== MAIN TIPS FOR WINNING ! ==
So, I've been playing this game for two days (without doing anything else...) and I've mastered it for the most part now. Don't feel bad if you've been at it much longer than this, I'm pretty good at this stuff.
Most important things have been said in this thread. If you need a solid tactic for the start, here are the most helpful hints IMO:
1. [Earnings vs. expenses]
Be aware of your earnings vs. expenses. Earnings come from sold goods.
Expenses are:
- Monthly pay for your crews.
- Repairs on your ship ( find our for yourself what happens when the ship is heavily damaged ... :P ).
- Your annual taxes.
- The price for getting a loan (credit).
If you wonder why you never make any surplus money, you should investigate those four expenses.
2. [Reduce repair costs]
You don't necessarily need to sell weapons to Odessa at the start. I tried to make profits normally, but couldn't make any profits regardless of which trading routes I took! This is what REALLY worked for me:
Buy the steam ship for 8000. If you start the game with 7000, get a loan, then you have 11000. That makes 8000 for the ship and 3000 to buy wares. The advantage of the steam ship is that you only need to repair it half as often, which easily reduces the repair costs per year by $800 if you're sailing long routes between the continents.
The steam ship is not only the cheapest in repair, I think, it's also the cheapest in crew expenses. It only needs 12 crewmembers, which is the same number the smallest ship in the game has. But the smallest ship has 300 tons of freight capacity, while this steam ship has 400. This helps to speed up the profits.
3. [Reduce crew costs]
Simply, don't pay your crew too much. A difference of $20 per monthly pay makes $240 a year. Try to find a good level.
4. [Reduce credit costs]
The credit over $4000 will cost you $500 per year first (=$1000 in two years) - but you can quickly pay parts of it back, as soon as you've earned a little money, so these expenses will decrease.
5. [Find the right trading routes]
I won't tell a lot so to not spoil the game for you. A good idea is looking at which goods bring the highest percentage of profit, and trade them between Europe/Africa/America. You should get things going and at least stop making losses. If you make a long game, you can later include Asia.
Enjoy!