Caravans Carrying Suggestions

Also if pathfinding is seemless IE I don't have a choice.  The game does a bunch of extra calculations in the back.  All I see is a random change in speed for each transaction.  It also means that having special vans IE mtn vans are pointless because you have no idea what terrain they will be going over.  Point being, its a bunch of extra stuff the devs would have to work on and it would make the game more processor intensive and I as the player really wouldn't see much happening.  

Lol I remember the problems pretty well.  It was resources and T? pretty much helped me there.  Then the next problem was it took 50 1 month  players to take on 1 5 month player.  

Although with trade 2 and the addition of cotters, now new players should be able to make a bundle of gold pretty quick.  Then they can buy res, adv res ect.  

If you could have the option to add more caravans this would be nice... If implemented in a non-finicky way.

Caravans serve a very important purpose in this game. They deliver resources between towns, gather resources, are used for buying and selling products etc... But the main point in their favor is that they are realistic. If we look at a lot of other games (Take WoW for example) we can see that resources are traded in a very different way. Soylent Corp puts 10 soylent green on the market for 1,000 gold each. Detective Thorn pays 10,000 gold and the 10 soylent green are magically transported straight to him. Now if Detective Thorn wanted to travel to where the soylent green came from, it would take him a long time. Yet the food is transported to him instantly. 
Caravans are much more realistic. Product has to be transported physically over time to where it is going. I like this. However, I believe there is room for a lot more realism than this. Currently Caravans move at a set speed. x squares an hour. This does not take anything else into consideration. I would like to see that changed.
I think when a caravan is full it travels at 100% it's speed. If it is empty, however, it should travel at 150% it's speed. That alone would be enough for me, but it could be expanded further. If a caravan was 50% full it would get half of the speed boost and travel at 125% it's speed. Basically for every 10% of free space on the caravan it travels 5% faster. This is more realistic I think. If my caravan is empty it should be lighter and easier to travel. If it is full it would be weighed down. 
Another thing I think could be changed to make caravans more realistic involves terrain. Currently when I send a caravan to some point, the caravan travels in a straight line over the terrain to get there at the same set constant speed. I would love to see a change in that as well. This one would no doubt be more complicated, but I think worthwhile to add realism to both caravans and the world as a whole. 
If caravans instead traveled along a path of blocks to get to their destination, one block at a time, then terrain could be factored in. If my caravan can travel at 20 blocks an hour than that is a block every 3 minutes. Every 3 minutes it moves on to the adjacent block in the proper direction. If that block is impassable, the caravan has to go around it. Other terrain would effect movement as well. A mountain might, for instance, take 10% longer to cross. So when my caravan lands on the mountain block the timer for it to move to the next one starts. 3 minutes +10%. So it will take my caravan 3 minutes and 18 seconds to move on to the next block. Different terrains effect caravans differently. Plains might even give a +10% bonus to caravan movement. When a caravan is sent off, it will first plot a course, automatically choosing the pathway that will take the least amount of time, so the player does not have try to do that manually.
Another small map change that might be interesting to consider, is a way to build roads. Or perhaps have them placed about the map. These would be easier than other terrain to move around on perhaps even giving a bonus to movement speed as well.  
Finally my last travelling caravan suggestion involves water. I think a normal caravan should not be able to cross water. Just like an impassable terrain. This would limit the transport of goods across the land and really make where you are, who is close to you, and what kind of terrain is around you, much more important to consider. 

Caravan Types

If anyone has actually managed to read this far down, then they are probably concerned the inability of caravans to cross water that I mentioned above. Fear not! There is a method to my madness and a solution to the problems I present. I think there should be different types of caravans. These could be just a couple of different types or possibly as many as a dozen. I will present my ideas for these below and let the masses decide which ones they like.

1. Basic Caravans- These are the most basic caravans. They carry the smallest amount, move the slowest, and also are the cheapest to make. 

2. Advanced Caravans- These are a better version of the same old caravan. They carry more, move a bit faster, and are also more expensive to make. In addition, they have upgrades that basic caravans don't have. 
a. You could research a small speed increase over specific terrain types. 
b. You could research how to carry more of specific resources. (300 anything or 400 wood)

c. You could research how to make them more cost effective.

3. Boats- These are just like basic caravans with just a couple exceptions. They can ONLY travel over water, are crafted primarily with wood, and move pretty darn fast. Having a caravan type like this requires a couple of small changes to the world as well. Mainly there would need to be the ability to build cities on coastal tiles. These cities would be the only ones that could send boats out and bring boats in. More on boats later in the Player City Trading Hubs portion of my suggestion wall of text. They could also have similar extra research options like shown with Advanced Caravans.

4. Airships- These are the most expensive and hardest to make type of caravan, but have a great pay-off. They can travel over anything at a constant speed. Terrain does not effect them, even Impassable terrain. They can go over land and water. They carry a decently large amount and move fairly fast. (Faster than caravans, slower than boats)

5. Terrain Specific Caravans- These could be crafted with a specialty for a specific set of terrain. For example, Camel Caravans travel better over desert, rocks, etc... They get a +% bonus to speed when traveling over those terrains but a -% penalty when traveling over the wrong terrain. If you reside in an area mostly filled with one kind of terrain then these would be beneficial, otherwise not. 

