Here is a trade schematic I have created for my own game, which I thought might be useful to others.
Essentially, although almost anything and everything can be made locally, you still need raw materials. With this schematic I was simply trying to map out relative points of abundance and direction of trade. So, water is mined in the outer system and is brought sunward, while heavy metals are mined in the inner system and sent rimward.
A couple of points that may need a bit of explaining:
I have included immigrants as going both directions, the full width of the solar system. Even with ego far-casting, there may be circumstances where one might one to physically relocate. If you have the time, or you are particularly attached to your morph, you can hop aboard a tramp freighter either as a passenger in rather cramped quarters or as baggage in cold storage. This usually is only cost effective if you are merely going to the next stop on the freighter's route. Any further, and ego-casting, despite the hassle of arranging a new morph to receive you and disposing of your existing morph, is much more cost effective. Unless of course, you have another reason at attempting to circumvent customs controls.
I have also included trade in artifacts. This not only represents unreproducible pre-Fall artifacts, but also may include contemporary pieces of hand-crafted art. When anything can be made by machine, things actually made by the hands or manipulator of someone sapient has increased value; usually for the inherent minor but detectable flaws such as tool marks and seams. In order to maintain the provenience and authenticity of Michael Jordan's rookie baseball card, it has to be shipped the slow way, by freighter. Otherwise, it is just a reproduction and has no value beyond the raw material and the time in the fabber. Note, con artists will sometimes use arrival of an artifact by ship as implicit support for their claim of authenticity, as in the case of Michael Jordan's Super Bowl jersey. Cavet Emptor!
One last note, the planets are used to represent orbital position only. As you know, hardly anything comes from Earth anymore, all of the trade is with Luna and habitats in Earth orbit.
Hope you find it useful.
Thanks, Ravenswar
Attachment | Size |
---|---|
![]() | 93.69 KB |