SW Economy

[stranger]

SW Economy

Actual version - SW Economy 3.8.0
Uploaded 16.01.2021

This OXP gives additional flavor to Oolite economy.

Redefined system economy profiles

First, this OXP changes canonic descriptor of system economy.
Vanilla descriptions seems controversial. Why Poor Agricultural system market have more food and soft goods at lower price than Rich Agricultural? We have no such controversy in opposite end of scale: Rich Industrial market has more electronics and machinery at lower price than Poor Industrial. Seems Poor Agriculture is logically flawed definition: it reflects system economic specialization, not productivity level, nor richness/poverty level!

New economic classification implemented:

Poor Agricultural -> Extreme Agricultural
Average Agricultural -> Strong Agricultural
Rich Agricultural -> Common Agricultural
Mainly Agricultural -> Mainly Agricultural
Mainly Industrial -> Mainly Industrial
Poor Industrial -> Common Industrial
Average Industrial -> Strong Industrial
Rich Industrial -> Extreme Industrial

This redefined classification AFAIK will not affect any OXPs dealing with system market. Text string Extreme Agricultural, for example, used only to display on F7 system info screen, Oolite uses for market calculations numeric value system.economy = 7. There is one exception: GalCop Galactic Registry (author phkb) will display vanilla descriptions.

Rebalanced prices and qualities of goods

Oolite economy model was inherited from old good 8-bit 42 KB Elite. Comparing with later space sims with hundreds items in goods list Oolite seems modest. You have only 17 goods – and only 14 goods for legal trade. Moreover, even this humble list is mostly useless. Actually you have extremely limited subset of most profitable items on milk runs. Buy computers in industrial system, sell it in agricultural, buy alcohol and/or furs, sell in industrial, repeat. Sometimes furs more profitable, sometimes alcohol, that’s all. Well, having 100 credits for start you’ll buy cheap food and sell it with good profit, but it is very short period. Oolite definitely is NOT about economy. You have no any reason to buy textile if you have more cheap and more profitable food. Similarly, you have no reason to buy machinery having enough stock of more profitable computers. And you have no any reason to trade minerals, radioactives and alloys – of course, you can collect these items as bounty having fuel scoop and enough free space in cargo bay.
I was not so ambitious to perform economic revolution – despite having beard I’m not Karl Marx. Just fine tuning model to realize its hidden potential and give player some challenge.
There are at least three basic types of economy in other space sims, not just industrial/agricultural dichotomy. And there are actually at least three groups of goods in Oolite, matching these basic types of economy.
Agricultural goods (food, wine, textile, furs) – production is not limited by TL, but strongly affected by environment. It will be good to assume dramatic fluctuations of quantity and price for such items due to weather effects and other unpredictable events, affecting harvest.
Raw materials (minerals, radioactives, gold, platinum, gems) – mining is affected by unpredictable environment too, but with lesser degree. In any case industry needs buffer stocks of raw materials to provide uninterrupted production.
Industrial goods (computers, machinery, alloys, luxury, firearms) – industry is business with long-term planning, so it is the most stable sector of economy, don’t expect significant fluctuations of quantity and prices. And at least high-tech goods will require enough TL.
Slave and narcotics (and partly firearms of course) is special case. It is criminal business, affected by random events, so quantity and price for such items will be high variable values.
Now more specific details.

Food and textiles

Food in Ooniverse is extremely cheap. Listen, growing crops is really hard work, why we have so cheap food?
Now food has basic price comparable with minerals.
Textiles were almost useless as trade goods. With increased price and enhanced economic gradient textiles may be good choice to start business in addition to food. Not so profitable as wines and furs, but quite useful. And more profitable than vanilla textile if you collect it as bounty.

Liquors/wines and furs

This is well balanced pair in vanilla economy, so only slight adjusting of settings was done. Furs are more profitable as whole but more unpredictable, alcohol gives more stable profit.

