Balance with Trade

from Stardock Forums
From my reading I have been trying to figure out how trade scales from a small game to a large game, but it doesn't seem to do it effectively. In a small galaxy where you only have a few worlds you can have ~10 trade routes. This will make up a huge percentage of your economy, but in a gigantic densely populated galaxy where you have dozens upon dozens or worlds you are still limited to the same ~10 trade routes. To me this seems like trade is much less effective in the larger galaxies. Is this right, or am I just seriously confused???? :notsure:
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Reply #1 from Stardock Forums Top
Shouldn't the number of trade routes be linked to population somehow?

Sith

~SDC~
Reply #2 from Stardock Forums Top
Don't forget that one of the factors of trade route income is distance between the source and destination systems. Even though galaxy size does not affect the number of possible trade routes, each individual route in a larger galaxy has the potential to be more lucrative simply because of the greater distances involved.
Offworld Trading Company
Reply #3 from Stardock Forums Top
While we're talking about the differences between large and small galaxies ... My understanding is that the cost of researching a given technology is the same in a large galaxy as it is in a small galaxy. Does this mean that a technology victory is infeasible in a small galaxy? (Or does it mean that you just get technologies really fast late game in a large galaxy?)

- Matt Lepinski :->

~SDC~
Reply #4 from Stardock Forums Top
Yes, plus the ability to seed more starbases along those longer trade routes would let them bring in more income.
Reply #5 from Stardock Forums Top
'Shouldn't the number of trade routes be linked to population somehow?'

The trade income is linked to population (via the end planets' economy ratings) instead of the number of routes.

' Does this mean that a technology victory is infeasible in a small galaxy? (Or does it mean that you just get technologies really fast late game in a large galaxy?)'

Some of both. I rarely get to a point in the game where I don't have at least three techs with a research time of 2 months or less in gigantic galaxies, but your research rate should get large enough of a bonus through techs and starbases that it's still feasible to tech win in small galaxies too.

~SDC~
Reply #6 from Stardock Forums Top
I think I saw mention of a technology upgrade that allows you to have more than the standard number of trade routes? I may be wrong on that.
If there's not already something you can research to increase the number, you've got my vote for the creation of that. I'd love to be able to 'win' via having a tremendously powerful trading empire. :)

~SDC~
Reply #7 from Stardock Forums Top
You start with one trade route and get a second with the tech that allows you to trade.

Techs then allow you to get six more, eventually, seven if you're a bit tricky with your alignment to pick up both Smuggling and the normal good alignment techs. (I don't know of a similarly (relatively) easy method that ends with evil alignment, but I'd be surprised if there wasn't one.)

The last route requires either alot of work to pick up both the good and evil techs or a UP resolution to increase the number of routes by two (to a maximum of 10).

~SDC~