Economic Management

Conqueresque Economics

Economic conditions play a crucial role in the development and growth of a nation within Conquer. Each nation must properly manage the resources available, and distribute them where they are needed. Troops will need supplies in order to survive, and ships and caravans will need materials for contruction and repairs. Civilians will need food during every turn, and the sectors will need materials just to keep current designations in place, if not to build new ones.

All of the economics issues revolve around the ability of the nation to acquire and distribute the materials available to it. And there are many methods available for both the acquisition and the distribution, it is up to the player controlling the nation to decide what is best and when.

Economics 101: Resources

There are five types of raw materials within Conquer: talons, metals, jewels, wood and food. Each is required for different uses, and each must be produced in different ways:

Talons -- The basic monetary unit of conquer, gold talons are generated from the taxation of the population. The taxation level is totally controllable by the player, so if more talons are needed, more taxes can be gathered. Of course, with higher taxes, there is much higher discontent, and a greater risk of rebellion against your rule. The amount of talons generated varies with the type of the sector and the sector population; lumberyards, iron mines, jewel mines, and the farm sectors all generate talons based on the production of the sector. The remaining sectors have a fixed income for each person in the sector, which is greater if the sector is of more importance.

Metals -- Metals are used in the construction of buildings and fortifications, as well as the supplying of many troops. Metals are generated by mining them from the earth. Various sectors contain metal deposits, such as iron, copper, adamantine and mithril. These sectors have available to them a certain amount of metal, which is related to the quality of the type of metal within the sector; for each unit of metal value for a sector, each miner within the sector will produce 1 unit of metal per turn. But, finding the metals is not as simple as it might be. Each nation has given "mining ability" and "metalworking ability", the average of which is used to compute the likelihood of being able to recognize the metallic tradegoods. In order to find the better metal types, the nation must possess a better mining and metalworking ability.

Jewels -- Jewels are used to gain the services of various monsters, and to increase the magic powers and energy of a nation. Jewels, really gems and precious metals, are produced very much like metals. There are various forms of jewel types, such as rubies, gold, silver and platinum. And each nation possesses a certain level of ability for finding and mining such jewels. Much like with Metals, nations have a "jewelworking" ability which, when averaged with the mining ability determines what types of jewels are able to be mined by the nation.

Wood -- Wood is used in the construction of naval vessels and for defensive fortifications. As such, wood is a military necessity. Wood is gained through the use of lumberyards. Each vegetation type has a certain wood yield which it may give, where woods and forests have the highest production potential. Special types of trees, such as pine and oak, may also enhance the yield for a sector. For each wood value a sector possesses, it will produce ten units of wood per person.

Food -- Food is a necessity of life, for both soldiers and civilians. If soldiers or civilians run out of food supplies they are likely to die of starvation. Farms are used to grow food, but the farms must be properly cultivated over a number of seasons or only a partial crop will result. A normal yield is 1 unit of food per person, per food value of the sector, each turn. During the spring, a sector must be designated as a "Farm" sector. This sector will produce a half yield. As the seasons progress the farm will mature and become "Fertile" during the summer, and "Fruitful" during the fall. The fertile sectors will produce a full yield, while the fruitful sectors will produce a double yield. During winter, the sector will revert back to a "Farm" sector, and will not produce food again until the spring.

Economics 201: Supply and Demand

Raw materials are stored within the special storage designations, called "supply centers". There are five supply center types: Cache, Stockade, Town, City, and Capital. Materials stored within any of these designations will be made access to neighboring sectors, military units and civilians. If a unit, sector, or civilian does not receive the resources needed for its survival, it will either die or decay. So, it is very important to maintain constant supply lines for sectors and units. Naval units and caravans can be used for mobile short range supply sources, but with small storage capacities, they can not be depended on as long term supply sites.

