Accurate Earth Map in development

[kevinman4404]

Hi, it will be released with my mod (due soon); an independent map release is indefinitely postponed until I recieve help on getting wintermod to work with the entire map (performance is no where near good enough)

 

[tchristensen]

I look forward to seeing it.

I am curious if it would work in my mod and will give it a go and tell you my results.

 

[kevinman4404]

@tchristensen: remember that it requires a barebones mod to run, due to all the custom bonuses, terrains, and well, everything. But if you end up needing any help just pm me!

____________________________________
Because I am working on this right now in the actual mod, I feel it is time to come to a conclusion on the resources:

1
Clay
This is just earth melted with water. Already featured by any fresh water tile, IMO. Perhaps a city building -CB- " brick worshop " can provide a small bonus to building prod per each fresh water tile in city vicinity.
Coral
As suggested, This will be far better as a tile feature. I envision already a " (insert name here) preserve " on top.
Cork
What ? This without a corkscrew ! No way !
Fodder
Like said previously, where the fodder grows the fodder is eaten ! There is very few place I know of where fodder is cultivated on its own. Thinking back about it, ..., it just shows how bad is the norwegian agriculture is : they can't raise cattle because of the lack of cereals in quantity and quality because everywhere else with fodder and sufficient cereals cattle raising is a no-brainer economically. In fact, a fodder resource must decrease food output.
Nutrients
What's that ! Is it a SMAC thing. I have no clue why this resource is listed and will prefer ten times a "game" resource with boar as a gfx.
Obsidian
Very minor IME. May be merged with sthg else like Jade.
Papyrus
Here , I will recycle the comment about clay and just replace fresh water tile by floodplains and made it a small bonus to global research per currently worked Fp .
Rubber
It didn't lasted that long until the tree collected rubber was replaced by the artificial rubber and it appears quite late in the game. I suggest to represent it as a building generated resource.
2
Amber
Very minor IME. Must be merged with sthg else or scrapped.
Flax
Very minor IME. Must be replaced by what they are worth for i.e. Clothes and the EU resource drawn as an ankle.
Platinum
Very minor IME. Must be merged into sthg broader for metallics.
Root Crops
Very minor IME. Must be scrapped entirely !
Wolfram
Very minor IME. Must be merged into sthg broader for metallics.
3
Coconuts
Moderately minor IME. Must be merged with sthg else involving palm trees i.e. Coconuts, Dates, Palm Oil, ...
Jute
Very minor IME. Must be replaced by what they are worth for i.e. Clothes and the EU resource drawn as an ankle.
Mercury
Very minor IME. Must be merged into sthg broader for metallics.
Tin
Very minor IME. Must be merged into sthg broader for metallics.
4
Citrus Fruit
Maybe useable to prevent scorbut, this is quite expendable.
Dates
Moderately minor IME. Must be merged with sthg else involving palm trees i.e. Coconuts, Dates, Palm Oil, ...
Opium
I found this one very offensive. May appear ONLY in the top two poorest civilizations and have an high rate of depletion and respawn.
5
Lead
Moderately minor IME. Must be merged into sthg broader for metallics. By the way, 5 means I've not made my mind whether it's good to have whether not.
Sunflower
I don't know. I understand why it is here in the first place but I fail to find a particular specificity. "Only for Standard Ethanol we must keep", Yoda said.
Lumber
That's just a selective process : "which tree is better to grow and saw ?". There is nothing particular about it either
6
Walrus
aka Ivory North
Seal
I rated Seal and Walrus the same for a total of 12. It shows that an herd of little animals on the Ice is sorely needed for CIV but there is only room for one. A merge is the best and I can see an aquatic park (available to the 5 largest coastal cities) needing this resource.
Peanuts
Nickel
Moderately minor IME. Must be merged into sthg broader for metallics.
7
Bison
Jade
Olives
Potatoes
Shellfish
Sulphur
8
Banana
Fruit
Gas
Gems
Poultry
9
Cedar
Goats
Salt
Hemp
Although I previously rated it a 5, I consider it quasi-unavoidable !

Bah ! It seems I'm a little slow these times ... sorry for the still WIP post

Clay and stone are only quarry-able.
Although coral is a resource, it will act like a feature. IE there is no improvement.
Cork could provide a bonus to wine, though it is under consideration for deletion.
Fodder I think I will delete, though it is a major part of the Scandinavian economy, despite your remarks.
Nutrients deleted.
You are VERY wrong about obsidian. Obsidian was considered the most important commodity for many civilizations in early history.
Papyrus hmmmmmmm
Rubber, too important of a commodity (ie too valuable, even though it didn't last too long)
Amber is too valuable in medieval times, ie the Amber Road
Platinum, strangely enough, doesn't appear to exist in my mod

I am SO surprised you are in favour of keeping Walrus/Ivory N

As you know, most resources in Civ4 do NOT have a purpose. For example, sheep/goats in real life provide clothing and cheese, but in Civ4 theyre just

So, my only rationale for deleting resources appears to be if there are two that are practically the same (ie sheep and goats), or ones that are stupid (ie nutrients)

Any comments, let me know! I will update with a proper list soon

 

[RyanTheGreat]

when will you release this map?

