Too many resources on map and they don't even speed up production

N4m3l3ss · Nov 16, 2013

Hi everyone!

I enjoy this mod because it's the Alpha Centauri idea combined with the powerful Civ4 engine.

There are a few things that need a little tweaking in my opinion. The randomly generated maps are way too generous with resources. I can't find any way to set this to more reasonable levels.

I've played mostly on Tiny maps by the way.

I have added three screenshots. Here you can see the common example where resources are simply too abundant. (try opening the link in a new tab if the image doesn't display properly)

Spoiler :

Here you can see more extreme examples I run into, say, 4 times on a Tiny map.

Spoiler :

Just look at it - 4 rare tropical DNAs right at the start of the game and a clusterf--- of other resources. This would be a great idea in terms of trade if rare tropical DNA would only be found on one/two places on the entire map, but in most cases, half the factions have this resource and the other half has nothing to give anyways.

If resources were reasonably scarce, trade would be more lively. Also, there would be less incentive to spam the entire map full of bases, land and sea, which ends some of the fun with wildlife.

Now, onto part 2...

N4m3l3ss · Nov 16, 2013

...Furthermore, the resources themselves need some tweaking. In vanilla Civ4, strategic resources were necessary in order to build almost half the units. Otherwise, they sped up some of the production.

In Planetfall, there is still none of that and I think this takes away part of the strategic element of the game.

My suggestion is - have more strategic resources that at least double production of certain buildings and units. For example, rare DNA could speed up biology labs, thorium should have sped up production of the nuclear reactor, etc. The game sure needs resources like aluminum and titanium for resources to have more effect on the production of units.

And finally, some of the resources are not very serious as concepts. I like it how the mod has resources like thorium and iridium, as well as stuff like longevity vaccine and Manifold Nexus. Also including Terran Fauna the way it is - it's almost genius!

However, hydrothermal vents seem more like terrain features that give bonuses, like an oasis. They don't appear to be resources that you can spread throughout your civilization. Might as well have fresh water lakes as resources.

Oil wasn't supposed to be found lying around on the map to begin with, as stated in the Synthetic Fossil Fuel technology.

Grenade fruit sounds like the creator was running out of ideas.

White algae, brown algae, red algae - well come on, it's algae! Just steal a sample from your rival and grow it in your local swimming pool. I understand that organisms like the coffee plant can only grow effectively in narrow climates, but algae is a whole different matter. Anyone interested in this can google how Spirulina is grown in real life.

Pholus mugaten - according to the mod description, it's just a gene. Well, if you can mass produce genites, through conscription no less, how hard can it be for every damn faction to just copy the thing. In real life, it's quite easy to accidentally copy some of Monsanto's genetically engineered crop genes (and get sued for it if you live in the US).

My suggestion - keep it real. Add the aluminum and titanium, subtract the hydrothermal vent. Careful not to add any coal. You get the idea.

Thank you for your attention!

Daedwartin · Nov 20, 2013

most your issues have the issue that your complain about a mod that hasn't seen a update in months, FYI.

however, bigger maps have less resource crowding.

also, the production rate is rather fine if you think it through.

Vanila civ4? those cities existed for thousands of years. on a planet that was habitable, wasn't actively targeting humans for extinction, most the wildlife generally left us alone, and most foods we eat can be grown.

Chiron? you crash land on it. you have at the start some livestock, grains, scrap metal and whatever you can find.

3-5 centuries later your running a faction which could be nearly complete with a Dyson Sphere, based on the ascent to transcendence victory text.

aka you barely on the Kardashev Scale(and that a maybe), and are a near borderline Type II by the end possibly.

Earth is currently a 0.72 on the Kardashev Scale, to give you an idea.

Type II in 3-5 centuries. when humanity has had thousands of years to get to Type 0.72. over which most the time we didn't even rate on it

cooldude1128 · Mar 7, 2015

N4m3l3ss said:
...Furthermore, the resources themselves need some tweaking. In vanilla Civ4, strategic resources were necessary in order to build almost half the units. Otherwise, they sped up some of the production.

In Planetfall, there is still none of that and I think this takes away part of the strategic element of the game.

My suggestion is - have more strategic resources that at least double production of certain buildings and units. For example, rare DNA could speed up biology labs, thorium should have sped up production of the nuclear reactor, etc. The game sure needs resources like aluminum and titanium for resources to have more effect on the production of units.

And finally, some of the resources are not very serious as concepts. I like it how the mod has resources like thorium and iridium, as well as stuff like longevity vaccine and Manifold Nexus. Also including Terran Fauna the way it is - it's almost genius!

