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[shadowclasper]

Well, I noticed how long it was taking the traders to get back and forth in the VERY mountainous area I'd decided to settle... so I thought, "HEY! What if I carve trade routes THROUGH the mountain itself? A few z-levels above my main fortress, I'll lay down some ramps and roads from there and make sure the two main paths are connected! That should do it right?"

Do roads actually DO anything? Like are Traders more likely to travel along roads than not? Or is it simply to make sure there's ALWAYS a path? so trees and such don't grow up along them? And was this plan smart Or should I just wall up the paths mined through the mountain?

[bluea]

The decisionmaking of traders/diplomats/etc seems to go like this:

Code: [Select]

"Is this edge accessible?" (If No, skip to end.)
"Pick a new random spot." (If we've looked everywhere, skip to end.)
"Can I appear there?" (If no, go back to picking a new spot.)
"End: Appear and move towards fort."

So: If your road is the best spot to appear, they'll appear there more frequently. (You can actually make other spots-to-appear into bad spots too.) Wagons also slow down going uphill - so cutting passes should make them faster at covering ground.

But you want to be careful that your 'passes' don't make it so a 3x3 wagon can't appear anywhere.

[Quietust]

Caravans will always try to appear at a wagon-accessible location, even if they don't have wagons. Thus, if you make sure that only one location on the map edge is wagon-accessible, they will always appear at that spot. Statues tend to work well for blocking movement along the way, and raised drawbridges can be used for the last 5 tiles to the map edge.

The main purpose of roads is preventing trees from growing and blocking the path; thus, they are only useful in wooded areas - in any other location, they are purely ornamental (i.e. they look nice, and they increase the architectural value of your fort). Roads themselves do not influence where caravans will enter the map (unlike the old 2D versions where they were actually required in order to get wagons), though building one through a forest and allowing the trees to grow unhindered can ensure that any other paths eventually get blocked off.

[Skorpion]

Roads are also important for cosmetics; if a brook tile has been altered by constructions, a rough microcline road blends in nicely.
And rough olivine roads make vomit invisible. (Of course, then you're walking along vomit-coloured roads.)

[Ziusudra]

Roads will also remove wagon blocking boulders, though those can be smoothed.

Roads add value, as well.

[Quietust]

Er, roads will not remove boulders - if you try to build a road on top of a boulder, it'll just result in a large hole in the middle of the road.

[Ziusudra]

Oops, guess it's been too long since I built a road.

[Niveras]

Caravans will always try to appear at a wagon-accessible location, even if they don't have wagons. Thus, if you make sure that only one location on the map edge is wagon-accessible, they will always appear at that spot. Statues tend to work well for blocking movement along the way, and raised drawbridges can be used for the last 5 tiles to the map edge.

Do sieges/ambushers follow this logic as well? Or will they continue to spawn in various random locations, rather than preferring locations that are wagon-agreeable (and probably spawning on top of a caravan to boot)?

[darkflagrance]

Actually, another important criteria for caravans is that they pick locations that can access the depot.

So, it's enough to isolate a small area on one side of the map and fortify it heavily while ensuring that the caravan must enter at that spot to get to the depot via channels, raised bridges, and so on. I have a fort where the caravan appears without fail at a particular edge and then goes into my depot a few tiles away. Very, very easy to defend.

Invaders, however, just appeared anywhere.

[shadowclasper]

I'm going to try this, with an underground road. But before I can I got to figure out how to mine out that LAST row of stone and such... not having much success right now... since it won't let me mine the edgemost row of dirt/stone.

[Quietust]

It is impossible to mine out the edge of the map - thus, if you want to make an underground road, you'll have to dig (or build) ramps up to the surface at the very end.

[shadowclasper]

damn... oh well...