Trade and income explained?

[hewwo]

Ha, good questions all around. I tend to build them sometimes, just because I can. But no idea if they actually do anything.

[Raap]

Having just 4 of them is netting me well over 100K a year right now, so they're definitely not useless. They're also pretty much fire-and-forget, since constructors will autobuild them and civilian sector will autobuild passenger ships and fill them up. But yeah, I don't know if I've just been lucky this time around. It's happened to me to earlier that I've made practically no cash from them.

I was careful this time around to put all the beneficial components on it though, i.e. medical station, recreation, etc.

[Darkspire]

ORIGINAL: Raap

Having just 4 of them is netting me well over 100K a year right now, so they're definitely not useless. They're also pretty much fire-and-forget, since constructors will autobuild them and civilian sector will autobuild passenger ships and fill them up. But yeah, I don't know if I've just been lucky this time around. It's happened to me to earlier that I've made practically no cash from them.

I was careful this time around to put all the beneficial components on it though, i.e. medical station, recreation, etc.

How far from a colony? Same sector etc.

What type of location? Black Hole, planet etc.

Darkspire

[Raap]

I'll compile a list. The income is consistent too; it's either similar as or higher than the previous year, though they're making new resort bases too.

Month 12, day 28. Resort Income: 129K.

Resort bases: 6

1. Location: Neutron Star. SB: 37%. Passengers: 1700K. Uninhabited system, one colony short distance away.
2. Location: Black Hole. SB: 63%. Passengers: 2800K. Uninhabited system, nearest colony half a sector away.
3. Location: Barren Rock Moon. SB: 0%, ruin on planet. Passengers: 280K. Inhabited system.
4. Location: Volcanic planet. SB: 27% from ruin. Passengers: 200K. Same system as #3, inhabited.
5. Location: Neutron Star. SB: 58%. Passengers: 500K. Uninhabited system, nearest colony short distance away.
6. Location: Neutron Star. SB: 40%. Passengers: 380K. Uninhabited system, nearest colony short distance away.

They were made in the order they appear in the list. First #1 and #2, then #3 and #4 some years later, then #5 and #6 much later. It's immediately obvious that those in the inhabited systems are not as attractive as those in neutron stars/blackholes; 5 and 6 were made much later, yet have already surpassed their population. The scenery bonus probably accounts for some of that, but not all of it I think. The first four alone were enough to net over 100K a year; given the low population of #3 and #4, I assume most of that income came from the first two.