6/30/2017 Topic: What should we work on next? 06/29 TimurThunder	Distribution Center - Will have to look into that, but sounds exactly right. Thanks! Pathfinding - Not saying easy since I don´t have to code it. Assuming the pathfinding is non-random it might be, but I might be very wrong. I would like a string like (target coords this turn, destination, time). Just saying. Thanks for your time! (above guest post was mine) edited by TimurThunder on 6/30/2017
7/5/2017 Topic: Regarding demand in cities TimurThunder	There are a couple basic changes to the trading controls that would permit a whole different treatment of cities. 1) Enable a fixed price setting for a sell-all order. Allow a loop to continue depending on number of goods in storage. Consequence: A corp can set a trader to supply a town at a desired price-level. Once empty the transport can auto-fetch new product from base camp. Currently setting up a supply system for multiple towns is just a headache of micro-management. 2) Make demand population- and price dependant 2a) Multiply base value x city pop x (various pop types percentages) to get what is currently the 200% base value for sustain. 2b) Make market price/demand curve. This will have to vary a bit for various goods. - at 200%, there should be lots of demand, so prices vary with fluctuating supply sometimes, but not much. - basic goods like food tend to keep selling when supply shrinks, so higher demand% does less to them than to luxury goods (check "price elasticy of demand") - however not much more is sold if prices go below that threshold - people that are hungry care less for cars, but not about what they eat, so some things should be tied to categories. - two, maybe three curves should to the trick. Consequence: Mass production becomes a viable strategy. Corps not way above their logistics thresholds get a boost because they make higher profits in high volume/small profit markets. Mega-corps can use their assets to leverage a ton of small markets for big credits, but volume will keep low.
7/6/2017 Topic: Regarding demand in cities TimurThunder	https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demand_curve You might also want this: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Price_elasticity_of_demand (Not going into details, those articles. My apprenticeship used linear functions (albeit far from parallel to x), my controlling spec at university went in the other direction.^^) edited by TimurThunder on 7/6/2017
7/7/2017 Topic: Regarding demand in cities TimurThunder	Fully agreed, no need to go crazy. A change to having demand increase with decreasing price however is necessary, right now the income of a city goes down if you supply it with cheaper products. At least let us make the same money for delivering more goods when prices go down. (Set max amount of money spend per category, calculate volume by dividing that amount by price%)
7/28/2017 Topic: Any Newbie Guides? TimurThunder	End Products are 750 base, Components are 325, Raw Mats are 100. Usually but not always, 10 input = 10 output. Some products are different. So if you have the required raw materials, making components from them will cost you 100*(your multiplier) credits but give you 3.25 times the profit at same demand. And if you have the required components, making end products will cost you 100*(your multiplier) credits again, but give you 2 times the profit at same demand. A)Demand will rarely be the same. B)Large Facilities cost less than 100 base/ product. Level ten gives 1200 product for 100k base. C)Raw mats have a ressource value, and that matters A LOT. Product goes up, cost stays the same. So figure out your cost. ---- If you found a profitable niche for (preferably) end products, having a high logistics penalty is not as bad as it sounds. IE: Average price of raw materials 250c, plus cost for component manufacturing and then end product manufacturing 200c each would make 650. So even at 100% demand you would have 100 left to pay for transports and other stuff. Since you start at 50 credits/unit for manufacturing... With a high penalty, profits from selling raw materials do go down fast. ---- If you sell to a city constantly, you want to give the city only 10% of its volume or prices will drop. Large factories need a good distribution system, or a change of product after some time. Opportunism yields higher profit, but requires that you watch your empire closely. ---- Overview screen for earth - look at industry volume. Find something with little industry. Compare to average demand and total demand volume. Making stuff at 100% base value is equal to finding a 50% "buy from city" source.
7/28/2017 Topic: Guild Questions TimurThunder	No you don´t have to pay, not at all. And I for one would like a couple more players in The Mining Guild, but I am not the recruiter.^^ (Some guilds focussing on non-earth might indirectly require you to pay.)
