Player wiki
Delivery contracts
Deliver N units before T, at a price locked in now, with a premium you talk up yourself. Contracts close the triangle the factory opens: the mines give you the matter, the contract gives you the deadline.
Every rule
| setting | value |
|---|---|
| Offers on the board | 2 |
| Board refreshes every, seconds | 180 |
| Contracts you can hold at once | 1 |
| Quantity asked: % of what you make in the window | 50 |
| plus % of your stock | 30 |
| Never asks less than | 20 |
| Premium before a word is said, % | 10 |
| Premium gained per completed turn of talk, points | 2 |
| Premium ceiling, % | 50 |
| Turns he hears you out, at least | 6 |
| Turns he hears you out, at most | 14 |
| Extra turns of patience per star | 2 |
| Delivering early pays up to, points | 10 |
| Breaking costs, % of what is left | 10 |
| Letting it expire costs, % of the shortfall | 30 |
| Reputation stars | 3 |
| Contracts honoured in a row per star | 2 |
| Stars before the dock signs a second contract | 3 |
The locked price is not the current price. It is a forecast that already knows about the season and the pull back to base — signing at the top of a cycle prints nothing. And a good that an event is currently pushing is pulled off the board entirely.
The counter: the premium is negotiated
Signing is not one press of a button. You hold A and you turn: every completed turn adds 2 points to the premium, and the client has a patience he never shows you. Push past it and he tears the offer up — no money moves, no star is lost, and the offer leaves the board for good. He hears you out for somewhere between 6 and 14 turns. That is where reputation went: stars stopped paying a percentage, they pay patience — 2 more turns each, so at 3 stars he will sit through 12 to 20. The premium stops climbing at 50 %, so a long talk is not a money printer. From the opening offer that would take 20 turns — more than most clients will ever give you. Knowing when to shake hands is the scene. Reloading hands back the same client with the same temper: the board and his patience both come from the run's seed. There is nothing to re-roll.
Two clients, one dock
The board seats 2 clients, and they are never two shades of the same offer. They differ in tempo, which is the only difference worth a screen.
| client | lasts | asks, % of the window | plus, % of stock | opens at, % | needs in stock |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| EXPRESS | 240 s | 80 % | 0 % | 14 % | 30 % |
| BULK | 960 s | 50 % | 60 % | 10 % | — |
The express only shows up when your warehouse already covers the gap: it asks for more than half the window makes, so it is a contract for a factory that is ahead, not one running to catch up. Deliver early and you are paid for it — up to 10 points on top, falling to nothing by the halfway mark.
Breaking one is a strategy, not a failure
During a shortage that takes copper to several times base, selling on the spot market can be worth more than the contract is. The game is built for that: breaking costs 10 % of what is still owed, and nothing else. Your stars stay where they are. Letting one quietly expire is the expensive one: 30 % of the shortfall and a star. Breaking always costs less than forgetting. Deciding beats drifting. There is even an achievement for doing it deliberately — 
SORRY, BETTER OFFER — and one for never needing to, 
THREE STARS.
Reputation
Reputation runs from 0 to 3 stars, one more per 2 contracts honoured in a row. You only ever lose one by letting a contract expire. Stars are not money any more. They are time at the counter — 2 extra turns of patience each — and at 3 stars the dock signs a second contract alongside the first. Every contract you honour also files a notch at the depot, and the one that earns you a star files another: see Research.
