LE The Economy Mod- Become a Capitalist Pig

[Livengood]

I don't know about anyone else, but I felt that the economic enhancements made in Skyrim were amazing, yet still lacking. Mines and mills were a great enhancement, yet the best you could do is swing your axe or pick and hope for the best- I propose the following mod(s) to complete the process

 

-allow the purchase of mills and mines- you control the supply of wood and other resources for a region- with this there will need to be some background work to create a economic system that changes in accordance to supply and demand- allow for the raiding of other mines to increase demand, and price setting options to allow for adjustment- if you have a monopoly, why not gouge? Capitalism at its finest. Money would either be automatically delivered to you each month by a messenger, or you could stop by a business headquarters to pick it up- more on that later.

 

-allow the purchase of in town property- make legal documentation for all homes in Skyrim- based in the provincial capital- allow for you to buy homes and rent them out to people- of course, some people may already own their own homes, but for the poor renters, you could set price and make money. Same goes for shops- include mechanics that allow you to run someone out of business- you can buy up their shop and then they will be paying money to you- need to be careful of conflicts with existing quests. Hire thugs to go intimidate shop owners into selling their businesses to you.

 

- Slaves!!! Yay! In a decaying society like Skyrim, slavery probably would prove very profitable- allow for a mechanism of capturing slaves, and then make slave markets where they can be sold- add slave companions, and of course an enemy faction that opposes the practice- you can even pick sides- could be integrated into the Rebellion quests, with your stance on slavery determined by whose side you choose. Of course, limits would need to be placed on this to prevent you from enslaving everyone in a city, but for bandits or sorcerers, it could work great! Should allow you to name them too- that way, they stop being "Bandit" or "Highwayman". Include possibility of slave revolt or other repercussions of stealing people and selling them- I bet the Thalmor would be great customers.

 

-Compete with those jerk offs from the East Empire Trading Company- allow for the purchase of ships, hiring of crew members- send them on voyages to trade with the Empire- include quests involving competition between the EETC, including some isolated naval battles- you take on the quest, and you get to fight on the high seas- end result- you win- depending on your faction, you can either take over the EETC, or establish a rival corporation out of Windhelm- allow for the purchase of ships, the equipping and training of your sailors, and of course, generous profits to enrich your character- also allows you to order things from elsewhere- ingredients, weapons, books- include a list of available items, then as you get more powerful the list grows- can be linked into the slave mod.

 

-Screw honor and glory and drinking werewolf blood! Make an organization that rivals the Companions- think Blackwater- private military organization that you control- now you can send a few men to take care of those stupid, petty quests you get sometimes- of course, they might not be able to pull it off, but hey, your time is valuable- they are not- you can hire waves of men to throw at your enemies- allow for the outfitting of these men- need an in-game system where they will automatically put on what you give them- not like normal AI companions, more like friendlies who follow you around and kill things for you. Recruit from bandit gangs, the Forsworn, even rogue mage groups- like with the slave mod, you can name them when they join- a few power struggle missions would be amazing,

 

-Immigrant mod- this is kinda out of context, but a mod that constantly re-introduces people to Skyrim would be amazing- new people coming in to replace all of the dead ones- this is a bit more tricky, since they would need random distribution of names, faces, and stories- along with this, a mod to fill in vacancies in businesses; ie- shop no longer has shop keeper, lets get a new one- this is more of a pipe dream, but hey, it would be cool.

 

All of these mods deal with how to make money- here are some ideas of how to spend the incredible amount of money you will be making- this will prevent currency deflation and all that garbage-

 

-rebuild Helgen as your own private city- new people to come live there, and it can become a base of operations for your new enterprises- allow for decoration of the castle and city, and hiring of a guards force to defend the city. The private army mod above would be very handy. Include quests regarding territorial issues with other cities, raiding bandits, marauding dragons, and whiny villagers- include criminals that you can sentence to death, or leave in the dungeon to torture at your leisure. Include population happiness dynamics, with the possibility of rebellion if you are too mean- guess you will need that secret tunnel again- use your power to control trade. Invasion dynamics used with Whiterun in the Rebellion missions would be amazing- you need to defend your city from the enemy- if you have a rebellion, invade the city and kill everybody- you can always get more people...

 

-own manors or castles outside the cities- you can own houses in the countryside- another option to Helgen- or you can do both- make it big, very expensive, and equipped with all sorts of goodies, like a stable, slave enclosure, and a practice ring with slaves to practice on- slave mod should help there. Could have docks nearby for all of your cool boats. Enable defenses" walls, towers", then trigger attacks- see Helgen above- if it is a castle, then you can rebuild it by paying lots and lots of money for materials, then finding someone to build the darn thing- slave work force sounds pretty good right now- add some cool perks, like a captive dragon in the basement, and it will be awesome!

