I have a question on the turn reports we got:
"[+2 Large Ships under construction for Brazil ready in 4 turns, +1 Industry in 3 turns, (1/5) For New Infrastructure in 4 turns] "
Do I have to keep doing the same orders for the next four turns to get my ships? Or is the one turn's expenditure enough to finish them, and I don't have to keep ordering their build every turn? Are we assumed to have enough infrastructure to build more? What are our limits? Do we have to specify the types of ships we are building? I specified ironclads, but the reports just says "large ship". An ocean going battleship is a hell of a lot different than an ironclad river boat. If we're abstracting everything down to "large ship/small ship", that's fine with me. I just need to know.
Same for the industry. Will it just go up in three turns without further expenditure? Can I continue to build more before that is done?
No, you do not have to keep spending for the next four turns to continue them. In one year's time (4 turns) you will get to 2 new shiny Large Ships. And, for the most part, ships are abstracted down to "Large Ship/Small Ship" however your Naval Tech level provides a guide to what kind of ship we're talking about.
1-3: Wooden Sailing Ships
4-6: Wooden Steam Ships
7-10: Early Ironclads
11-16: Ironclads
17 -20: Advanced Ironclads
21-26: Early Cruisers
27-30: Cruisers
31-36: Early Dreadnoughts
37-45: Dreadnoughts
46-50: Early Battleships
51-60: Battleships
60-70: Aircraft Carriers
70-100: Modern Navies
100+: TBD
What does "(1/5) For New Infrastructure in 4 turns" mean? Is that a 1/5 chance that it will go up? Or do I have to keep building for four more turns in order to complete it?
Can we specifically order research to increase our weapons technology, or technology level in general?
How did my "Bank" hit -290? I have no clue what any of this stuff costs... I don't remember what I had before... 50, I think. So I spent 340 bank on something? Did I really just spend almost two years worth of GDP in the first turn?!
The "(1/5)" means you're working on 1/5th of the the way to a new Infrastructure level. Once you reach (5/5) you'll get advance an Infrastructure level. You're "1/5th" of the level will be complete in a year, technically putting your Infrastructure level at 2.2. So, once you complete another 4/5ths of the level, you'll be at Infrastructure level 3. Some countries put more money into it so you can see they are working on 2/5ths or some 3/5ths.
Yes you can directly fund military/naval tech research. However, you do it creatively. ie. through funding a military academy, through purchasing arms/ships from some one, or even convincing someone with a higher tech level to send military advisers.
You started with 100 Bank and 30 income. So, yeah, you spent a bunch of money. However, you should see it as an investment. As soon your Industry and Infrastructure improvements are completed you will see an immediate increase in your income. Stability also effects income (look at how the stability increases bumped China's income), as well as population. However, troops and ships are expenses.
I have gone back and forth on releasing the hard numbers for how much stuff costs, and I do see why it seems fair to let you know them. However, I also worry about people figuring out how best to game the formulas and increase their income fairly rapidly (which would be fairly easy to do). This would only give the rich nations an even greater advantage than they already had.
That said, if most people think I should make those numbers public, I will strongly consider it. Perhaps giving rough estimates or ranges would work too.
One last note: yeah, any spending you do for a while now will be deficit spending. That's fine. If you rack up to much negative in your bank, however, it will effect the nation in a negative way.