Each of the supply centers will gather raw materials from neighboring sectors during the update, and then redistribute them, as needed, to those same sectors. The range of influence of a supply center varies with the type of supply center, but is also a function of the national communication range. Each supply center also has a weighting assigned to it, to determine what percentage of each sector's production it should receive. Weights may be adjusted by the player, but must not be less than the default value for that supply center. The default range and weighting of a supply center is given by the table below:

   Supply Center Type     Influence Range (min)    Default Weight
   ====================   ======================   ========================
   National Capital       NTN_COMM + 1.0  (3.0)    128
   City Sector            NTN_COMM        (3.0)    64 + 1 per 1,000 people
   Town Sector            NTN_COMM / 2.0  (2.0)    32 + 1 per 500 people
   Stockade               NTN_COMM / 4.0  (1.0)    10
   Cache                  0               (0.0)    0

To give an example of the weighting system: A farm sector produces 10,000 units of food and is within the influence of the Capital, 1 City of 8,000 people and a town of 750 people. The weight of each, respectively, is 128, 72 [64 + 8], and 33 [32 + 1]. The total weight is 233, and the food received by each should be:

       Sector           Weight         Food Received
       ============     ==========     ==========================
       Capital          128            10,000 x 128 / 233 = 5493
       City             72             10,000 x 72 / 233 = 3090
       Town             33             10,000 x 33 / 233 = 1416

The 1 food unit lost because of integer division can be thought of as slipping through the cracks of bureaucracy.

Now, when a sector consumes items, the distribution of materials to that sector is handled by taking into account how much of the required item nearby supply centers possess. So, if a farm needs 500 units of wood and there is one neighboring city with 1,000 wood and another with 4,000 units of wood, 100 would be taken from the first city and 400 from the second. As you can tell, this is totally independent of the weighting scheme used to distribute raw materials after production.

Economics 301: Supplying the Military

One of the more advanced options of Conquer is that of requiring that military units be supplying. Since armies, navies, and caravans can each roam well outside the national boundaries and supply center ranges, they must each carry what they needed to survive.

The food and talons (and any other items needed for survival) are lumped together in one packages called a "supply". During every update, each unit will consume 1 supply. There is a limit to the number of supplies a military unit may carry with them, so the units will need to constantly be resupplied in order to continue their activities. This will be done automatically if they are within range of a supply center during an update. Otherwise, there are a number of commands, including the "region-command" and "command-unit" commands, which may be used to provide units with supplies. But, when resupplying a unit using a manual method, the unit must be in territory controlled by their nation, or the supplies cannot be transported to them.

The composition of military supplies varies. For most army units, the supplies are composed of the monthly pay and the food needed for survival. For monster units, the supplies are composed of the jewels needed to bribe the creature(s). Leaders and scouts, being single man units, need not be supplied as they can live off the land. Naval units need talons for payment as well as food for their crew. And finally, caravans also need to be given payment as well as food for their crew.

Distribution of supplies is automated over land based connections, so if a unit is on land, they may receive materials from any storage location which is on land and within range. It should be noted that the raw materials for the supplies may be taken from supply centers, both the static cities, towns, etc. and the mobile caravans and navies. So, if you are planning on sending a troop of soldiers off into the world on their own, be sure to send along a fully loaded caravan or navy with them.

Displaying Economic Information

Gathering information about economic conditions is an essential part of economic management. So, knowing how to properly use the Conquer display routines is very important.

If your nation, or a portion of the nation, does not have enough of any of the raw materials, it will be necessary to designate a sector to produce more of whatever is needed. In order to do this, you will have to determine what sectors within range of the supply center(s) in question contain the most potential for generating the needed materials. There are a few display modes built in to display wood, food, jewel, and metal potential for sectors. Also, you can turn on highlighting to indicate the range of supply centers.

Paying for Sectors

Each of the sectors which a nation owns requires certain materials to maintain the sector and the things within the sector. If the sector possesses a designation or constructions, there are materials which will be needed to upkeep the constructions and designation within the sector.