Computers and machinery

Unlike liquors/wines and furs pair on agricultural market, computers and machinery as industrial goods are not balanced in vanilla economy. You have no need for machinery when you have enough stock of more profitable computers.
Quantity of computers is significantly reduced, quantity of machinery is increased, economic gradient for machinery is increased too. Computers remains as more profitable in absolute terms, but now you have no enough computers for Cobra Mk III 20 ton cargo bay. It is good reason to buy machinery now. Moreover, according to new rules there is no any computers on market below some TL threshold (details will be explained later). So machinery is the main export goods for low-tech industrial worlds.

Alloys

Alloys are a bit controversial goods. This is industrial item, but agricultural worlds needs mechanisms, not alloys. As we can see later, alloys like minerals and other raw materials are mostly for intra-system trading, not inter-system. So vanilla settings for alloys were almost unchanged.

Luxuries

Historically luxuries were goods from exotic countries with agricultural economy – spice from South Asia, silk, tea and chinaware from China, furs, vodka and caviar from Russia, tobacco from America. But in modern world luxuries are high-tech gadgets, so it is logical to classify luxuries as industrial goods.
There are two logical flaws in vanilla luxuries settings however, merged onto one major logical flaw.
Luxuries has too abundant stock in industrial worlds. AND luxuries are measured in tons! Why we have so many almost useless luxuries for trade – more then machinery in gross weight?
Quantity of luxuries is significantly decreased, economic gradient enhanced AND now quantity of luxuries measured in kilograms, not tons. So having free money you can buy and sell luxuries for extra profit, not instead more useful items.

Minerals and radioactives

Like other raw materials, these goods has low value for inter-system trade. Almost vanilla settings.

Gold, platinum, gemstones

Like other raw materials, these items are mostly for intra-system trade, not inter-system. Unlike other raw materials, these items are measured in kilograms and grams, not tons. So it is good idea to extract profit from price fluctuations, not from predictable economic gradients. Use occasion to buy such items if price is below average and wait occasion to sell at above average price – it will not affect your cargo capacity. Vanilla settings are quite suitable, but I slightly enhanced economy gradient.

Slaves, firearms, narcotics

These items shares common state of illegal goods, but at close look it is heterogenous group.
Slaves are definitely product of poor agricultural worlds with archaic economy. These cheap human resources can be used in mining worlds and in low-tech industrial worlds. High-tech robotized industry has no pressing need for cheap unqualified workers. This issue can be solved using additional filters (more details later). But slaves in Ooniverse are incredible cheap. It is hard to explain the very existence of such risky business having legal opportunities to get comparable profit without unnecessary risk.
Slave price is drastically increased. Not enough maybe to transform slave trade onto tempting offer – this task is beyond my intentions – but to give more reliable background.
Firearms, on the contrary, are industrial goods. Production of firearms is not illegal business per se, so firearms stock can be stable like other industrial goods. You just can’t legally trade firearms without proper license (again, this is a matter fore some other OXPs). Vanilla settings looks fine.
Narcobusiness in real reality associated with poverty and most narcotics are refined extracts from raw material of plant origin – so narcotics are goods of agricultural origin. On the other hand, some narcotics are products of chemical synthesis and it will be more exotic high-tech solutions in future (brain implants for example). Narcotics are declared as independent from economy, but stock is very volatile due to risky nature of business – well, maybe.
But tons of narcotics – really? Narcodealers transports unprocessed raw instead refined finished product?
Narcotic quantity redefined in kilograms, not tons.

Alien Items

You can’t acquire these goods on regular market – the only way to obtain it is to win battle with thargoids and collect inactivated drones. But why alien items are most valuable in agricultural worlds? Seems logical that industrial worlds with well equipped high-tech labs will have more demand for such goods.
Economic gradient for alien items is inverted.

New items

It is enigma – why we have pair of precious metals with similar value (gold and platinum) and have no the most necessary goods for space-based economy?

