The Great Ptolemaic-Carthaginian Desert Wars

[Shoebopp]

2.35a was supposed to introduce an invisible barrier between Kyrene and Lapqi. It's present when playing as Carthage or Ptolemaioi - the barrier forces the AI to travel 3 turns south to circumvent the barrier, which is too far for its decision maker script to consider doing. However, when playing as every other faction, the barrier is absent. Is there a special map.rwm hidden somewhere in the game files that loads only for the Carthage or Ptolemaioi player? Shouldn't it be available to all campaigns, in order to prevent the Great Desert Wars?

To reproduce: start a campaign as Carthage or Ptolemaioi, and have a character near the Cyrene-Lapqi border try to walk across. They will be forced to go South. Then, start a campaign as Epeiros and try to move your stranded diplomat in Carthage to Alexandreia. He'll be able to walk past the border.

[Roma_Victrix]

I didn't even know that this barrier was a thing, but thanks for bringing it to my attention! The Carthaginian-Ptolemaic wars are rather annoying and ahistorical. However, it at least provides a nice distraction for two large Mediterranean powers to leave you alone as you play a Western Greek faction or the SPQR Romani faction trying to expand slowly and carefully. Going to war with either of them early on in the game is enough to wreck your economy for a long time, until you snatch enough of their territories in a punitive measure. For that matter, I noticed that my economy was near ruined for a long time in my current Koinon Hellenon campaign until I finally punished the Seleucids enough by taking Antioch and completing the rim of the Eastern Mediterranean basin. After that my economy shot off into the stratosphere.

That being said, the barrier should still apply if you're playing as any other faction than the Carthaginians or Ptolemies. Consistency would be nice.

[QuintusSertorius]

That's...weird. Map features aren't faction-specific, I have literally no idea why it isn't working when both factions are AI-controlled.

[Floren d'Asteneuz]

Is it possible that the problem related isn't due to the faction but the fact that one try is made by an army and the other one by a diplomat ?

[Shoebopp]

I've set waypoints for both diplomats and armies as Epeiros, and both are able to cross the border without having to take a detour

[Shoebopp]

I've just started several new campaigns as other factions and the invisible barriers are present again. I'm not sure what was different this time

[QuintusSertorius]

The barrier does disappear when a faction builds a road in either province, but still can't explain your phenomenon.