Question about the trading interface.

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Hi, I'm using the demo so I might be missing something, plus I won't see a manual until I buy the game.

Looking at the trading interface, I'm wondering if what I'm seeing is correct or am I just not understanding it.

First, it seems like the only way to get to the hire Captains screen is by clicking on a current Captain in port, at which point I get the "Hire New Commander" option with Captains listed on the right.

The only way I've found to find out how old they are, or anything else, is to then hire them, which causes me to loose the current Captain.

This can't be right can it? Is the only way to find a new Captain by rolling the dice and just hire one after another? Or is there a screen to check the available Captains, with their age and other stats?

Second, and likely more importantly, is about how I'm using the trade interface.

Say I have Iron, and I want to know where it will sell well, balanced against what the port I'd sell it at has for me to bring back. This seems pretty simple, but I can't seem to find a smooth way to do it.

Currently I have to start at Gane Info, tab to Trade Info, tab to Export Items, click on Iron, look through list of ports, using sort by option as needed.

OK, now I've found a port where my Iron will sell well, Yanam is first by value, NOW I want to know what I can buy at Yanam, the best place I've found that lists what Yanam has to sell is the home port trading screen, so I click on Home Port, tab to trading, search for Yanam, this list can't be sorted?, then look through the items it has for sale.

WHEW, all of that for just one item, and I really want to compare all of what I have to sell, against what each port will pay for it, AND what I can buy at that port in return.

Unfortunately, I don't have a good enough memory to keep that whole spreadsheet in my head and I really don't feel like building one and keeping it up on my second monitor, so I'm thinking there must be a better way and I'm just not seeing it.

There is an old old game called High Seas Trader, that did exactly this all in one screen, with two sort port options, sort by how much I pay, and sort by how much it sells for.

I'd sort how much I pay which also showed how many tons there was available at that port, to find good ports to buy at, and then sort by how much it sells for, to find the best port to sell it at. Then all I had to do was reverse the process, look at what that port sold cheap, and how much I could get for it.

Sometimes I'd have a journey that was 3 or 4 legs, buying at home port, sell off somewhere in the Med, then fill up and hauling to Asia, sell out and fill up in Asia, haul it to the Ivory Coast, sell / fill up there, head home. Total profit / days spent, was greater then just running back and forth with so much unprofitable sailing time in between. But that was then and this game is obviously much more sophisticated, I'm just trying to find out how to run it efficiently.

Does EIC have a similar summary screen(s)?

Thanks for any help, the game is beautiful and I've loved what I've accomplished so far, so much so that I'm already thinking about the Privateer expansion ...

If it weren't for the fact that I'm wearing myself just trying to find what I have to sell, where to sell it, and what I can buy there, which is more important, for my return leg home!

 

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With no replies I wonder if I asked this question badly?

I really do like what I've seen of the game so far, but I am struggling with keeping all the trade data straight, and flipping between so many screens.

If this is just standard procedure that's cool by me, I'm just trying to find out if I'm doing something wrong, or if there is an easier way that I'm missing.

 

[Ksielvin]

The only way I've found to find out how old they are, or anything else, is to then hire them, which causes me to loose the current Captain.

This can't be right can it? Is the only way to find a new Captain by rolling the dice and just hire one after another? Or is there a screen to check the available Captains, with their age and other stats?

What other stats? You're right that the interface doesn't show the age, but there doesn't seem to be all that much variance in age among lvl 0 captains for example. Level and skills are shown in the Hire New Commander interface.

It can be a little clumsy, but you really can't have a captain on your payroll without a ship for him to command. I've had 1 captain that I'm willing to get rid of sitting at home port most of the time (with a Cutter) so I can regularly check who I could hire in his place. Use the Switch Commander button when you have 2+ fleets in the port to put the ones with useful skills into fleets where you want them.

There are couple of other ways of getting new commanders. A random one seems to be created whenever you create a new fleet, and I've had an event where an existing one died of illness during a trip and was replaced by a new one. (Random one promoted from crew no doubt.)

Second, and likely more importantly, is about how I'm using the trade interface.

Say I have Iron, and I want to know where it will sell well, balanced against what the port I'd sell it at has for me to bring back. This seems pretty simple, but I can't seem to find a smooth way to do it.

Currently I have to start at Gane Info, tab to Trade Info, tab to Export Items, click on Iron, look through list of ports, using sort by option as needed.

OK, now I've found a port where my Iron will sell well, Yanam is first by value, NOW I want to know what I can buy at Yanam, the best place I've found that lists what Yanam has to sell is the home port trading screen, so I click on Home Port, tab to trading, search for Yanam, this list can't be sorted?, then look through the items it has for sale.

WHEW, all of that for just one item, and I really want to compare all of what I have to sell, against what each port will pay for it, AND what I can buy at that port in return.