Fresh water

Water is abundant material is known Universe. Water ice can exist in such unexpected places like polar regions of Moon and Mercury, so it can’t be shortage of water in fictional Ooniverse, right?
Ironically (and sadly) there are too many places with deficiency of fresh water on our blue and green Earth. Seems reasonable that water will be deficient in remote space objects, like orbital stations. On the other hand, water is cheap if you have agricultural planet with plenty of water. Distilling and bottling is not very expensive and you have no need for high TL to do it. So fresh water can be valuable export product in addition to other agricultural goods. Industrial systems with harsh living conditions will demand fresh water.
Cheap fresh water in my economy is similar to cheap food in vanilla economy – you can trade it for initial profit having too low cash to trade more expensive goods. And you can take some cheap fresh water to dump it and fool pirates until you’ll get enough cash to purchase fuel injector.

Oxygen

Like water, oxygen is vital for life support in space. In modern space technology oxygen is widely used as component of rocket fuel and to produce energy in fuel cells. On the other hand, you can produce oxygen having enough water and energy.
In Ooniverse with quirium-based technology using oxygen as rocket fuel will be obsolete, presumably life-supporting value of oxygen will be predominant. Oxygen production in situ can’t be available in some cases due to water or/and energy deficiency. Oxygen store and delivery is essential for emergency reasons. Definitely, gentlemen, it is good reason to have oxygen in trade goods list.
Oxygen can be obtained directly from oxygen-rich air. Advanced agricultural worlds has dense oxygen-rich atmospheres. Of course, it is based on more advanced technology than just bottling of pure fresh water. This issue can be solved using additional filters to define system market.
Oxygen is more costly than fresh water and even more costly than food. Not due to manufacturing cost per se, rather due to issues with storing and transporting liquid oxygen. But like water it is large scale production with negligible fluctuations.

Medicine

We have illegal narcotics in Ooniverse just for fun and we have no medicine!
OK, medicine trade can be regulated. You can’t trade medicine without proper license. Like you can’t trade firearms for the same reason.
Listen, some narcotics CAN be medicine, but most of medicine goods are NOT narcotics.
And we already have alcohol trading without any license.
There are two possible opposite assumptions setting economy gradient for medicine.
A. Medicine based on plant raw, so it is agricultural product.
B. Modern pharmacology based mostly on chemical synthesis, so it is high TL industry.
In real reality we have mixed approach – we have pharmaceutical industry, using plant raw, synthetic drugs and biotechnology.
Option B seems highly probable for Ooniverse futuristic settings, but I prefer option A. It gives nice symmetry. Industrial worlds trades luxury for medicine. Medicine is agricultural item, but it is high tech agriculture. Don’t expect to find medicine in low tech agricultural worlds (specific filter again).
Like redefined luxuries, medicine measured in kilograms, so it is nice addition to regular goods.
Medicine market is volatile not due to unpredictable harvest, but due to unpredictable demand.

Some thought about non-linear market

We have extremely simplified vanilla market model in Oolite with linear gradient between industrial and agricultural poles. Seems it is hard to create more interesting economy without complex coding, but it is quite possible having more than one port in system.
We already have rock hermits in vanilla game offering cheap mining products and sometimes demanding consumable items. Usually it is a matter of luck to locate rock hermit – not suitable for predictable logistic loop. But it is good starting point to develop unique secondary markets. Indeed, we are also have plenty of OXPs with secondary ports – some with really interesting markets. Using such ports we can transform vanilla linear economy model onto classic triangle raw-industrial-agricultural. Instead milk runs between agricultural and industrial systems you can realize more complex logistic pattern. Remote mining needs consumables. OK, take fresh water, oxygen, food, alcohol on market of main station in agricultural system, go to industrial system and instead main station sell it on remote mine complex – you’ll got more profit. Take cheap raw material and sell it on main station or maybe on space factory in the same system. Take high-tech equipment, visit agricultural system, sell it, repeat. You have no useless goods now – some goods will be nice for inter-system trade, some for intra-system. We have extra dimension in game.

