Accurate Earth Map in development

[snipperrabbit!!]

OK, there was a little trnslation glitch. By legumes you means fabaceae that are foraged ... right ?
I still maintain my PoV even if legumes need to be fielded (not like vegetables).

Question is now about depiction of soy vs. legumes :

Soy :

Legumes :

Note that their respective use differs and it is the main reason sticking me to the position.

 

[Joe Aitken]

Is there a timeline for this project? It looks great but when will it be done?

 

[snipperrabbit!!]

yes ! The mod maker said it precisely but it may not be in this thread. I'm a little confused about that. I read whole completion is targeted for 24/07/2009.

 

[frekk]

If you are considering timber I would suggest using cedar. It's a wood found in Lebonon and on the west coast of Canada and several other places in the world. It's light weight and very resiliant. Boats made from this material resist the effect of water better than other types. Prehaps if a civ has this resource then their boats found get Flanking I as a bonus, that reflects the survivability of these sorts of vessels. Nations that used cedar had a naval tradition.

I like that idea too. Cedar is also very aromatic and one of the big reasons Lebanese cedar was so popular with the Egyptians was not just its use as a practical construction material, but also it was a luxury because of its scent. I believe the oil of the leaves was distilled and used as a perfume or something similar. Also, Cartier learned from natives that an infusion could be made with cedar leaves which would cure scurvy. This was highly important for the early explorers in eastern North America. It was also used in certain medical or semi-medical (eg mummification) applications in Mesopotamia, Egypt, and Israel. In these same areas it was also burned as an incense at times.

Cedar is rot and insect resistant, which makes it useful for watercraft, but also other things - shingling, barrels for certain goods (eg potatoes), etc.

However, the Old World cedars and New World cedars are totally different, unrelated species. The two main types of cedar in the Americas are actually a juniper and a cypress. But they are all very similar in their uses and properties.

 

[kevinman4404]

The entire mod will be officially released August 24th of next year (not July).

However, the map will be available quite soon, with all resources, civs, and settler maps, April 24th of this year. On my mod's thread, it is called Phase 1.

@Frekk: Cedar it is.

Do I need any more types of wood?

@Snipperrabbit: EDIT: nevermind I don't even need a legumes resource I think. I always thought of Africa as a producer of stuff like beans, but I don't see anything... So it'll just be soybeans

 

[snipperrabbit!!]

All right, it depends on the level of abstraction you want. Soy is cultivated for food and oil. Legumes have a wider range of use. Some vegetables are legumes that are harvested fresh. I wanted to help you but ...

 

[kevinman4404]

Sorry, I edited right when you replied It seems legumes other than soybeans aren't a huge indrustry (I always thought Africans ate a lot of beans), so maybe I can classify those broadly under vegetables.

Would that work?

 

[snipperrabbit!!]

Yes, I agree. It's a good solution.

 

[mourndraken]

cedar is saturated with Creosote. That's the stuff that is used to preserve the burried end of a fence post against rot.

 

[kevinman4404]

Map progress is low, but that's cuz I just got 3dsMax8 I've been using it to modify some internet models, and I have my next two resources completed...

Coconut & Cedar:

Note1: The coconuts have a really nice texture, it turned out FAR darker and it looks bland. I'll try zooming in more next time.
Note2: The graphics for cedar did not turn out at all, but I figured it would give you an idea of what it will look like. The stump I modelled has a bark and a treering texture. They're both completely different colours, neither of them being the red hue that you see in the picture. As well the treerings are messed up. I will need to fix this.

Also, I will definitely be adding cork, for Morocco, Algeria and Spain.

Next resources will be Jute, Soybeans, Roses. One of those.

 

[frekk]

Cedar it is.

Do I need any more types of wood?

Sort of depends how long a list of resources you want. Teak is very important as well, so is sandalwood. Personally I'd say if you were thinking about representing more, I'd just go with a generic "rare wood" and feature it in Lebanon, West Coast North America, West Indies, Indochina, Phillipines, Madagascar, and southern East Africa. That would represent cedar, teak, sandalwood, and mahogany.

There's also rubber. I know everybody hates it from civ3, but it doesn't have to be a prerequisite for building anything. Rubber was a very important and valuable resource until not too long ago. It's kind of weird it's not represented at all in this incarnation of the game.

 

[Genghis_Kai]

@Ocativius: Yeah, that's this map's flaw. Genghis's Earth map is the opposite- stretched land nice pacific. I personally like land accuracy more (especially living in Canada and normally being squished). But it's a matter of preference.

Just bumped into this thread accidentally and found out the magnificent work achieved so far in your project.

I want to say that I actually have a lot of statistics files for vaious resources. If you are interested, please PM me and I can pass them to you.

Wish you guys all the best!

