Why don't forts connect resources

[Kiech]

Anyone know why this was left out of the game, or how to put it back in?

 

[Azhral]

There is a line in Improvements.XML under forts marked <ActAsCity />. It was set to false for FFH2 for a number of reasons. Set this to true to enable this again.

 

[Kiech]

Thanks!

 

[MagisterCultuum]

bActAsCity will also make ships able to enter coastal forts. This is normal BtS behavior, but some people thought it looked odd and complained.


The main problem with forts acting as cities is that the AI will try to use them to collect mana resources instead of building the proper mana nodes. This is especially a problem when they connect Raw Mana with a fort instead of using a node to transform it into a useful form.

In FfH Forts upgrade to Castles and then Citadels over time, whether worked or not. The worker AI does not consider what the upgrades can connect, only the base improvement. Because of this you can avoid the mana issue by making castles and citadels connect resources but not unupgraded forts.

 

[Kiech]

Ah, that clears up the why then. The second reason seems like a bit of a challenge to work around.

As far as the first reason, people need to play more water maps to understand the importance of canals and inland water forts...

Anyways, thanks again!

 

[Kiech]

Did a little brainstorming on this, since I haven't done any modding I am not sure if this is possible:

Built mana nodes act as cities.
Mana nodes may NOT have forts built on them, and any that exist are destroyed.
Forts may act as cities and coastal forts.

That should get around the problem of the AI not knowing how to use forts to connect resources, while allowing the player to still use them.

 

[A Moon]

What if you decreased the build time of forts by one turn, then had them spend one turn as an improvement that didn't act as a city, before turning into one that did?

 

[Kiech]

What if you decreased the build time of forts by one turn, then had them spend one turn as an improvement that didn't act as a city, before turning into one that did?

That would work for the player, but doesn't the AI see it as all or nothing? I don't think they would use forts to connect resources.

 

[deanej]

The AI is programmed to use forts to connect resources at all costs if the resource isn't in the fat cross of a city and forts can connect resources. IMO this is stupid because in BtS forts are the most expensive improvement rivaled only by oil wells and plantations.

 

[Kiech]

Well, its not ideal if the fort doesn't mean anything strategically. When its strategic, not having the option is problematic.