Cargo Freshness Decides Income - VEO Pack

Cargo Freshness Decides Income

Part of Badger's Vanilla Economy Overhaul mods

TLDR: Changes the vanilla CARGO economy. Fresh and fast deliveries pay more, spoiled cargo pays nothing. Highly configurable.

ONLY CARGO! For passengers or other mods, search VEO or Vanilla Economy Overhaul on mod.io!

Try it yourself: Interactive pay curve editor - drag the sliders and compare the mod's pay with vanilla.

(use mod.io to access link)

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YouTube Presentation

YT Video Presentation

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How the Base Game Pays

Deliveries are paid by the distance from one industry to the final destination (another industry, or a town commercial/industrial district).

Nothing else matters!

• Slower train? Get paid the SAME.
• Faster, more expensive train? Get paid the SAME!
• Deliver by horse instead of train, tram or engined vehicle? Get paid the SAME!
• Slow loading because you want to keep your maintenance cheap? You guessed it, paid the SAME!

In short, in the base game the only thing that matters is keeping cargo above 1% freshness, so you don't upset citizens and stall town growth.

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What the Mod Does

Cargo gets priced by how spoiled it is:

• Deliver it fresh with fast vehicles? Get paid more!
• Deliver it with horses? You get paid LESS!
• Deliver spoiled cargo at 0% freshness? You get paid 0$! Nobody wants spoiled cargo!

And by the type of cargo delivered:

• Perishables are a risky business, they spoil FAST! So the payout is high!
• Deliver clothes? Not so risky, so the payout is mediocre!
• Deliver iron ore, steel or other non-perishable items? You get paid very low amounts!

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How It Changes the Base Gameplay

Vanilla gameplay loop

1. Get cargo from point A.
2. Deliver cargo to point B AS CHEAPLY AS POSSIBLE, above 1% freshness!

This loop forces a tram-only playstyle, since trams are the cheapest cargo vehicles to run. And since there is no reason to deliver faster, the smallest loading platforms are the best choice, to cut maintenance!

Mod gameplay loop

1. Decide which cargo to deliver first.
2. Get cargo from point A.
3. Deliver cargo to point B with the HIGHEST FRESHNESS!
4. Decide which mode of transportation you use! Perishables -> Fast Vehicles; Ores -> Slow Vehicles!

• Trams become what trams should be: a local way to move goods from your city warehouse to the city itself!
• The fastest mode of transport always wins*! Be it trains, airplanes, etc! *wins = a 100km/h vehicle delivering ores will get more profit than a 50km/h train, however, is it worth it? No because its cheap bulk cargo being delivered!
• Cargo station upgrades make sense! Load cargo slowly? You get paid less! Load cargo fast? You get paid more!
• Train upgrades make sense! A 50km/h train is OK in the 1900s. Keep using it in the 2000s and you will get paid so little for spoiled cargo that it doesn't even cover the train's maintenance!
• Train sizing makes sense! The fewer wagons, the faster it accelerates! Use short trains for meat. Use long, slow-accelerating trains for coal, iron, stone, etc!
• Cargo type matters! Use a 160km/h train to deliver meat as fast as possible, or it will arrive spoiled in town! Use a 50km/h train for stone or iron ore. They have such a long spoilage timer that you will lose money using a high-performance 200km/h train!

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Parameters Explained

Prices below use the vanilla rate of 3.8$ per 1 meter transported as the reference.

Cargo Shelf Life

Vanilla: 100%  |  Mod default: 200%

What it does: Changes how fast cargo spoils. Example: vanilla meat is transported in roughly 2 months and 14 days at 1/4 calendar speed. The mod doubles that to about 5 months. Decrease it for smaller maps, increase it for big maps and ship-reliant maps.

Reasoning: Pay depends on freshness, and meat has such a short timer that delivering it at 70%+ freshness is impossible in vanilla.

Fast Delivery Bonus

Vanilla: 0%  |  Mod default: +200%

What it does: Adds a bonus on top of the vanilla cargo pay (3.8$/m). At +200% the pay rises to 11.4$/m.

Reasoning: The mod replaces the constant 3.8$/m with a pay that depends on freshness. A high bonus discourages slow loading with a single basic station module, slow vehicles and slow-accelerating long trains.

Grace Period

Vanilla: 0%  |  Mod default: 95%

What it does: Decides when the pay starts dropping. Cargo delivered at 95% to 100% freshness receives the FULL BONUS.

Reasoning: You can never deliver at 100% freshness (unless the factory is literally 1 meter from the city lol!). This makes it fair for a good train to reach the maximum bonus.

Mid Point At

Vanilla: 0%  |  Mod default: 70%

What it does: Below this freshness the bonus drops SHARPLY. Example: at 75% freshness you get paid way less than at 85%.

Reasoning: Rewards fast cargo delivery and makes loading station upgrades worth it!

Bonus At Mid Point

Vanilla: 0%  |  Mod default: 30%

What it does: Decides how much of the bonus you keep at the Mid Point. With the defaults above: at 100% freshness cargo is worth 11.4$/m, at 70% freshness it is worth 6.08$/m. In vanilla, 70% freshness is worth 3.8$/m.

Reasoning: Even if you deliver stale cargo, there is still some extra cash for you.

Penalty Zone Below

Vanilla: 0%  |  Mod default: 30%

What it does: Down to the Penalty Zone limit, the bonus shrinks until the price reaches the vanilla rate. Below the limit, the price falls further. With the defaults above: at 30% freshness cargo is worth 3.8$/m, at 10% it is worth 1.27$/m, and at 0% it is worth 0$/m.

Reasoning: Punishes slow cargo delivery and bad city traffic! If cargo sits in traffic, it rots!

Cargo Pay (per tier)

Vanilla: 100%  |  Mod defaults: set per tier

What it does: Sets the base pay for each cargo group. Example: meat defaults to 90%, so meat at exactly the Penalty Zone limit is worth e.***/m. Iron ore defaults to 40%, so iron at exactly the Penalty Zone limit is worth 1.52$/m.

Reasoning: Prevents super slow-spoiling cargo from blowing up your economy!

Cargo group	Default pay level
Perishable Items (meat, fish, vegetables, beverages, grain)	90%
Light Goods	70%
Processed Goods	60%
Industrial Goods	50%
Raw & Building Materials	45%
Mineral & Metal Bulk (sand, iron ore, stone, steel)	40%

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Mod Compatibility & Problems

• Safe to enable or disable on any savegame. No need to restart your playthrough.
• Incompatible with other mods that change pricing or cargo spoilage timers.
• Compatible with other mods that add vehicles.
• Unsure if compatible with mods that add new industry chains. Report problems if any!

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AI Disclosure

AI (Claude) was used to write the code.

Human (TheHoneybadgerMCD) fully reviewed the code line by line and tested it.

Human experience: a developer in an IT field unrelated to gaming, with 14+ years of experience in Python and Java.