How do you make a map in Planetfall?

[MadmanAtW]

If you want to follow Greek mythology, how about using names derived from the Titans? Less known then the Olympian gods. Here are their names: Oceanos, Coeus, Crius, Hyperion, Iapetos, Theia, Rhea, Themis, Mnemosyne, Phoebe, Tethys, and Kronos. Plenty to give names to subparts of a main continent.

While I would usually never discourage someone from using Titanic names, being a huge fan of them, I will note that Titan names is the naming scheme used for Saturn's moons, and as such it seems unlikely that they would be "reused" for the continents in another solar system. :/ Granted, not all of the ones listed above have been used in our system.

 

[Maniac]

Koios Rhea Themis?
Koios Nekkes Boriolis?
Themis Centralis Boriolis is is?

 

[GeoModder]

While I would usually never discourage someone from using Titanic names, being a huge fan of them, I will note that Titan names is the naming scheme used for Saturn's moons, and as such it seems unlikely that they would be "reused" for the continents in another solar system. :/ Granted, not all of the ones listed above have been used in our system.

Okay, let's scrap Hyperion, Iapetos, Rhea, Phoebe and Thetys from that list then.

 

[Lord Tirian]

Koios Rhea Themis?
Koios Nekkes Boriolis?
Themis Centralis Boriolis is is?

Sound good. Alternatively, you might find something here, which lists a lot of centaurs (since all big Centauri names - Chiron, Nessus, Pholus - are derived from centaurs). I also think Eurytion deserves a mention somewhere - probably for the central continent with the nexus?

I also attached another version. I went over the other two continents and added the changes from your last post. I think it starts to come together now, but still a bit away from being playable.

As an aside: A while ago, actually, Temudjin made a mapscript, Ringworld 2 that's compatible with Planetfall... perhaps you could ask him about including it in Planetfall? It looks quite nice and would offer some variety. Plus, the idea of the Progenitors constructing a ringworld with monoliths, fungus etc. just seems to fit and sounds cool!

Cheers, LT.

 

[Maniac]

Sound good. Alternatively, you might find something here, which lists a lot of centaurs (since all big Centauri names - Chiron, Nessus, Pholus - are derived from centaurs). I also think Eurytion deserves a mention somewhere - probably for the central continent with the nexus?

Heh cool. Alas, Eurytion already has a bay named after him.

I also attached another version. I went over the other two continents and added the changes from your last post. I think it starts to come together now, but still a bit away from being playable.

Awesome thanks! I made four changes though, and have two requests:

1) I changed all the arid plots south of the Freshwater Sea to polar.
2) I let some rainshadow leak into the Garland Crater, so that you don't need to be Biodomed to settle near that landmark early on.
3) I added something resembling New Sargasso.
4) I turned the plot wests of the Great Dunes rainy. I see that place as the landing area of the Believers.

My requests:

1) I don't know how to add rivers. Could you please add a one-plot-length river to one of those flat rainy plots west of the Great Dunes. It would make farming easier and make Centauri Hydrology more useful.

2) You've let two rivers end into the err Amazone Bay on Boriolis.. I'd prefer if it looked more like the huge map of Planet, with three source rivers merging into one, and that one running into the Amazone Bay. I imagine the area around where those three source rivers merge as a fungal swamp, and the birthplace of the Cult of Planet. Not sure if that can be done without looking bad, but I had this idea that the lower unified part of the river could have two lowland plots on both sides, and then those lowland plots would have a ridge next to them, to give some kind of Grand Canyon feel. It might also result in some interesting combat situations.

As an aside: A while ago, actually, Temudjin made a mapscript, Ringworld 2 that's compatible with Planetfall

I noticed that mapscript a while ago, but such unusual settings could have unforeseen effects of gameplay. Therefore I am hesitant to include that mapscript as an "officially endorsed" one in the Planetfall dowbload.

 

[Lord Tirian]

Done the changes - since I added the Grand Canyon-style feature, I had to mess around with the hills around it as well, take a look whether you like how it looks now.

I also felt free to add the landmark signs, not sure whether I caught everything... plus I don't have a running SMAC install here right now, meaning I can't copy over the other labels.

