Anyone try to play without using money at all?

[DagHammarskjol]

It seems like you don't necessarily need money in this game.

Has anyone pulled off a win using just resources and manufacturing, doing no trading at all?

I mean, the game practically throws gobs and gobs of money at you so it does seem silly not to use it if you've got it. But is it at least possible to play without using money?

There's nothing I can get with money that I can't get through harvest and manufacturing. But can I get it fast enough, I guess is the question.

 

[M07]

In asking this question you raise an issue that I will soon resolve.
Indeed, we are too dependent on money especially early in the game where we rely on specialists in Europe. I would like our settlers can become specialists when they often practice a certain profession. So I think that will be possible to win a game without using money, however it will be really hard. In short, a challenge that some players would take up.

 

[Elliot]

What does no money mean? Does this mean I cannot buy native land? This could make expansion really difficult. Can I buy tile improvements? The lack of roads would make this a little annoying. You would need a lot of wagon trains. Although they're only moving food, ore and lumber most likely. Can you kiss the king's ring(I don't know why you would)?

Trade founding father points will need to be produced with hammers. Then again, you may not need any of those founding fathers.

Crosses become much more useful since this is the only way you'll be able to get certain specialists. However, most specialists are now worthless. The only ones worth anything are: carpenters, lumber jacks, missionaries, gun makers, ore miners(you can train this at native villages though), veteran soldiers, seasoned scouts(free horses), pioneers, preachers, farmers(native village), fishers(native village) and possibly some others I'm forgetting.

Even those listed above are less productive. Carpenters are not as needed since there are no factories to build. They still are needed to produce Armories,tool making facilities, docks, ships, +bell production buildings, schools, fortifications.

I can see the game relying a lot on randomness. You'll want plenty of space near your landing site to be able to set up settlements without angering the natives. You'll also need at least one of each of the "important" specialists for this variant to appear on the docks. With one you can train others in schools.

Overall, this variant seems doable. However, the game would take a lot longer and you would need a lot of land for farming cities. Without early gold it would take a long time to grow your population and get your economy started.

 

[dalgo]

Does not 'using' money imply not accumulating it either? ie finishing the game with your initial 100 gold. This would mean no visiting native villages, ancient ruins etc. It would make it a lot easier if the restriction was just 'no spending money'.

 

[Elliot]

Does not 'using' money imply not accumulating it either? ie finishing the game with your initial 100 gold. This would mean no visiting native villages, ancient ruins etc. It would make it a lot easier if the restriction was just 'no spending money'.

I can see how that would fit the spirit of "no money" better.

You could still visit native villages after other Europeans have first visited them.

I just played about 100 turns of this variant. Its really boring . All I do is build missions and then use converted natives as farmers. They produce 4 food a turn which turns out to be only a profit of 2 food since they eat 2 per turn. I'm just waiting around until they turn into expert farmers(I'm playing aod2).

 

[iggymnrr]

Might be hard to do whole game. But at the end when money is pretty useless, I once plunked down 50 grand for a whole galleon of veteran dragoons and sailed into the king's armada and watched it go poof.