Rearranged goods list

Vanilla foods list layout was inherited from classic Elite interface. You have space for only 17 items on screen. Adding 3 extra items after 17 original ones you’ll need to scroll list to access these extra items. It is not good decision to force player to take additional actions to access extra items.
Goods list is rearranged: agricultural goods first, next industrial goods, then raw materials and illegal goods at last. Only illegal goods will be displaced onto second page of F8 screen – no issue for law-abiding player I hope.

System-specific filters

We have only 8 variants of vanilla market depending only on 8 possible values of system economy. No any tech level influence. It’s a bit strange, isn’t it? Well, there are no low tech AND extremely industrial (rich industrial in vanilla) systems in Ooniverse. But you’ll find exactly the same market in TL 9 and TL 12 rich industrial system! Available ship upgrades will be the only difference.
SW Economy set system market with system-specific filters:

• Computers, machinery and alloys are not available in agricultural systems
• Food, textiles, wines and furs are not available in industrial systems
• Food, textiles, wines and furs are not available in agricultural systems with archaic TL AND main planet radius below 5425 km
• Computers, medicine and luxuries available only in systems above median tech level, quantity is limited
• Machinery, alloys and oxygen available only in systems above low tech level
• Minerals and radioactive available only in low-tech OR industrial systems
• Quantity of some items depends of system gross productivity
• Illegal items available only in low-tech unstable systems

Some examples to demonstrate how it works.

Riedquat. Extremely agricultural system, TL 4, anarchy.
Poor agricultural system in vanilla classification. Industrial goods (machinery and computers) totally unaviable for sale. Goods requiring more advanced TL for manufacturing (medicine and liquid oxygen) unavailable too. The main export items – food, textile, fresh water, minerals and radioactives. Agricultural goods with high value (alcohol, furs) available in limited quantities comparing with more advanced agricultural systems. Developed black market of illegal goods. Typical half-criminal economy of poor, low tech, agricultural and raw export world.

Diso for contrast. Strong agricultural system, TL 8, democracy.
Industrial goods unavailable too, but the main export goods are wines, furs and medicine. Food, textile, fresh water and oxygen are also export goods. Mining is prohibited due to environmental regulations, so Diso have no raw materials for export. Illegal market is prohibited too. Typical advanced agricultural economy.

Isinor. Extremely agricultural system, TL 7, confederation.
Economy is almost same as Diso, but tech level is below threshold to produce medicine and oxygen.

Contrast between industrial systems is not so expressed, but differences quite remarkable.
Taking two neighboring systems for example – Leesti (common industrial, TL 11, corporate state) and Oresqu (strong industrial, TL 10, multi-government). In vanilla economy Oresqu is closer to industrial end of scale, so system market has more computers for export. But due to stable government and a bit more advanced TL Leesti has gross productivity 35200 MCr against Oresqu 17280 MCr. Computer quantity on market is now affected by system gross productivity and Leesti market has more computers for export.
If you visit another system in Leesti neighborship – Orerve (mainly industrial, TL 6, feudal), you can’t find computers on system market, only machinery. System is below tech level threshold to manufacture computers.

Modified spara's In-System Market Restore script included to provide saving market with additional items (fresh water, oxygen and medicine). Modifications includes adding extra items and changing item order in commodity array.

Secondary markets

SW Economy set also new market definitions for secondary ports in external packages:

Anarchies
• Salvage Gang
• Hackers Outpost
• Renegade Station
Commies
• Astrogulag Penal Colony
• CZGF
• SLAPU
Dictators
• Astrofactory
Galactic Navy
• Navy Station
Deep Space Dredgers
• Dredgers

This feature originally was added to restore external markets ruined as result of transition from commodities.plist to trade-goods.plist since Oolite 1.82. Now these original packages has scripts, emulating obsolete market definition. These scripts can override SW Economy market definitions for secondary ports, but in worst case you'll just have emulated old markets. Not conflicting with SW Economy model, just unbalanced with my altered prices.