The costs for the upkeep of a sector is computed by finding the base cost for the sector designation, and adding on any additional costs for constructions, modified by the designation multiplier. So, using the cost table in the Sector Information portion of the documentation, a town sector with a blacksmith and a church would cost:

           Item                                Talons   Metals    Wood
    ======================================    ======== ======== ========
    Base Cost for a Town                         1000       20      200
    5x Cost for a Blacksmith                     2000        0       40
    5x Cost for a Church                         1500        0       50
    Total Costs for Sector                       4500       20      290

As the above calculations demonstrate, it is often the minor designations that cost the most, since the basic functions of a town are mostly self-sufficient.

Economic Reports

Since Conquer is a computer based game, it is capable of calculating all of the consumption and production on either a regional or national level. Summaries about the costs for each supply center's realm of influence (or region) are available through the "economy-report" command.

This command brings up a full screen summary of the economic condition within the nation. There are three summary types: the economic report, the resource report, and the sector totals. The economic report summarizes talon consumption and intake, including an estimate for the talon level for the next turn. The resource report lists all five resource (raw material) types with population, production, and usage figures. And the sector totals report list what type of civilians live in which sector types within the scope of the summary. All of these reports may be for a single supply center, or for the entire nation.

The Economic Report

The economic report screen from the "economy-report" will look similar to this:

 City: Downwind                                             Talons:      821679
 Location: [1,-3]           Volunteers:         693         Jewels:           0
 Weight: 67                 Ships in Harbor:      0         Metals:      279094
 Sectors: 39                Supported Troops:  5757         Food:        172677
                                                            Wood:        107529
 |  source  |  income  |
 |----------+----------|   |   item   | expense  |  Initial Treasury....$821679
 |Cities    |     99359|   |----------+----------|  Probable Income......132418
 |Town/Stock|         0|   |Army      |     53646|  Probable Expenses....-83444
 |Farms     |      3964|   |Fleets    |      3121|  Misc. Items...............0
 |Mines     |     26158|   |Caravans  |      2782|  Inflation Loss............0
 |Others    |      2935|   |Sectors   |     23895|                   ----------
 |----------+----------|   |----------+----------|  Probable Treasury...$870653
 |Income    |    132418|   |Subtotal  |     83444|
 -----------+-----------   -----------+-----------

The above example is for a city named Downwind, located at sector [1,3]. There are 5757 army troops within range of this city, and probably others given the low army support costs. The total intact by different sector groups is in the column on the left, and the support outtake is in the central column. The right column displays the calculation of the next month's expected treasury.

For defensive purposes, it is good to note that this city has plenty of materials stored away and could also draft up to 693 additional soldiers to help defend the city.

The Resource Report

For the same city, the resource report screen looks like:

 City: Downwind                                             Talons:      821679
 Location: [1,-3]           Volunteers:         693         Jewels:           0
 Weight: 67                 Ships in Harbor:      0         Metals:      279094
 Sectors: 39                Supported Troops:  5757         Food:        172677
                                                            Wood:        107529
 |   raw    |  sector  | regional |  region  |  region  |          | estimated|
 | material |   type   |population|production|   usage  |    net   |  totals  |
 +----------+----------+----------+----------+----------+----------+----------+
 |Talons    |All       |     14154|    132418|     83444|     48974|    870653|
 |Jewels    |Jewel Mine|      1073|     11054|         0|     11054|     11054|
 |Metals    |Metal Mine|      1659|     20647|       773|     19874|    298968|
 |Food      |Farmland  |      3468|     46897|     33587|     13310|    185987|
 |Wood      |Lumberyard|       207|     12003|       940|     11063|    118592|
 -----------+----------+----------+----------+----------+----------+-----------

This screen shows a city with a solid production network, since there are civilians within range of the city producing all of the raw material types. This means that it would be possible for this city to survive on its own were it to be cut off from other supply centers within the nation. So, checking for any negative numbers within the "net" column will indicate if a supply center needs to increase the production of any of the raw materials within the region, or import them from another region.

