Revenue Curve
Single trade ship port arrival settlement:
baseGold = 75,000 / (1 + exp(-0.03 × (dist − 300))) + 50 × dist
result = floor(baseGold × goldMultiplier)- Distance ≤ 300 tiles: sigmoid portion near 0-50%, revenue 5k-40k.
- Distance 600 tiles: sigmoid near saturation (~75k), plus 50×600 = 30k linear, about 100k+.
- Distance 1000+ tiles: stable 75k cap + 50k linear ≈ 125k+ per trip.
✦ Distance Arbitrage
Place ports at continent ends or across straits—single ship value can triple compared to local routes.
Spawn Probability & Global Cap
baseSpawnRate = 1 − sigmoid(numShips, ln(2)/50, 200)
rejectionModifier= 1 / (rejections + 1)
spawnRate = floor((100 × rejectionModifier) / baseSpawnRate)
spawnProbability = 1 / spawnRate- Global cap 150 ships (v24), spawn probability drops sharply near cap.
rejectionsis the "embargo mercy timer": more rejections = slower spawns for you.- Ports check probability every 10 ticks, so "no ships spawning" is normal.
Embargo
⚠ Two Trade War Weapons
- Temporary embargo: Auto-triggered for 300 ticks after attacking.
- Permanent embargo: Manually set (hostile players can set unilaterally).
- Coordinated multi-party embargo can "suffocate" a trade-focused player, but costs you a trading partner too.
Trade Warfare Tactics
- Opening location: Find cross-ocean or cross-continent port positions—3× single ship value.
- Port count: 4-6 is optimal. More triggers sigmoid suppression, slower spawns per ship.
- Upgrade Ports: v24 upgrades are key to compensating for 150 cap—better ROI than new ports.
- Don't blindly reject trade: Unless embargo strategy requires it, rejections only hurt your own spawn rate.
- Protect trade ships: Patrol routes with warships, pull back to port when hostility detected.