Known issues

New economic rules will activates only AFTER first hyperjump to new system. Starting as new pilot on Lave you'll have F8 screen with old goods list and with old price/quantity settings. This is intentionally decision. There are possible multiple events like departing from station(s) or docking with station(s) staying in system, but only one event of entering this system. So it is safe to set market for system at arrival once to avoid recurring loops. New market state will be stored in your first save in new system.

After installing this OXP you'll can't get new market rules until you'll leave your current system, so playing custom scenario using ship, not equipped with hyperdrive (such Bushmaster in Advanced miner scenario), you'll have vanilla market. Lave is not suitable system for mining business and it is wise to leave Lave ASAP taking advice to use wormhole of friendly trader ship. After arriving to new system you'll have new economy. But if you'll install this OXP after entering new system, having ship without hyperdrive, you'll get stuck in vanilla market until you'll find way to leave this system.

Starting new pilot is good idea in any case, but I think it is not obligatory. Hope it is safe to try new rules having existent saves, but I recommend to backup your current save.

If you'll decide to uninstall this OXP it is good to sell all extra goods (fresh water, oxygen and medicine) first. Extra goods will remain in system market, generating error message in log, but this issue will be fixed after entering new system.

Be careful with luxuries and narcotics! Having 50 kg of luxuries on 20-ton Cobra Mk III is safe, but deinstalling this OXP you'll convert this 50 kg to 50 tons and lose at least extra 30 tons of cargo (and all 50 tons if you have cargo bay full loaded with some other goods)!

As I already mentioned scripts for secondary ports in original OXPs defines goods quantities using vanilla rules, so I'll be grateful to you for feedback.

Enjoy!

Credits:
In-System Market Restore (author spara)
Anarchies (authors Commander McLane, Killer Wolf, Arexack Heretic, Eric Walch, spara, Norby, phkb and Griff)
Commies (authors Amaranth, Dr. Nil, Eric Walch, Norby, phkb)
Dictators (authors Ramirez, gsagostinho, phkb, Griff)
Galactic Navy (author Nemoricus)
Deep Space Dredger (authors Sabre, Eric Walch, Little Bear, Captain Berf)
Thanks to commander Seven from Roolite community for detecting error in trade-goods.plist.

[RGVV]

Very interesting. I've downloaded this OXZ this morning and I'm testing. I think I like it.

[Cholmondely]

While the main wiki is down you can download this from http://backup.witchspacewiki.org/index. ... conomy.oxz.

Just bung it in one of your AddOns / ManagedAddOns folders.

See: http://backup.witchspacewiki.org/index.php/OXP and see

8 Locating your AddOns folder
8.1 Mac OS X
8.2 Linux
8.3 Windows


Edit: I've just made 3 runs with this: Lave > Zaonce > Isinor > Tionisla.

Superb! Stranger: thank you so much for this! Finally I have a bit of welcome variety in the economics department!

Can I just ask: if there is a medical emergency announced on GNN or Snoopers - does this reflect in the medicine prices either where I am (less likely) or at the affected spots?

[commander_STyx2909]

Alien Items

You can’t acquire these goods on regular market – the only way to obtain it is to win battle with thargoids and collect inactivated drones. But why alien items are most valuable in agricultural worlds? Seems logical that industrial worlds with well equipped high-tech labs will have more demand for such goods.
Economic gradient for alien items is inverted.

That is it mean very rare Alien items are not going to be -20% anymore? that was non sense.

What about the optional OXP offering more items to sold? Can't remember the name at the moment.

[Cholmondely]

Alien Items

You can’t acquire these goods on regular market – the only way to obtain it is to win battle with thargoids and collect inactivated drones. But why alien items are most valuable in agricultural worlds? Seems logical that industrial worlds with well equipped high-tech labs will have more demand for such goods.
Economic gradient for alien items is inverted.

