Large Rivers (trying to make an old dream come true) [IMPLEMENTED]

[Schmiddie]

Really great! Unfortunately I have to work the complete weekend so that I cannot help you with this boring work.

 

[<Nexus>]

What about mapscripts? Any progress there?

 

[raystuttgart]

What about mapscripts? Any progress there?

No, not yet.

It is kind of tricky to create "really nice looking geographically immersive" Large Rivers.
It is defnitely possible though to get it done.

All it takes is somebody skilled and motivated to invest enough time. Like always ...
I was hoping that somebody else - more talented in MapScripts than myself - would try it, but so far that did not happen.

Maybe I will give it a shot myself, once my real life is a little bit less stressful - maybe during the Christmas holidays.
My generated Large Rivers will most likely not look as "perfect" as I would like them to, but to have something is better than nothing.

Spoiler :

If I just wanted to generate a few "straight lines" of "Large Rivers" from the middle of a land area to the coast, I could be done probably within a few hours ...
But that is not really what I consider "good quality" that I would like to add to the mod.

---------

The rest of the team currently is really busy working on "Big Merge" - the other major development branch.
Thus at the moment I try to not put up additional work on anybody - by constantly screaming for help.

It all simply takes time, patience, perseverance and not to lose motivation - sometimes it is better to relax a bit.
I know that community was hoping for faster progress, but I am already happy at the moment that I have at least a bit of continuous progress every weekend.

 

[<Nexus>]

Hi!
How's it going? Any progress with large rivers?

 

[raystuttgart]

@Zeta Nexus
Basically the status has not changed much.

• Maps have been adjusted to contain Large Rivers
  
• The MapScripts still do not generate Large Rivers

@Mr. ZorG had discovered a few small bugs with Automated Trade Routes.
@devolution had written in the modders chat a few weeks ago that he had fixed these bugs but he had not yet commited the fixes.

 

[Hibernian]

@Zeta Nexus
Basically the status has not changed much.

• Maps have been adjusted to contain Large Rivers
  
• The MapScripts still do not generate Large Rivers

In the absence of the MapScripts generating the large rivers, would it be possible to have the map generated without large rivers and manually add them via the World Editor so we can play around with them a bit and see what they are like ?

Even if that can be provided in a separate file rather than a new release, as long I know where the file needs to go it would be interesting.

Hope all is well for you, in private life as well as in your job.

 

[raystuttgart]

... manually add them via the World Editor so we can play around with them a bit and see what they are like ?

Placing "Large Rivers" via World Editor works 100% fine. (It always has.)
That was the way I adjusted all the existing Maps which also work 100% fine.

The only issue I am still aware of that exists in the new feature Branch "Large Rivers" is " MapScripts can not yet generate Large Rivers" ....
(There were 2 small bugs left e.g. with Automated Transports but I think @devolution recently fixed them.)

However, I am not 100% sure since I have not tested it the last 2 months due to hospital and rehab.
(I hope that I will be fit enough again soon to do some intensive testing and maybe also support a bit with bug fixing if any bugs are found.)

-------

Of course that branch contains also several fixes and balancing improvements we had collected.
But most importantly it also contains several other new features and lots of great graphical improvements, e.g.

• new Types of Goodies / more Goodies (e.g. "Defended Native Villages", "Animal Caves", "Ship Wrecks", "Camp Fires" ...) - special thanks to @Zeta Nexus for the support for finding graphics
  
• Improved / more diverse Goody Spawning System (that includes changes to support further future new Types of Goodies)
• new Types of Events / more Events / more Quests (e.g. "Trade Quests" with Europe or the Colonies) - special thanks to @Raubwuerger for all the new Events he created
  
• Improved and more powerful Python Event System (that includes changes to support further future new Types of Events and Quests)
• Map Randomization Option "Randomize Terrain Feature" for existing Map to make existing Maps feel a bit different every game without changing Terrains or Layout
  
• Awesome Graphic Improvements, Goody Graphics and better L-System for Terrain Improvements and Terrains from @Schmiddie
• Improved Ambient Sounds (e.g. Africa and Port Royal Screen) - special thanks to @Zeta Nexus for his efforts
• An incredible amount of text improvements and added translations - special thanks to [B]@Kendon[/B] and @Fürstbischof
  
• ...

However, all these features together are still smaller and less impactful to gameplay than "Large Rivers" itself, which is really a complete set of various small features and changes that collected together really form a "full game concept" in itself.
(Which is the reason the complete development branch is also called "Large Rivers".)

-------

Summary:

I still hope that this branch will be finished, integrated and published in the next months ...
It really is a petty that this branch has been lying around unfinished and unpublished for so long.

From all my test games "Large Rivers" is really one of my favourite new additions to gameplay.
(But of course I am biased ...)

 

[Maximus123]

Some suggestions to this amazing great magnificent idea of Large Rivers:

- Perhaps small Ships with 2 to 4 cargo ( perhaps just 2, or 3) not just coastal, could enter such Rivers, Im thinking in Mississippi, Parana and Amazon Rivers, all are large and quite navegable, a Carvel or Brigantine could ( and de facto were able to ) navigate such Rivers.
- This TILE could still give bonus to adyacent tiles as a normal river, lumber,food, etc production.
- Being a Land unit crossing the Large River and being attacked should give a MAYOR penalty of -50%
- If a Ship is currently occupying the tile, land Units cannot attack it ( shp block pass), but if a a Land Unit is occupying the tile a ship can attack with the corresponding crossing penalty for the land unit

Hope it helps! Best regards.

 

[raystuttgart]

The feature is done and it was already pretty difficult.
Civ4Col / CivBTS simply does not know a Plot that technically behaves "partially like Land and partially like Water".

Please try it first and then we might discuss about potential changes.

 

[<Nexus>]

So what about this project? I mean the map scripts? Did make any?

 

[raystuttgart]

I mean the map scripts? Did make any?

No, the map scripts have not been adjusted so far. At least I never heard anybody say they were done.
All requests for help outside of the WTP team have been unanswered, so I do not expect any help from outside anymore.

However @devolution said a while ago that he was going to or already is working on a map script for Large Rivers.
(He might also implement a technical solution based on both DLL and Python Map Script.)

 

[Shiawase]

I wish so badly for this to be implemented... Stumbled upon a few references to it during my gameplay and I'm really hooked on the concept.

 

[raystuttgart]

I wish so badly for this to be implemented... Stumbled upon a few references to it during my gameplay and I'm really hooked on the concept.

You can already play with it.

All Scenario Maps already have the "Large Rivers" in them.
Also it is possible to place with Worldbuilder as well.
Only the MapScripts do not.

Summary:
It is in the game and playable, just not in randomly generated maps by MapScripts.