Fort building restrictions

[Rand alThor]

Well first off a howdy to everyone, I've used the forums plenty of times before to get answers, this is the first time I've had one to ask myself. So here it is...

I've had a pretty thorough search through the forums here and can't find any answer or previous question so I'm gonna ask it myself.

What are the restrictions on building forts?

This has been bothering me a long time but specifically, the region Maeotis (settlement; Tanais) is really irritating me. I can't seem to build a fort anywhere in this region although, once I cross the bridge in the west into Scythia it immediately becomes possible. I'm playing as Julii Romans. I have enough money and as I said the same general can build forts elsewhere.The terrain is listed as wilderness just like in Scythia where I can build one. Is there some way to change this, a text file I can edit? I tried looking for one but couldn't seem to find anything.

Any help appreciated.

[I of the Storm]

It's a bug. I suppose there has been a "flash flood" once in this province. This makes it impossible to construct anything in the field as well as effectively destroys any roads/paved roads/highways. You can still see them on the map but they have no effect anymore. Does you General have a limited movement range in that province? If not, then it might be that there is a strategic unit (spy/diplo/assassin) in an adjacent tile to your generals unit. They prevent field construction also which I consider to be a bug as well.

[Severous]

Interesting reply 'I of the Storm'. Hadnt realised a flood could do that.

You cant have anything next to your general. Its usually an invisible enemy spy.

[I of the Storm]

It is the case, unfortunately. It can literally put a hole in your limes.

[mightilyoats]

I have had the same problems with building towers in the southern most African region (can't remember the name now, but it is south of Carthage).

I was unable to build any towers in that whole region. And, the enemy spy can't follow me in my turn. I don't remember any floods there, but it might have happened before I got there.

[Rand alThor]

Yeah, now that you mention it Storm (is it cool if I abreviate to that?) all my units in the regions of Maeotis, Tribus Sarmatae to the north, and the Bosphorus to the soouth, seem to have greatly reduced movement... points. The surrounding area has been clear of other units and there's no spies as I've moved my general around tile by tile to check if I could build a fort (or a watchtower) anywhere with no success. There's no graphic evidence of a flood or any old watchtowers or forts in the area either.

So you reckon it's damage from a previous flood that has never been undone by the game? I guess it's asking too much that you know how to fix it? Makes managing rebels in these provinces really annoying but I don't want to use the reduce rebel frequency cheat cause I want the troop experience from smashing them.

Any one know if it's a text file attribute or is it something contained with the save game file?

[Celt Centurion]

Just some possibilities here.

While wilderness may be wilderness, another possibility is that the terrain needs to be a minimal amount level to build a fort. While one area may appear level from the campaign map, it may be too steep upon which to build a fort. Cross the border to the next territory, and there, perhaps the ground is level enough. We cannot really see how steep or level it is unless there is a settlement or fort there and we can view it on battle map mode. The only way we can view around a fort on battle map mode, is if it's actually attacked, and we sally forth. Without a fort, we can only see the surrounding terrain if we get into a battle there, but if there is nobody to do battle with, that option is off the table.

Another observation I've made is that in one turn, I cannot build a fort. The next turn, same place, I can.

Fickle isn't it?

Strength and Honor

Celt Centurion

[professorspatula]

I think the 'Flood stops you being able to build forts etc' issue is still prevalent in M2TW. Shocking if that's the case.

[I of the Storm]

Yeah, now that you mention it Storm (is it cool if I abreviate to that?) all my units in the regions of Maeotis, Tribus Sarmatae to the north, and the Bosphorus to the soouth, seem to have greatly reduced movement... points. The surrounding area has been clear of other units and there's no spies as I've moved my general around tile by tile to check if I could build a fort (or a watchtower) anywhere with no success. There's no graphic evidence of a flood or any old watchtowers or forts in the area either.

So you reckon it's damage from a previous flood that has never been undone by the game? I guess it's asking too much that you know how to fix it? Makes managing rebels in these provinces really annoying but I don't want to use the reduce rebel frequency cheat cause I want the troop experience from smashing them.

Any one know if it's a text file attribute or is it something contained with the save game file?

You may abbreviate me, that's okay. :)

So then I'm afraid that my first diagnosis was right. You have (or more precisely: the previous owner has) had a flood in this province and from that moment on, the province is, well, kinda spoiled. AFAIK it is impossible to fix. The only thing I can think of for future campaigns is playing a bit with the "frequency" value in descr_disasters.txt in the /world/map/base folder, although I haven't tried that myself yet.
I don't know about the savegame file though.

@Celt Centurion:
I don't think that terrain elevation has got something to do with it. Wherever a character can move you can build towers or forts. The only exceptions are being adjacent to a city or an already existent installation (port, another tower/fort) or - unfortunately - being in a province that has had a flood.

Edit: Although what you say, that one turn you couldn't build and the next turn you could, puzzles me. I will try to observe this (if I don't forget...). It might otherwise have been a spy next to you who has left the turn after.

[ciprianrusu]

It happened to me too. In the vast steppes, around Tanais(i think), and in one province in North Africa (Lepcis Magna is the name of the town in that province). Couldn't build neither fort nor watchtower, and i don't remember any floods in those regions.

[bugrit]

The problem in the Bosphorus is down to earlier flooding. It's a bug, insofar as things never return to normal after the flood, like you might reasonably expect.

Treacly movement anywhere on the map (notably due north of the Bosphorus n RTR:PE) can be attributable to the terrain being swampland.

[Caius]

Never heard of this bug, but It seems other bug CA wont never fix...

[varuna]

I managed to build fort there despite earlier flood event, in fact the primary reason I build fort there because the region is relatively flat and I need some base of operation for my Legion.

[Severous]

Since my previous post in this thread Ive had a flood and witnessed restricted movement.

Next turn (it was a saved and reloaded game at this point) the map had returned to normal. That was version V1.6 (BI from the Gold edition).

Still not had an occasion when I couldnt build a fort except due to being next to another unit, on a bridge or next to a city.