That is it mean very rare Alien items are not going to be -20% anymore? that was non sense.

What about the optional OXP offering more items to sold? Can't remember the name at the moment.

There are 4, aren't there: Fuel Tweaks with Quirium Fuel, Montana's Resource Pack with Quirium crystals, Darkside Moonshine Distillery with weirdly priced gut-rot and the Cim's New Cargoes with the separate F4 screen with extra-added rumours.

Stranger's OXP seems to combine quite happily with the others in my Ooniverse.

[stranger]

Can I just ask: if there is a medical emergency announced on GNN or Snoopers - does this reflect in the medicine prices either where I am (less likely) or at the affected spots?

Honestly, I have no idea how Snoopers handles economic events. It will be good to include broadcast messages dealing with medicine shortage in some system caused by acute epidemy / civil war / thargoid raid, but I have no enough skills to do it.
Economic tweak was one of my first OXPs and script is as simple as possible.

That is it mean very rare Alien items are not going to be -20% anymore? that was non sense.

Can you reformulate your question, please?

[montana05]

Honestly, I have no idea how Snoopers handles economic events. It will be good to include broadcast messages dealing with medicine shortage in some system caused by acute epidemy / civil war / thargoid raid, but I have no enough skills to do it.
Economic tweak was one of my first OXPs and script is as simple as possible.

A simple approach could be to check the system.info.description for disease or war, add some random, adjust the prices to shortage and broadcast a message.

[Cholmondely]

Honestly, I have no idea how Snoopers handles economic events. It will be good to include broadcast messages dealing with medicine shortage in some system caused by acute epidemy / civil war / thargoid raid, but I have no enough skills to do it.
Economic tweak was one of my first OXPs and script is as simple as possible.

A simple approach could be to check the system.info.description for disease or war, add some random, adjust the prices to shortage and broadcast a message.

I already get news flashes about deadly diseases etc. But I could never sell them medicine before!

Mind you, I ended up taking out the news services from my SW Ooniverse - if I don't know where the various worlds are, how on earth can I be getting news about what goes on there?! But then SW Economy does not seem to need the rest of the SW suite of .oxp's installed.

[montana05]

I already get news flashes about deadly diseases etc. But I could never sell them medicine before!

Agreed, you do receive (kind of amusing) news flashes once in a while, this suggestion would fire additional ones specially designed for Strangers Economy OXP.

[stranger]

We have already system descriptions like "This system is cursed by deadly disease / deadly civil war" indeed, so the next logical step will be to affect price for medicine, firearms, maybe for some other items in special cases.
It can be logical to have increased demand for medicine in these systems. It will be quite simple task, and I'll try to do it in future updates.
But how to create system of time-critical demand, not just random fluctuations in situ? And how to integrate it with Snoopers as simple as possible? It is more complex task for me.
Again, before any improvement I'll will be grateful for feedback. SW Economy was tested in Roolite community for some years, but I have no enough feedback to be sure it works flawlessly.

[montana05]

We have already system descriptions like "This system is cursed by deadly disease / deadly civil war" indeed, so the next logical step will be to affect price for medicine, firearms, maybe for some other items in special cases.
It can be logical to have increased demand for medicine in these systems. It will be quite simple task, and I'll try to do it in future updates.
But how to create system of time-critical demand, not just random fluctuations in situ? And how to integrate it with Snoopers as simple as possible? It is more complex task for me.
Again, before any improvement I'll will be grateful for feedback. SW Economy was tested in Roolite community for some years, but I have no enough feedback to be sure it works flawlessly.

Exactly, some of my OXP's checking for descriptions like that to trigger an event, for example hospital ships or planet invasions. Since not every war automatically means a shortage some random could be added. It really depends on how much time you want to invest, there are various ways available. For example, you can check systems nearby the players' location and start a shortage scenario from there.

