Precisely how do Rivers work to connect cities/resources?

[gouldilocks]

It's all in the title.

Thanks for your help.

 

[r_rolo1]

They act as if the tiles in both sides of the river had roads in terms of connecting resources as long as we are talking of a path inside your land ... they also act as a road outside of your empire if you have sailing ( but obviously will not connect resources out of your territory ) if you have sailing, if you already discovered all the the river path in between ( even if in the edge of a undiscovered tile ) and if there is no enemy/civs with no OB with you ocupying territory in both margins of a certain river "tile"

P.S River mouths also act as harbours if they aren't occupied by enemy/civs with no OB with you as long as you have sailing ( or again, if all the path in between that river mouth and your capital is inside your territory) . So you aren't forced to make your first city in a landmass coastal just to not be landlocked if you have a suitable river

 

[Hortulanus]

For the purposes of connecting cities/resources, a river square substitutes for a road square. Cities adjacent to the same river are connected. Cities/resources that have roads that run to the same river are connected. Resources adjacent to a river will connect to cities on that river, but you need a road in the resource square itself. Like roads, rivers need an open border agreement to connect if they pass through another civilizations culture area.

Basically they act like roads without any movement multiplier.

Happy gaming.

 

[Kiershar]

http://i139.photobucket.com/albums/q306/kiershar/Fig4BasicRiverSetup.jpg

http://i139.photobucket.com/albums/q306/kiershar/Fig5AdvancedRiverSetup.jpg

http://i139.photobucket.com/albums/q306/kiershar/Fig6RiverSetupWithSailing.jpg

 

[gouldilocks]

P.S River mouths also act as harbours if they aren't occupied by enemy/civs with no OB with you as long as you have sailing ( or again, if all the path in between that river mouth and your capital is inside your territory) . So you aren't forced to make your first city in a landmass coastal just to not be landlocked if you have a suitable river

Thanks for the precision.

What do you mean by harbours?

 

[gouldilocks]

http://i139.photobucket.com/albums/q306/kiershar/Fig4BasicRiverSetup.jpg

http://i139.photobucket.com/albums/q306/kiershar/Fig5AdvancedRiverSetup.jpg

http://i139.photobucket.com/albums/q306/kiershar/Fig6RiverSetupWithSailing.jpg

Well played; that explains everything perfectly.

Thanks

 

[r_rolo1]

Thanks for the precision.

What do you mean by harbours?

I mean, places where you link the land tiles trade network with the sea ones ( I should had used other word, given that harbours are something diferent in game context ), allowing you to connect that particular land area to others by sea in terms of trade network . Besides river mouths , only forts and cities can do that

 

[iggymnrr]

It is also possible to build a road to a river that has a connection to a desired destination. As to harbours like you build in a city, they aren't really connectors as the port city itself does that. The term "harbour" is used to mean a connection like forts (another confusing connector as well as a real fort.) Takes a little getting used to.

 

[gouldilocks]

I mean, places where you link the land tiles trade network with the sea ones ( I should had used other word, given that harbours are something diferent in game context ), allowing you to connect that particular land area to others by sea in terms of trade network . Besides river mouths , only forts and cities can do that

Hmm this is confusing stuff. Is there a link you could direct me to that explains river mouths and forts (I've never even heard of using forts as connectors and dont understand it at all)?

Are you saying I can pick up coastal trade routes via intelligent use of forts and river mouths? How close do my cities need to be to them? Would it allow me to build harbor (building improvements)?

Ive been playing on Emperor for quite a while now and have never even considered this dimension of the game and I find it very fascinating.

A screenshot would probably let me understand these concepts instantly.

 

[r_rolo1]

For example , for river mouths:

This city as it is is not connected to the rest of the empire:

Spoiler :

This can be seen easily using the trade groups overlay ( yup, a stock game feature ... search for it in the top of the minimap when you zoom out )

Spoiler :

Making a road to the river in the north ( in this case railroad 1 NW of the city ) does this:

Spoiler :

Due to the fact that river mouths act as connectors between land and sea trade groups, the city becomes connected to the rest of the empire ( represented by having the same color in the overlay )

About forts ... well, I surely recommend you to read PieceOfMind article on forts, but I can add a pic of mine for better graps of the concept:

Spoiler :

That sheep resource is being connected to the rest of the empire via the fort in NE of it. The concept is the same to cities : as long as it is connected via road to a coastal fort that it is not in hostile lands ( it would had worked as well if I had made the fort 1 N of where I had putted it, as long as there was a road to it from the sheep tile ) it would act the same as having a city in the fort tile in terms of connecting that part of your empire to the rest of it.

 

[Wreck]

A harbor is a building, which can be built only in a coastal city. Coastal cities (and forts) serve to connect trade from land to sea or vice versa. However, a civ can also connect to the sea via rivers without having any coastal city or fort.

There's a strategy article about forts:
http://forums.civfanatics.com/showthread.php?t=308069

 

[Kiershar]

http://forums.civfanatics.com/showthread.php?t=308069

 

[gouldilocks]

For example , for river mouths:



can add a pic of mine for better graps of the concept:

Spoiler :

That sheep resource is being connected to the rest of the empire via the fort in NE of it. The concept is the same to cities : as long as it is connected via road to a coastal fort that it is not in hostile lands ( it would had worked as well if I had made the fort 1 N of where I had putted it, as long as there was a road to it from the sheep tile ) it would act the same as having a city in the fort tile in terms of connecting that part of your empire to the rest of it.

By gosh I think I've got it. Many thanks

 

[Kwik E Mart]

For the purposes of connecting cities/resources, a river square substitutes for a road square. Cities adjacent to the same river are connected. Cities/resources that have roads that run to the same river are connected. Resources adjacent to a river will connect to cities on that river, but you need a road in the resource square itself. Like roads, rivers need an open border agreement to connect if they pass through another civilizations culture area.

Basically they act like roads without any movement multiplier.

Happy gaming.

unless you have sailing, right? i could have sworn i have connected resources on rivers pre-road building...

 

[Wreck]

Right. If the resource is adjacent to a river, it is hooked to that river automatically.
A road might be needed to hook the river to your trade net, but otherwise roads are unnecessary for river-adjacent resources.