MOD: Trading Revamp

[irrelevant]

@JamieIdle2.0 I really like this mod. Using it I have completely changed my approach to trading. I no longer have to try to wring every last crumb from whatever useful boats I get, while dismissing 40% of them (seed merchants and livestock merchants) without buying anything. Most boats bring stuff I can use. And even with only two TPs in a pop 400+ town (where normally I would have 5-10), I no longer am placing any orders at all. I just take what comes, and I'm glad to pay the list prices for a change.

I am using Ale and Firewood (reduces the trade value of both by 1) and Slower (which still doesn't seem particularly slow, I wouldn't mind another 2-3 months between boats).

One of your merchants ( I think maybe the Raw Goods Merchant) doesn't show the merchant's title in the UI panel. It just says "Emberlie the "

If you fix that, I'd say this mod's ready for prime time.

[RedKetchup]

thats certainly just a typo. like the Emberlie the Farmer.... (hot subducted by alien, death)

[irrelevant]

Well, here's a conundrum. I have an Orchard Merchant who I guess was a General Goods Merchant (GGM) before I installed this mod in mid-game. I had placed orders with her as GGM, but now I no longer place orders. Seems like it would be simple to fix, but the resources that are on order aren't accessible through the UI of the Orchard Merchant.

I suppose that either I have to live with this, or else I need to tear down and rebuild these legacy TPs?

Well, I suppose I can try placing a different order and see what happens.

[JamieIdle2.0]

Well, here's a conundrum. I have an Orchard Merchant who I guess was a General Goods Merchant (GGM) before I installed this mod in mid-game. I had placed orders with her as GGM, but now I no longer place orders. Seems like it would be simple to fix, but the resources that are on order aren't accessible through the UI of the Orchard Merchant.

I suppose that either I have to live with this, or else I need to tear down and rebuild these legacy TPs?

Well, I suppose I can try placing a different order and see what happens.

O.O never load mods mid game. Modders are not responsible for the strangeness that will occur lol

[irrelevant]

Oh, you're no fun! 

[irrelevant]

@JamieIdle2.0 None of your traders ever brings me any milk, they bring cream and yogurt though. Is that just an accident of chance, or is it a feature?

edit: well of course. Rain dance effect. One just brought me 2000 milk. 

[JamieIdle2.0]

@irrelevant there is no reason they shouldn't bring milk. Is it not appearing in the order list? I am in the planning stages of TR v4 right now. I am going to take a new approach to trading. By adding Specialized Trading Ports each with their own set of Port specific Merchants. Imagine building a Seed and Livestock Trading Port? Or a Fruit port next to an Ale house cluster. This would allow for specialized dock areas based around specific goods and products.

[irrelevant]

Specialized TPs sound great! I'll be very interested to try them out.

As I edited, the rain dance effect kicked in, one merchant immediately brought 2000 milk, and then another brought 14,000, so I just was getting bad die rolls.

[Denis de la Rive]

@irrelevant there is no reason they shouldn't bring milk. Is it not appearing in the order list? I am in the planning stages of TR v4 right now. I am going to take a new approach to trading. By adding Specialized Trading Ports each with their own set of Port specific Merchants. Imagine building a Seed and Livestock Trading Port? Or a Fruit port next to an Ale house cluster. This would allow for specialized dock areas based around specific goods and products.

I'm intrigued, could such a concept work? If so then that would be interesting, you push the design envelope, we do the test flight. 

[Mahnogard]

@irrelevant there is no reason they shouldn't bring milk. Is it not appearing in the order list? I am in the planning stages of TR v4 right now. I am going to take a new approach to trading. By adding Specialized Trading Ports each with their own set of Port specific Merchants. Imagine building a Seed and Livestock Trading Port? Or a Fruit port next to an Ale house cluster. This would allow for specialized dock areas based around specific goods and products.

I'd definitely be interested in this. In most of my towns, I aim for as much self-sufficiency as possible, so I often only trade for seeds and livestock. Having a TP that only got seeds and livestock would certainly be of use to me.

[JamieIdle2.0]

I'd definitely be interested in this. In most of my towns, I aim for as much self-sufficiency as possible, so I often only trade for seeds and livestock. Having a TP that only got seeds and livestock would certainly be of use to me.

There is no code reason that I am aware of why it shouldn't work. Red's warehouse mod showed that the Trading Port UI can be used in other buildings. So multiple Trading Ports shouldn't be hard. The problem is I can whip this up fairly quickly, but the Trading Ports would all look the same. Brushing up on modeling enough to make distinct Trading Ports is the sticking point.

[Mahnogard]

There is no code reason that I am aware of why it shouldn't work. Red's warehouse mod showed that the Trading Port UI can be used in other buildings. So multiple Trading Ports shouldn't be hard. The problem is I can whip this up fairly quickly, but the Trading Ports would all look the same. Brushing up on modeling enough to make distinct Trading Ports is the sticking point.

Though others may disagree, for my purposes, it doesn't matter at all if they all look the same. I like the way the TPs look anyway, so even though visual diversity is always welcome, I don't feel it's a necessity in this case. I just want to be able to stop saying, "Really??" when my barns are bursting with food and I get three food boats in a row.

If you made this mod I'd probably build one Seed / Livestock TP and one General Goods TP and call it done for most maps. After I got my seeds and animals, I'd tear down that one, and leave the GG TP so that I can still offload the insane amounts of wool I always seem to accumulate around year 40 or so.

[rkelly17]

@irrelevant there is no reason they shouldn't bring milk. Is it not appearing in the order list? I am in the planning stages of TR v4 right now. I am going to take a new approach to trading. By adding Specialized Trading Ports each with their own set of Port specific Merchants. Imagine building a Seed and Livestock Trading Port? Or a Fruit port next to an Ale house cluster. This would allow for specialized dock areas based around specific goods and products.

Seriously? This would be a godsend. I get so sick of dismissing seed and livestock merchants after I have all the seeds and livestock--and I always forget to load @slink's "No more seeds" before I load the game!

I can see the arguments for several sets of TP/merchants, but my suggestion would be to keep it simple: One TP and set of traders for seeds and livestock and one TP and set of merchants for everything else. I mostly trade for stone and iron, sometimes logs, so I might build a "resources" TP, but I do like the option of buying food in a year when I don't produce quite enough and I would prefer not to have to build a separate TP just for food. I'd do it if that was the way you decide to go, but I'd prefer not to. Feel free to ignore my opinions as necessary.

[Bobbi]

This sounds like a VERY good idea.

[Kaspar]

@irrelevant there is no reason they shouldn't bring milk. Is it not appearing in the order list? I am in the planning stages of TR v4 right now. I am going to take a new approach to trading. By adding Specialized Trading Ports each with their own set of Port specific Merchants. Imagine building a Seed and Livestock Trading Port? Or a Fruit port next to an Ale house cluster. This would allow for specialized dock areas based around specific goods and products.

What a fantastic idea.

A consideration: don't worry about making your specialized TP's distinct in appearance in your early versions. I think that most people just want something functional and robust. If, however down the road you feel that you need to make them look different, then spend some time on it -- or outsource it to someone who is fluent in modeling. Just a thought.