 

[kevinman4404]

@Genghis glad you like it

@frekk: rubber is already included. The maker of Resmod already made it.

(It appears the texture for the coconuts at the bottom of the tree did not show up at all, I'll edit in a fixed picture)

 

[snipperrabbit!!]

@kevin : can you show us France part of the map ? If so, just choose a random day out of the ten following, please. Thank you.

 

[Yakk]

You need a "bedrock" option to model Canada.

Most of Eastern/Northern Canada is a huge, massive 4 billion year old mountain. It is thin soil and forest on top of rock that goes all the way down to the mantle.

This is known as the Canadian Shield.

It is also why Newfoundland is known as "the rock" -- it isn't grassland with forst, it is rock with a small amount of topsoil and trees.

This has a huge impact on agriculture and the like.

...

The lakes in S. Ontario...

Currently, you have:

     xxx
   xXxx
xxxx

With the X being your circled location. How about:

     xxx
    xxx
xxxx

which generates the "gap" between the lakes as narrow as possible, allowing land transport between them.

 

[kevinman4404]

@snipper... what did you mean by pick a day? Anyways here are the pictures of France (and Italy just in case its asked for in the future)

France

Marseille, North Italy, Corsica and Sardinia

South Italy, Malta

And the same areas with trees...

Note that the "fruit" resource artwork is going to change. First of all to represent all fruit, not just apple, and not to look so out of place.

Here are the improved graphics for the Coconut and Rare Wood:

@Yakk: I agree. Are you aware of the thinsoil texture I am already using? That kind of encompasses your idea. Do you think the texture should look rockier? (kinda reminds me of when you pass through Cornwall on the 401 in Ontario and you see all the rock faces on the side of the highway).

I will look into the great lakes suggestion. It will depend on which looks better. I'll post an image next post.

Kevin

 

[Shqype]

That looks beautiful man. How about the Balkans?

 

[Yakk]

Nope, hadn't seen it (long thread!)

I just looked at NWF, and it didn't look right. It really is a mountain, just worn down.

The Canadian Shield reaches down to the St. Lawrence at Kingston, and proceeds NE and NW from there.

Map of shield:
http://images.google.com/imgres?img...0oktGSIHu65PDQIA&sa=X&oi=images&ct=image&cd=1
which doesn't include NWFLD! I guess I didn't understand the geography of that area as much as I thought.

Here is a typical shield look:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Canadian_Shield_Ontario.jpg

Forest, lots of rocky outcroppings, small lakes and rivers all over the place, bumpy (because the topography is determined by the rocks).

...

Now, some areas on the shield, like the Ottawa Valley, aren't really shield: the Ottawa Valley is a large river valley in which the shield was eroded away and sediment deposited by the river provides very fertile ground.

...

Another suggestion: instead of a raw rule stating "X height produces mountains", what about a statistical rule? Lower mountains can be represented by a mixture of mountains and hills, while higher mountains by pure blocks of huge mountainous terrain.

On top of this, the "low areas" in mountains run into problems: huge fertile river valleys that are high above sea level are more like plains than they are hills or mountains.

 

[frekk]

which doesn't include NWFLD! I guess I didn't understand the geography of that area as much as I thought.

The only reason Newfoundland is sometimes not classified as part of the Canadian Shield is because the Shield designation, in some views, applies only to a single tectonic plate (the Laurentian craton), and Newfoundland is on a different plate. Not all of the Shield is Shield-like and there are areas outside of the Shield that are basically the product of the same forces.

In my opinion, Shield is not good as a terrain type, because the Shield varies tremendously in terms of climate and flora. The Gatineau Hills and Baffin Island are very different places! Better to use a more climate based division, such as the divisions of flora types (Boreal, Broadleaf Forest, Mixed Forest, and Tundra).

Now, some areas on the shield, like the Ottawa Valley, aren't really shield: the Ottawa Valley is a large river valley in which the shield was eroded away and sediment deposited by the river provides very fertile ground.

Ottawa is not actually in the Shield, though it is right at the edge of it. The Gatineau Hills across the Ottawa River are Shield, so are the areas to the southeast and northeast (Lanark Highlands, Calabogie and the Madawaska Highlands etc). To the west and southwest is Cumberland County which is not shield, it is an extension of the St. Lawrence Basin (same as Ottawa itself). Which is a very rich alluvial basin. The Shield does curve down to Kingston, but it is only a finger; Montreal, Cornwall, etc are not in the shield. It shows up well in satellite imagery, like Google Earth.

 

[lutzj]

I know I'm late to the party, but here's my input:

Panama and Suez Canals creatable.

No mountain cutting the Americas in half.

Slightly oversize, resource-rich Europe for balance reasons.

Plenty of floodplains for Egypt, Inca, and Mali.