TradeDeals builds upon the LowTech ruleset to add even more challenge. It modifies the way you are allowed to import and export resources in a way that should provide a more interesting challenge for people who enjoyed the added choices that LowTech provided.

TradeDeals builds upon LowTech rules, which can be found here: https://steamproxy.net/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3046902889

If you have not played with them, yet, I recommend familiarizing yourself with the LowTech rules, which will make research slower and more interesting, as you cannot research everything right away.

Importing and Exporting resources in the base game is free from choice and consequence. The player can export as many resource types as they want and faces no consequences from their decisions. This makes the economic game feel very flexible and easy to manage, once you understand the concepts of logistical efficiency and profit maximisation with the options at hand. TradeDeals will limit your abilities to open up the question of what you really want to do.

In LowTech you gain research points for having a certain amount of population, settlements or other things (like starting early with the EarlyStart DLC).
Those research points will now become more valuable, as you have to spend them to unlock import and export routes with the East and West. If you ever import or export something that generates profit for your nation, you have to spend a research point to create a trade deal for that resource.

Trade Deals are unlocked via research points from LowTech. When unlocked, you specify three aspects of that deal: resource, border and direction on what you would like to trade.

Once specified. You are allowed to trade that resource for the purpose of profit generation.
You do not need trade deals for the purpose of supplying your citizens.

For example you may want to import fabric from the East to create an export item later.
Aspects of the fabric deal would then be:
Resource would be grain.
Border is the West.
Direction is import.

Border is either West or East
Direction is either Import or Export
Resource is any resource in Workers and Resources (except importing electricity, which is always free from needing a trade deal)

Any resource imported or exported directly or indirectly involved in profit generation will require a trade deal.

Direct profit would be for example the export of alcohol or the import of hazardous waste.
An example of indirectly involved would be import of chemicals for making drinking water to then create alcohol.

If you go into the overview of Export and it would show as positive cash flow or you go into the import view and it would show up as a negative cash flow there, it would cost a trade deal.

In summary, if it crosses the border and makes you money or it crosses the border and was involved in something that makes money, you need a trade deal to move that resource.

Direct waste Exports from industries are fine. Specifics are handled in the "Domestic Waste, Imports and Exports" section of this guide, the next point.

Domestic produced waste in TradeDeals is handled in a specific way. You are allowed to export unprocessed mixed and hazardous waste produced by your population and industries without requiring a trade deal. There are several ways that a mixed or hazardous waste counts as processed and then it would need a trade deal for export:

• If you incinerate the waste
  
• If you put the waste on a dump and let it rot away before trying to handle it again
  
• If you run mixed waste through a general waste separation or other waste sorting facility
  
• If you treat hazardous waste

The following things are fine to do and do not count as processing the waste:

• Sorting waste in a technical service waste storage (from people and industries)
  
• Storing waste in a container transfer

Exporting anything other than mixed and hazardous waste always requires a trade deal, because the other waste types should always generate profit when exported. So you need a trade deal to export bio waste, fertiliser, metal scrap, aluminium scrap and construction waste.

Importing any waste always requires a trade deal.

Resources only imported for your direct or indirect population needs do not need a trade deal.
Direct population needs are food, alcohol, clothing, drinking water, heating and similar items.
Indirect needs are vehicle repairs, building repairs, building construction and similar tasks.

Examples that do not require a trade deal:
Importing food and bringing it to warehouses or shopping centers to feed your people.
Importing mechanical components and steel for the purpose of repairing vehicles.
Exporting waste from your population centers.
Importing drinking water or chemicals to make drinking water.
Importing construction materials to build or maintain buildings.

The basic gameplay of running a settlement should be unaffected by these changes and only once you think about how to earn money is when you will come into contact with TradeDeals rules.

A trade deal can be modified after being inactive for the previous year. The previous year means January 1st to December 31st of the previous year, easily visible in the economic view with the previous year filter. If you did not run any trade in the trade deal the previous year, you can modify it.

The modification can only change one aspect of the trade deal. You can for example turn an import into an export deal. You can change the border from east to west. Or you could change the resource altogether, maintaining the border and trade direction.

If you would like to modify more than one aspect of a trade deal, you have to wait one more year per aspect you would like to change. So if you want to change a wood export to the east into a steel import from the west, it would take 3 years of no trading to change all three aspects of that trade deal.

• Each trade deal costs a research point from LowTech rules
  
• A trade deal has to specify the aspects "border, direction and resource" for putting it in place (e.g. East, Export, Clothing)
  
• Resources directly or indirectly for your population do not require trade deals
  
• A trade deal can be modified in one aspect after being inactive for the last year (Jan 1st to Dec 31st of the previous year)
  
• A trade deal can not be abandoned, only modified
  
• Importing Electricity does not count as a resource for the purpose of this rule set and is always OK to import without a trade deal. Exporting electricity requires a trade deal.
  
• Mixed and hazardous waste produced by industries can be directly exported, if not processed (incinerated/sorted/dumped)
  
• All other waste types produced domestically create profit and require a trade deal to export
  
• Importing any waste requires a trade deal
  
• You may not trade imported vehicles/containers to the other nations border (for example Importing Western vehicles/containers and exporting to the East)

The following examples show how many LowTech research points would be needed to complete a trade deal:

Borders East & West will not be mentioned, but must be specified when setting up a trade deal.
Waste export follows the unprocessed waste rule.

Food export from imported resources:

• 1 point - importing crops (base resource)
  
• 1 point - importing chemicals (for making 97%+ drinking water) or direct water import
  
• 1 point - exporting food
  
• 0 points - mixed waste export (unprocessed only)

Clothing export from imported fabric:

• 1 point - importing fabric
  
• 1 point - exporting clothing
  
• 0 points - mixed waste export (unprocessed only)

Demolition and Scrapyards produce a lot of resources. All resulting waste is handled based on normal existing rules and this entry exists as a clarification.

For demolition, construction waste and metal scrap would need a trade deal to be exported, as they always generate a profit. Mixed and hazardous waste can be exported directly, but if it becomes processed due to use of an incinerator, waste sorting facility, dump or other building, they too would need a trade deal.

With scrapyards, if you plan on importing vehicles, used or new, this can be done without a trade deal. Even if you want to export scrapped resources resulting from used vehicles, the vehicle imports would always be free to do.

For a scrapyard example:
You import a used train to scrap it down for all of its components. The building will create steel, mechanical and electronic components, metal scrap and mixed waste.

You may choose to use steel and the components domestically for no trade deal needed, but if you intend on exporting them for profit, each item would require their own trade deal if no trade deals already exists for that specific resource.

Mixed waste may be exported without a trade deal directly from the facility or a technical service fed waste storage or factory connected container storage. However if the waste is incinerated, sorted or dumped and later on exported, it would cost a trade deal based on the unprocessed waste rule.

Metal scrap would always need a trade deal to be exported. You may smelt it down into steel and export it with a steel trade deal or just use it domestically and not need a deal at all, since it would then not create any money crossing the border.