This is part two of my improving tade, as part 1 was slightly flawed in believing the current system to be a tad better than I have realized it was. The primary problem being that trade goods are an arbitrary size only selling at the value in x town, not taking into consideration what was the production value of the item.
The second part is, that I know chadz wanted to implement resources to construct weapons, but as this is a greater project I will outline my idea for what can then be improved and built upon.
1) Trade goods. How you are supposed to make money.Each trade good is divided into three categories:
a) Food
b) Tools
c) Luxury items.
We still have three kind of habitats (With villages further subdivided into 3 categories) with different patterns for consumption:
Villages that produce food, require many tools but little food. Almost no luxury items.
Villages that produce tools require much food, but few tools. Almost no luxury items.
Villages that produce luxury items require both food and tools. No need for luxury items.
Castles produces tools but needs food and luxury items.
Cities produce luxury items but need lots of food, tools and different luxury items.
Each of these habitats can be oversupplied so a player cannot of ever keep using the same trade route as you constantly have to watch our supply does not overtake demand.
The ratio of villages producing what is quite simple. 1 luxury good producing village per city. 1 tool producing village per castle. Rest does food.
2) WeaponsWeapons production works as before.
3) TransportA player with no recruits can carry 4 tradegoods.
Each recruit can carry 2 tradegoods.
Each recruit can have a equus africanus asinus carrying an extra 4 trade goods
Each horse can carry 2 tradegoods as well as speed bonus.
4) How to expand on this platformIn time instead of producing "food" a village can produce apples and they can be in low or high demand around the world. Same goes for tools. Tools can easily be swapped for resources used in later weapon crafting system.
Recruits should consume Food not gold.
Owners of fiefs get a small percentage of tax for each inhabitant.
Number of inhabitants increase if the fief is well supplied in its demands (pop growth also improves defense).
Kingrimms suggestions:
In addition to the OP's system, to encourage players to trade and make it easy for every one of the players and the faction,
add a gold pool named "Treasure Chest"
So you make some goods or gear, go to a place and sell them go back and forth or anywhere the player wants to go for a trade.
Any one who sells anything puts his gold automaticly into the Treasure Chest.
Then he can craft trade goods again. When he crafts gear he takes gold out of that Treasure chest. This in combination perhaps with a set amount of gear to be produced, he stops crafting when that amount is reached.
Buying gear to equip armies in addition to the crafted gear can only be done f.e. by rank 7+
This way all members have more to do and are free to do it on their own without the need of a massive organizational overhead and factions are still able to plan with the gold at hand in the Treasure Chest.
With the current system the cheapest villages to produce trade goods in are the most valuable.
The stronger clans will be able to take those villages leaving weaker clans to work in more expensive villages or not at all.
This only serves to increase the gap between the strongest and the weakest clans hence is opposite of what you would like to achieve with game balance.
With the system I suggest large clans will be able to maintain strong villages, but smaller clans working together could create wealth as well and be better able to share this wealth.
With the current system because of the extreme difference in production costs strong clans will only get stronger. We're talking as much as 10-15 gold more per hour per member.
