How does Trade work in Civ IV?

[vertigofm]

Is it like Civ 2 where you picked convoys and sent them, or is it like Civ 3 where there are "lines" representing commerce?

 

[Aussie_Lurker]

Please understand that I am drawing on the experience of the Beta-testers here, not my own. As I understand it, you have two levels of trade:

Resource/Tech/cities-this occurs pretty much as it did in Civ3 (only apparently MUCH improved). You go into the diplomacy screen and negotiate the agreement and VIOLA you have a trade agreement. The upside of this system is that it does not require an open border to be performed.
Additionally, a trade network will allow resources to be 'traded' internally to all your cities within that network, just as in Civ3.

'Monetary Trade Routes'-when you build harbours or roads/rail, trade routes will naturally form between connected cities. The more cities you are connected to, the more trade routes will potentially pass through your city. I think the value of the trade routes formed is based on the size of the cities involved, but I am not certain. These trade routes can also form with foreign cities IF you have an Open Border agreement with them. Hope this helps.

Yours,
Aussie_Lurker.

 

[Grimshok]

@AL fantastic job. Your answer is obviously a well thought out attempt to answer the question in whatever form it was intended (multifaceted answer). I just wanted to say 'well done' to an excellent responce.


I thought that trade routes ('monetary trade routes') had to be 'set up'... similar, as the Original Poster (OP) had noted, to the caravans being used in Civ2. But what I read never mentioned whether you had to 'drive' the unit to the destination city to establish the Route or not.

 

[Pragmatic]

I believe there is a limit to the number of cities you can connect trade routes to.

+1 for Free Market civic (and for World Free Trade through the UN), +1 for discovering Corporation tech. So probably a total of three?

 

[Aussie_Lurker]

Though it certainly seems as though each city has a limit on total trade routes it can have, I'm still unaware of what that limit is, so I decided not to make a mention of it. I guess the Americans out there will know SOON ENOUGH (lucky ********!!!) (Note I DID self-censor myself !)

Yours,
Aussie_Lurker.

 

[King Jason]

The limit is 3. 4 when you discover Coporation. 5 with a certain civic, and a grand total of 6 with the UN resolution passed.

(6 if you use both the civic and U.N. resolution. 5 if you only use one of them, 4 naturally with corporation, 3 without)

 

[Grimshok]

But do you have to 'drive' caravans to set them up? or do you just pick a city with which you are connected to from some list?

 

[King Jason]

You need a road (or river) connected to the city you want to trade with.

 

[Grimshok]

Sorry... I am REALLY tired... so, many apologies, BUT...

I understand that your city and the trade-destination city Needs to be connected via road or rail. Got that part. But, once that is done, how do you actually set up the trade route (the mechanics of it, if you can, please).

Sorry. Don't mean to be difficult.

 

[Aussie_Lurker]

As far as I know, it just occurs AUTOMATICALLY-as long as your borders have been opened via a diplomatic agreement (which also lets their units pass through your borders too!) Does that help?

Yours,
Aussie_Lurker.

 

[Grimshok]

Hrmm. It just happens?

Does it pick the biggest/furthest cities? Or is it just some pre-defined bonus to income that you get, regardless of what size/distance the available trading cities are?

And... thanks!

 

[Pragmatic]

If I had to guess, I'd say it picks the most profitable combination available, then the next most profitable, then the next, and so on, down through the list, until all trade routes are full.

But that's completely a guess.

 

[Valheru]

What I would really like to see is the ability for Naval units to blockade these trade routes. I don't believe you could do that in the previous games.

 

[Aussie_Lurker]

Well, you COULD, it was just very hard. I am really glad that you can go around pillaging nets and fishing boats for cash, but I confess that it would be equally cool if you could plonk a couple of warships near a harbour city, and cut off all of its overseas trade-both those involving resources and those which earn you hard cash. This is one of the key questions I plan to ask the developers at the ACS Launch party tomorrow!

Yours,
Aussie_Lurker.