[DEVBLOG#184] Vanilla Trading Expanded entering testing! (Patreon)

Hello everyone!

This time, I'd like to tell you a bit about our new mod. Vanilla Trading Expanded is our take on the trading system and RimWorld, meant to add some much needed randomization, planning and strategy to otherwise stale trading. Currently in RimWorld, all values are flat and never change - meaning there are certain things that sell, and certain things that don’t. This mod will change that making market value of things dynamic, and changing based on the supply and demand.

This mod overhauls the trading system and adds many new features, such as the Bank, Planetary news network, fluctuating prices, squeezes and crashes, loans, contracts, stock market etc. Please note this is not meant to be a realistic representation of the economy - I am not an economist, and I also don't want it to be realistic. It's simplified and almost arcadey, because it's a video game, and we don't need a corrupt market in the game to remind us how bad it is outside of it.

I didn’t yet prepare the infographics, but I will walk you through the mechanics of the mod real quick.

**Trading Terminal**

New structure similar to Comms console is required to partake in all the activities in the mod. You can construct a Trading Terminal in Misc tab after unlocking the same tech that unlocks Comms Console.

**Fluctuating prices**

Prices of everything, and I mean everything, fluctuate to ‘simulate’ other factions selling and buying stuff. You will notice overtime that things cost slightly more or slightly less. Generally, every year they will try to rebalance and either drop if they went up, or go up if they dropped, but it’s possible that overtime they will diverge greatly from the initial numbers. Please note: this change affects Market Value, which means fluctuating prices directly affect your wealth.

**News overview**

You can now access the News screen. Overtime, news will be dropping. They affect the prices of certain categories of items. If some settlement is preparing for war, weapons and armor might go up in price. If some faction had a bountiful harvest, prices of food might drop because they will be flooding the market with vegetables. Keep an eye on the news and you will be able to predict the price movements to sell at the peak.

**Bank**

You can now put your hard earned cash in a safe place - the bank. There are two banks right now, a Civil Outlander one, and an Imperial one if you have Royalty DLC. It’s possible for modders to add more banks. Putting money in the bank costs you a percentage - and so does pulling your money out, so don’t abuse the bank too much. The fee depends on your relations to that faction - if you’re allies, there is no fee at all! Good thing about the bank is that the silver no longer counts towards your colony wealth - so if you’re getting raids of enormous size, perhaps deposit some money!

**Loans**

You can now take loans. Either quick ones with insane interest, or longer ones with interest depending on the bank fee, loans are useful if you see a good business opportunity but you’re strapped for cash. Be careful - not paying a loan back will lead to trouble.

**Stock market**

You can now put your money in various randomly generated Orbital trade companies. They start with random prices. Overtime, you will notice news regarding the companies - and you will see how they affect the prices of shares. If you see your company releasing astounding earning reports, or investing in new ships to expand the business, make sure to snatch more shares before they go up, to sell at the peak. Shares you own don’t count towards your wealth, so noone will raid you for your portfolio.

**Contracts**

You can now access the contracts screen to see what sale contracts are available on the extranet. Anonymous parties will be wanting to purchase certain items for more than they are worth, so if you see a contract you like, procure the item they want (either craft it or buy it) and sell it to the contract holder for sweet profit. That’s right, you can now see if someone wants to buy your 1000 human leather for 300% the value, and get rid of it! Contracts with higher mark-up are more popular, and it could be that someone else will snatch them before you. You should be very, very careful what you aim for!

You can also place your own contracts. The more you’re willing to pay for something, the higher the chance someone will approach you with that item. Be careful to have enough money in the bank to cover the cost tho!

That's it for Trading Expanded. It's great. I'm loving it. It allows you to actually apply strategy to trading, and to respond to economic events around the world. In testing I bought the dip. Turns out it wasn't the dip yet. I lost money I loaned from the bank. Enforcers fucked me up. Mods don't get much better than that!