However, hydrothermal vents seem more like terrain features that give bonuses, like an oasis. They don't appear to be resources that you can spread throughout your civilization. Might as well have fresh water lakes as resources.

Oil wasn't supposed to be found lying around on the map to begin with, as stated in the Synthetic Fossil Fuel technology.

Grenade fruit sounds like the creator was running out of ideas.

White algae, brown algae, red algae - well come on, it's algae! Just steal a sample from your rival and grow it in your local swimming pool. I understand that organisms like the coffee plant can only grow effectively in narrow climates, but algae is a whole different matter. Anyone interested in this can google how Spirulina is grown in real life.

Pholus mugaten - according to the mod description, it's just a gene. Well, if you can mass produce genites, through conscription no less, how hard can it be for every damn faction to just copy the thing. In real life, it's quite easy to accidentally copy some of Monsanto's genetically engineered crop genes (and get sued for it if you live in the US).

My suggestion - keep it real. Add the aluminum and titanium, subtract the hydrothermal vent. Careful not to add any coal. You get the idea.

Thank you for your attention!

This is really silly of me as I'm responding to a post that's several months old.

However, most of these seem to be lore issues, ones that were also present inside the original Alpha Centauri.

By the time of planetfall, most resources can easily be identified inside Planet and extracted. I assume. Otherwise, they're likely fabricated out of plastics, synthetic materials, stocks brought from the Unity before more sophisticated systems could be set up or more mines built, etc. The plastics would explain why early-game units are so weak compared to minor advancements (e.g. Industrial techs)

The resources boosting production speed does sound interesting however, and I'd like that to be added were this mod not long since dead.

Hydrothermal vents provide an attraction for sea life, algae, and maybe certain kinds of rock, I'd assume.

Really? Thought oil fit in fairly well. (pun intended)

Grenade fruits came straight from Alpha Centauri. Take it up with their biologists.

I always assumed the algae were like the cocoa plants in this regard; they only grow well in very specific circumstances. As far as this goes though, answer me this: Why, in Civilization 4, can you trade Pigs for Wheat but not be able to plant your own wheat afterwards?

The Pholus Mutagen, again, also came from the original Alpha Centauri. I think the inability to be replicated came from the fact that Planetmind itself created it, and it was so impossibly complex or had some key component that couldn't be created manually.

Aluminum and Titanium are represented by the mineral boost resource. Actually, most minerals are, I guess. They're like the blue crystals in Starcraft, and are blue to boot as well :rolleyes:

Though honestly most of these answers are handwaves, but they work unless somebody decides they're not enough for some reason.

Ari Rahikkala · Mar 8, 2015

The lack of oil on Planet is part of the lore, yeah. Some of the quotes make a pretty big deal out of how Planet's ecosystem is managed and has minimal waste, which would imply that you don't get the sort of deposition of massive amounts of algae that leads to oil. I... used to dislike Planetfall having oil resources (as well as methane ice, for that matter), but I've come around on it: It's also a big part of the story that Planet, with its cycle of killing off most life on its surface every so often, is not exactly a perfect gardener. All that carbon has got to go *somewhere*. So maybe it's not that unlikely that you'd end up with some oil deposits in hard-to-get-to places.

Hydrothermal vents are also a slightly odd resource, but not completely unjustifiable, as they could be great sources of minerals. They definitely should only appear underwater, though.

Maniac · Mar 11, 2015

The idea is that Planet's ecosystem prevents MOST oil production, but it doesn't prevent it a full 100%. So the oil resources represent the very few caches still found on Planet. It's not enough to base your economy on though, which is why Oil's a luxury resource. I imagine cutlery, plates etc made from REAL OIL plastic could be seen as valuable for instance.

Pfeffersack · Mar 14, 2015

Maniac said:
The idea is that Planet's ecosystem prevents MOST oil production, but it doesn't prevent it a full 100%. So the oil resources represent the very few caches still found on Planet. It's not enough to base your economy on though, which is why Oil's a luxury resource. I imagine cutlery, plates etc made from REAL OIL plastic could be seen as valuable for instance.

Nice to see you still dropping by here from time to time

Too many resources on map and they don't even speed up production

N4m3l3ss

Chieftain

N4m3l3ss

Chieftain

Daedwartin

Emperor

cooldude1128

Prince

Ari Rahikkala

Chieftain

Maniac

Apolyton Sage

Pfeffersack

Deity

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