Global Warming and Pollution

So you lose 10 points for every square on the map that is polluted.
And if you keep 9 or more squares polluted for many consecutive turns, then global warming occurs.
Simple, right?

Well, apparently not.

I can say this based on my current experience in the Lalande 21185 world. Right now, I'm only being docked 40 points for pollution (or in Sci-fi lingo, Bio-Chaos) yet I know that on Nona, I can physically see 12 polluted squares. I had a huge fire-sale of all my Mass Transits (Produlcifators [sic] in Lalande) and Solar Plants (Gravitic Generators in Lalande) 2 turns ago in an attempt to intentionally cause Global Warming (Gaia Reaction or BIO-CRASH in Lalande).

At the start of my current turn, I had a 100-point Pollution penalty although there were over 20 polluted squares and the Global Warming indicator for Nona. However, after cleaning up two polluted squares, the Global Warming icon for Nona disappeared (even though there were still physically 20 polluted squares at the time, all on Nona and all within my cities' limits)!

Now, there are only 12 polluted squares on Nona. Among them are 8 squares that have been polluted for 2 consecutive turns.

(For MOST Civ2ers, this is great news. However, for my purposes, this is an annoyance. All this is happening with Civ2: Test of Time patched to version 1.1.)

What causes this erratic behavior in tallying pollution and global warming?

Why did you want to cause global warming?

Valka D'Ur said:

Why did you want to cause global warming?

Click to expand...

This should answer your question.

And yes, you can count me as one of the Eidolists.

It seems as if the game's Bio-Chaos counter is, in itself, polluted with Bio-Chaos! Again, I am running Civ2TOT patched to version 1.1.

(So much for controlling Bio-Chaos to 10 squares to cause a Gaia Reaction/BIO-CRASH!)

At one point, I knew that there were at least 50 squares of Bio-Chaos on Nona, yet I was getting only a (-120) penalty for it.

After cleaning up something like 8 squares of Bio-Chaos, saving, closing Civ2TOT, doing something else, then loading up that saved game on Civ2TOT again, I found that I was getting a (10) for Bio-Chaos. In other words, I was getting a 10-point BONUS for Bio-Chaos!

So it seems as if the Bio-Chaos count changes wildly whenever:

1. A square of Bio-Chaos is cleaned up.
2. The game is saved, then reloaded later after moving a few units without saving.

If there is less than 20 Bio-Chaos (still needs further testing -- I once had (-180) with still no Gaia reaction warning sign on Nona and only 2 Bio-Chaos squares outside of Nona), the Gaia reaction alert meter either disappears or does not seem to change.

As of this day, I intend to NOT clean up BIO-CHAOS until a Gaia reaction occurs.

Okay, I have played a few turns, making new save files at the start and end of every turn since I had made the decision not to clean up any Bio-Chaos during any turn until a Gaia reaction/BIO-CRASH occurred.

At the start of PE 1479, I had a (-440) penalty for Bio-Chaos. I had had a steady Level 1 (blue) BIO-CRASH warning indicator for Nona for 3 turns. I was saving my progress religiously while terraforming some Storm squares in case my finger had slipped and botched up an Environeer-charging operation. I had also been religiously checking out my Bio-Chaos penalty using the F9 key after every successful terraform and newly built land improvement. New land improvements and land terraforming do not seem to change the Bio-Chaos tally reported by the game.

However, I DID mess up when charging a group of Environeers: I accidentally de-activated the Environeer that had the most charges. Therefore, I re-loaded my most recently saved game at PE 1479 (using Ctrl-L) and noticed that my Bio-Chaos penalty had jumped from (-440) to (-880)! Furthermore, Level 1 BIO-CRASH warning indicators were showing up for Orbit and Naumachia (although Orbit had NEVER experienced Bio-Chaos during my game and Naumachia had had a maximum of 2 Bio-Chaos squares during any given turn.) I thought that "Hey! The game must finally be getting its count right! Good!" I saved (using the same file) and played on.

I must have been sleepy that night as I again deactivated the wrong Environeer. So I loaded up my last saved game (again using Ctrl-L), and now the Bio-Chaos penalty was at (-1320). Sure, it was indeed another huge jump, but I DID believe that at this point, I really did have that much Bio-Chaos on Nona, so I saved and played on.



Thus, in PE 1479 alone, the Bio-Chaos penalty had jumped from (-440) to (-1320), simply by re-loading saved games. I continued playing and hawkishly watching my Bio-Chaos indicator until PE 1481. By then, I was incurring a (-1500) penalty for Bio-Chaos, but the more alarming find was that not only had Nona's BIO-CRASH warning indicator been "upgraded" to Level 2 (green) BIO-CRASH warning indicator, but also the BIO-CRASH indicators for both Orbit and Naumachia were showing at Level 2 as well, all while never having any more than 2 Bio-Chaos squares during the same turn!!

