Place trade route

From AgeofWiki

Some basic properties of the Trade Route let you integrate a Route into the strategic fabric of your scenario.

The Trade Route is placed using waypoints in the order of trade travel. This is important if you want certain historical accuracy (e.g. Pony Express) or if it is important for one post/settlement to receive XP before another.

Placing a Trade Route levels the terrain elevation along its length to a local mean elevation. This can create gullies and ridges along which the Route will travel; these changes can be used to dramatic effect. You may go back and edit or smooth these elevation changes without altering the Trade Route course on the map. A Trade Route interrupted by a cliff may still function, but any sockets on the cliff top may not be accessible to players.

Trade Routes may be placed underwater. However, in order to make use of the Trade Route in a game, trade post sockets must still be placed on land where they can be built upon. They must still be close to the Trade Route itself. One possible use of this is in a narrow river with posts on the banks. Be sure to test your scenario to make sure you can in fact build on the sockets, and they do generate XP. A river with such a Trade Route at the bottom is still navigable, fishable, and may still accommodate small Gaia terrain props.

Editing the terrain type over a section of the map crossed by a Trade Route will sometimes erase the trade travois traveling along it. This is not a functional change. When you test the scenario, the trade travois will appear at the start of your Trade Route as customary.

Buildings and some Gaia objects can't be built or placed directly onto Trade Routes; however, they can be moved there. A common use for this trick is to position a gate across a Trade Route. Keep in mind that as the Trade Route is upgraded to Stagecoach and Locomotive, the effect may change.