Unfortunately, I don't have a good enough memory to keep that whole spreadsheet in my head and I really don't feel like building one and keeping it up on my second monitor, so I'm thinking there must be a better way and I'm just not seeing it.

There is an old old game called High Seas Trader, that did exactly this all in one screen, with two sort port options, sort by how much I pay, and sort by how much it sells for.

I'd sort how much I pay which also showed how many tons there was available at that port, to find good ports to buy at, and then sort by how much it sells for, to find the best port to sell it at. Then all I had to do was reverse the process, look at what that port sold cheap, and how much I could get for it.

Sometimes I'd have a journey that was 3 or 4 legs, buying at home port, sell off somewhere in the Med, then fill up and hauling to Asia, sell out and fill up in Asia, haul it to the Ivory Coast, sell / fill up there, head home. Total profit / days spent, was greater then just running back and forth with so much unprofitable sailing time in between. But that was then and this game is obviously much more sophisticated, I'm just trying to find out how to run it efficiently.

Does EIC have a similar summary screen(s)?

Thanks for any help, the game is beautiful and I've loved what I've accomplished so far, so much so that I'm already thinking about the Privateer expansion ...

If it weren't for the fact that I'm wearing myself just trying to find what I have to sell, where to sell it, and what I can buy there, which is more important, for my return leg home!

You've found all the summary screens there are. I think Trade Info does offer the things you described about High Seas Trader, and neither game seems to show the amounts available in the same screen.

The way you use go about your business with the summary screens seems a little backwards to me. From my short experience, majority of profit in EIC comes from importing MTIs home from distant ports. Thus, first you want to decide what MTI you're fetching. Sadly the MTI tab of Trade Info doesn't show profit per pound or ton or distance/time sailed, but you can see where the home port value is peaking and you know the rough distance/time to trade areas from experience. So pick one, remembering mission needs or importance of hauling iron ware to your port in India etc.

If one port offers a decent price then they'll probably have enough items available to fill any early game fleet. I might not really pick a destination port yet (unless I'm doing it geographically or based on events) because the prices will be somewhat different by the time the fleet gets there. I'll check it once the fleet is close.

As for export goods to take along, the export items tab of Trade Info shows prices only for stuff you have available in home port. No amounts though. If you can afford to fill the whole cargo, might as well look at the most expensive one. It might not bring best profit per pound invested but probably will bring best profit per ton of cargo, or time spent sailing. Sort the other ports by item value. You'll get more money for going to more distant trade areas, but try to pick a port that's at least close to one that offers the MTI you want.

Outside missions and events you'll only want to grab Generic Trade Items (GTI) to fill up if you can't do a quick visit to nearby port for more MTIs, or if you're doing very quick trips between Lisbon and Jadida or something. Also note that some items take effectively no cargo space (Gold, Diamonds, Silverware, and couple of GTIs I never seem to find significant amounts of) and you might as well carry some along with everything else if you have the money to invest.

That's it. I think you could easily pick an MTI and destination port from MTI tab and then an export item from either the next tab or the Trading Post in home port window, and just send the ships over. (I don't always bother to check the export item pricing. And whenever possible I'm filling up the warehouse of my port in India with iron wares rather than exporting for sale.) Or even use the automated trade route button which I haven't even tried yet.

EDIT: If there are any differences in our info screens and such, it'll be because you're playing the demo and I'm playing Designer's Cut which you can get for free for the real game.

EDIT 2: Buying cheap where supply is high and selling big amounts in one go after demand has gone up MAY be more important than knowing the profit per pound/ton/distance/time every moment. If I find this true after more experience with the game, then the lack of those values in Trade Info could be a blessing that helps inexperienced players not get lost in ineffective short term optimizations. Dunno yet though.

 

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What other stats? You're right that the interface doesn't show the age, but there doesn't seem to be all that much variance in age among lvl 0 captains for example. Level and skills are shown in the Hire New Commander interface.
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EDIT 2: Buying cheap where supply is high and selling big amounts in one go after demand has gone up MAY be more important than knowing the profit per pound/ton/distance/time every moment. If I find this true after more experience with the game, then the lack of those values in Trade Info could be a blessing that helps inexperienced players not get lost in ineffective short term optimizations. Dunno yet though.

Thank you for the detailed reply. I think I have a better feel for it all after reading this. Needing to switch between so many screens was difficult, but maybe using some of these tips I can at least be a bit more efficient.

You might be right about the differeneces, I'm not sure what version the demo download is. I only litteraly stumbled on this game because of Majesty, but I'm glad I did.

I've looked for years for a game with the ambiance of High Seas Trader and EIC has at least some of that same feel to it. I've never been sure exactly what it was about HST that I loved so much but I still have a copy running in DOSBox. :} (Though my new I7 machine really has a hard time getting the thing down to the right speed.)