3 square cities

[Steelshark]

Hi,
Im sorry I have to post that question right here, but my search-fu is weak and I could'nt find anything suitable.

Is there any way to change the city radius so that 3 squares (rings) are worked instead of only two?

I know there was a "3square" mod, and Fall from Heaven has a Wonder that enables a third Ring.

Can anyone help.
I'd also take it in the form of a building that adds the 3rd Ring.

br,
Steel

 

[Civ Fuehrer]

So you post your question in the RoM thread? I think you might find better answers if you post your question there then try to do the same for your games.

 

[DRJ]

I guess it's a more or less subtle way to tell Zap to integrate it into ROM... ;-)

 

[tdb]

This requires changes in the DLL. I asked about integrating it earlier, and Zap said he's not immediately interested in it, but if one of the DLL projects he's looking at includes it and is otherwise suitable, it will get into RoM.

You might want to check Mylon's Enhanced City Sizes mod, which I think was one of the first to include this feature, and has little else, thus being ideal for learning from.

 

[Terrance888]

I would like 3 ring cities! Then we can have 1 ring 'Outposts' made by sacraficing a worker and gold. NO MORE USELESS CITIES!

 

[Steelshark]

What i try to accomplish using 3-ring cities is a bit mor of a "zoomed in" feeling, especially on the very big maps.

Its extremely frustrating to start as Roman Civ on the hige world map, and not be able to use all italy... for example. Also Cities could be placed a bit more flexible, since "wasting" 1-2 squares would'nt matter that much. Plus Cities always looked a bit to much huddled together with only 2 rings, and that goes double for the AI who places cities only 3 squares away.

The 1 Ring Outposts sound fantastic. Often I'd like that for those pesky 1 tile islands.
Maybe it could be based somewhat off the "fort". Like giving forts a culture radius of 1 (and a low number of culture to prevent using them as city capturers).

br,
Steel

 

[DRJ]

The 1 Ring Outposts sound fantastic. Often I'd like that for those pesky 1 tile islands.
Maybe it could be based somewhat off the "fort". Like giving forts a culture radius of 1 (and a low number of culture to prevent using them as city capturers).

Thats a good idea! And it would simulate border fortification systems like Limes or Hadrians Wall better than just normal forts I think. But on the other hand: would AI use it??

 

[Terrance888]

Maybe first, a worker builds a fort, then, it can sacrafice with gold to make an 'Outpost'. You should be able to work tiles and then send caravan units to the nearest city. This sounds just like Civ2.

 

[Civ Fuehrer]

Well its definitely possible to do this, but the tile working will have a lot of coding, however i like the idea of worker sacrificing to make into an outpost. Although i was thinking more along the lines of the outposts in Final Frontier mod, where they auto defend, shooting enemies within a certain radius.

 

[zappara]

Well, WoC has 3square cities module (I think) but I'm not sure if WoC Lite has those SDK changes included. Anyway RevolutionDCM 2.0 has WoC Lite now in it and I've already merged RevDCM 2.0 to upcoming RoM 2.7 patch... so if that module works with WoC Lite, then it will work with RoM 2.7 as well...

 

[l3illyl3ob]

How does that module work? As much as I like the idea of 3 ring cities for huge maps (and especially for the two bigger map sizes in RoM), I think it would be pretty odd if you could get them right at the start. I wonder if there would be a way to change the module to have a technology requirement for 3 ring cities. (maybe civil service or a similar medieval tech)

 

[zappara]

Johny just confirmed in other thread that 3square cities requires DLL changes and it's not included in WoC Lite - so it means that you won't be seeing it in RoM.

Personally I'm against 3 square cities, it's not Civ like and getting the mod balanced with such feature would be gigantic task - just think about the added food, production etc. the city would get from those extra plots!!! So if it's some point added to the DLL, I won't be making any balancing efforts for it (some other modder can of course then make an addon with balance fixes) and it would be OFF by default and as an optional game feature.

 

[tdb]

Not civ like just because cities in civ have never had larger than 2sq radius?

Yes, cities will grow larger with 3sq radius. I used the mod way back when Civ4 was still relatively new, and it worked well. The AI seemed to be able to take it into account as well. Truth be told, in RoM it's possible to get fairly ridiculous cities as it is. In my previous game I had one that was size 79 when the game ended (national park + globe theatre, so health and happiness were not an issue), and I had calculated that it could get to almost 100, maybe even over. Food storage was triple the maximum, largely thanks to a bug with pyramids + modern granary bug, and it was gaining one size every turn. Three food resources, +30 from Cereal Mills and all the available percentual bonuses. The awesome population allowed it to cap almost all specialist and still have 30 citizens left over. Base production was 149 with 15 engineers, those 30 citizens and +19 from Mining Inc.

Now what would this sort of city be like with 3sq radius...

Having it as an option and turned off by default is definitely acceptable and even good.

 

[Grunthex]

Thats a good idea! And it would simulate border fortification systems like Limes or Hadrians Wall better than just normal forts I think. But on the other hand: would AI use it??

They'll "use" it, but really really badly. In the FFH mod referenced, the Kuriotates civ has this feature (3-ring cities, but only X number of cities based on map size, the rest are settlements that build about nothing). And the AI just can't figure out where to place a city to use it. They probably won't even get more tiles to use, given the way AI squeezes in cities now, and won't adjust to it in anyway.

Call this a voice against 3-rings.