For snoopers my first guess would be to create your own broadcasts and fire them yourself, using snoopers just as a media. I admit I never had a look into the source so no idea how difficult that would be. Alternatively phkb's e-mail system could be used as well.

[stranger]

Mind you, I ended up taking out the news services from my SW Ooniverse - if I don't know where the various worlds are, how on earth can I be getting news about what goes on there?! But then SW Economy does not seem to need the rest of the SW suite of .oxp's installed.

News services works well in vanilla game settings with ALL map already open. Here be Dragons gives opposite look of still unexplored map. May be it will be technically right do declare Here be Dragons incompatibility with Snoopers, but I feel it will be not honest to force player abandon juicy Snoopers to have unexplored map.
I have legend explaining this issue (see topic Here be Dragons for more details).
Ooniverse is already colonized and has global news network, you just has limited access to galactic public database - only systems in 7 LY proximity. But you have all rights to create your own private database and use it.
Indeed, SW Enonomy is stand-alone - it has no dependencies from any other OXPs.

[Cholmondely]

Gentlemen: don't forget that there are two of these news oxp's: GNN and Snoopers. GNN is supposed to replace Snoopers, but other oxp's still rely on Snoopers, so it still has purpose.

[commander_STyx2909]

commander_STyx2909 wrote: ↑
Sat Jan 16, 2021 10:15 pm
That is it mean very rare Alien items are not going to be -20% anymore? that was non sense.

Can you reformulate your question, please?

LOL, sure.
Currently, alien items are among the rarest commodities in the Ooniverse. It makes no sense, markets exchange without a stock of this commodity are proposing a 20% drop on their price. Unless it is meant to represent the fact the current system doesn't care at all about it, but I doubt it would ever happen.
Rarety of commodities should sky rocket prices for a simplified economic simulation. Not to mention pirates greed.

[stranger]

commander_STyx2909 wrote: ↑
Sat Jan 16, 2021 10:15 pm
That is it mean very rare Alien items are not going to be -20% anymore? that was non sense.

Can you reformulate your question, please?

LOL, sure.
Currently, alien items are among the rarest commodities in the Ooniverse. It makes no sense, markets exchange without a stock of this commodity are proposing a 20% drop on their price. Unless it is meant to represent the fact the current system doesn't care at all about it, but I doubt it would ever happen.
Rarety of commodities should sky rocket prices for a simplified economic simulation. Not to mention pirates greed.

Definitely I still don't understand your argument.
Vanilla economy:

Code: Select all

	"alien_items" = {
		"name" = "[commodity-name alien_items]";
		"classes" = ("oolite-alien","oolite-thargoid","oolite-military");
		"quantity_unit" = 0;
		"peak_export" = 0;
		"peak_import" = 7;
		"price_average" = 436;
		"price_economic" = 0.48;
		"price_random" = 0.03;
		"quantity_average" = 0;
		"quantity_economic" = 0;
		"quantity_random" = 0;
		"legality_export" = 0;
		"legality_import" = 0;
		"trumble_opinion" = 0;
		"sort_order" = 1700;
	};

SW economy:

Code: Select all

	"alien_items" = {
		"name" = "[commodity-name alien_items]";
		"classes" = ("oolite-alien","oolite-thargoid","oolite-military");
		"quantity_unit" = 0;
		"peak_export" = 7;
		"peak_import" = 0;
		"price_average" = 500;
		"price_economic" = 0.50;
		"price_random" = 0.05;
		"quantity_average" = 0;
		"quantity_economic" = 0;
		"quantity_random" = 0;
		"legality_export" = 0;
		"legality_import" = 0;
		"trumble_opinion" = 0.25;
		"sort_order" = 1700;
        "comment" = "[oolite-commodity-alien]";
	};

Slightly increased base price comparing with vanilla economy and inverted economic gradient - no any 20% drop of price.