Underground Railroad
From AgeofWiki
This tutorial is a step-by-step walkthrough to make an Underground Trade Route or Railroad, using elevations, in AOE III with The Asian Dynasties Expansion.
Using the Editor's cave entrance props and cave terrains can create a dim, underground atmosphere, but there are precious few terrain props indeed which let units pass beneath them, and NONE which let units walk on top AND beneath them.
To get around this, you can prop large buildings and terrain objects on top of elevated pillars to make a "roof". While most buildings have an impassable "footprint", some do not: some Nature props, some Wonders, and Rice Paddies cover a nice large area, can be supported by one pillar, and permit units to pass freely under all or part of their "footprint". You can make a near-seamless hamlet of fields, parks, and Wonders overlying a hidden but fully traversible cave.
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Underground Railroad - The Basics
The Underground Cave should go in a hilly area, with cliffs on either side of a potential Trade Route. Pick a part of the map where the Trade Route will pass obliquely on the mini-map. Ideally you want to orient the Cave so people will want to pass units through it, but not where the Trade Route will interfere with building and expansion.
The cave openings should be oriented so that players can see what's going on a fair distance inside. Choose lighting and orient your cliff-walls accordingly. A good guideline is you should be able to see at least the first 1/4 of the Cave without rotating the map. Additionally, you should be able to tell what types of units are inside if you can only see their silhouettes. A shorter Cave with a high roof is best for these considerations.
Lastly, remember units passing underneath can (and will) attack units and buildings overhead, and vice versa. Putting a Fort in your canopy village is the fastest way to ruin the illusion of a hidden, secret cave, as units sneaking past will be fired at from directly above. To protect your cave traffic, use only buildings and props without an attack, or that are considered Neutral at all times (PROP Big Prop New England for instance).
Building the Cave
For this exercise, you need to have View>View Terrain Grid and Terrain Grid Minor Tickings on.
Place your Trade Route first, such that the part you want to go through a Cave runs obliquely (a 45-degree angle to due "north") to aid in visibility.
Use Cliff Tool to create cliffs on each side of the Trade Route. Give your Trade Route enough room so that you can put a row of 5x5square buildings over the Route without putting a pillar in the actual Route.
Raise several pillars alongside the Trade Route and cliffs, to the same elevation as the Cliffs. Ideally they will be 1 small square apart at the bases. Do not place any pillars directly in the Trade Route track.
Watch the Trade Travois go by to verify that the Trade Route does not detour up and over any pillars.
Paint the pillars with the cave terrain of your choice. Blackmap works well. Cave terrains, Patagonia dirt, and Bayou dirt work well for the floor. You can also turn the pillars into cliff-pillars using a dark, stony cliff type: Patagonia and Cave both work well. Those pillars closest to the opening need more cosmetic attention than the ones deeper inside the cave. When you're done, cap each pillar with a 1x1 SPC Path Block so units inside the Cave don't march up your pillars and bob up over the rice stalks.
Go over the flanking cliffs with the Cliff Tool to repair any cliff gaps. This will keep surface units from "disappearing" into the cave from above.
Pillar height should be the same height as the top of the Cave Entrance Props. Place Cave Entrance props at either end, then match the pillar height to the top of the Props so your canopy will blend with the Props.
Building the Town
Place buildings and props you will need to the side, by the cliffs. Position them over the pillars as shown. Orient them so they mesh with their neighbors seamlessly. Use a variety of buildings, rice paddies, and terrain objects in different orientations to create a plausible village. It will tend to appear cluttered; if this is excessive, consider merging one or more pillars along the sides, and painting them with a compatible terrain; leave this area uncovered so it appears to be an empty field or lawn. You can place additional units and props on pillars to show villagers and animals at "work" in the village. Remember that villagers on top of pillars cannot work Rice Paddies or Mango Groves.
Seal cracks with additional Prop Underbrush Jungle moss mats or Mango Groves.
Placing the Trade Sockets and Trading Posts
Place Socket Trade Route: Place Trade Sockets along the Route. Put a couple out in the open, and a couple near or overlooking the cave. Make sure the Sockets are close enough to the Route to fit a Trading Post on and still get XP. Leave a bit of room in your overhead village so Explorers can reach and build on Trade Sockets located inside the edges of your Canopy Town. Don't place any Sockets inside the Cave, or perched on pillars overhead - players won't be able to task their Explorer to build on them!
Test your Underground Railroad in the Editor. Make sure you can:
- reach all sockets with your explorer(s)
- build on each socket
- accumulate XP from each socket
- research upgrades
- that the socket appearance and Trade Route vehicles are appropriate to the map type, e.g. Asian maps vs. New World maps.
If they're not, go back into the Editor and set the Map Type (World>Map Type) to the one most appropriate for your scenario.
Bringing It All Together
Cliffs: Pick a cliff type that matches the dry scrub-texture of the Cave Entrance Prop. If using snowy Cave Entrances, pick a rocky snow cliff type like Himalayas or Rockies.
Lighting: Check your lighting again. Make sure cave entrances are visible and it's obvious to the players that units can pass through.
Make sure that the canopy of your Cave is high enough to avoid telltale steam plumes from the Locomotive to peek through the canopy.
Practical Considerations: Test the scenario in the editor on Sandbox to look for buildings and units that attack each other. Often functional errors won't be apparent until you actually test it in a test-game. Testing at each step, and looking for potential problems before placing extensive terrain props, will help you fine-tune your Cave so it's realistic, attractive, and functional.
For more unique ideas about underground tunnels and caves, see How to Make a Covered Cave and Underground Pools and Streams.
