Roads / Ornamental Squares

[MaxMarble]

Hi all,

New to ANNO and the forum.

After playing a few games on easy settings to learn the basics, I won my independence, piled up some cash and started decorating my city. :rolleye: While laying down some ornamental squares that covered an open area surrounded by a road, I spotted a market delivery man leaving the road and scooting across the squares. I found this highly amusing, but it also appears to save a few steps.

Is this common knowledge for ANNO veterans? I'd like to think the delivery men were just smart, but evidently the squares have the same pathfinding values as roads. Do ANNO vets cover their open spaces with roads? I've now covered all my roads in my home city with ornamental squares. It looks better and I think the Aristo's are impressed. :biggrin:

Congrats to the developers for a superb game!

[Dobber]

Welcome to the forum, MaxMarble! :halloha:

Yes squares are made to walk upon, so only natural the cartman would use them! I cobble my dirt roads, cobbled or square paver roads provide faster transport!

[MaxMarble]

Good grief. Seems the obvious escaped me. :scratch:

Perhaps I've been spending too much time in the Strategic menu. I've started to take a closer look at my population roaming about. I *think* I saw some tots playing with hula-hoops.

Time for a cup of joe. :coffee:

Thanx for the welcome. :halloha:

[rags]

in 1602 I only used squares for paving my roads/upgrading from dirt. It cost the same as a road tile (1 brick), and had the same speed benefit for the carts. However, the real benefit lay in a bug which made the squares immune to volcanoe damage. So you could build with impunity around volcanoes as long as you used the squares for your roads, and had enough fire stations to put the fires out before the houses burned down. Sometimes they would have to put the same house out several times during a single eruption.

Anyway.

I tried paving just with squares in 1701, but it seems to me the squares movement speed for the cart, while a bit faster than dirt, is significantly slower than the normal cobblestone street. Does this change if you use the higher level squares ? Cause if not I see no reason to use them, cobblestone being faster and cheaper to build, other than for decorative purposes like with fountains and such.

[MaxMarble]

I tried paving just with squares in 1701, but it seems to me the squares movement speed for the cart, while a bit faster than dirt, is significantly slower than the normal cobblestone street. Does this change if you use the higher level squares ?

I'll have to check on the speed issue with various squares. I only paved everything with squares to impress the Aristo's. But, if they slow down the cartmen, I'll go back to cobblestone roads and expand my castle. :lol:
--
rags,

You're correct concerning the squares slowing down the cartmen. Doesn't matter which level is used, the cartmen slow down significantly..from a brisk trot to a lazy Aristo-like stroll. :eek:

I ripped out all my square/roads and put back the cobblestones. To placate the Aristo's, I took 2 Castle balconies, a Triumphal arch and an obelisk and built a small but royal attraction next to my castle. The Aristo's visited, but it was the AI who seemed most impressed. :cool:

Thanx for the tip.

[rags]

my pleasure.

Thats kind of crappy tho. I wonder if we could convince the dev team that the higher level/most expensive square should allow cart movement as fast as the cobblestone street.

I suppose you could use the squares at the intersections, just to get some benefit for your citizens and to save on building space without causing too big a slowdown.

[Dobber]

I think I just learned something perhaps! I never knew the squares had any effect on the Aristo's! I thought the only things that gave any benefit with their happiness had a message box that stated increases happiness level! :scratch:

[MaxMarble]

According to the ANNOpedia / Public Buildings / Ornamentals, things like ornamental squares do nothing (despite my desire) for the population. However, some but not all ornamental statues and fountains incur a maintenance fee.

It's a good thing hedges don't have maintenance fees. I just planted some extensive gardens. :rolleye: