Roads incorrect

Story & Setting
#1

I just came across some “mocking” video of Gladiator (the movie), and it came to me with the same topic to KC - the roads and ways are completely incorrect.

The “double stripe”, as we know the country roads of today, is the result of cars and heavy machinery - thus it would not be possible in Middle Ages, as the majority of carts were dragged by single horse only. So the most trodden path would be in the middle, making it at best “triple-stripe” (middle for horse, sides for cart wheels).

Where no carts moved, it would be “single stripe”, its width depending on the usage of the road.

But, since the cart wheels would only make narrow stripes of grass-less lines, the most people would take the middle path anyway, making it even more grass-less.

Maybe this would be something worth paying attention to :wink:

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So about the road?
#2

I Agree that it is something that they should do proper.

1 Like
#3

Good point. Although it’s not so bad in the tech alpha, I haven’t noticed any clear grass strip in any paths. Carts pulled by oxen teams would also probably obliterate any center grass strip pretty fast. Here are some 17thC dutch paintings showing old dirt roads. No center strip! Though curiously, I just noticed there seem to be narrow footpaths along the sides of the main ‘road’. Maybe where people were walking to stay out of the way when carts were passing? Or from carts moving to the side to squeeze past one another?


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#4

Here’s the video if anyone want to see it:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5ds054OF7hY

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#6

Well he is in heaven lol. Maybe the roads are different there.

Could you link them i would love to see them :smiley:

#7

I don’t agree with that. I looked at the roads and you can see that the designers have definately thought about how the road is used and how it will look like. You can see footprints in the middle of the road on moist parts and there are small furrows aside that match the size of the handbarrows’ wheels in the village. So you can see that the farmer carried the barrow to the field and back again. In the middle shouldn’t be a stripe as people are much lighter than what they usually carry in the barrows. So everything is absolutely perfect in my opinion.

8 Likes
#8

I understand the argument the OP is making I just don’t see it being applicable to this game, I have many many hours logged on the alpha looking at everything and though there a few things that aren’t quite right the roads are one of the things that impressed me most (aside from not being able to splash in the puddles).

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#9

Make point also that the Dutch Republic was the most urbanized and advanced society back in European 17-th century. Which means you showed us extensive road usage and roads in Netherlands would have been definitely bigger and a lot more used than roads in some Bohemian villages circa 1400. My logic is that the roads in-game have to be some single cleared mud strip with occasional signs of cart usage.

#10

I would only ad to this that one can not compare horse with a cart. The cart wheels are narrow and carts were loaded with heavy stuff. This would mean it would make deeper marks in the roads as hoofs from a horse. I agree that part in the middle would be also trampled and worn but with no deep track. Here is a picture from a road worn by ages it is stone but you can see that mostly worn part is where the wheel was going.

#11

Check out pictures of the Oregon Trail.

http://whp.state.wy.us/images/historic/oregon.jpg

That’s through solid rock.

#12

COOL!!! i forgot people do a cross country thing on a wagon and they go passed my house sometimes. thankyou for reminding me of this memory!

#13

I’ve noticed some of the roads have grass in the middle of it, as if the road had been more ‘used’ on the sides, that is not accurate, since most wagons were pulled by animals the road should be more worn in the middle. This mistake is often present in many medieval period movies. I’ve linked a video supporting my claims and pointing out other aspects that might be useful.

This post is not to look smart, just to improve the gaming experience for all players and I am not 100% sure about any of this, and feel free to disclaim me if I’m wrong.

Please read this

#14

True — generally. It has been told to devs during the Kicstarter I think. But as you can see at this picture I take a month ago (just becouse I though that somebody could came with this :smile: ) you do not need car or second animal pulling wagon. People and animals will often choose parallel simply becouse of a paddle or a mud and so this grass stripes in the middle may appear.

Chodov.jpg1224×1632 2.31 MB

3 Likes
#15

What I love about this game is the attention to detail and quite faithful reproduction of European medieval settings but there is one aspect I think Warhorse (and the rest of you) have overlooked the roads Look at them again and think about who and what uses them?

Humans and horses! So what are there two separate tracks with untrodden grass down the centre like you would see in modern back country roads. You may think it is because of wagons just like cars but what powers the wagons? Horses (and oxen), and horses do not float above the ground like engines on cars. They pull them and walk in the centre so therefore the centre of the roads should be the most muddy and ground down part of the road and should not look like modern roads that cars use

Here is Lindybeige on the matter: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5ds054OF7hY

#16

That´s not correct in general, most carts are pulled by two (or four) oxen or horses…

I know this, because my grandparents worked with oxen on the field…(long ago) :grinning:

#17

Yes, but it looks different. You can se something like this in second painting Abinhof posted.
Grass strips in Kingdom come are ment to by made by carts which is incorrect, as people pointed out mani times. But developers refuse to correct it :grinning:.

#18

Don’t you think you might be putting the cart before the horse, as it were?

Lets not forget about grazing animals, they were herded along such roads and likely trampled all of them flat (and then some). Patches of grass in the middle of roads, like the one leading to the burned farmstead in the alpha are historically inaccurate. It is only a minor detracting detail, but it is an inaccuracy nonetheless.

1 Like
#19

I’d expect the roads to be deeply rutted if there was regular wagon or cart traffic on them. Especially if there were iron rimmed wagon wheels which cut ruts into solid rock, let alone dirt. I’d also think the edges of the roads wouldn’t be as manicured as they appear in the game. Could grass in the middle occur on more lightly traveled roads due to the extra fertilizer deposited there?

When/if rain storms become part of the game, a dirt road would become nearly impassable in the rain season with wagons sinking into the mire up to their axles.

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