[Map Script] Earth2

[GRM7584]

All credit for source material goes to Sirian's Terra mapscript. All credit for deciding where to place regions based on earth goes to...er...earth. And me.

This is essentially an Earth randomizer; it will provide continents, islands, and most seas in standard "Earth" places. Apart from that, though, anything goes. The result is a map in which you will recognize your general starting location 4 out 5 times (results may vary on huge maps ) but you won't have a clue about anything around you. Because of Earth's innate tactical opportunities (land and sea chokepoints, secluded islands, etc) this is guaranteed to be at least a little interesting as a map. Climate and Sea Level are treated normally.

I would Strongly recommend using "rocky" climate and normal sea levels if you want a more "earthy" map.

Update: Minor update, tweaked starting positions, added more layers, adjusted region parameters.

Note: Starting locations are linked to the Old World, but are NOT culturally linked in any way. Incas can start in Norway, if the map puts them there. If I figure out how to code properly in Python, I may implement a cultural linkage option during map selection. Don't count on it any time soon, unless someone else provides me the code.

Mapscript follows. V 0.02. Instructions: Unzip, place in Publicmaps folder (or Warlords/Publicmaps, if you want it to show up for that) of your Civ directory. It should be compatible with Warlords or Vanilla (or most/any mods for either), I've tested it with both, and didn't encounter any issues.

 

[GRM7584]

Screenies: (Mediterranean, Middle East, and Caribbean; minimap in bottom right shows entire world. All examples use Size = Standard Sealevel = Normal and Climate = Rocky)

 

[The Great Apple]

Funky. Can you post some screen shots?

 

[GRM7584]

Funky. Can you post some screen shots?

Too late? (10 mooses)

 

[Good Sauce]

I like the idea, but this script doesn't work for me. all i get is a grassland. hope you can fix it.

 

[The Great Apple]

That is cool. I think I might know what script to use for my next game!

 

[GRM7584]

I like the idea, but this script doesn't work for me. all i get is a grassland. hope you can fix it.

There was a superfluous line of Warlords-only text being imported; it has been removed. The updated file is in the first post.

 

[Cincinnatus3]

Tested it out in a game yesterday and it was great! Good job

One thing I did notice is that sometimes you start very close to another civ, as in 5 tiles away. Made for an interesting warriors only early war with Montezuma

 

[GRM7584]

Tested it out in a game yesterday and it was great! Good job

One thing I did notice is that sometimes you start very close to another civ, as in 5 tiles away. Made for an interesting warriors only early war with Montezuma

This also happens in Terra, but it might happen in mine a bit more often due to a tag I changed, which I'll probably change back once I update it (to fix a few continent shapes, as well). Sometimes (in Terra or this script) you can start only *2* tiles away from another civ.

I've also made another script using dice to create a more random Terra-type script, but it comes out more as a Fractal map with a Terra flavor...once I get it rigged properly I'll post it here.

 

[LDiCesare]

What exactly is different from Terra? Is it more eathlike or what?

 

[GRM7584]

What exactly is different from Terra? Is it more eathlike or what?

Terra places 4-5 continents in generally earthy locations (West/East hemisphere, Eurasia/NAmerica/SAmerica sometimes Africa/Indonesia) with a lot of dice rolls and fairly little layering. This mapscript puts all the continents in "Earth" locations and shapes through extensive use of regions, and then relies on repeatedly calling fractals (with low land proportions) to randomize the continents and make the shores look somewhat natural. The end result is that maps produced are recognizable as Earth, just with a lot of things "wrong" due to the randomization.

The other one that I'm working on which does have dice rolls is reliant on taking the original spirit of the terra script, and adding a much larger number of dice rolls and fractal layering. Unfortunately, this is resulting in some issues with making the map look good, but I'll get it right eventually.

 

[Ket]

Snicker...Snicker...Snicker... Your ether gonna love me or hate me I'm not sure which one...

Anyway...
Is there an issue with Oasis generation I've noticed a few scripts have problems with it, and just tested the map out kicked in Ctrl-Z and noticed no Oasis...

 

[GRM7584]

I'll see if I can't refine the Earth2 script a bit for .7, I'm starting in with SDK merging and tweaking for my own mod so I can put up a primitive public release that only modifies civics and traits.

For Oasis: I was sure I had seen them before. I'll try to figure out what's up with the feature generation, probably has something to do with latitudes since I changed desert latitudes a bit.

For the tweaking: anyone noticing anything particularly strange about maps (of any size, but I've mainly tested on standard so non-standard feedback is good) such as notifying me of tendencies towards "lines" of water/lakes (which sometimes happens in europe, less now than previously), grotesquely misshapen lands (like north africa is atm), or straight-edged land boundaries (as will sometimes happen in china). Obviously I know of those three ^_^ but any other notification is welcome.

 

[Ket]

Awesome...

Im not sure I mind grossly misshapen lands, gives it that earth but not earth appearance....

The one bug I noticed and this was while doing it under .6 if that has any baring what so ever was that on a standard sized map. The "Scout" unit that I started with was stacked with a civ's settler and warrior.... Now thats close!

 

[GRM7584]

The one bug I noticed and this was while doing it under .6 if that has any baring what so ever was that on a standard sized map. The "Scout" unit that I started with was stacked with a civ's settler and warrior.... Now thats close!

Yes, I lowered the minimum distance to see what would happen...I suppose the results are evident
Since the AI probably doesn't handle that sort of thing well, I'll return it to a higher value. It also doesn't help that I tried to set it up with 70% water and minimum deformation (larger europe, etc). Next thing I'm interested in messing with is trying to produce terrain by region instead of just plot types, so I can prevent the "Europe is a desert and Britain is tundra" sort of situation. Might warrant a seperate file, as some people might *want* weird terrain setups. Really, the initial reason I wanted to set the mapscript up was the mediterranean, since I almost never see an interesting "inland sea" situation in random maps.

 

[Ket]

Smart Map has some interesting inland sea options although its having issues in warlords...you might want to talk a look at the code

 

[Fosse]

Very fun. Do players start in the Old World only, like Terra? If so, could it possibly be an option for them to start anywhere with a viable location?

 

[osbertg]

This is excellent news I have been looking for an earth map for civ 4 for ages.

how do I down load and get it into my game?

r

 

[jkp1187]

Looks neat! This is Warlords-compatible, yes? I think I'll give this a try tonight!

 

[Dubmetender]

very great work !!!
i made a link on french forum for that, because a lot of french people ask for "terra scenario".
If you are not OK , GRM7584, tell me, and i will remove the thread on french forum...