Are trade routes something we will be able to visually see and tamper with?  I love your games alot but the invisilble trading in your past games was always a downer.  I like seeing trade carts moving around and also the option to attack them. 

Yeah, I also think that visualization is the key to producing an immersive 4X game.

Perhaps something akin to the trade routes in Civ 6, except after the road construction you can see people just travelling along these roads just like we can see people wandering the cities?

It would nice if trade happened automatically according to what your empire doesn't have. Every 4X has you making trade routes manually and this make sense as a gameplay balance. But trade generally isn't directed controlled by the ruler, no one waits for permission from the king to trade, it just happens. Even when the ruler bans it, it usually happens anyway (black market). It would be cool if trade happened automatically with all cities/empires you are in contact with, and the more resources/technologies the city has that your empire doesn't have, the more congested the trade route. Trade routes can pass through other empires/cities on land, unless that empire embargoes you, or places ships to blockade along your sea routes. Players might even hire "privateers" or mercenaries/pirates, or neutral "barbarians"/"city states" can raid your routes. It would nice for trade to happen automatically, of course, because it would simulate trade tensions, as empires in the middle of a trade route (think silk road) get rich off trade, and empires that lack certain resources their people really want will bleed tax revenue and be desperate to steal technology/take control of trade routes/conquer other nations that have those resources (think opium wars). The players has a few choices, of course, he can ban trade with a rival power, but this may be ineffective, as trade will redirect from a third power instead, and trade is generally win-win, even if the other player wins more. The player can try to find something to balance the trade deficit, by having/taking a resource/technology the other player wants or stealing a tech with a spy (like the story of Byzantine monks with silk). The player might attack and take a city producing that resource, or maybe have a diplomatic option to force the other empire to sell at a lower price, or buy something they don't want from you at a higher price. It's important that this happens automatically so the player can't just cancel a trade route to ignore trade pressure. There will always be a reason for players to think about conquering/diplomacy with other empires. The longer the player waits, the more the treasury bleeds as tax revenue (growth maybe?) goes down from people buying the resource/technology that you don't have. I guess in real life trade deficits are much more complicated than just a reduction in tax revenue/growth, but this produces a real incentive to steal/conquer/colonize valuable resources/or research tech you can sell in the game.

I think trade routes must be automated and length and count of output routes must be depended on city population or richness. They must get richer and more populated cities that they go through, so it will simulate growth of trade hubs

I like the idea of some kind of basic income generated automatically once routes are established between cities, but I also like the idea of a physical presence that can be manipulated in the form of planning routes & blockading them.

I also like the idea of tradeable resources only being accessible diplomatically while connections are established with other player's cities. It would force you to pay more attention to your neighbors and proactively maintain relations in order to keep your routes safe, while also adding more individual value to cities.

Of course trade routes murt be a bit controllable (embargo, blocade, raiding), and sometimes they may be forced (as "project invested by government") but basically they must be natural.

Hi everyone! First Post here.

With that said, i'd like to be able to have my Traders escorted by Guards. Screw being naive & giving Pirates, Brigands, Highway Robbers, Enemy Civs, etc. free goodies.

Hmm, escort of trade routes can be government (may be for free for merchants) and commerce (for payment by merchants). It can be realised as "more dangerous - need more garrison in outpost/city on trade route to make it stronger and more profitable".

Pacific wrote:

It would nice if trade happened automatically according to what your empire doesn't have. Every 4X has you making trade routes manually and this make sense as a gameplay balance. But trade generally isn't directed controlled by the ruler, no one waits for permission from the king to trade, it just happens. Even when the ruler bans it, it usually happens anyway (black market). It would be cool if trade happened automatically with all cities/empires you are in contact with, and the more resources/technologies the city has that your empire doesn't have, the more congested the trade route. Trade routes can pass through other empires/cities on land, unless that empire embargoes you, or places ships to blockade along your sea routes. Players might even hire "privateers" or mercenaries/pirates, or neutral "barbarians"/"city states" can raid your routes. It would nice for trade to happen automatically, of course, because it would simulate trade tensions, as empires in the middle of a trade route (think silk road) get rich off trade, and empires that lack certain resources their people really want will bleed tax revenue and be desperate to steal technology/take control of trade routes/conquer other nations that have those resources (think opium wars). The players has a few choices, of course, he can ban trade with a rival power, but this may be ineffective, as trade will redirect from a third power instead, and trade is generally win-win, even if the other player wins more. The player can try to find something to balance the trade deficit, by having/taking a resource/technology the other player wants or stealing a tech with a spy (like the story of Byzantine monks with silk). The player might attack and take a city producing that resource, or maybe have a diplomatic option to force the other empire to sell at a lower price, or buy something they don't want from you at a higher price. It's important that this happens automatically so the player can't just cancel a trade route to ignore trade pressure. There will always be a reason for players to think about conquering/diplomacy with other empires. The longer the player waits, the more the treasury bleeds as tax revenue (growth maybe?) goes down from people buying the resource/technology that you don't have. I guess in real life trade deficits are much more complicated than just a reduction in tax revenue/growth, but this produces a real incentive to steal/conquer/colonize valuable resources/or research tech you can sell in the game.

I agree with everything in this ^^^ :)

Trade has been so incredibly important to civilizations throughout history, but no civ game has really captured the importance of trade in relation to where a civilization spawns.