Now that grand strategy game Victoria 3 has been officially unveiled, Paradox's developers have started posting periodic diary updates explaining how they're approaching its systems design. This week, the developers shed some light on how infrastructure works, particularly as it relates to markets and trade.
Infrastructure is a broad term, it seems, for anything that makes it possible for people and goods to travel around a state. Rivers, roads, and canals all improve a territory's infrastructure score, as do certain buildings you can construct within them – primarily railways. Infrastructure usage is another score, and that's calculated based on how much demand there is for transportation in the territory.
The diary explains that the existing infrastructure in a state is compared against its infrastructure usage score to determine market access. If the infrastructure a state has is greater than or equal to its infrastructure usage, market access is 100%, and your production economy will work smoothly. Perfect market access means the local markets can integrate seamlessly into the national market, and there aren't hold-ups or shortages happening due to long transportation times.
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