The Sector Totals Report

Finally, the sector totals report for a sector looks like:

 City: Downwind                                             Talons:      821679
 Location: [1,-3]           Volunteers:         693         Jewels:           0
 Weight: 67                 Ships in Harbor:      0         Metals:      279094
 Sectors: 39                Supported Troops:  5757         Food:        172677
                                                            Wood:        107529
 |num|   type   | people | |num|   type   | people |  |num|   type   | people |
 |===+==========+========| |===+==========+========|  |===+==========+========|
 |  4|None      |      16| |  2|Lumberyard|     207|  |  0|Stockade  |       0|
 |  0|Farm      |       0| |  5|Shrine    |     327|  |  0|Town      |       0|
 | 11|Fertile   |    3468| |  0|Bridge    |       0|  |  4|City      |    4707|
 |  0|Fruitful  |       0| |  1|Canal     |       7|  |  1|Capital   |    2690|
 |  7|Metal Mine|    1659| |  0|Wall      |       0|  |---+----------+--------|
 |  5|Jewel Mine|    1073| |  0|Cache     |       0|  | 40|Totals    |   14154|
 ----+----------+--------- ----+----------+---------  ----+----------+---------

This screen simply displays a summary of the sector population within the region based on the sector designations. As expected, there are people in all four production types: lumberyards, farm types (fertile), metal mines, and jewel mines. Also, there are 3 other cities and the national capital within range of this city, so there is quite a network of cities within this nation.

Redistribution of Materials

The best way to maintain economic stability within a nation is to make sure that each supply center has some of each of the four production type sectors within its range of influence. There are times, however, when this is not possible, such as when first establishing a new supply center. In such cases, it is often necessary to move materials into the supply center from other supply centers in the area.

There are two ways to move materials into a supply center: transfer them directly from a nearby supply center or place them in a caravan or navy and carry them there.

Transferring directly between supply centers is done using the "region-command" function. The maximum distance over which this is possible is determined by the campaign administrator, but by default is two sectors. Placing a number of supply centers within range of each other makes it possible to "string" supplies over long distances from one supply center to another for free. The problem with this approach is that supplies may not be moved over more than one supply center per month, so it might take a long time to get supplies to or from cities farther out in the nation.

Transporting materials over land or water using caravans or navies provides the quickest method of transfer, as long distances may sometimes be covered over a single turn. However, this method requires materials to build the units, and civilians to crew the transports. Once a supply network of caravans and navies is in place, though, the support costs are rather low and the speed of material relocation is worth the added expenses. Loading and unloading of materials from caravans and navies is accomplished using the "transfer" command or the (T)fer Cargo option of the "command-unit" function.

The xfer screen

The "xfer" screen used by both the "transfer" and "region-command" functions is a simple multi-column display with one storage site on the left and another on the right. Using the "hjkl" keys items are transferred between the two locations, and until the screen is quit, items may be freely moved between the two sites.

Only those materials which may be transferred between the two storage sites will be shown on the screen. So army units will not be shown unless the transfer is between a naval fleet with warships and a sector with units or another warship fleet. Also, once raw materials are placed in a supply center, they are not able to be transferred again until the next month. This mechanism prevents "instant" transfer of materials between supply centers from one end of a nation to another.

The transfer screen shows the capacities for each storage location and the current amounts in that location. Each line also contains a "default transfer amount" which will be used to transfer materials if only a portion of the materials needs to be transferred.

Commands for the xfer Screen

The list of commands available during the "xfer" screen:

conquer-options (`O'): Adjust environment by changing various options, including keybindings.
redraw-screen (`^L',`^R'): Redraw the display of the screen.
xfer-add (`+'): Increase the current default transfer amount by one.
xfer-assign (`='): Assign a value the the default transfer amount.
xfer-divide (`/'): Divide the default transfer amount by ten.
xfer-down (`J',`j',`^N',DOWN-ARROW): Move the selection pointer down one line.
xfer-help (`?'): Provide a listing of functions and key bindings.
xfer-left (`H',`h',`<'`^B',LEFT-ARROW): Change transfer direction from left-to-right to right-to-left, or if already done, move as much as possible from the right to the left.
xfer-move (` '): Transfer the current default amount in the current direction.
xfer-multiply (`*'): Multiply the default transfer amount by ten.
xfer-quit (`Q',`q'): Exit the transfer mode, finalizing transfers.
xfer-right (`L',`l',`>',`^F',RIGHT-ARROW): Change transfer direction from right-to-left to left-to-right, or if already done, move as much as possible from the left to the right.
xfer-shiftdown (`p'): Move the list of army or caravan units downward.
xfer-shiftup (`o'): Move the list of army or caravan units upward.
xfer-subtract (`-'): Decrease the default transfer amount by one.
xfer-up (`K',`k',`^P',UP-ARROW): Move the selection pointer upward one line.

