Thanks for the effort here, been wondering about the trade routes as well. I'm sure these threads will implode! don't forget your coffee..lots of reading to look forward to.

Question, how long does it take a trade route to establish? I thought it was instant but i seem to have caught some of my systems slacking. Assume all necessary requirements are met.

This information is mostly based on post-release version, but should still be valid for the current version. Notify any error and it will be adjusted. For real.





Here are the main points of Endless Space trade routes system.



Trade routes are set up automatically by the game if any are possible. No micromanagement can be done directly. The game is presumed to assign trade routes to the most profitable systems. You can still decide where to built +route improvements.

Only your initial system (homeworld) starts with trade routes. Every other system requires system improvements to be built (or a corporate-classed Hero with relevant abilities) to acquire trade routes. There's also a faction trait giving routes to all your systems.

The number of trade routes that can be set up is limited by the number of friendly systems you know of.

Trade route gains are not affected by science or dust modifiers. This includes tax rates, +% science/dust on system or empire.





Technically speaking, a trade route can be established with a target system, but only if :

- You know about the system (you or an ally explored it)

- That system is populated

- You are at peace with the empire controlling the system (and it can't be you)

- None of your systems have a trade route with it

- At least one of your systems has an available trade route slot



Trade routes are one-way, the target system doesn't need available routes itself, and its population doesn't affect the route's value.

Obstacles between the 2 systems don't matter (enemy ships guarding choke-point systems in the way). As long as both systems aren't blockaded, they can trade.



The base dust and science production of a trade route depends mainly on the population of the system it's based at. It also depends on the distance in a straight line between the two systems, the higher being the better. The math should look like the following (feel free to test the equation in your own games and post your results, good or bad!) :



[CODE]GAINS = POP * DIST * DIST_BONUS * BONUS * DUST_BONUS * SCIENCE_MULT * COOP_AGREE



POP = SystemPopulation/5

DIST = 1 + 2*TradingDistance/GalaxyDiameter

DIST_BONUS = 1 + TotalTradeDistanceBonuses

BONUS = 1 + TotalTradeBonuses

DUST_BONUS = 1 + TotalTradeDustBonuses

SCIENCE_MULT = 2

COOP_AGREE = 1 + CoopAgreeEffect[/CODE]



The base value of trade gains is the population of your system, as stated in the POP term of the equation above. So double the population means double the gains!

The friendly system has no effect on your gains aside from distance in a straight line, as stated in the DIST term. This term varies from 1 to 3, but you can expect a value around 2 to 2.5 for most routes.

The Trade Distance Bonuses currently come from 2 system improvements, adding up to +60%. So the DIST_BONUS term can vary from 1 to 1.6.

The Trade Bonuses come from a lot of sources, namely system improvements, corporate hero attributes, faction traits... Those are added together, and the BONUS term varies from 1 to ... 6? 8?

The DUST_BONUS term is only applied to the Dust part of trade gains. It currently has a single source, a unique Amoeba system improvement, and can vary from 1 to 1.7.

The SCIENCE_MULT term is only applied to the Science part of trade gains, and is always equal to 2 (unless modded).

The COOP_AGREE term only affects routes to a friendly system controlled by an empire with whom you have a cooperation agreement. Since that agreement modifier varies from -50% (first 15 turns) to +25% (turns 30 and up), this term varies from 0.5 to 1.25. This is the only term multiplying POP that can reduce the base trade gains.



Trade route gains are added to the system production, yet remain unaffected by system +%, empire +% and tax rates multiplier. In some ways, trade can be more reliable than dust improvements, since they aren't at the mercy of disapproval and subsequent tax reductions.





The maximum number of trade routes in a system is +3 from hero abilities and +4 from system improvements, for a total of 7. (not counting homeworld +2 and possible faction traits)





From a strategic point of view, if you have long-term allies, investing into a corporate hero and heavy trade improvements can pay off all game long (or mostly late-game, depending who you ask). If you choose to go the trade routes way, choose wisely the systems that are going to receive trade improvements and thus trade route gains, prioritizing high population first and large distance in case of similar populations. Since dust coming from trade isn't affected by tax rates, trade improvements can pay for themselves reliably. Watch out, if you only have peace treaties, this kind of relation with AIs is precarious, so both corporate heroes and the most expansive trade improvements are probably not worth investing into. The Blockade Breaker Faction Trait (Pilgrims, or a custom faction with this trait) can eliminate this risk and enable you to trade with empires at war.

