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Object of the game:
The object of the game is to become the wealthiest corporate conglomerate by the game's deadline.
General Game Play:
Basic game play consists of purchasing raw materials, building factories, budgeting resources, and predicting market prices.
Money can be made in two different ways. First, you can harvest raw
materials or produce manufactured materials to sell to other players.
Second, you can use materials to produce consumer products. Consumer
products are sold directly to "the game" as soon as they are produced.
Raw Materials:
Each player can produce
only one type of raw material. The material you can produce is
determined by your region. In order to
acquire other raw materials for your consumer production, you have to
trade with other players. The players you buy from get to set the
prices for their goods. So, if several players need metal, but not very
many companies produce it, the people who do produce it will probably
set a high price. Likewise, items in low demand might not sell for
much. Here is a list of the regions and the raw materials they produce:
| Region | Material |
| Plains | crops |
| Jungle | rubber |
| Coast | oil |
| Mountains | metal |
| Forest | lumber |
| Desert | minerals |
| Valley | livestock |
Trading:
You may post materials for sale by deciding on a quantity of each type to sell and by setting a price. The materials will remain in your inventory until another player purchases them from you. Keep a close eye on your market. As you sell your goods, you will need to post more up for sale to keep your market well stocked.
Your transportation technology will limit your ability to buy from other companies. Each region is divided into two zones -- east and west. Each improvement in transportation level will allow you trade across more zones in each direction. First, check the map:
| Plains | Jungle | Coast | Mountains | Forest | Desert | Valley |
| west | east | west | east | west | east | west | east | west | east | west | east | west | east |
Next, these are the available transporation levels, their tech requirements, and the distance across which they will allow you to trade:
| Transportation | Tech | Dist. |
| Wagons | 0 | 1 |
| Trucks | 50 | 2 |
| Trains | 200 | 3 |
| Ships | 500 | 4 |
| Airplanes | 1000 | all |
Suppose you had wagons. You would be able to trade across one zone in each direction. If you were located in the west mountains, you would be able to trade with people in the west mountains, the east mountains, or the east coast. With trucks, you would also be able to trade with companies in the west coast and the west forest. Better transportation technology will give you more direct access to raw materials. By purchasing materials closer to the source, you can eliminate middlemen to get better prices.
Note: The world wraps around. The east valley is connected to the west plains.
Construction:
Buying and selling resources is a great way to make money. However, you can generate additional income through factories. Some factories produce raw materials, some use raw materials to produce manufactured materials, and others use materials to produce consumer goods. Materials can be used by your own factories or sold to other players for a profit. Consumer goods are sold directly to the game.
There is a construction cost associated with each type of factory. Most construction costs involve both a monetary investment and a resource requirement. If you meet the construction requirements, you may choose to begin construction of a new factory. Each construction project takes a certain amount of time to complete. Generally, more advanced factories take longer to build. Although you may be working on multiple construction projects simultaneously, you can only build one factory at a time of the same type. In other words, you could build a farm and a bakery simultaneously but not two farms simultaneously.
Note: More factories will become available as your technology level increases.
Production:
After you've built some factories, you will be able to monitor and control their production. The production menu lists each factory you've built along with its operation status, its input requirements, its output, and its projected income. A green light next to a factory in the production menu indicates that the factory is running and producing output. Clicking the green light will turn it red, indicating that the factory's production has been halted. A halted factory will not consume resources, but it will not produce output either. If resources are running low, you may see a yellow light next to one of your factories. The yellow light indicates that the factory is still running but there are not enough resources on hand to continue production.
Consumer Goods:
Producing consumer goods is one of the most reliable ways to generate income. Each type of good has a different value, and as your factories produce them, they will be sold at the good's current market value. The value of each consumer good will gradually decline as more of that type of good is produced by the various players in the game. Therefore, there is an advantage to be one of the first companies to start producing a new consumer good.
Research:
Investing in research and development will improve your transportation level and make new factory types available. Money can be spent on research in $100 increments. Each $100 research investment yields one research point. Therefore, if you spend $1500 on research, you will gain 15 research points.
The research menu also includes an analysis of the current consumer market conditions and the industrial query option. You can use the industrial query to learn more about the various types of factories available, including their tech requirements, their build times, and their resource requirements.
Scoring:
Joining the game requires an initial investment of 10 points. After 10 days, the games ends, and each player receives a return on that initial investment proportional to the player's percentage of the sum of all players' non-liquid assets. Players at the top of the score list will receive an ROI (return on investment) of substantially more than the initial 10 points, resulting in a profit. Players near the bottom of the list will see a return of less than 10, thus resulting in a net loss. Non-liquid assets are calculated by adding $1 for each material you own, $50 for each research point (up to 5000 research points), and 80% of each factory's initial construction cost.
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