The National Information Screen

The "nation-information" function is a good way of gathering a summary of your national status. It includes information about many national statistics and traits, and examining it every turn and noting trends is a good way to chart national progress. When using the function, the display will be similar to this:

   = Identifiers =     = Attributes =       = Abilities =       = Resources =
 Nation.....Khazadum Communication...3.4 Attack Bonus....+30 Talons....$4816663
 Nation Mark.....'k' Eat Rate........1.6 Defense Bonus...+30 Jewels......158065
 Leader........Durin Health.......HghAvg Reproduction.....6% Metals...........0
 Race..........Dwarf Jewelcraft...VryLow Movement.........12 Food........461352
 Alignment......Good Knowledge.......Avg                     Wood.............0
 Class........Empire Merc Rep........Avg
 Aggression..Enforce Metalcraft...VryLow                         = Totals =
 NPC status......NPC Mine Ability.LowAvg                     Leaders.........19
                     Morale..........Low                     Soldiers......2019
 Tax Rate.........10 Popularity...VryLow                     Civilians....64824
 Charity...........0 Reputation...VryLow                     Monsters.........0
 Currency........Avg Spell Pts.........0                     Ship Holds.......0
 Inflation.........0 Spoilrate........90                     Wagons...........0
                     Terror.......VryLow                     Sectors.........14
                     Wizardcraft.....Min                     Score...........53

The above screen shows an NPC Dwarven nation named Khazadum with a ruler named Durin. Whenever other nations encounter Khazadum, they will see a 'k' on their maps, since that is its nation mark. The aggressiveness of the nation indicates that its troops will be mostly defensive, and within their fortifications. The tax rate is moderate, with inflation and currency levels stable.

The eat rate is at a good low level, but the communication range is a little low for a nation of this size. The metal craft and mine ability are very low and there is no magical power potential within the nation. Those are probably due to the nation not having either shrines within magical sectors or metal mines. Given the lack of wood as well, it is possible that there are also no lumberyards within the nation. The last two items are potentially crippling.

On the whole, the nation seems to be in a bit of trouble, with most of the attributes being very low to average, and the metal and wood supplies having run out. It will take a fair amount of work to get this nation out of trouble, particularly in regard to the wood and metal levels.

National Attributes

The nation information screen is used to display a number of the attributes of a nation. Items marked with an asterisk (*) have the possible values: Min, VryLow, Low, LowAvg, Avg, HghAvg, High, VryHgh, and Max. Those marked with a plus (+) are adjustable by the user.

