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[i2amroy]

its not really all that reasonable to expect caravans to magically show up in location A but invaders to politely show up anywhere but A.  What youre asking for wouldn't make any more sense in real life than it does in DF.

If you want to protect the caravan, then make one point of entry, and fill it with weapon traps.  And/or use the method described earlier of building walls every 3rd block all aorund the map, to let invaders in everywhere but the caravan in only one place (feels awfully lame and unrealistic and cheaty, though)

You don't need to build them all of the way around the edge of the map, simply build them along the edge of the road leading from the trade depot. If you build a road from the trade depot out to the edge of the map, and then build enough walls next to the edges of the road that the only way that a wagon can get onto the road is from the edge of the map, then the wagons will spawn at that location. Sieges, on the other hand, will then spawn anywhere they please along the edge of the map since they won't be confined by the road edges.
Like so:

Code: [Select]

XXXXXXX
XTradeX
XDepotX
XX___XX
  ___
  ___
 X___X
  ___
  ___
 X___X
  ___
Map Edge

[Loud Whispers]

Caravans gonna caravan. I don't see what's the problem here, you're a tired merchant who wants to end your journey A.S.A.P, I would take the shortest route I saw.

[caddybear]

Shortest way to Armok, I guess.

[Rallan]

thats bs.

You're looking at it all wrong. Roads aren't about transport, they're a vital weapon in the War On Trees.

[Saiko Kila]

I never build roads (they are not needed for anything and clunky) but instead build floors and bridges, and the main route is underground. Works well for me when I need caravans to enter at specific points. The problem with caravans is that there are still merchants without wagons, and they usually make most mess - when returning home. Every time at least one of them wants to go through siege lines, and it is impossible to reroute him. After being scared by enemies he still returns to that point (which is usually nowhere the original point of entry), despite all the other paths and edges clear and open. And the trade counters update only after the last merchant left, even if he has no load on his pack animal. Since a merchant with pack animal can enter/leave the same way the enemies come, it is rather impossible to automatically police traffic for all members of caravan.

[Garath]

My map is heavily forrested. I didn't bother with roads but made floors to the closest map edge, because my depot was inaccessible due to trees and it was too much bother to cut trees every time it got blocked again.

SDR, can you please stop crying that the game doesn't do what you want it to do? The only reference I got that roads were really needed to get wagons in the caravan was in boatmurdered which didn't have a z-axis yet. So yes, they'll use any way to get into your fort that they can find. They don't travel faster over floors/roads, so what do they care. If that is not the way you want them to come, you need to do more to make em take the right way. It's not their fault you leave them multiple options. So either do something about it or let it happen and stop complaining about the fact that you can't make them appear where you want them to.

[gestahl]

A road doesn't mean "Trade Depot this way", it's just a quicker and cheaper way of keeping the grass and trees down. If you want wagons to spawn at X, then that needs to be the only set of map edge tiles with a 3 wide path to the depot. Same for lone merchants, but with a one tile path.  Diplomats will still show up wherever they please, usually in an attempt to prove that armok has a cousin named murphy.

As for getting your walls out to the edge, either long skinny raising drawbridges, ice casting in freezing areas, or I guess obsidian casting...but if you're flooding the world with magma f the traders.

[tommy521]

if you're flooding the world with magma f the traders.

amen

[SRD]

I never build roads (they are not needed for anything and clunky) but instead build floors and bridges, and the main route is underground. Works well for me when I need caravans to enter at specific points. The problem with caravans is that there are still merchants without wagons, and they usually make most mess - when returning home. Every time at least one of them wants to go through siege lines, and it is impossible to reroute him. After being scared by enemies he still returns to that point (which is usually nowhere the original point of entry), despite all the other paths and edges clear and open. And the trade counters update only after the last merchant left, even if he has no load on his pack animal. Since a merchant with pack animal can enter/leave the same way the enemies come, it is rather impossible to automatically police traffic for all members of caravan.

needed for king.

[GhostDwemer]

Roads aren't needed to get the monarch anymore.

I always line my roads with statues every three tiles, so caravans only have one possible route from the map edge to my depot.

[SRD]

Ugh I keep thinking of 40d-2010

[Bilanthri]

I suspect that the caravans will not follow traffic area designations but I like to use them to make sure my dwarves use the roads whenever possible. Roads are what you make of them, and carefully organized traffic areas do a lot to keep those hairy, little dirt-dwellers in line.