7/28/2017 Topic: Guild Questions TimurThunder	I try to recall how I did it. You can just request it I believe? If you can not write a pm to QR Inceptions. What do you mean by limit? Any corp should be fine. We can help.
8/1/2017 Topic: Freighter/Frigate Spread Sheet TimurThunder	This is very useful to me, forgot to say thanks! The travel time calculation can be off by a turn: You calculate max of (distance x; distance y) divided by speed. It needs to be min of (distance x; distance y) divided by speed rounded up + [max of (distance x; distance y) minus min of (distance x; distance y)] divided by speed rounded up. You have one or more diagonal moves with the last cut off when you reach the right row/column, and then the rest of the movement cut off at the target. Also, a column for required cargo capacity divided by cargo per transport can come in handy. edited by TimurThunder on 8/1/2017
8/1/2017 Topic: A few ideas on usability TimurThunder	Office calc sheet ok for the tool?
8/10/2017 Topic: Add Industrial effect on population TimurThunder	You could make it a positive population modifier that only triggers while the town is "too small for that industry". And a counter-effect negative population modifier if the industry is "too small for that town".
8/10/2017 Topic: Add Industrial effect on population TimurThunder	I assume that a solidly developed corporation has an industry of 25k, and that most of that is focussed on the home town. You can assign a "supported" home town size to whatever you think is appropiate. The demand level modifier would counteract growing beyond that size without sufficient sales, and even maintaining it would require more industrial input than a single corporation can provide.
8/16/2017 Topic: Ruler initiated "edicts" that cause real effects TimurThunder	Hmm. I think if you want to enforce something in the game you should have to do it. Becoming a toy of the player in control is not something I would play even if I became the one able to dish it out. If you implement it please leave the option to resist by force.
8/16/2017 Topic: Ruler initiated "edicts" that cause real effects TimurThunder	It makes me sound like a warmonger, but yes. The mechanics should not allow you to do something you could not realistically enforce. So making an edict is ok, but if you sent me a 3 billion credit bill I want to be able to refuse. Else the potential of abuse is a bit high.
8/17/2017 Topic: Distribution Center tweaks TimurThunder	I suggest to improve distribution centers to a) set a price at which they stop selling, so that stock can be used to maintain demand levels in cooperation in multiple towns without constant micro-management and b) increase their value by setting a same-planet location where they automatically draw their stock from. This would make them more valueable - they consume logistics score, and could do a bit more. This is more ease of play than really necessary, over-stocking is cheap.
8/18/2017 Topic: Ion Cannon TimurThunder	Not a bug. Also, 5k orbital damage from a ground unit at level 10.
8/18/2017 Topic: Ion Cannon TimurThunder	Yes. Tweaks to descriptions will be needed.
8/21/2017 Topic: Spaceport TimurThunder	Profitability is off by two orders of magnitude compared to guide, and likely one order of magnitude to what makes more sense.
8/21/2017 Topic: Spaceport TimurThunder	Terran-Fed controlled, with Terran planetary defense depending on Trade volume might be an option. Four golden tickets outside the power of what you consider way too big and rich corporations is certainly not.
8/21/2017 Topic: Spaceport TimurThunder	I think you might want to consider the maximum profit per turn obtainable without spaceport once you managed to get your economy system to the 200% level, and what happens on earth when the player base grows. I have seen too many games break down because a couple of old players feeling entitled kill the game of all others for funsies, see Stormfall/Sparta/TotalDomination as an example. Fiscally succesful by starting new servers and new games based on the same mechanics every once in a while. Bad games altogether. The logistics penalty system can be gamed to some point, but there is a limit, and that limit goes down once many small corps give each other actual competition. You got more of a base system going without outliers like this.
8/22/2017 Topic: Spaceport TimurThunder	You could give the spaceport a couple buy orders with a fixed max. volume depending on planet population and fixed buy demand based on spaceport level. Instead of the tax. Depending on numbers chosen this could still be very profitable. (Volume depending on population is needed to catch spaceports over barren planets.) Bonus points if they only trade raw materials available on the planet.

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