At this point, I had decided to make an experimental branched saved game file and build Produlcificators and Gravitic Generators ASAP in all Nonan cities and in my newest cities on Naumachia, set all other cities' production orders to (Gene Census) and hit Ctrl-N for 20 turns or until a BIO-CRASH occurred:

The BIO-CRASH indicator changed to Level 3 (yellow) for all of Nona, Naumachia, AND Orbit by PE 1485. AT PE 1489, it had changed to Level 4 (Red), again for all three maps. At PE 1493, the BIO-CRASH finally occurred -- for ALL of Nona, Naumachia, and Orbit!!! I saved this game to a new file for future reference.



I decided to try another experiment -- I would re-load the PE 1481 save showing (-1500) penalty for Bio-Chaos, painstakingly clean up all Bio-Chaos on Nona (Yes, by then, I had THAT many Environeers !), build Produlcificators and Gravitic Generators ASAP in all Nonan cities and in my newest cities on Naumachia, set all other cities' production orders to (Gene Census) and hit Ctrl-N for 20 turns or until a BIO-CRASH occurred:

1. After cleaning up ALL the Bio-Chaos, the BIO-CRASH warning indicator for Nona had disappeared, but the BIO-CHAOS indicators for both Orbit and Naumachia were still Level 2 (green). Also, my Bio-Chaos penalty was surprisingly showing (-300)! I checked and double-checked every map for Bio-Chaos but found none.

2. I decided to continue with the experiment by setting all production accordingly and hit Ctrl-N at the start of every turn.

3. The Bio-Chaos indicators for Naumachia AND Orbit still changed colors at the aforementioned times and both maps still experienced a BIO-CRASH at PE 1493!

So, it seems as if the Bio-Chaos counter had been thrown so far out of whack that there are now PERMANENTLY invisible, uncleanable squares of Bio-Chaos on both Orbit and Naumachia! At this realization, I shut down my computer in disgust!



After a while, I had decided on a new plan: I would resume my game from the end of that PE 1478 turn just before the Bio-Chaos count rose rapidly due to re-loading saved games. (Yeah, it royally sucks to have to re-play those last two turns!) I would continue to monitor the game's Bio-Chaos count and regularly save... however, every time I must re-load a saved game, I shall now quit Civ2TOT completely, then run Civ2TOT again using Windows Explorer and load my saved game from the opening menu.

This plan is currently in progress. Stay tuned...

I am continuing to save regularly, and exit the program, then run it again from Windows Explorer everytime I need to re-load a saved game due to sloppy finger/mousework.

I currently have a (-1170) Bio-Chaos penalty in 1487 PE. I have a yellow BIOCRASH indicator (Level 3) on Nona ONLY .

On top of that, I am continuing to terraform multiple Storm squares on Nona to Metallic Hydrogen-Current squares. (I have a city named 'Katrina' that rests on 11 former Storm squares.) All progress toward my ultimate goal of inducing a BIO-CRASH (global warming) to benefit a world in my actual game is going very nicely... only 6 turns until the (first) great Gaia Reaction of Nona is set to occur!

There was a choppy moment in 1485 PE in which I'd been having a Biochaos penalty fluctuating from (-1000) to (-1030) until I exitted the program (accidentally moved a Melior over an unworked Crystal Forest instead of an Environeer), restarted from Windows Explorer, then saw only a (-910) penalty for Bio-Chaos. I quit the program 10 minutes later because I had to leave the house. When I returned to the Lalande universe about 10 hours later, I was now being penalized (-1100) in 1485 PE (the same turn and no Bio-Chaos cleanup). From this point, I created an experimental branched save with the (-1100) Bio-Chaos penalty in which I would try to clean up all the Bio-Chaos. After plenty of de-Bio-Chaosing (is that even a word? ) but well before all of it was cleaned up, I had found that I was now receiving a (10) Bio-Chaos BONUS! I'd estimate that at that point, there were still 20-30 Bio-Chaos squares left on Nona.



On a side note, for any who might have been wondering about my moniker, my username IMBC2 originates from my experiences in a Fallout community forum. I had been using the name "I Must Be Crazy 2" because I'd had a tendency to try to play the game in strange, unconventional ways. When I had started posting here, I'd decided that my username involved too much typing, so I shortened it... IMBC2 (I Must Be Crazy 2wo [sic])

Greetings, and Happy Thanksgiving, to all Civ2ers!

Here are some results of my Bio-Chaos experiment. The year is P.E. 1499. One Gaia reaction has already occurred in P.E. 1493. Currently, there are 87+ squares of Bio-Chaos on the planet Nona. I do not know when I shall clean it all up, for discovering Eidolon is so much fun . These are some statistics for 3 of my Nonan cities:

City: Karn
Population: 23
Food Production: 137
Population potential: 91
Eidolon squares: 8
Former Storm squares**: 0

City: Sentilla 6
Population: 26
Food Production: 81
Population potential*: 66
Eidolon squares: 5
Former Storm squares**: 3

City: Katrina
Population: 19
Food Production: 106
Population potential*: 72
Eidolon squares: 6
Former Storm squares**: 6

* Assumes that none of the Former Storm squares will ever change into Eidolon squares
** Now Metallic Hydrogen squares with a Current


The Eidolon squares were created by:

1. Finding Storm squares and painstakingly expending 80 Environeer turns to transform each one into a Metallic Hydrogen square with a current running over it -- however, according to the Civilopedia, the effects of transforming a Storm square is listed as "N/A".

