The flattening tool is really annoying. It takes a long time and each time you use it, the land only approaches level by a little bit. It can take years to get a large place level enough to build on.
Instead of that, let us place the building and have the laborers level the building site as just another site preparation task, like clearing trees and rocks. As for roads, let us place them on any pathable terrain where laborers and wagons could climb without having any road there.
The flattening tool can still be used to manually smooth the terrain as desired.
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I’d second this with an asterisk: make it a togglable feature. I often pre-level terrain, particularly over things like deep deposits or close-by deposits that I know I will be using. I also like having to design roads around some of the slopes, and defintely wouldn’t want my workers tied up in leveling a mountain down to ground level by accident.
BUT, for things like needing 2-3 squares taken down a little for a Hunter’s Cabin or Barracks, it wouldn’t be the worst thing in the world to flatten minimally.
I guess I didn’t make myself clear about roads. They wouldn’t level the ground for roads at all, or at most level the side-to-side slope so it looks more like a real road. I meant we should be able to place a road on any pathable terrain (basically, anywhere a villager or wagon can go) without getting the “road too steep” error.
I’m not sure a toggle is necessary, the flattening tool can stay. If you pre-level the terrain manually, when you place a building there the laborers will find there’s no leveling required like any other flat area.
When you place a building and immediately uncheck “Construction Enabled” the laborers still prep the site. With my idea you can place the deep mine early, with construction disabled, and not only will the site be cleared but also automatically levelled. It’s all ready and waiting for you to check “Construction Enabled” to finish it when you need it.
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