Trade Routes

[Pike the Hands]

So in a recent game I decided I'd try something new and pursue an economy based on trade. There are a lot of ways to get additional trade routes in a city- here are all the ones I could find, though I might have forgotten some:

1 to start with
1 from the Currency tech
1 from the Trade tech
1 from the Tavern building
1 from the Inn building
1 from the Obsidian Gate building
1 from the Foreign Trade civic
1 from the Single Currency Overcouncil resolution*

Coastal cities can get even more:

1 more from the Foreign Trade civic
1 from the Lighthouse building
1 from the Smuggler's Port building*
2 from the Great Lighthouse wonder

*These two require being in different councils, but are technically possible to have simultaneously.

That's 12, maybe 13 trade routes per city if I research correctly and invest my hammers wisely. So where's the problem? Unfortunately, no matter how many of the above you get lined up, there seems to be a hard limit of 8 trade routes per city. Try it with Worldbuilder.

Is this a vanilla Civ thing or a special FFH limitation? Is it necessary? Balanced? While it admittedly takes enough work to get 8 or more trade routes that the limit isn't normally reached except in the late game it seems kind of lame to say the least. What do you all think?

 

[Valkrionn]

I agree, I think the limit should be removed.

 

[Earthling]

Yes, I agree it would be nice if it could be changed, that sounds like a lame holdover from BtS.

Strategy wise, trade routes can be very powerful on watery maps as one would expect. But I rarely play watery maps because I don't fell it fits FFH too well in general. So I usually only see much benefit from trade routes when I have a civ which gets really high city population, like elves. As other people have noted, especially in diplomacy threads, AI are really weird with their OB decisions too. Overall I don't find trade routes do all too much; if I'm evil I won't have them, and if I'm good I usually have a larger mainstay of my economy (though they're a nice benefit).

 

[zup]

I believe it is a brainfart somebody at Firaxis had. What's so magical about the number 9 that a city cannot have so many trade routes? 8 is fine. But 9? Nada. Besides, 20 towns will bring in far more commerce. Of course having 12 trade routes on top those 20 towns is even better but hardly unbalancing. It takes a huge cities and an empire that spans the entire world to reap massive benefits from trade routes.

 

[Senethro]

I don't know that I'd ever be so desperate that I'd want 4 (or more) trade routes per city that are domestic trade only. The alternative is passing trade route/council technologies to the CPUs to ensure you have someone to trade with, but that also seems counterproductive.

 

[Sephi]

Is this a vanilla Civ thing or a special FFH limitation? Is it necessary? Balanced? While it admittedly takes enough work to get 8 or more trade routes that the limit isn't normally reached except in the late game it seems kind of lame to say the least. What do you all think?

if you add

<Define>
<DefineName>MAX_TRADE_ROUTES</DefineName>
<iDefineIntVal>15</iDefineIntVal>
</Define>

to GlobalDefinesAlt.XML (its in mod\FFH\Assets\XML) after the MAX_NATIONAL_WONDERS_PER_CITY_FOR_OCC entry you won't have that limit anymore.

 

[xalien]

1 from the Smuggler's Port building*

*These two require being in different councils, but are technically possible to have simultaneously.

Smuggling ring resolution itself adds a trade route to each city, coastal or not, and of course smuggling port adds another one to coastal cities.

 

[Pike the Hands]

I don't know that I'd ever be so desperate that I'd want 4 (or more) trade routes per city that are domestic trade only. The alternative is passing trade route/council technologies to the CPUs to ensure you have someone to trade with, but that also seems counterproductive.

I never said it was a good strategy. I was playing this game much more for my own amusement than to win. That said, even domestic trade routes can be somewhat lucrative with high population cities if they're overseas.

if you add

<Define>
<DefineName>MAX_TRADE_ROUTES</DefineName>
<iDefineIntVal>15</iDefineIntVal>
</Define>

to GlobalDefinesAlt.XML (its in mod\FFH\Assets\XML) after the MAX_NATIONAL_WONDERS_PER_CITY_FOR_OCC entry you won't have that limit anymore.

Thanks a bunch, I'll try it!