No.250341473
>fantasy setting has magic and flying creatures
>still using horses as main transportation
No.250341651
>>250341473 (OP) #
>setting has nuclear energy
>still using coal as main energy source
this post was submitted on 29 Mar 2024
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There's a lot of hidden costs and infrastructure needed for magical flying beasts. Not to mention limited capacity. Little can compete with the horse drawn cart when it comes to capacity for price though.
Boats beat out horse drawn carts by an insane amount.
It’s why trade hubs and major cities were practically always on a major river and/or in a favourable location for a port.
Yep, not having a bunch of your trade going to feeding and caring for your horses makes a huge difference.
Boats can also move much more than a horse and cart. More than a pair of bullock even
Someone's never owned a boat.
There are 3 idioms that come to mind.
A boat is a hole in the water you pour money into.
A boat owner is only happy twice. When they buy a boat, and when they sell it.
"You don't want to buy a boat. What you want is a friend with a boat!"
A boat for personal use and a boat for trade use are two very different things.
For trading, boats have always been better in regards to the amount of stuff you can carry, even back before sails were invented. Also, unlike roads, water doesn't need maintenance, it just needs to be at a high enough level that the boat won't crash into rocks or whatever.
My main point was that boats aren't free to run. They require constant maintenance and care to remain viable. If you're going to include the maintenance and running costs of a horse team, then you need to also include the equivalent for boats.
Don't get me wrong, when you have a waterway, boats still win, by a large margin. Hence why Europe has so many canals etc.