 

[kevinman4404]

Surprisingly, it might be ready to go very soon. The problem was getting wintermod to perform quickly enough (changing terrains took too long). But I think I found a workaround that performs better- to use graphic-only improvements that look like blizzards to represent varying degrees of winter.

I just need a bit of spare time. And my internet is having problems. But I will find time!

 

[Terrance888]

Good. Then we will ask kindly for you to do it for CiV as well.

Still, even the map base by itself looks great. I can't wait.
(Maybe even Rhye (or his community) can set up something on this?)

 

[RyanTheGreat]

I am anxious to try this map it has to be the best ive seen for civ

 

[binTravkin]

Yes, even without the extra resources and other specific modifications this would be excellent to release (Lite version? ).
If this can be combined with RFC that would be absolute awesomeness!

 

[RyanTheGreat]

I second a "lite" version

 

[rightfuture]

Kevinman4404 -
Please take a hard look at the Cavemen2Cosmos Mod for some major inspiration.
If anything it would benefit you to submit some of your ideas there.
I would also love to see you in their forums, because they are making some serious progress there.
These guys could benefit you, at least from some comments, and vice versa. Your mods were made to help each others.
Please consider it, if only to save you and them some time, and an idea exchange would simply be awesome.
Cross pollination of mod ideas. Maybe you can also draw a few more contributors.
It would make my turn/year!!

Also they have a ton of resources, and terrains, and units, and great ideas.
Thanks for even considering a little commentary there!
Please take a look and let me know what you think!!
http://forums.civfanatics.com/forumdisplay.php?f=449

 

[rightfuture]

Your mod is so promising, Please come back and consider enlisting help to finish it!

 

[Voyhkah]

Looks like you're planning something like RFC, but more so(!). I like it, especially the domestication part. Maybe you should add some sort of advanced resources mechanic, sorta Guns, Germs, and Steel-y.

 

[Gem Hound]

This looks interesting.

 

[kevinman4404]

Hi, sorry I missed your replies

I have two weeks now that I will work on and release the map. No work has been done up to this point (have been too busy)

Will certainly look at the mod you mentioned, rightfuture. And will try to get some help once I get something released.

Thanks for everyone's continued interest
best
Kevin

 

[kevinman4404]

OK, wintermod is working successfully. I would still like to make it look better (visually) at some point. Winter is now visual only (I mean winter doesn't really make a place less fertile... the terrain does). Icemod is still there (ice sheets will expand and recede). OK so this doesn't mean much for this map-only release, but it's there nonetheless.

I will release the map like the other giant earth maps on this site: with all the standard BTS civs placed in their proper starting locations. Anything else (ie making it into various scenarios, adapting it into your mod, etc.) is up to the user. Of course, it will not be balanced in any way, and I'm sure it can (and will) be improved in many small ways.

I will also include a version with only vanilla civs. The map itself is compatible with all versions.

Any questions, suggestions, etc. please let me know.

Kevin

 

[RyanTheGreat]

Great! Can't wait to play this map I think it's the best I've seen yet good work so far

 

[mourndraken]

I last typed anything about this map 3, almost 4 years ago.
I now have a current question: where is the download link ?

 

[kevinman4404]

Well, just imagine, that I have been intermittently doing everything I can to get my mod (which uses this map) working for the last four years (so long!). And the time has come for this piece of it to be released, I promise.

Nidaros (coastal Norway) during a particularily bitter winter:

I hope I don't disappoint anyone but this will not work on laptops (feel free to try and let me know once I release it). For a tolerable, reasonable gameplay speed, please compare your computer with mine as shown in my signature. I am still planning how I am going to release this. I don't want to say too much right now.

By the way, four different Canadian posters in a row, wow! Nice to see some old names
Merry christmas

 

[RyanTheGreat]

So how does the mod work? Do civs start when they are historically suppossed to( Canada starts in 1867)? Would Russia be able to settle all of it's land because your map is massive and I'm sure maintenance costs would be a problem. I'm guessing it will be like rhyes mod.

 

[mourndraken]

if you release it, I'll let you know. Happy Festivus!

Link to video.