Making Lake tiles improvable

[shandelman]

So it really bugs that me that Lakes suck. Lakes are awesome! Huge amounts of fresh water should be a major resource worth fighting wars over - not a hindrance to good agricultural land; and they don't provide the bonus trade route output that actual coastlines do.

I think the simplest way to achieve this would be to make Lake hexes:
1) Get the +1/+1 from water purification plants.
2) Be improvable.

So I tried to start with allowing improvements, but the simple/obvious modification of the xml doesn't seem to work

<Improvements>
		<Update>
			<Set Water="true"/>
			<Where Type="IMPROVEMENT_ARRAY"/>
		</Update>

		<Update>
			<Set Water="true"/>
			<Where Type="IMPROVEMENT_NODE"/>
		</Update>

		<Update>
			<Set Water="true"/>
			<Where Type="IMPROVEMENT_DOME"/>
		</Update>

		<Update>
			<Set Water="true"/>
			<Where Type="IMPROVEMENT_BIOWELL"/>
		</Update>
	</Improvements>

	<Improvement_ValidFeatures>
		<Row ImprovementType="IMPROVEMENT_ARRAY" FeatureType="FEATURE_LAKE"/>
		<Row ImprovementType="IMPROVEMENT_NODE" FeatureType="FEATURE_LAKE"/>
		<Row ImprovementType="IMPROVEMENT_DOME" FeatureType="FEATURE_LAKE"/>
		<Row ImprovementType="IMPROVEMENT_BIOWELL" FeatureType="FEATURE_LAKE"/>
	</Improvement_ValidFeatures>

The above code-block seems pretty damn simple (if I made some obvious mistake please let me know ), but it doesn't work.
Is there something else I need to set?
If not, how difficult would it be to go into the lua files and add the ability for workers to improve lakes?

Thanks much --S

 

[whoward69]

(Like in Civ V), Neither Lakes nor Rivers are actually features - the FEATURE_LAKE and FEATURE_RIVER entries are in the <FakeFeatures> table, and that exists solely for the Civilopedia entries

 

[shandelman]

Oh.

Well, that explains that, then. Do their yield entries do anything?

So in order to change this, I would need to track down whatever lua scripts make the existing exceptions for lakes (including how it detects them, presumably something about smaller contiguous bodies of water), and then re-write the improvement lua file to make the same exception when a worker is on a lake (as opposed to other ocean) tile?

 

[whoward69]

Do their yield entries do anything?

Only change the values displayed in the 'pedia

So in order to change this, I would need to track down whatever lua scripts make the existing exceptions for lakes

Pretty sure it's going to be in the DLL, not Lua.

 

[shandelman]

Not quite the same thing, but this type of codeblock *does* work:

	<Building_LakePlotYieldChanges>
		<Row BuildingType="BUILDING_WATER_PLANT" YieldType="YIELD_PRODUCTION" Yield="1"/>
		<Row BuildingType="BUILDING_WATER_PLANT" YieldType="YIELD_ENERGY" Yield="1"/>
		<Row BuildingType="BUILDING_DEPOT" YieldType="YIELD_ENERGY" Yield="1"/>
		<Row BuildingType="BUILDING_VIVARIUM" YieldType="YIELD_FOOD" Yield="1"/>
		<Row BuildingType="BUILDING_SOMA_DISTILLERY" YieldType="YIELD_CULTURE" Yield="1"/>
		<Row BuildingType="BUILDING_BOREHOLE" YieldType="YIELD_PRODUCTION" Yield="1"/>
		<Row BuildingType="BUILDING_ALIEN_PRESERVE" YieldType="YIELD_SCIENCE" Yield="1"/>
	</Building_LakePlotYieldChanges>

The above code is just something a threw together messing around, probably those are not the changes I'd actually want to make.
Although weird things happen when you change these values for a game in progress.

I have to decide what lakes *should* do, I'm thinking:
* +1 Energy / +1 Health with BUILDING_WATER_PLANT (this is the big one).
EDIT: UNFORTUNATELY, I CAN'T DO THIS BECAUSE IT'S NOT A YIELD.
EDIT2: FOR SIMPLICITY WHY NOT MAKE IT +1 Food/+1 Production? That's almost a bugfix given what the text already says!

* +1 Culture with BUILDING_SOMA_DISTILLERY (because Beer).
* +1 Production with BUILDING_BOREHOLE
* +1 Food with BUILDING_VIVARIUM
That would end you up at 3F/1C/1P/2E, and +1 Health (with a farm, tops out at 4F/1P/1S/1E without wonders). Is that better than a grassland hex? I think lake hexes should be better than grassland hexes.

 

[NotSoLoneWolf]

For the health from water refineries, you could try to put <BuildingHealthMaintenance>-1</BuildingHealthMaintenance>
But I have no idea wether that will work or not.