Matrix Games Forums

I have some a bit of time playing the game, and feel I have an understanding of how the economy works. At this point I can find my way thru the menus, and interpret them and understand my empire standing. However, with this understanding, I can’t seem to get the game economy to work for me. I have a chronic negative cash flow that I can’t seem to resolve, and need some tips/ideas if available.

At the start of the game, was able to keep a positive total amount cash on hand, even though was showing a negative income starting $-1,000 which has grown to $-25,000 currently.

Initially most of my income is sourced from the Private Sector Ship building as an Annual Income bonus. However, this income is not constant, and to my thinking this funding should not be economic base for my empire per say. I assume most of my income should be coming from the Homeworld and / or colonies.

In the beginning Annual Bonus Income did a nice job of keeping the Empire Cash Flow positive (although shown as negative cash flow). As such I established a number of Mining Outpost, Constructors, and Fuel Tankers to boost this income. The hope being a boost here would give me time to develop my colonies which would then get the economy rolling. This part seems to be working for me, but this income is sporadic on an annual basis, and will not support an empire as the game goes on. Income from this ranges from $0, to $20,000 per year. Due to this income in the beginning of the game I was able to get a cash on hand at the height of $200,000. Some time later, I struggle to keep any cash on hand.

One attempt to get more stable income was to get Resort Bases operational. But they seem unable to generate any income; In fact they seem to be cash drain. Currently I show I have 10 Resort bases operation, and show some 45 Passenger ships (presumable working). My Resort bases are equipped with 2 Passenger Compartments, and one Recreation Center. My Tourism Income is currently listed as $1,300, however my Resort Maintenance is listed as $2,500 (a deficit of $,1300)??? As I’m not able to determine income from individual stations, I’m not able to figure out what is going on here. Do I need a diplomatic agreement or something for tourism income (currently don’t have one)?

My home planet, which I have kept the tax rate at 20%, has Net Tax Revenue of around $5,000. I noticed a lot of Corruptions Losses which stayed around 30% for most of the game, but at times grows to 40% (presumable due to Pirate Attacks). So I researched a Planetary Administration Center, that should have dropped the Corruption 10%, which presumable would have given another $10,000 but saw no such benefit when built. As the population grows on the planet I would have expect income to grow, but corruption seems to grow with it. As such income growth has been flat on my home planet.

Did establish 3 colonies on +10 suitability planets (not great but is what I had). These planets have been a net income drain of around $1,000, to 3,000 depending on the planet. Initially this was doable, however as the population of these have increased to 400 million the income loss has increased to $4,000. When do colonies break even? I would have expect that as the population grows they would become more cash flow positive. Support Cost seem to be increasing at these planets, and Revenue is non-existent.

I have tried to keep my ship production minimal, but frequent pirate attacks have forced me build some. Currently have 75 ships (mostly escorts, some frigate, and a few destroyer) for a maintenance cost of $10,000. Cutting the fleet does not seem doable as I’m having trouble defending stations from pirates. Another $9,000 maintenance is related to Spaceports and such.

State Economy reads like this (approx numbers):
Annual Income
-Colony Tax : -1,100 (was positive but new colonies are becoming larger drain)

Annual Expenses
-Ship and Base: -19,000
-Troop: -1,400
Facility: -500
Fuel: -1,000
Tribute: -3,000
Total: -25,000
Annual Bonus
-Ship Building $7,000
Fuel Sales: $6,000
Tourism: $500
Trade: $1,200
Total: $14,000
Cash Flow: $-11,000 (and growing the wrong way)


What do I need to do to right the ship? Getting a positive cash flow shouldn’t be this hard!

Thanks,

Resort Bases are bugged i assume, as you cant get above 2k income with them

You cant colonize planets under +20, they will destroy your econ. (also you need to make sure no other race sneaks on your planets, as you can get a race with -20 sustainability with no way to remove them. It will then destroy your econ. This is arguably the worst part of the game atm)

NAP pirates is probably the best way to deal with them. Trying to pay off more then one destroys your econ, and they so drastically out class you they might not be possible to fight (defiantly if you don't get lucky and your lacking a critical resource for the start. It not uncommon to need to scout 20-30 systems to find it, and you cant build any ships till you do).

The start of the game is basically just about keeping your costs as low as possible, as there no way to increase income effectively. You simply need to wait for your colony to grow, and a bad econ only makes this take 10x longer.

Also its kinda strange how planets econ scale. A fully grown planet gives 50k-500k income depending on max pop size, and how much corruption reduction you have (government type, and government buildings being the main factor). A planet with 1/2 the pop size gives only 5k-10k. They basically go from being a burden, to giving next to nothing, then next second a massive money pit.

You can't have more than 1 new colony very early game (and stay afloat). Best is to colonize or conquer an independent Colony or another Empire (I've attached a chart from my guide that shows the best races to attack first). Wait until that is profitable and then colonize a new planet. They will grow faster than a brand new colony (check their suitability against their own race first). You just should not colonize anything below 20% suitability. And even above 20% maybe one at most until you have other profitable colonies to support it.

Finally - it's ok to run your home at a higher tax rate than 20% - I do and it works out. Or leave the finances on auto.