Since I'm looking at the map so much right now: I'm wondering - what about the other landmarks from SMAC/X? Is it a lack of graphics or ideas for the Unity Wreckage, the Fossil Ridge, the Geothermal Shallows and Mount Planet?

Cheers, LT.

 

[Maniac]

Awesome thanks!

Personally I feel landmarks signs get in my way, especially on those landmarks which are already represented by a resource button. But I guess I can always delete them myself when playing a game on the map.

Is the map ready for play now except for resources and unity pods, or have we still forgotten something?

Since I'm looking at the map so much right now: I'm wondering - what about the other landmarks from SMAC/X? Is it a lack of graphics or ideas for the Unity Wreckage, the Fossil Ridge, the Geothermal Shallows and Mount Planet?

The Unity Wreckage is kinda represented by being able to build Unity Bays fom supply units found in unity pods. The Fossil Ridge could be represented by a couple Oil and Mineral resources where that landmark is.

Geothermal Shallows lacks graphics and an idea for what it could do. A bonus resource can't be used for a multiple-plot landmark like the Great Dunes.

Mount Planet lacks graphics and an idea what the landmark could do. Besides looking pretty of course, which could be enough.

 

[GeoModder]

Talking about maps, are there stats somewhere on the difference between mapsizes in civ4 and Planetfall? I have the impression that for instance Planetfall's "small map" has civ's "standard map" size...
If that's the case, then I suggest adjusting the number of factions on a map. Small and Normal in Planetfall have both 7 factions at the moment. Tiny could have 5 factions as standard.

 

[Maniac]

Mapsizes are the same.

 

[Lord Tirian]

Is the map ready for play now except for resources and unity pods, or have we still forgotten something?

I don't think anything else is missing - but there are two things:

1) Do you want the faction start points to be random, be predetermined or have two maps (one with random starts, one with set starts).
2) I tried the randomised resources... and a) it doesn't place pods yet, and b) it deletes all pre-existing resources, which is bad for all landmarks (since most of them are either a resource or resource + improvement). This means that 1) we need to do a "fixed" resource distribution that is the same everytime, 2) all landmarks must become improvements, or 3) you find a way to fix that.

Cheers, LT.

 

[Maniac]

I've already made the modifications to allow random starting spots, unity pods, resources and spawning spots. I just noticed myself too that the already placed resources disappear. Shouldn't be hard to fix. I also noticed though that starting spot placement isn't as it should be: factions start too far from each other. No idea what causes this. It's the only stumbling block left before I can call the next patch feature-closed.

 

[GeoModder]

Mapsizes are the same.

On what mapscript is the Planetfall mapscript based then?

 

[GeoModder]

It's the only stumbling block left before I can call the next patch feature-closed.

I hope you find the time to drop my 3 xml files in the next patch feature.

 

[Maniac]

On what mapscript is the Planetfall mapscript based then?

Continent and island distribution is more or less based on Big & Small, but it's all mostly written specially for Planetfall.

 

[Pickly]

Geothermal Shallows lacks graphics and an idea for what it could do. A bonus resource can't be used for a multiple-plot landmark like the Great Dunes.

The Dune Wars mod does has spice as a multiple square resource, so whatever method they used might some in useful here.

As for effects, perhaps it just adds energy to the squares and doesn't have any trade network effects.

 

[Keeper_GFA]

The Great Dunes could add energy to adjacent windmills.

 

[Lord Tirian]

Mount Planet lacks graphics and an idea what the landmark could do. Besides looking pretty of course, which could be enough.

Well, now it doesn't lack a graphic anymore, I've attached one!

It's not such a fancy model, it's just a big volcano and should ideally go on ridges (it conforms to the terrain, so it should blend into the terrain smoothly).

For things it could do, besides looking interesting, I'd propose making the square inpassable for land units (after all, it's filled with lava, harsh rocks and pretty steep etc.). Additionally, it could give you extra energy/minerals, but dependent on techs - like Kinematics unlock +1 energy and High Energy Chemistry unlocks +1 mineral (or something along these lines, showing progressing efficiency in actually using something like a volcano).

Cheers, LT.

 

[Maniac]

Awesome! It's meant as an improvement I assume?

 

[Lord Tirian]

Awesome! It's meant as an improvement I assume?

Yep.

Cheers, LT.