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Anyone find a lucrative trade route yet? I've got one based out of LA (tools to shanghai) , then spices from Mandao back to LA. Only problem is, I have to ship the money back to NYC - just repairing the 2nd hand ship I use to do this with is eating in my profits BIG time...

Fun game, funner now that I know how to decrease numbers.

Anyways, you have to think historically to make a profit. It sort of means you have to know a little about this era in order to survive, a few big time routes I know off hand are:

Tea from India to London
Cotton from Savannah or Port Said to London

Both are historical; Tea was a major item for the British, and Cotton was in it's "booming period" and will remain so until 1865. After that the price drops.

You can also smuggle arms, as someone mentioned. It's very lucrative, and there are three times in this game where wars break out, allowing you to smuggle arms.

Crimean War - Ship arms to Odessa
Opium War - Ship arms to Macao
Civil War - Ship arms to Savannah or New Orelans (Not so sure on this one)

Has anyone ever found a port that has passengers wanting to book passage on a ship? Afterall, the game does have passenger carrying ships.

Also, are steamships any faster than the sail boats?

Yeah, I did Odessa, India, Macao and even Tangiers for a bit as an arms smuggler (US Civil War didn't create a market for arms though - strange). Lots of money there - the real challenge is to find a good "legit" trade route after the wars die down.

Another route I found was:
New Orleans (Textiles) to Arica, Chile
Arica (Saltpieter) to NYC.

I'll try the London tea trade though - thanks Drake!

It's a bloodly long route though...takes 5-6 months by sail, so get a big ship to maximize the trade!

Here're a couple of my favorite routes (some of these ports will be unrest, so you must include the risk):

1. Buy clothes in Amsterdam, sell it in Bombay, sail to Macao, where you can buy silk (get as much, as you can, it's very expensive, but it's worth your time and money). Now sail to Le Havre or better to Hamburg, where the price is higher. Notice: if you have a ship with passenger - cabins you can start your route in Liverpool, where you'll sometimes get passengers to Bombay; you can also start in Hamburg (passengers to Rangoon).

2. Buy some machines in London and some clothes in Amsterdam. Sail to Barcelona, sell machines, buy tools. Next, sail to Accra, sell tools and clothes, buy ivory. Finally, sail to Amsterdam or Liverpool, where you can sell the ivory (in Liverpool the price is lower, but they'll actually buy any quantition of it).

3. Buy clothes in Amsterdam, sell it in Luanda, where you should buy as much india rubber as they have and some rare wood in addiction. Now sail to Hamburg and sell your goods.

4. Buy arms in Hamburg and machines in London, sail to Barcelona,sell machines, buy tools, sail to Tunis, sell some arms, buy fruit, sail to Trieste, sell fruit, buy more tools, sail to Port Said, sell arms and tools, buy cotton, sail to Odessa, sell cotton, buy vegetable oil, sail to Amsterdam and sell the vegetable oil. Notice: sometimes in some ports they haven't any goods to sell, and you must change your plans. For example: if there isn't any vegetable oil in Odessa, you can try to buy cotton in Port Said or fruit in Tunis again, and you'll sell it in London. After 1869 cheaper vegetable oil in Tanga and cotton in Bombay and Diu (as I remember) are at your hand.

5. If you need a quick money: buy wine in Le Havre, sell it in Hamburg, now back to Le Havre, buy wine again and sell it in Liverpool. If you have some luck, you can do it many times. Notice: if you have an iron ship, it will be not overgrowth by the barnacles and it will not take any water, so you don't have to visit the shipyard.

Never forget about "special contracts" (I forgot what is it's real name in the game): bring tea to London and wool to Los Angeles.

Remember: bigger ship or more ships means higher taxes, so don't build/buy more ships than you really need. Three to five ships is an optimal number to me: first on the Europe - Africa routes, second: Europe - Asia (Far East); third: Asia - Australia - North America; fourth (optionally): the Americas. After 1869 the fifth ship can sail from Europe to East Africa and India, and the first one from Europe to West Africa only.

Build branches if you have enough money. It will help you to sell more goods, check and compare prices and get informations about "special contracts" and passengers to take.

IMHO it's one of the greatest business sims ever and I'm still waiting for "1869: Reloaded" or even "1869: Revolutions". ;-)

If you decide to do any Tea trading to London, get a good crew. Tea will spoil after a certain period of time, as will cotton.

[Icewolf]

Another good thing is to turn the captain's order to
hard, your men can easily bear that and you are a
lot quicker.

I play this game since it was brand new and it's still.
fun. Games of that kind aren't made anymore...

Keep your ships in excellent shape! Makes you quicker
as well. k:

hmm...played for a while and still haven't gotten those passenger contracts...is there anything I have to do to get them?

First thing is that you have to charge a shipping company
to build you a ship with cabins for passengers.
You can't get such a ship as a used one.

Next thing is that you click the assignment on the counter
of a merchant and accept the offer from the leutnant or
whatever he may be...

You won't be informed in any way wheather they left
the ship or not. You just see that your cabins are empty
so they supposedly left... LOL

Ah I see! The missions are posted at the counter...I thought they were part of the background before. Thanks for the tip.