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[ShadeJS]

This should be a simple one

As stated in the title: traders, waggons and other friendly and somewhat smart NPCs should internally view all roads on a map as having the 'high' traffic designation. You wouldn't even need to do anything with the spawn points, it should naturally just cause them to path to the road and follow that in...

The suggestion may help a bit with defence planning, but it's mostly cosmetic... Most of all, it should be relatively simple to implement. NPCs shouldn't know your traffic designations (IMHO), but they should be able to go, "Hey, that's a road. Let's take the fracking road.".

[Silverionmox]

I think the roads should vanish altogether, since we have multiple-square floors now.

Traders should indeed slake a breath of relief when they see a flat, hardened surface to drive their wagons on.

[sweitx]

I think the roads should vanish altogether, since we have multiple-square floors now.

Traders should indeed slake a breath of relief when they see a flat, hardened surface to drive their wagons on.

Two problems.
1. It takes a lot more material to make multi-square floors.  Since floor is assumed to need to be able to support some weight without a foundation (you can have floor outcrops, but not road).
2. You can't build constructions (like floors) to the edge of the map, you can build roads.

However, I would really love it if caravan and any friendly unit will prioritize spawning on the road.  I have lost a crap load of liason and diplomat to ambushes when they spawn on the opposite end of the fortress main entrance (I have channel out enough ground to force caravan to spawn only where I want).

[Mechanoid]

Floors can be built to the edge of the map. the only error you get is when you expand the floor area to the point where it goes out of the map bounds. WALLS are what cannot be built near the map edge.

[Silverionmox]

Are you seriously complaining about a lack of stone ?
If you look at Roman roads, they take a lot more material than just tiling (gravel, sand, foundation, edges and finally the top). Material requirements for constructions will need te be put in the raws sooner or later.

[ShadeJS]

The best reasons for keeping floors and roads separate are:
a) They are separate things. More differentiated than say bars and grates.
b) If you made them high traffic zones (Dragging things back on topic) it would differentiate their purpose.

Personally, I wouldn't worry about spawning on roads unless the 'local' map has a world spanning road, and / or until you can build world spanning roads. Just having them view that 3 wide local map spanning road that weaves through some good defencive positions as the sane place to head for and follow would be a huge first step.

[Appelgren]

Replacing roads with floors feels gamey and flavorless. Let's keep roads. And I think the high traffic suggestion is good.

[LegoLord]

Are you seriously complaining about a lack of stone ?
If you look at Roman roads, they take a lot more material than just tiling (gravel, sand, foundation, edges and finally the top). Material requirements for constructions will need te be put in the raws sooner or later.

Not everyone had access to Roman road building, and I like the idea of a road paved in gold.  Having roads separate from constructions helps with that.

[Silverionmox]

Well, let's agree to disagree then. I dislike road for their construction method, their lack of functional difference with tiles and the way they're displayed. Roads are just a hardenend surface that people agree to use for traffic, so a combination of a floor and a traffic designation.

The automatic high traffic for merchants is good, even though it should work on all hardened surfaces.

[RavingManiac]

As mentioned earlier, there is a difference between paving terrain and building a floor over open space.

Besides, a 'road' made completely out of floors requires a lot more trouble, especially considering that it will likely be built a great distance from the fort, and that each individual tile requires a stone that has to be hauled all the way there.

[Silverionmox]

A road square should require less stone than a tiled floor, which should require less stone than a floor that needs to carry weight, which should require less stone than a wall, which should require less stone than is mined out of a square, of course. For that we'll need to wait to edit the raws so we can change the amount of stone a square yields, and different constructions require. Not that a lack of stone will be problematic until then. And you can have several masons tiling, while a road only has a single dwarf working on it.

A proper road will still need layers of stabilizing material (gravel, sand) in addition to the upper paving - which should take as much material as tiling the same surface. Not to mention that drainage ditches, and poles hewn into the ground were ordinary complements for roads in Roman times, well within the reach of dwarven ability.

[Sphalerite]

Ideally, wagons (and other creatures) should also travel faster when on roads or floors than when traveling on dirt.  Would make sense and give a reason for making roads across high-traffic outdoor paths.

[Bricks]

I'd tentatively agree.  Roads annoy me for a number of reasons.  Architects always seem too busy to stare at a bit of ground for a few seconds.  The road tile looks far too much like water - perhaps obvious when playing, but totally distracting in screenshots.  And, of course, the horrible, horrible flashiness when anything is dropped on the road, which furthers the water confusion.  If this gets fixed, I'm fine with roads being high-traffic zones, distinct from floors.  Though floors on solid ground still need a material reduction, near the cost of a similarly-sized road.

[Drake1500]

I like this idea. It does make sense, after all.

Ideally, wagons (and other creatures) should also travel faster when on roads or floors than when traveling on dirt.  Would make sense and give a reason for making roads across high-traffic outdoor paths.

Roads already have a purpose: they cause trees/bushes to NOT grow on those squares, resulting in them growing on other squares, thus saving yourself some trees/bushes. Thus, this gives roads even MORE purpose! 

[Nesoo]

I agree with the idea; it would also help to further distinguish roads from floors.

The road tile looks far too much like water

Use blocks (which makes more sense than using rough stone anyway, IMO) and this problem goes away.