coarse mantle
Clarity regarding settlement connections is definitely my #1 priority going forward.
Even using the TCS Tooltip mod, things often do not make sense. Each time, I left asking, "Is this a bug? Or is this a rule?" And I am never certain.
For example, current game, a town with resources improved was able to send those resources to other settlements at the end of Antiquity. But not at the start of Exploration. TCS tooltip says it is connected to a city, and there is a road directly to a city. My guess this is a bug, resulting from changing my capital, but who knows?
This is not an isolated incident. Usually, I can build a merchant, send it to the city in question, ask it to build a road, and then look at the offered targets. But typically, it makes no sense which settlements are offered as targets, and which ones are not.
Documentation of this system is just about non-existent, and there is no clarity at all about the distinction between "connected to the trade network" so as to be able to send and receive resources, and "connected to a particular city" for the purpose of sending food.
This is not a peripheral matter, it is central to the game!