 

-reinhabit a Dwemer ruin- make it so you can reclaim a ruin, and make a city down there- add people, allow for renovation and repair of the ruins- it can be your own little city- of course, very, very, very expensive, but hey, why not? Allow for the control of dwemer automatons, and for their integration into any private military you may have- similar city mechanics to Helgen, but now you have a city with moving parts and a massive robot army- add a factory for your slaves to work in, making more robots.

 

This all being said, I am a lousy modder- my ideas just take so much time! So, I offer them to the general community, with the hopes that someone can find a good way to use them...

[frakle]

This is the best mod idea ever. I will worship the ground you walk on (metaphorically) if you make this, gifted and talented modder who is reading this.

[TheDarkPrince]

I hope someone will do it.. Man, it'd be awesome. It'd be LEGEN - wait for it, wait.. wait - DARY!

[deadlytyler]

i would love this!

[tiger8u2]

A grand vision and one that would certainly add to the player's overall wealth, but what I'd also like to see implemented for immersion and realism is PAYING THE BILLS! As it stands now my PC has more gold that he knows what to do with and with smithing/enchanting/alchemy maxed out, I can make anything I want and don't have to BUY anything. But......who pays for the candles at Proudspire? Who keeps the larder filled at Hjerim? Why is it I can own property in every hold and have a housecarl in every one but NEVER have to buy them any groceries!

 

Recommend a Banking/Investment System first that allows the player to actually get PAID back on their investments to stores, lets say 10g a month or so from every store invested in. This gold would go straight into the bank. Then we take a look at all the usable items in every home and figure out how much gold it would actually take to replenish it on a weekly or monthly basis. Your housecarl could hit you up for the cash OR a courier could bring you the bills. Then you either give them the gold or write them a check.

 

Now that means you HAVE to keep adventuring or smithing, or enchanting or whatever to keep the cash coming in. All of your above suggestions would keep the economy side rolling because you would HAVE to. You could go into business with Bryling at her mine or buy her out or KILL her and get sole ownership of the mine's income, but remember you will still have a payroll to make there. Pickaxes break. Mines have cave-ins and disgruntled workers have grievances that need to be addressed.

 

Every one of your properties would be subject to robbery, destruction by dragon, strike, bandit or monster attack, etc. Sometimes they take prisoners, sometimes they wipe the place out and you have to hire a whole NEW crew. Maybe your housecarl gets seriously injured while trying to stop the thief and you have to pay the Temple for the healing costs.

 

A radiant quest system that invites you to Birthday parties at various venues throughout Skyrim (Remember, you are destined to be famous and a much sought after personality.) but that also requires that you bring a gift. IF you don't, well, you get some type of faction penalties and maybe Maven sends some pretty tough guys out to remind you of your social responsibilities.

 

After reading the Wiki on making Radiant Quests, I think that ALL of your suggestions and mine are certainly doable.

 

If anyone decides to go this and wants some help then please count me in.

 

Till then.

 

EDIT - I just reread through your suggestions and realized that IF the player allied themselves with bandits/slaver's etc., then the Jarl of the particular Hold affected could SIEZE your assets and brand you a criminal. Getting back on good terms with them and allowing you to re-buy your property might involve a quest or assasination or......jail term. The Player might even get sold into slavery for awhile. ;)

Remember, the blade often cuts both ways.

Edited February 8, 2012 by tiger8u2

[jimhsu]

I am actively working on this. It is taking a lot of time.

 

Original post: http://forums.nexusmods.com/index.php?/topic/553665-flushing-out-a-realistic-tradeeconomy-system/page__p__4496805__fromsearch__1#entry4496805

 

Random Papyrus script excerpts.

 

Scriptname Account extends ObjectReference  
{Basic prototype account. Accounts are Books.}

;Initialized flag
bool property initialized = false auto

; Total value of account. Updated with updateAccountValue()
float Property accountValue = 0.0 Auto

; Number of holdings
int Property numHoldings = 0 Auto

; Index of holding n in account
int[] Property holdingIndex Auto

; # units of holding n held in account. Can include fractional shares!
float[] Property quantity Auto

; Credit (true) or debit (false)?
Bool[] Property credit Auto

; (unit value of holding * qty of holding)
float[] Property value Auto

float function getAccountValue()
updateAccountValue()
return accountValue
EndFunction

; Internal update of account value
function updateAccountValue()
float total = 0.0;
int currentElement = 0
while (currentElement < value.Length)
    total += value[currentElement]
    currentElement += 1
  endWhile
  accountValue = total
EndFunction 

; Initializes holding
function initHolding(int holdingIndexN, float quantityAdj, float newPrice, bool creditChoice)
float newVal = 0.0;
;Scan holdings to prevent duplicates
int currentElement = 0
if (containsHolding(holdingIndexN) == -1)
	holdingIndex[numHoldings] = holdingIndexN
	quantity[numHoldings] = quantityAdj
	credit[numHoldings] = creditChoice
	newVal = calculateValue(0,quantityAdj,newPrice,creditChoice)
	value[numHoldings] = newVal
	numHoldings += 1
EndIf
;Debug.MessageBox("initialized holding: " + holdingIndexN + " " + quantityAdj + " " + newPrice + " " + creditChoice)
EndFunction