6. Armored Caravans- These caravans are defended from attack and theft. They are slower than normal caravans and are more costly, but are a safer way to get your goods where you need them to go. These caravans would probably require an expansion to how combat works so that this would be a viable benefit for a caravan. 

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7. Small Caravans - These are smaller caravans that go quicker. They can't hold as much as a normal caravan, but they go faster and so are useful for speedy needs. Maybe an emergency care package, maybe for transporting resources back and forth between your towns, etc... Not good if you want to send bulk quantities of resources.

8. Huge Caravans - Exactly the opposite of Small Caravans. They can carry a ton of stuff but they move relatively slow. Slower than normal caravans. Maybe useful for transporting stuff to hubs or making huge transactions that aren't terribly time dependent. 
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There are some small issues I have with the way caravan research is done at the moment. The main thing is that you need to research to have more caravans, but caravan speed is increased through the marketplace. I feel these should be switched. If we look at it from a realistic point, if I want more caravans, I just need to have a place to put them and build them. Expanding my marketplace would reasonably imply that I am making it bigger. I would not reasonably research how to make a technology I have made before. I know how to do it. However, making that technology better, including trying to make it faster, would probably require research. I propose that increasing the size of your market lets you have +2 caravans. If you start with the capacity for 5 caravans, then at a level 20 market you have 45 caravans. Additionally when you get your marketplace to Level 20, you can research a caravan garage that gets added onto your marketplace giving you even more caravans, say up to 70 total which I believe is the current limit.
The research tree then gets several research projects that increase the speed of your caravans, possibly caravan type specific. First research increases speed 5%, the next one an additional 10% and then what have you from there. 
Finally research changes could be made that fit the creation of different caravan types as mentioned above.  

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I notice that there are some missing schools of magic. I am not sure what is planned for those. No doubt there is another thread that discusses that and I apologize if I am saying something that has been said here. I think it would be cool if there were some magic spells that didn't effect things only from a city wide perspective. For instance, maybe there could be some spells that do things similar to some of the prestige benefits, but on a smaller scale. For example, a spell that increases the speed of all active caravans. Or a spell that increases the skill you workers have in harvesting. Perhaps there could be a spell that temporarily makes a caravan behave differently. Like if some of my suggestions for different types of caravans are taken, then a spell could make a caravan levitate for a while and be able to go over any terrain. Or get a good terrain boost. Things like that. 
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This is a bit more complex of a suggestion, but I believe it is a great one. I mentioned earlier that boats would be able to travel on water only and would require a city built on the coast. Well what about all the other players who aren't on the coast? This change is with them in mind. Let's say I have a city called Toffeus Harbor that is on a coast tile of a river. You are much further inland but want to send resources somewhere on the other side of the river. Well I know how valuable it is for you to be able to cross the water so I am able to turn on a feature in my city that activates it as a trading hub city. Now when your caravan is plotting a path across the river, instead of having to go all the way around it, it has the option to travel to my city instead. Then your caravans and  goods are loaded up on my boats and continue along the path over the river to some other players trade hub city on the opposite coast. Your caravans are able to unload and continue on their way and my boats return to me. Each hub city got a small fee paid to them and everyone is happy.
When you are choosing to send caravans you can check on or off an option to use player trade hubs or not so that you won't get stuck using them. 
In addition any city can be used this way. Even ones inland. So for instance maybe a player has airships and so since they move faster and over impassable terrain, it may be quicker for you to load your caravans onto their airships and pay them the fee for that usage.
I believe this idea creates a more realistic world feel and an inter-connectivity between players. It isn't just about goods, it's about services, and why you need me and how I can help you, even if we are not directly the ones doing business.

The last and final suggestion for caravans I have (for now at least) is a bit more eclectic and complicated. I think there is an unfortunately a wasteful trend with caravan trade. If me and mini-me decide to trade resources, he sends a caravan to me with a bunch of gold, while I send a caravan to him with, let's say, a bunch of wood. We both have caravans traveling for one transaction when really one transaction would do. I propose instead that whoever is selling the goods sends out caravans. Those caravans arrive at the place they are going and loads up on the payment. I have reasons for thinking this way.
1. Buyers are more likely to be people in need. They may be well enough off usually, but at least some of them really need the resources. This allows them to buy as much as they want because they won't be limited to their caravans.
2. Sellers are people who are more likely to be better off than buyers. They are more likely to have the caravans to spare and the ones with the quicker caravans. Also it is sort of like pizza. I order pizza, the seller delivers it to me, and I pay him. I don't set off to the store to leave my money while the delivery guy places pizza on my doorstep. 
And the last part of this idea is a recurring option for caravan orders. I make my normal orders. Send so many supplies to such and such a city, but now I can check an extra option to make it repeat. Now my caravan travels where I sent it, comes back, and leaves again. If this is between two different players they both have to agree before the order is started. This could then be cancelled at anytime either player wishes. 


In conclusion, I have a lot of ideas, and when taken together I think they would be fantastic for this game. They were considered by me as a whole so although I would love any part of it to be taken it may need to be adjusted somewhat to work in a solo capacity. I hope you all like them and please leave criticism, comments, or praise as you wish. Finally I hope they were good suggestions and I hope you devs like them.