User Guide

64
TRADE
Overview
In this chapter, we finally begin
to look further afield and con-
sider things beyond our country’s
borders. Trade can be an integral part of your
realm’s income, particularly if your country is
somewhat small and lacks wealthy provinces.
Some of the most powerful nations during
the Europa Universalis III period of history
were based upon enormous trade revenues that
would fill the country’s coffers, allowing it to
wield wealth as a weapon that was almost as ef-
fective as a sword. The Dutch, Venetians, Ge-
noese, and many others -- to various degrees
-- would use trade to secure their place in the
world and finance armies that could never have
been supported on internal wealth alone. The
colossal might of England, France, and Spain
was derived at least in part from their colonial
and oriental trade. Had it not been for the im-
portance of trade to the nations of Europe and
the closure of the traditional routes by hostile
forces, it is entirely possible that North and
South America would have remained undis-
covered for several more centuries.
Europa Universalis III does not seek to pro-
vide an accurate and detailed model of the
highly complex trading network that existed
and evolved during this time. That would al-
most be a game all by itself! Instead, we have
sought to distil this era’s burgeoning global
trade into a system that is fairly intuitive and
easy to use, but still conveys the importance
that it held for all nations during this time.
Each province in the world produces a pri-
mary resource that is available for trade. This
“trade good” is then distributed through a near-
by “Center of Trade” where merchants may
compete for a share of the business. You will
send a new merchant from your country’s pool
to a center of trade where he will attempt to
establish himself in business. If he is success-
ful, a portion of the trade center’s total value
is returned to the realm as a monthly source
of trade revenue. Competition can
be fierce, but the rewards can be
great! This chapter describes how
the system works.
Trade Goods
As we saw in the chapter on Province Man-
agement, each province has a specific resource
that it produces in sufficient quantities for
there to be an excess of that item available for
trade. While each province historically pro-
duced many items in different quantities, and
these would change over time, it is easier for
our model to consider each province as having
only one item and to keep that item constant
throughout the entire game. The quantity that
a province produces depends on the produc-
tion technology of the country that owns the
province, and on the province’s population.
This information is shown by clicking on the
province and looking at the trade good sum-
mary at the right of the interface. This is the
resource that will be sent to a nearby center of
trade for distribution abroad.
Supply and Demand
There are about twenty different trade goods in
the game, all of which are listed in Appendix
I. You will see a base price listed for each item
but the actual price that is shown in a prov-
ince’s trade summary will fluctuate depending
on how much of that resource is currently be-
ing produced and traded in the world, and the
global demand for that item.
As the production technology level of a
country reaches higher levels, and as a prov-
ince’s population grows, the province’s abil-
ity to produce more of a trade resource will
increase. This is shown in the summary as an
increase in the number of units being traded
and an increase in global supply. Higher supply
levels will reduce the price of an item as there
will be less competition.
Some province improvements that coun-
tries can build will increase the demand for a
resource, resulting in a higher price for that