Nation+: The name of the nation, which may be changed at any time.
Nation Mark+: What map character is used to represent the nation.
Leader+: The name of the ruler of the nation.
Race: The race of the nation.
Alignment: The general moralistic leaning of the nation. The possible alignments are: Good, Neutral, Evil, or Other. Only the first three are available to active nations.
Class: The national class.
Aggression+: This indicates the type of update a computer player will make for the nation, if a computer update is made. Computer aggressiveness ranges from Static to Killer and can be turned off with the value Nomove.
NPC Status+: Is the nation controlled by a player or by the computer? If controlled by the computer, the status is NPC.
Tax Rate+: What level of taxes are drawn from the civilians. This may range between 0 and 25, but the higher the setting, the lower the popularity of the government.
Charity+: How much of the yearly treasury is distributed back to the civilian population each year. The more that is given, the higher the popularity of the government.
Currency*: The strength of the national currency.
Inflation: The yearly inflation, or deflation if negative, of the national currency.
Communication: The distance over which communication is possible. This rate is a factor of the density of supply centers within a nation, and the availability of roads for transportation of messages.
Eat Rate: An indication of how much food per month civilians will each. The amount of food within the nation and the time of year will determine how much high this value is.
Health*: The average overall national health of the civilian population. If this attribute is low, the population will be more susceptible to disease and famine. Having civilians who are not properly supplied will lower the national health rate.
Jewelcraft*: An indicator of how adept the nation is add taking raw gems and turning them into jewelry. The better the jewelcraft, the greater the national skill in locating additional jewel deposits.
Knowledge*: A measurement of the technological level of the nation. The greater the knowledge, the easier it is to accure new magical powers.
Merc Rep*: An indicator of the respect shown to the nation by mercenary organizations around the world. Higher respect means lower enlistment and support costs for mercenary troops.
Metalcraft*: Akin to Jewelcraft for metal minerals, a higher value means that locating new metal deposites will be easier.
Mine Ability*: A measurement of the ability of the nation to remove minerals from mines. A higher value indicates an easier time in locating new mineral deposits.
Morale*: The general confidence of the national military. A lower morale means a higher chance of desertion for soldiers.
Popularity*: An indicator of how well-liked the government is by its civilian population. A higher popularity means a lower likelyhood for rebellion.
Reputation*: A measurement of how well regarded the nation is by other nations in the world. A higher reputation will mean better deals when trading with other nations.
Spell Pts: A numerical indicator for how much magical ability is within the nation. This number dictates the maximum magical potential of the national leaders and spellcasters.
Spoilrate: An indicator of how quickly food will spoil within the nation. The percentage value is a measurement for how much of the current supply will be decayed within the nation over a year.
Terror*: How much fear for the national government does the civilian population feel. A higher fear rate indicates a lesser likelyhood of rebellion.
Wizardcraft*: A measurement of how adept the nation is at magical tasks. The higher the wizardcraft, the higher the success in spell casting.
Attack Bonus: This number is added directly to the combat value of any of this nation's military units during an attack.
Defense Bonus: This number is added directly to the combat value of any of this nation's military units during any other combat situation.
Reproduction: This percentage represents what level of growth the national civilian population will experience each year. Of course, this is compounded monthly, so returns on investments may vary.
Movement: A numerical measurement of the national movement potential. This is a reflection of both physical prowess of the soldiers and of the ability of the military to relay orders.
Score: A numerical measure of how many resources a nation has. Factors in determining the score include: amount of land owned, size of the military and civilian populations, and the amount of raw materials produced and stored in supply centers.

The items in the last column are simple measurements of various quantities within the nation such as the raw materials and military units.

The nation-information Functions

A summary of those functions available in the nation information screen:

conquer-options (`O',`o'): Adjust the conquer environment by changing various options.
ignore-key (`^@'): Don't do anything when this keybinding is pressed.
info-backward (`^H',`^?'): Move backward among the list of items on the information screen.
info-change (ESC,`C',`c'): If allowed, change the value of the currently selected item.
info-change-backward (`B',`b'): If allowed, change the current item, by decreasing the value, if applicable.
info-change-forward (`N',`n'): If permissible, change the current item, by increasing the value, if applicable.
info-description (`I',`i'): Provide a description of the current item.
info-destroy (`D',`d'): God may remove the nation using this command.
info-down (`^N',DOWN-ARROW,`J',`j'): Move down along the list of items on the screen.
info-exit (`Q',`q'): Leave the national information screen.
info-forward (`^I',`^J',`^M',` '): Move forward among the list of items on the screen.
info-help (`?'): List all of the commands and bindings in this mode.
info-left (`^B',LEFT-ARROW,`H',`h'): Move to the item to the left of the current item.
info-passwd (`X',`x'): Change the national password using this command.
info-reset (`R',`r'): Reset the national attributes back to the settings they had upon entering the screen.
info-right (`^F',RIGHT-ARROW,`L',`l'): Move to the item to the right of the current item.
info-up (`^P',UP-ARROW,`K',`k'): Move upwards along the list of items on the screen.
redraw-screen (`^L',`^R'): Redraw the screen without clearing it first.