Excessive Desert

[Alternator]

I mostly play on Pangea maps, since I enjoy them the most, and since switching to BtS I've noticed that I'm finding far more desert tiles than I did in Warlords on every single game I start. I've even checked World Builder a few times, and it seems that deserts have simply gotten far more common than they used to be, much to my dismay. Is this a constant across all map types, something unique to Pangea maps, or just my bad luck?

 

[Ghost Ranger]

Did you accidentally choose "arid" as the climate type?

 

[Menzies]

I've always thought there are too many desert tiles', but them again I always feel I've gotten the short end of the stick.

 

[mnf]

I usually just play with the default temperate and I've also found BtS maps to have quite a bit more desert.

It almost feels like the map generator randomly took away food from some areas and made those into food resources to spray out at starting locations.

 

[Mountain Wumpus]

I noticed the same thing.

However, I often play Hannibal, and I sometimes think the RNG attempts to put your civ in a suitable climate. Have you been rather shakadelic recently?

 

[Naismith]

Back when Vanilla Civ IV first came out, there was a number of discussions about too much desert, etc, along with some instructions about how to mod the XML controlling it. The file name is CIV4ClimateInfo.xml, and you can find it in the Firaxis Games\Sid Meier's Civilization 4\Assets\XML\GameInfo folder. I just modded the settings for CLIMATE_TEMPERATE to be a bit more like the settings for CLIMATE_TROPICAL. (I never play anything but temperate.) With these settings, you get less desert, tundra and ice, but they are not eliminated completely by any means:

<Type>CLIMATE_TEMPERATE</Type>
<Description>TXT_KEY_CLIMATE_TEMPERATE</Description>
<iDesertPercentChange>-20</iDesertPercentChange>
<iJungleLatitude>5</iJungleLatitude>
<iHillRange>5</iHillRange>
<iPeakPercent>10</iPeakPercent>
<fSnowLatitudeChange>0.1</fSnowLatitudeChange>
<fTundraLatitudeChange>0.1</fTundraLatitudeChange>
<fGrassLatitudeChange>0.0</fGrassLatitudeChange>
<fDesertBottomLatitudeChange>0.0</fDesertBottomLatitudeChange>
<fDesertTopLatitudeChange>0.0</fDesertTopLatitudeChange>
<fIceLatitude>0.95</fIceLatitude>
<fRandIceLatitude>0.20</fRandIceLatitude>

 

[kell_the_kyuss]

I almost always play temperate and hated the amount of desert found in BTS. I think I will edit that file....

thanks...

 

[Kushluk]

Yeah, I think they do put you in a suitable climate. I used to play a lot of Egypt and often found myself in wonderful situations for food, now I switched to Bryzantium and often find myself in Mediterrenean/oceanic areas.

 

[MrCynical]

If you do actually try an arid map in BtS, the amount of desert becomes down right ludicrous. You find it mixed up in tundra, and occupying almost the entirety of some continents.

 

[Carnage04]

I've noticed that there seems to be more desert...but I keep getting lucky and the deserts near me have had long and winding rivers running through them.

 

[Bad Brett]

Have you noticed that some desert tiles have rivers on them, but they're still not flood plains? They're producing 1 from the beginning and you can build a Watermill on them, kind of like those snow fields.

 

[skallben]

Have you noticed that some desert tiles have rivers on them, but they're still not flood plains? They're producing 1 from the beginning and you can build a Watermill on them, kind of like those snow fields.

I believe that is a bug, maybe with the exception of global warming causing this. Still, that makes no sense, global warming shouldnt remove floodplains and make them into desert.

 

[mnf]

I believe that is a bug, maybe with the exception of global warming causing this. Still, that makes no sense, global warming shouldnt remove floodplains and make them into desert.

It's a bug? I've actually just had something like that. Six or seven of those river desert tiles giving only one commerce. Would have been a perfect second city site, but now it's useless

 

[Alternator]

I noticed the same thing.

However, I often play Hannibal, and I sometimes think the RNG attempts to put your civ in a suitable climate. Have you been rather shakadelic recently?

I've noticed it more while playing Sumeria, actually, so that would make a lot of sense. I still hate it because it cuts off great city sites when four to six tiles in the BFC would be desert, but it makes some sense. On the other hand, my favorite in Civ 4 was Egypt, so that can't be the only factor.

Back when Vanilla Civ IV first came out, there was a number of discussions about too much desert, etc, along with some instructions about how to mod the XML controlling it. The file name is CIV4ClimateInfo.xml, and you can find it in the Firaxis Games\Sid Meier's Civilization 4\Assets\XML\GameInfo folder. I just modded the settings for CLIMATE_TEMPERATE to be a bit more like the settings for CLIMATE_TROPICAL. (I never play anything but temperate.) With these settings, you get less desert, tundra and ice, but they are not eliminated completely by any means:

<Type>CLIMATE_TEMPERATE</Type>
<Description>TXT_KEY_CLIMATE_TEMPERATE</Description>
<iDesertPercentChange>-20</iDesertPercentChange>
<iJungleLatitude>5</iJungleLatitude>
<iHillRange>5</iHillRange>
<iPeakPercent>10</iPeakPercent>
<fSnowLatitudeChange>0.1</fSnowLatitudeChange>
<fTundraLatitudeChange>0.1</fTundraLatitudeChange>
<fGrassLatitudeChange>0.0</fGrassLatitudeChange>
<fDesertBottomLatitudeChange>0.0</fDesertBottomLatitudeChange>
<fDesertTopLatitudeChange>0.0</fDesertTopLatitudeChange>
<fIceLatitude>0.95</fIceLatitude>
<fRandIceLatitude>0.20</fRandIceLatitude>

Yay, thank you! That should solve the problem nicely, and I can always change it back for multiplayer games.

 

[bonafide11]

I haven't noticed any problems with too much desert...

 

[Common Sensei]

Put my vote of anecdotal evidence on the side of too much desert. Gets really, really irritating. I'll have to try out that patch of XML and see how it goes.

 

[skallben]

It's a bug? I've actually just had something like that. Six or seven of those river desert tiles giving only one commerce. Would have been a perfect second city site, but now it's useless

I think I recall vaguely getting this issue in Warlords in conjunction with some add-on. I don't have it in BtS however.

Edit: Yes I think I remember now, it should have been either Revolutions or BetterAI.

 

[DrewTate]

i cant get away fro the friggin amazon jungles either

 

[Alternator]

Jungles I don't mind, since they always have nice grasslands beneath so I can set up a good commerce city. Takes some time, sure, but once everywhere has 6-8 tiles improved you usually have a while before you need to grow larger than that, so can hack out a city or three.

 

[kokomo]

greenhouse effect....