Note that in multiplayer, it is generally accepted that corporate heroes are mostly worthless early-game, even mid-game, and they are belittled all game long by the almighty administrator hero. But the metagame can change...





I'll edit this post as we gather more information.



Edit 1 : There was a bit of info on trade in Raptor's FAQ. Hero stats can't go over 18 (NOT TRUE ANYMORE), route income depends of distance through system links, state of systems along the route don't matter. Any other source of info out there?



Edit 2 : Population of your system has a big impact on the value of its trade routes.



Edit 3 : Dust from trade routes are not affected by tax rates. Easily tested by putting taxes at 0%.



Edit 4 : Clarifications. The first lines summarize better.



Edit 5 : % modifiers from both system and empire do not seem to affect trade gains.



Edit 6 : Update of this post reflecting latest findings, yet things could change with an incoming feature : Trade Routes Sum-up Screen.

FinalStrigon wrote:
It really should be instant. If all necessary requirements are met, then perhaps there is no one left to trade with? The planets closet to trade with may have their routes filled, and any other places are out of range for trading with.

It's possible, thanks for the response. Maybe i just looked at the wrong planets...

It would be really nice if there were a trade panel to summarize all this, and maybe indicate the number of available trading slots for your trading partners. Needing to go through every single system screen to find this out is a huge pain.

NewHorizon wrote:
It's possible, thanks for the response. Maybe i just looked at the wrong planets...

Now that would be a good addition to the game. And it would go along nicely with how accessible the rest of the game is.

How do you actually setup a trade route? I didn't see an interface for choosing where you get one?

Bridger wrote:
How do you actually setup a trade route? I didn't see an interface for choosing where you get one?

The game does it for you. If there's a route that can be opened, it will be.

Marthnn wrote:
The game does it for you. If there's a route that can be opened, it will be.

Oh, I saw someone mention "you want to prioritize large colonies" or something, which implied that the player has a choice in how the trade routes are constructed. Where can you find info about the trade routes from a system? How many does this system have available/used for example?

Bridger wrote:
Oh, I saw someone mention "you want to prioritize large colonies" or something, which implied that the player has a choice in how the trade routes are constructed. Where can you find info about the trade routes from a system? How many does this system have available/used for example?

I will quote myself from the opening post :

Marthnn wrote:
A trade route can be established with a target system, but only if :

- You know about the system (you or an ally explored it)

- That system is populated

- You are at peace with the empire controlling the system (it can't be you)

- None of your systems have a trade route with that system

- At least one of your systems have an available trade route slot



[...]



Systems have no base trade route slots, aside from homeworlds having 2.

This means a system has no possible trade route unless you built the improvements for it, or have the corporate hero with relevant abilities in charge of the system. So you choose where to open trade route slots, it costs you production and upkeep for the improvements, but routes will open as they become available. Better pick a large system so your production and upkeep investment is profitable.



Is the OP clear enough? What other wording should I use?

don't all systems by default have 2 trade route slots?

Necro- wrote:
don't all systems by default have 2 trade route slots?

No, only capitals get two free. There is also an option in the custom creator to give up to two free slots to all systems, but no default factions have it anymore (amoeba used to).

Marthnn wrote:
Is the OP clear enough? What other wording should I use?

I'd say your OP is clear, but since people seem to miss this small fact, I'd recommend putting it in bold somewhere at the top:



Only your starting planet (aka, your capital) start with trade routes. Every other system requires enhancements to be built, or a corporate-classed Hero with select abilities, to acquire trade routes.

Unless +% on system and +% on empire effects are silently rolled into the "+xxx from Trade Route Gains" item in the system production, these modifiers have no effect whatsoever on trade routes...



Set your tax rate to 0% and observe that there are no longer "+xx from empire" or "+xx from system" effects listed...

excellent work



bump & request for sticky

The strategy forum is supposed to contain only threads which are highly useful. There is no reason to sticky all of them. Right now, there are multiple economic guides and multiple (outdated) combat guides. I am hoping that the authors will contribute new ones, and then we can move out the old ones. Please see the sticky thread on "help needed, guide to the guides" for details.