AGEOD Forums

I'd almost forgotten about this game, untill somebody reminded me of it yesterday. I'm very pleased to see that it's almost finished, and after reading through the developer diaries, I have a couple of questions.

1) How is transport cost represented in the game? Is there a cost involved in transporting goods globally? What about internally in a nation?

2) Considering the number of major famines in the period, are they represented in any way?

3) Does the game have gunboat diplomacy? How is that represented? If so what are the consequences for a nation that is forced to open its markets?

4) Have you set a release date?

Thanks.

Hi,

1) most transport is done via river, sea or railroad. They all cost some coal consumption for their steam engine...

2) No, we don't. If you provide us with a list of places and dates, it can be added

3) Yes we have. This is a decision to be played in the colonial game (2 levels) and it will increase your 'colonial penetration' in the target colonial area

4) June 7th


Best regards

PhilThib wrote:Hi,

1) most transport is done via river, sea or railroad. They all cost some coal consumption for their steam engine...

2) No, we don't. If you provide us with a list of places and dates, it can be added

3) Yes we have. This is a decision to be played in the colonial game (2 levels) and it will increase your 'colonial penetration' in the target colonial area

4) June 7th


Best regards

Will transport costs be falling as railroads and steamships become more efficient (and as steamships replace sailing ships)? This was a major factor in the first globalization.

I have a list of the major famines of the second half of the nineteenth centuries. It's taken from Mike Davis' Late Victorian Holocausts, and it doesn't cover all famines in the period (just the major ones), nor does Mike Davis think that any of them were inevitable, although they were in all cases initially brought on by droughts:

India 1876-79: estimated 6.1-10.3 million deaths.
India 1896-1902: estimated 6.1-19.0 million deaths.

(north) China 1876-79: estimated 9.5-20 million deaths
(north) China 1896-1900: estimated 10 million deaths.

Brazil 1876-79: estimated 0.5-1.0 million deaths
Brazil 1896-1900: not determined

Africa also suffered from famine, although Davis unfortunately doesn't go into as much detail as with either India or China. It seems that all of Northern Africa, as well as South Africa, suffered from the 1877-79 drought famines, although he doesn't give any numbers for the death tolls, and it's unclear whether all of those regions suffered from mass deaths. Sudan and Ethiopia were hit by famine again in 1888-92, apparantly leading to mass deaths, but again there are no numbers.

I'm sure there are many more famines in the period, but the numbers of deaths from the Indian and Chinese famines alone makes it hard to justify not including those, at least. In my opinion, of course.

Also, on the subject of mass deaths, are you planning on including any of the Chinese rebellions in the second half of the nineteenth century? The American Civil War tends to overshadow the (roughly) simultaneous, and much more bloody, Taiping Rebellion, which cost 20-30 million lives, IIRC, and led to massive destruction.

There is a wikipedia article for everything or nearly

List of famines along history including PON period, 1850-1920

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_famines