; Updates total value of holding with holdingIndexN with new unit price newPrice.
function updateHoldingValue(int holdingIndexN, float newPrice)
float newVal = 0.0;
int currentElement = 0
int idx = containsHolding(holdingIndexN)
if (idx > -1)
	newVal = calculateValue(quantity[idx],0,newPrice,credit[idx])
	value[idx] = newVal
Else
	Debug.Trace("Holding index not found. Price was not updated.")
EndIf
EndFunction

function updateHoldingValueQty(int holdingIndexN, float quantityAdj, float newPrice)
;Debug.MessageBox("updating holding: " + holdingIndexN + " " + quantityAdj + " " + newPrice + " ")
float newVal = 0.0;
int idx = containsHolding(holdingIndexN)
if (idx > -1)
	newVal = calculateValue(quantity[idx],quantityAdj,newPrice,credit[idx])
	quantity[idx] = quantity[idx] + quantityAdj
	value[idx] = newVal
Else
	Debug.Trace("Holding index not found. Price was not updated.")
EndIf
EndFunction

;Returns -1 if account contains holding holdingIdx, the array index otherwise
int function containsHolding(int holdingIdx)
int currentElement = 0
while (currentElement < numHoldings)
	if (holdingIndex[currentElement] == holdingIdx)
		return currentElement
	EndIf
endwhile
return -1
EndFunction

float function calculateValue(float qty, float qtyChg, float uPrice, bool credit)
if (credit)
	return ((qty+qtyChg)*uPrice)
Else
	return (-(qty+qtyChg)*uPrice)
EndIf
EndFunction

 

Scriptname BankAccount extends Account
{Bank Account entity accessible at a bank teller.}

; Interest rate on this account. Accrues daily, so this is a daily rate.
; Interest rate can correspond to any number of securities on the account. (includes deposits as well as loans).
float[] property InterestRate Auto

function initialize()
; Initialize holding list
; TestObject o = TestObject.initialize()

; Initialize ledger
holdingIndex = new int[20]
quantity = new Float[20]
credit = new Bool[20]
value = new Float[20]
InterestRate = new Float[20]
initialized = true

EndFunction

; Adds a deposit. If deposit already exists, adds to it. If it bumps the account holder up a interest rate tier, perform necessary updates.
function addDeposit(float depositAmt)
updateHoldingValueQty(holdingList.StringToIndex("Savings Account"),depositAmt,1.0)
EndFunction

 

Scriptname HoldingList extends Form Hidden  
{List of holdings with string representations}

; Converts a holding string representation to an index. Returns null if not available.
int function StringToIndex(String s) global
String[] holdingString = new String[100]
holdingString[0] = "null"
holdingString[1] = "Savings Account"
holdingString[2] = "Loan"
int holdingInt = 0
int currentElement = 0
while (currentElement < holdingString.Length)
	if (holdingString[currentElement] == s)
		holdingInt = currentElement
	EndIf
	currentElement += 1
EndWhile
return holdingInt
EndFunction

String function IndexToString(int i) global
String[] holdingString = new String[100]
holdingString[0] = "null"
holdingString[1] = "Savings Account"
holdingString[2] = "Loan"
if (i >= 0 && i < 100)
	return holdingString[i]
Else
	return holdingString[0]
endif
EndFunction

 

And I have hundreds of more lines of script like this.

 

As you can see I'm going for a true OOP-based approach here, hence the massive amount of redundancy. I'm dead tired from the amount of typing today, so I'll leave it at that.

Edited February 9, 2012 by jimhsu

[KingDumpty]

Can't wait to try it jimhsu!

[tiger8u2]

Wow! You have been busy! I was working on a good place for the Bank of Skyrim - BoS for short. =) I figured that instead of reinventing the wheel, an NPC could be dropped into the Markarth Treasury and a radiant quest could handle getting certain merchants to be extensions of the bank just like in the Bank of Cyrodill for Oblivion.

 

I'm still having trouble with figuring out how to "start" the quest. Was just going to drop a flyer by a courier but I can't for the life of me figure out how they do it.

 

Is there a requirement to "addtopic" like there used to be?

[jimhsu]

I found an OK place in Solitude past the stone arch on the right, but would appreciate suggestions or just new architecture. Not so good at interior design.

 

I'll try to get a basic deposit/interest/loan system going and release as v1. My commodity exchange idea will come later. Trade, much much later.

 

Most likely I'll have to define some data structures first - HashMaps, ArrayList, TreeMap, LinkedList, etc. I believe all of that should be possible with Papyrus. These will most likely be released as modder resources.

[minngarm]

Looks and sounds gret Jim, would love to touch bases with you when you get closer to implementation as I've been releasing my SER series of mods (Skyrim Economic Rebalance) to help clean up the mess the skyrim economy is already in. Would love to see the series and you're upcoming mod cross compatible.