[BTS] Why is my colony not connected to my trade network?

[Simon Appleton]

I am playing a Terra map and my colony in the New World is not connected to my trade network. (Nor is the other New World colony of a rival power). What do I need to be connected?

I have astronomy of course (that's how I got to the New World). At first I thought it was because my colony was Mercantilist but I persuaded them to switch to free trade but it still did not allow trade. There's no blockading or anything going on. Some of my colonies settlements are on the coast and their resources have routes.

I've played Civ4 quite a lot over the years, including recently, but I am baffled by this. I created the New World settlements to get access to the resources next to them, but liberating the colony has frustrated that (the settlements were costing a lot of maintainence).

Thanks for any advice!

 

[lymond]

It sounds like you are referring to the resources. Is their capital inland? Is it connected to one of their coastal cities.

Merc would not be the issue. In fact you still get vassal”s trade routes in Merc.

A save would help

 

[dankok8]

Could it be you're at war and the cities are blockaded or maybe there are Privateers?

 

[Simon Appleton]

Yes, I was referring to not being able to trade resources with my colony. It was peace and no privateers. After some years, the problem has gone away. I can't get the forum file upload feature to work - I can choose a file but no option other than close.

The colony capitol was inland and was not connected to one of their coastal cities. Now I can trade, I notice the capitol has become connected. So I infer from what Lymond said that was the problem.

Thanks for the quick help - still learning about this game after 15 years!

 

[crullerdonut]

To trade resources with another civilization, the following must be true:
1. the resource must be unlocked with the appropriate improvement, a Fort, or a City settled on top: CHECK
2. the resource must be connected to a trade network with a road/railroad: CHECK (for the most part)
3. that trade network must extend to the target civilization's capital: FAIL except in the case of the resources immediately surrounding the Newcastle
4. your capital, via your trade network, must be connected to the target civilization's capital: FAIL

In this case, because the trade network must cross seas, the most critical point of failure is the lack of connection between Newcastle and the sea. This can be remedied by building a coastal Fort (with a road/railroad on it) and connecting that to Newcastle. This is because Forts act as coastal cities for the purposes of trade: imagine that trade goes along roads (or rivers) to the Fort, and then invisible ships disembark to your own coastal cities.

 

[Simon Appleton]

Thanks Crullerdonut - uploading the save worked without my realizing it had; thanks for looking at the save. Good tip about the forts acting as coastal cities for trade networks. This game has so much depth, I keep coming back to it.

 

[Orion Pax]

One of the tricky things I find I have to watch for is resource trades with AI early on. Barbs often disrupt those more distant networks and it is easy to miss. A galley blockade, a barb city blocking the coast. But you'll simply get the notification "[AI] won't trade [resource]." Which is the same notice for all non-trades, so it can be a bit confusing: Do they not like me all of a sudden? Were they cajoled into stopping trading, etc.? Often it's barbs, especially if you can't see the trade pathway.