TS as it's navy is stronger and you will want to inherit it not sink, but those ships are great in the beginning vs countries like Egypt. If you keep maintenance low it costs almost nothing.

 

[unmerged(85800)]

oh thanks guys, i since have through sheer fluke (and playing as better country) managed to make money somehow

i think the problem was import - though how else can i keep my factories running becasue i import goods the game tells me they need and i dotn have

all help is greatly appreciated though

 

[Oerdin]

My two bits of advice:

1) review your pops and split any you have extra space in an RGO for because having two 25k pops working two RGO slots makes more money then one 50k pop working one RGO slot.

2) Review your factories and figure out which ones are losing money and which of those you don't need right now. If it is only losing a little money then maybe you can promote more clerks or factory workers in order to make it profitable but if it is losing a lot (and it isn't making a commodity you vitally need) then close it. Expand a profitable factory and put workers there. You can always reopen it later when the market matures to the point it becomes profitable.

3) Pay close attention to what what raw materials each factory is using. If you don't produce those raw materials domestically then it is MUCH more expensive compared to using a domestic supply chain. If necissary invade neighbors to get needed raw materials.

4) Remember that early on most factories lost money so prioritize research to increase RGO output and factory efficency.

5) Where ever possible make sure workers, especially clerks, are pops of the national culture and religion. If factories don't have a 1:1 ration of clerks to factory workers make sure you quickly promote clerks as this will greatly enhance efficency. The extra clerks also give your research a boost which which means you get money saving techs faster. In the early game after you've balanced the budget even priests give a nice boost to research but remember they retard conscience & plurality thus lowering immigration (though this matters less in Europe).

6) Don't let the computer control your sales on the world market and instead micro manage it to fit exactly what you need especially in the early game when budgets are tight. The AI wastes a lot of resources and leave many factories without raw materials.

7) Continually adjust your tax and tariff sliders to balance your budget but don't keep taxes above 50% for to long or your pops will get pissed off an leave.

8) Cutting spending or even disbanding military units is often necessary if your country is small. Make sure you try to cut defense spending and crime fighting first before disbanding units though.

9) Capitalists build best early game when plus they can be money bags for taxable income. Tax them; especially if you're not in a position to let their savings grow enough to build factories or railroads.

10) Speaking of rail roads BUILD THEM! ASAP! They improve income from both RGOs and factories. If you have the wrong party in power (like if you're laissez faire but don't have capitalists) then take the militancy hit, put a state capitalist party in power, and build those railroads along with highly profitable factories like steel/lumber/fabric/furniture (but remember your supply chain).

 

[ComradeOm]

RGOs are crucial in the early game. There are also a host of early industrial inventions that increase their efficiency. In particular I've found that the technology Mechanical Production can give you a huge boost. If playing as Sardinia then Clean Coal will also be useful.

 

[unmerged(85800)]

well cheers everyone, excellent response thanks, i have started with holland and am kinda on my feet now, ready to enjoy the game so thanks to everyone who responded

 

[James Mason]

Yes - learning curve is VERY steep. I have been playing for a little over a week now and am finally starting to figure out what's going on. Stick with it, and use this forum for all it's worth (and it's priceless, btw...)

Jim

 

[OHgamer]

Check my AAR linked in my sig. While it is with the VIP:R mod, the first couple years of the AAR are a walkthrough on balancing your economy as Prussia, and a good portion of the advise is as useful for Revolutions without the VIP user-made mod as with it.

 

[unmerged(85800)]

sweet thanks everyone

its really fun but you're right one hell of a learning curve and the manual is about as useful as a lump of crap

i'v managed to make a little dutch empire with an income of about £8 a day so i spose not too bad though through lots of trial error, anger and stress

 

[unmerged(85800)]

i meant profit, not income by the way

 

[Corbett]

oh thanks guys, i since have through sheer fluke (and playing as better country) managed to make money somehow

i think the problem was import - though how else can i keep my factories running becasue i import goods the game tells me they need and i dotn have

all help is greatly appreciated though

How else do you keep your factories running if imports put you into a deficit situation? It's a trick answer - don't. Either put your workers on the unemployment lines or return them to RGOs (better choice) if you're stuck with a crappy factory at the beginning of the game. RGOs cost nothing to run, and their POPs are easier to keep happy, less likely to revolt 1845-1852, and have less life needs. Plus, some RGOs are very profitable after researching technologies like clean coal and mechanical production.

 

[unmerged(85800)]

thanks corbett

that might help when playing a really crappy country like when i tried greece who are awful

this has been a brilliant response by lots of people so cheers everyone

 

[Dysken]

Turning clerks back into farmers and labourers really sucks if you ask me, better to keep them employed in the factory and just let it be permanently crippled by a lack of resources. It won't cost you a dime and you won't lose the lovely research bonus they give you. I suggest you keep the craftsmen too as they are required to keep the clerks in the factory. Almost immediately after a clerk pop is unemployed it will migrate.