How to define base terrain of marshes/swamps?

[Racc00n]

Is it possible to define the base terrain of marsh resp. the terrain it is converted to by workers? By default this is grassland and I couldn't find any options within the editor to change this.

The reason why I'm asking: Since clearing both jungle and marsh results in grassland, I thought of using the default marsh terrain to create a new clearable terrain that results in something different, like turning an inhospitable type of desert region (no irrigation, mines and cities) into the regular desert, kind of preparing it for utilization.

Thanks for help/reply

 

[Underpaid]

Hmm. Interesting idea. I recall that, with a tweaked map editor, you could manual place jungle tiles that have plains underneath. This would require a premade map (as opposed to a generated one) however, and I'm not sure if this extends to marshes, or if deserts can be placed underneath.

 

[Balthasar]

You'd be absolutely amazed what you can do with terrain graphics. I like to think of them as layers, rather than as terrain types. City graphics are on top of everything; then rivers and resources, then roads, then terrain buildings, then forests, jungles and marshes, then mountains and hills, then terrain. Mountains and hills have regular grassland beneath them; even LM Mountains & hills: I had to make special mountains & hills for my Old West map & terrain that could be put on deserts without a patch of grassland showing up in between (I used Ares' plains as a base terrain for the mountains, but the edges have to be a little irregular for it to work).

For the particular problem you've identified, the solution is probably to use Flood Plains to be a particularly difficult form of desert. Pounder and Goldfool both worked on files for this, and I also used it (modified) to some effect on the Old West map.

 

[Racc00n]

Hmm. Interesting idea. I recall that, with a tweaked map editor, you could manual place jungle tiles that have plains underneath. This would require a premade map (as opposed to a generated one) however, and I'm not sure if this extends to marshes, or if deserts can be placed underneath.

Any idea, what editor this was or where to get it?
At least in theory this should be possible since marshes, jungles, hills etc. are just overlayed gfx with some other base terrain beneath it, as explained by Balthasar. But I don't know, if this base terrain is hard coded or could be changed somewhere.

For the particular problem you've identified, the solution is probably to use Flood Plains to be a particularly difficult form of desert. Pounder and Goldfool both worked on files for this, and I also used it (modified) to some effect on the Old West map.

Might be a workaround, if there is no viable option of defining the terrain underneath marshes. But unfortunately comes with some limitations as well, like having no rivers running through the deserts: desert terrain next to a river is always considered to be Flood Plains and immediately seems to regain this terrain type after being cleared - might lead the AI to waste its workers on the endless job of clearing such Flood Plains (just a theory, haven't tried it yet). And all desert land next to rivers is nearly useless, where it actually should be quite suitable for irrigations

 

[Balthasar]

Any idea, what editor this was or where to get it?

Look for Map Tweaker in the utilities thread.

 

[Blue Monkey]

The only way I know of would be to use the hex-editing solution posted by embryodead. There's a thread in the main C&C forum.