[GS] Traders not building roads between coastal cities

[Mik1984]

The problem with coastal cities is that traders do not build land roads between them when establishing a trade route, even if the cities are in land trading range, once you unlock the necessary tech.
The solution is that the trader should always build a land road on establishing a trade route between two cities that are connected by land and within land trading range, even if a better sea route is available.

PS Other possible solution would be to have an option on establishing a trade route would be to "force land route". As a balance, maybe there should be some extra reward for sea routes, like +1 gold.

 

[Boris Gudenuf]

The problem with coastal cities is that traders do not build land roads between them when establishing a trade route, even if the cities are in land trading range, once you unlock the necessary tech.
The solution is that the trader should always build a land road on establishing a trade route between two cities that are connected by land and within land trading range, even if a better sea route is available.

PS Other possible solution would be to have an option on establishing a trade route would be to "force land route". As a balance, maybe there should be some extra reward for sea routes, like +1 gold.

What we need, especially now that Sea Trade Routes have been made more valuable than their Land equivalents, is the ability to specify the Trade Route by type. I would go further and either program or allow us to specify (perhaps by setting Trade Nodes through which the route must pass?) the general direction of the Trade Route. Right now, it is entirely possible for a Trade Route from City A to D to go right past Cities B and C within a tile or 2 and not 'stop' or use either of them as Nodes or Way Points. That also results in a road network that is redundant and duplicative, eventually.

The other option, now that Military Engineers can build railroad-type 'roads', would be to extend the Road Building earlier, but make it expensive: you'd normally want to go with the roads built by Traders for free, but if you really need to connect that city 2 tiles away from the land Trade Road, you should have the ability: perhaps by expending a Builder Charge per tile, which would keep the 'purpose-built' roads a minority on the map but not exclude them completely, as now.

 

[Mik1984]

They should basically do an entire expansion with an overhaul implementing an Europa Universalis IV alike merchant management system.

 

[Jkchart]

I do agree that it is very annoying when I want to build a road to my new city but the game forces a sea trade route even though there may be no actual benefit to my cities. Really, between your cities at LEAST if there is no trade post/road connection yet, the game should first prioritize a land route to build that road where possible.