Roads/paths and their role in the game

Hello everyone :)

I am well aware that there have been a number of threads about roads/paths and there functionality - or, more accurately, their lack thereof - but still, I feel a solid answer to the question is left wanting. Just as a very brief background, I have always loved The Settlers, played it on the Amiga since 1993 when it first came out, and more recently I still occasionally enjoy the odd game on a pc using an Amiga emulator, or the pc version itself. (Very rarely, I'll have a go with an actual Amiga, but sadly it is not so reliable in recent years.)

To my mind, easily more than 50% of the strategic involvement of the game was the path layouts/structures. When the game moved beyond full road usage (from The Settlers III onwards???) it really lost something which made it special. I would like to quickly address what appears to be a fairly common misconception:

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Arka507

i thought the point for paths was to make them travel faster.. i don't see the point in paths being used as decorative items... they are roads.. and road should have some utility to make our lives easier...

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Roads/paths would absolutely NOT make settlers travel faster. They would NOT make our lives easier. If anything, they would make the game very considerably more complex. But.. that's what the game needs, in order to retain the real spirit of the original (and The Settlers II). Being able to design an efficient road system, which allows the settlers/goods to flow freely to their destinations, whilst not getting in the way of farmers/foresters. Being able to massively disrupt an enemy's economy by preventing a vital path from being useable.

Maybe I just feel a bit mislead, as wikipedia describes this online version as being 'similar to the original game', when frankly it isn't :D the original was not about having things just for 'decorative' purposes - everything in the game had a purpose, with the beauty which followed being intrinsic to its very nature.

I know I am talking here about a very drastic change - every settler, every carrier, every building, every flag position would have to work autonomously, rather than every building just being able to just give X of whatever resource per Y time. So maybe it is just unrealistic in a browser game? But I ask, would they consider making an online version, like the original, even if it meant we had to download something first? I am sure many would be happy to do so, in order to play a proper online multiplayer version of something like the original, or The Settlers II. There seems to be evidence supporting this, both in this poll and also in the number of threads there have been about road functionality:

http://forum.thesettlersonline.com/t...6815-New-Roads

Hopefully this message makes sense :P can there be a clear answer - will proper road/path functionality (as in forced, where you have to do it all yourself) be included in this online game, or any forthcoming online versions? Or am I better off playing the old versions for a few more years, and hoping you change your minds later? :D

All the best,
Poppiee

I completely aggree, although this game has major features with original settlers, in truth it has not the same feeling at all.

I like this game a lot, dont misunderstand me, and have bought real life money gems, but its not the same character.

And the only actual difference, that seems small, but is not, is the movement of settlers. This i think makes all the difference in the game, because now buildings are not moving the materials between them to work, but instead they add for a certain travel time to the final production time.

Ok there is also the battle mechanics, and the battle itself, that has absolutely nothing the same,
the borders,
the building positioning...
It is the same idea, but a different game.

If all games were the same, life would be boring.

The settlers follow the shortest route between a workyard and storehouse so why not do the same with a path? That way the settlers will walk on the paths. Easy.

Agree - I loved the old game,where roads were needed to move goods around - ok graphics are better these days - but still :)