Trading Posts...

[Jaroth]

Does anybody else dislike the trashy trading posts we're forced to use if we want to obtain more commerce? It's like carny circus tents all over my kingdom. I'm actually reluctant to plop them down at times because they're so ugly and ruin my view. And they don't really get better with future eras.

Why can't they've been humble, little villages of primative huts or something with a smoking campfire in the middle. Then they could develop into cottages/villages/towns mischief with gentle smoke rising out of chimneys. You know, little signs of humanity to shows there's life all the way down there from our own godlike views above the clouds. In the modern era they'd be the suburbs surrounding all the cities, not trading posts everywhere.

They can all just be named something very generic to cover all eras... "Settlements" perhaps?

It would make the game much more aesthetically pleasing, in my opinion. The designers wanted to make a much more light-hearted, feel-good style to the game; which I think they achieved. Examples are the bright, Art Deco pictures and interface... gentle flowing clouds for fog of war instead of just black voids... giant death rooo... uh... you know, all that nice stuff... I love 'em all. But why the ugly trading posts?!

I hope somebody develops a quality mod that changes these hideous graphics.

 

[tcjsavannah]

I'm eagerly anticipating the "strip mall" mod.

 

[Jaroth]

Hmm... really?

Does anybody feel the same way?

I guess I'll have to try and create the graphics on my own.

 

[CultureIndustry]

I agree, they're so unsightly that I avoid building them. The idea of the cottage-town progression was very satisfying in civ IV. They wanted to remove the progressing gold improvement idea, ok, but settlement sounds nice, or perhaps just "town", with graphics that reflect diverse financial development on the hex.

 

[Pococurante]

I like them. But then I'm a rennie, you can never have too many faires...

 

[Onionsoilder]

I think they're good in some situations, but out of place in others. It is kind of cool seeing a trading post next to several plantations and mines, just outside of a city. Gives the feel of an actual marketplace. On the other hand, seeing miles upon miles of tents, with no other improvements around, just looks plain silly. Then again, seeing towns larger than the city working them was kind of silly in Civ IV, too.

 

[exorbit]

i build trading posts in forests , cuz otherwise it looks horrible :|

 

[charon2112]

have you ever seen a large market in a 3rd world country? It looks just like that, a bunch of tents. Later in the game they turn into regular buildings.

 

[Danei]

I think it's very strange to conceptualize them as trading posts in later eras. I think they should be called suburbs. My guess is the developers wanted to get as far away as possible from the idea of them being residential areas, because people would pine for the developing-over-time mechanic from Civ IV.

But personally, I don't care if they don't develop; I just think having "trading posts" all over my empire in 1994 is conceptually very silly.

 

[charon2112]

I think it's very strange to conceptualize them as trading posts in later eras. I think they should be called suburbs. My guess is the developers wanted to get as far away as possible from the idea of them being residential areas, because people would pine for the developing-over-time mechanic from Civ IV.

But personally, I don't care if they don't develop; I just think having "trading posts" all over my empire in 1994 is conceptually very silly.

they aren't suburbs though, they're market centers...places of business.

 

[Danei]

they aren't suburbs though, they're market centers...places of business.

All of the places like that near where I live are located in the suburbs. But yeah, they can call them whatever they want, but keeping the name "trading post" just seems awkward.

 

[AlpsStranger]

They are the single most grotesque tile graphic. It could be marginally worse if each one was a Big Butter Jesus wearing a marital aid for a hat... but only barely.

Keep them exactly the same gameplay wise, change the graphic, and call them "Towns". Fixed.

 

[Footen]

They should be renamed Town and have a make over like the TS suggested with a few huts and a campfire. Trading post in early days was the beginning of towns because people traveled there to trade their goods and they needed a place to sleep after a long travel so they put up buildings and it eventually grew into a town with permanent residents that lived from providing services to the travellers.

The ancient trading post in the game looks horrible with its circus tents and deep roads covering the tile. The modern one looks better but I still dont understand why they named it trading post instead of town.

 

[charon2112]

but I still dont understand why they named it trading post instead of town.

Because it's a trading post, not a town. It's a business place, that's why it generates gold.

 

[Songkok]

It is Balseraph from FFH!

 

[Danei]

Because it's a trading post, not a town. It's a business place, that's why it generates gold.

Then it shouldn't be plastered all over the countryside for miles around, because that's not even in the ballpark of realistic. Calling it a town would be just fine as far as I'm concerned. Towns/villages/suburbs or whatever else one can think of to call them have plenty of commerce in them. Certainly more than mines or farms.

 

[charon2112]

Then it shouldn't be plastered all over the countryside for miles around, because that's not even in the ballpark of realistic.

it's a bunch of tents, it's exactly what a primitive trading post would look like. you do know units and buildings aren't to scale, right?

 

[da_Vinci]

Maybe the name should be "zoned for retail"

dV

 

[Gatsby]

It is Balseraph from FFH!

Lol that's what I thought too!

 

[Danei]

it's a bunch of tents, it's exactly what a primitive trading post would look like. you do know units and buildings aren't to scale, right?

I don't have a problem with primitive trading posts. I have issues with trading posts in modern eras, because they don't make any sense. People don't huddle in city centers and then travel to outlying commercial centers where there are no permanent dwellings. People settle.

It would be leaps and bounds more realistic to call them towns or suburbs in later eras, and while realism should never come at the expense of gameplay, this is purely a flavor/cosmetic change.