luxury trading

[LWC]

New to the game here. I'm in the middle ages (just built Sistine Chapel) and am wondering why I don't have any luxury reserves to trade. I have access to wine, furs, iron, but notice that I don't have any in reserve to trade.

At what point in the game do you start trading luxuries with allies?

[Harovan]

You need:

- more than one of the luxury to trade (though it's possible to trade your only one)
- to build roads to each deposit
- to have a road from your capital to the other civ's capital; instead of a road both sides could have an harbor and a water connection reachable according your tech level.
- not to be in war or have an embargo against that civ (and vice versa)

That should do it.

[godinex]

Yeap.

[Arrian]

If you have extra resources/luxuries, but don't have the road/harbor connection, the diplomacy screen will show whatever extra luxuries or resources you have, but they will be grayed out.

For trade over coastal water, you need harbors on each side
For trade over sea, you need harbors + astronomy
For trade over ocean, you need harbors + navigation or magnetism

With the road connection, so long as you are at peace, roads through other people's territory count, so if you have a road to Zululand, and Zululand has roads connecting to Persian and Babylon, you can trade with all three empires.

-Arrian

[Bautou]

Also, if the resource/luxury is only greyed out on the diplomacy screen then it is possible to trade, only you need a valid trade route.

However, if the resource/luxury doesn't appear at all on the diplomacy screen then the AI ally either doesn't need your resource/luxury as it already has it (either has a source on its territory or has traded it from another civ), or, if its a strategic resource, doesn't have the necessary tech to be able to use it.

[LWC]

Thanks for the replies guys. I still am a little confused.
On my trade advisor screen, I see I have 3 or 4 fur icons. At one point in the game, I noticed I had 3 extra's in the trade screen with another country. But then, it disappeared? I don't have any extra's anymore.

I don't know what I'm doing wrong here.

It's one of my first games, and I'm actually more concerned about using my militaristic forces right now then trading, but I'm just curious.

[Willem]

Are you sure you were looking at your trade screen. Look at how many furs you have connected to roads. You don't need the Trade advisor to tell you that. You always use 1 for your own people, anything over that you can trade, provide you have a connecting road/harbour or airport.

[rayw69]

You aren't able to trade a luxury to a civ that already has that luxury. Say you were talking to the Persians and it showed that you had 3 extra furs to trade to them. A few turns later you talk to them again, and those 3 furs don't show up on your list. That just means they either found a source of furs, or are already trading with another civ for it. You still have the 3 extra furs. The Persians just don't want them anymore.

[Willem]

Originally posted by rayw69
You aren't able to trade a luxury to a civ that already has that luxury. Say you were talking to the Persians and it showed that you had 3 extra furs to trade to them. A few turns later you talk to them again, and those 3 furs don't show up on your list. That just means they either found a source of furs, or are already trading with another civ for it. You still have the 3 extra furs. The Persians just don't want them anymore.

Either that or all the people in their society became Environmentalists.