2. Selling Produlcificators and Gravitic Generators in every city in Nona to induce creation of numerous Bio-Chaos (pollution) squares.

3. Re-building all Produlcificators and Gravitic Generators in all Nonan towns after 100 Bio-Chaos squares (or -1000 Bio-Chaos penalty) have accrued.

4. Promptly cleaning Bio-Chaos from any new Eidolon square.

5. Double-irrigating said Eidolon squares for a total of 18 food (when the city has the Harvester improvement).

Keep in mind that any Metallic Hydrogen square or Solid Hydrogen square (especially those with neighboring Gas squares) might mutate into an Eidolon square as a result of a Gaia Reaction (Global Warming). (To correct myself, Levianthana squares do NOT ever mutate into Eidolon squares due to Gaia Reactions. They could, however, be transformed into Metallic Hydrogen-Current squares at 40 Environeer turns per square.)

Now, it's on to my next Lalande experiment: removing ALL untraversible tiles in all of my cities in the Lalande universe.

PE 1511:
PLANET-WIDE BIO-CRASH! ALL LIFE FORMS IN MUTATIONAL CHAOS!
WIDESPREAD SPONTANEOUS GENERATION! FARMERS KILLED BY CROPS!

Since the first Great Gaia Reaction on Nona in 1493, many of the Leviathana squares that had previously been Ancient Hall squares in 1492, had been "transformed" to Metallic Hydrogen-Current squares. Almost all such transformed squares have mutated into Eidolon squares in 1511. Also, 2 of the "Former Storm Squares" in Katrina have become Eidolon as well as more of those "Former Storm Squares" that now occupy some of my other Nonan cities.

Also, it seems as if Gasbag squares can also mutate into Eidolon squares during a Gaia reaction. So far, the following squares are capable of mutating into Eidolon squares after a Gaia reaction:

Solid Hydrogen
Metallic Hydrogen
Gasbag

Of course, not EVERY such square on the Nonan map in 1510 had mutated into Eidolon during the Gaia Reaction of 1511. I am not sure of exactly what determines if such "potentially mutatable" squares (this includes Ancient Hall squares that can change into Leviathana) will mutate at all during a Gaia reaction. Interestingly enough, the number of "ocean squares" ("gas squares") surrounding such squares seems to play a major factor. All new Eidolon squares that I have noticed seem to have at least 3 "Gas squares" surrounding it (out of 8 possible surrounding tiles). It seems as if any "mutatable square" surrounded by 6-7 "gas squares" (such as most Ancient Hall squares) is all but guaranteed to mutate during a Gaia Reaction. I have yet to witness a totally inland Eidolon square.

The next Gaia Reaction (assuming zero or minor cleanup of Bio-Chaos on Nona) is set to occur in 1529. At this time, I am not entirely sure when or if I'll reach this point, as terraforming Spikes and Impalers on Naumachia and Leviathana on Nona is a lot of work!

Given that one good Gaia Reaction on Nona would take an investment of at least 18 turns (remember that one must create the Bio-Chaos first) and that terraforming one Storm square into a potential Eidolon square takes 80 Environeers to pull off, I wonder if this truly is a practical strategy in a Lalande GOTM. After all, if a nation is powerful enough to convert 3 Storm squares to Metallic Hydrogen-Current (240 Environeers) in one turn, wouldn't that nation have been powerful enough to conquer the Lalande universe many years (many Turns) ago????

Do you have any screenshots of this? I'd like to see what it looks like before I try anything remotely as strange...

(still can't get over the idea that you actually want pollution... )

I'm confused! Invisible pollution? Did you try to tell your "engineers" to "go" to the pollution? In the fantasy game, if you tell your dwarfs(engineers) to "go" someplace, the listing of city names will tell where there's pollution. Did the invisible pollution show up on the city screens?

"So, it seems as if the Bio-Chaos counter had been thrown so far out of whack that there are now PERMANENTLY invisible, uncleanable squares of Bio-Chaos on both Orbit and Naumachia! At this realization, I shut down my computer in disgust! " from 13 May 2009 in this thread.
jonel

Since you stated in the other thread that Eidolon corresponds to swamp on Lalande, would it not correspond to the fact that global warming causes "swamps" to appear on Lalande. It seems that Global warming on Nona would produce the same corresponding terrain results. I was just checking and Eidolon corresponds to the "The Willies" terrain.