Dynamic Trade Routes Question

[Jollyfalcon]

Hey, so I'm pretty new to ED, but I've a question about how the dynamic, player-affected universe works specifically with economy and trade. As I understand, player actions can affect both system affiliation (feds, empire, etc.) and market prices among other things.

For determining the economy of a system (i.e. agricultural, industrial, etc.), what is taken into account? I am assuming the tech level and political stability affects this, but are planet types and system resources taken into account? I feel like a system that has an earth-type planet or two would have agricultural tendencies while a system with lots of asteroids or rocky planets would be more mining affiliated.
Also, can this affiliation change? For example, if we have an agricultural system which has stability and gains lots of trade, could it tech up and eventually become an industrial system or equivalent? Obviously I would think systems which become unstable could just as easily "devolve" to a raw resource producer.

I think it would be cool for trade routes to be just as dynamic as the rest of the universe if possible!

 

[Defacto]

Of course, the outdoor worlds are probably going to be the only large food producers, with the exception of industrial foods.

A lot of the background simulation isn't implemented yet.

 

[Hellhawk666]

I think it would be cool for trade routes to be just as dynamic as the rest of the universe if possible!

That's an interesting point. I think the current trade routes do reflect the actual trade situation, taking into account all NPC and player activity, but how quickly this changes to reflect a dynamic market is unknown. Some trade routes are also theoretically impossible at the moment, eg arms shipments that are black market based. You can sell scooped arms, but you can't buy them at the source, so the trade route is either showing what privileged NPCs are able to do, or else it's just showing the most profitable theoretical markets.

I don't think anyone has worked out precisely how the trade routes are calculated or what they are showing, other than a good indication of what is profitable to run, if you can get the goods.

 

[Jollyfalcon]

Thanks for the replies! I guess I'll have to wait for implementation as well as keep a close eye on some systems to see how they change economically after release.
Static trade routes wouldn't be a deal breaker in my eyes, just a missed opportunity - definitely expansion material if not initially implemented though!