Trade Connections

Cities interconnect with other cities to trade commodities. Cities connect to other cities by land, sea, air and space.

Cities import commodities from all connected cities on a periodic basis. The interval is more frequent than the city status report. Electrical power is imported as needed, though only from cities connected by land.

The commodities that are imported depend upon the buildings present. Certain buildings import specific commodities, depending on the nature of the business. Cantinas and grocery stores import the food and drinks they sell; retail stores import and sell routinely used sundry items. Brokers import almost everything in larger quantities than stores. The amount a building imports is based on the size of the building and the type of the connection.

When the road of one city adjoins the road of another city, the two cities are connected by land. Land connections permit transfer of the largest volume of materials. Cities connected by land will also share electrical power.

A city with a wharf is connected by sea to all other cities on the planet that also have wharfs. This applies whether or not a visible waterway joins them to each other. Sea connections do not permit sharing electrical power. A moderate volume of materials can be transferred by sea.

Airport terminals provide the passenger and cargo handling facilities and services for all flying vehicles. Air and space are treated the same with respect to connecting cities because a facility for landing aircraft works just as well for spacecraft. A city that contains an airport terminal is connected by air and space with all other cities in the solar system that also have airports. There are no spaceport terminals; an airport suffices even in the absense of air. Connection by air permits the smallest volume of materials to be transferred.

The interconnection of cities causes all commodities in a solar system to be traded back and forth between its cities. Eventually all products produced in a solar system are available at all cities in the solar system that are connected into this distribution network.

There are no facilities for connecting cities that are not in the same solar system. The citizens of Hazeron are barely brave and smart enough to carry out interplanetary trade operations. The job of interstellar trade is left to player characters. Using spacecraft, commodities can be bought in one solar system and sold in another by enterprising free traders.