[Map Script] Strategea

[Zerzes]

The Stratega map script is now updated to version 1.1!

Download Strategea here

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New in version 1.1:
* Added support for different climates

Enjoy the Stratega concept in a jungle or on the fertile flood plains of the desert. Each climate has its own tweaks and special features, which makes them quite different to play. Why not try the rocky climate with mazes of mountains where you can crank up the difficulty level and fight your way through mountain pass to mountain pass?

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I have based Strategea on Boreal.py, since that script gave me some "a-ha" insights of what makes a map fun to play (imho of course). Although that inheritance might not be very obvious anymore.

Some of the main features of the script are:

* It's a regional map with no oceans, but several lakes.
* Lots of easily defended passes and border lines, thanks to an abundance of mountain ridges and snaky lakes. However, it's a dynamic script so wide plains are also possible.
* Fewer luxury and food resources to increase the strategic importance of the existing ones.
* Base food resources. Game in forest, Banana in jungle, Fish in lakes, Wheat in plains.
* Rare resources. Many resources have fewer occurences than the number of players, but with the possibility of one major location with up to 6 adjacent plots with the resource. The owner of such locations will have a good trading position.
* Climate regions. Areas of different climate (desert, tundra, etc) are fractally placed and not tied to latitude.
* Clustered strategic resources. Because who doesn't want to have a city with lots of iron hills?
* All plots on the map can be reached by land. (I believe this script actually works now. It wasn't fool proof in Boreal.)

My goal is that the script should generate a sane map with the possibility to find insane city locations!

The biggest problem for me now is that I always get too eager to start new games and discover new worlds. So I have too little experience of how well the script plays in late game . My intention for late game is that mastering the key strategic resources should be priority one. Feedback on this part is appreciated, since I rarely get this far.

I should also warn those who might want to try this script in a multiplayer game. I have not made any balancing actions what so ever, so use it at your own risk. You can however always blame a defeat on your lousy starting position...
If someone wants to make this script more multiplayer friendly, please feel free to do so. I have no plans on doing it myself since I never play multiplayer.

When it comes to compatibility issues with different versions of CIV4, I have no idea. I have only played it with BtS, so I don't know if it works with anything else.

I hope you enjoy it!

 

[The_J]

Looks interesting.
I'll try out, what it'll produce with my mod.

 

[The_J]

Okay, i've looked at it.

It produces some nice maps, respect.

They are maybe imbalanced, sure, but still nice.


Is it okay, when i add this mapscript in the next patch of my mod ?
If yes, i have some additional questions: Do you change somewhere the appearance of resources? Because it produces some times big clusters of 1 or 2 resources.

 

[mechaerik]

Well he does say it produces resource clusters.

 

[The_J]

sorry, didn't read that.
Then i have to look, how to take out 2 resources, because a cluster of water and oxygen would be f****** imbalanced in my mod.

 

[mechaerik]

Oh yeah. Get the few clusters and you are now the only one who can build settlers.

 

[The_J]

Changed the resources a bit, is now a bit more balanced (i guess, it works good for normal BtS).

To say it again: Nice mapscript .

 

[Zerzes]

Thanks!

Yeah, one of my goals was to make a script that can produce insane city spots with lots of resources at one place, but still balanced in such a way that they shouldn't be too common, so you have a "holy grail" to search for . Sometimes several clusters appear at the same place which may be way too unfair for a multiplayer game, but then again, who says life is fair? That's one of the challenges. Sometimes you get a lousy starting position and sometimes you get eden.
Maybe I should make a multiplayer balancing option, but I appreciate if you have already done something like that.

I started working on a version 2 now, with more options for the user and maybe even more emphasis on the strategic part with better natural defense lines etc. Never know when it will be finished though. Suggestions are welcome!

And ofcourse you can use it in your mod if you want!
(Which mod is it? I would like to try it!)

 

[The_J]

I started working on a version 2 now, with more options for the user and maybe even more emphasis on the strategic part with better natural defense lines etc. Never know when it will be finished though. Suggestions are welcome!

Only a small thing, which i've seen today:
Could you check, that there are enough workable plots around the starting positions?
I had a start, where i've mostly been surrounded by peaks, and everywhere, where i could have moved in the first two rounds, would have resulted in minimum 6 peaks in the FC.

That's maybe something, which only appears in my mod, but there's sure a chance, that it'll appear in normal BtS.

And ofcourse you can use it in your mod if you want!

Thanks .

(Which mod is it? I would like to try it!)

Look at my signature .

 

[Zerzes]

Only a small thing, which i've seen today:
Could you check, that there are enough workable plots around the starting positions?
I had a start, where i've mostly been surrounded by peaks, and everywhere, where i could have moved in the first two rounds, would have resulted in minimum 6 peaks in the FC.

FC, is that for first city? I have not been around here enough to catch the lingo .
What do you think is enough workable plots? 6 peaks still means 15 workable plots, and that should be enough to get you in the game. I have some kind of quality check on the starting position, but maybe it's not restrictive enough. To make it more multiplayer friendly, I should definately put a little more effort on the starting locations.

Look at my signature .

Doh!

 

[Zerzes]

Look at my signature .

Woo, massive mod! Impressive!

 

[The_J]

FC, is that for first city? I have not been around here enough to catch the lingo .

Uh, sorry. FC = "Fat Cross", the 20 plots, which are maximum workable for a city, after the first culture expansion.

What do you think is enough workable plots? 6 peaks still means 15 workable plots, and that should be enough to get you in the game. I have some kind of quality check on the starting position, but maybe it's not restrictive enough. To make it more multiplayer friendly, I should definately put a little more effort on the starting locations.

In normal games, i restart, when i have 3 notworkable plots, but for this mapscript, the current state is maybe alright (didn't look, how good the starting positions from the other civs were).
But i've started (just started) the game now several times, and that happend one time, so it's not a big problem .

Woo, massive mod! Impressive!

Thanks .

But not the most impressive around here .
This mapscript would definetly fit very well in the Fall From Heaven 2 fantasy mod. You should look, that it also works with it, or create a special version for it.

 

[Tholish]

The biggest problem for me now is that I always get too eager to start new games and discover new worlds. So I have too little experience of how well the script plays in late game . My intention for late game is that mastering the key strategic resources should be priority one. Feedback on this part is appreciated, since I rarely get this far.

You should try AI AutoPlay.

http://forums.civfanatics.com/showthread.php?t=174812

 

[Sephi]

Hello Zerzes,

thanks for this brilliant mapscript, I really really like it.

 

[Zerzes]

You should try AI AutoPlay.

http://forums.civfanatics.com/showthread.php?t=174812

Thanks for the tip! I'll try it.

Hello Zerzes,

thanks for this brilliant mapscript, I really really like it.

I'm glad you like it!

And The_J: I tried to run your mod, but I get a crash when I try to load it (unhandled exception)

 

[PieceOfMind]

Zerzes, you should put a link to this thread in the db download page. This page is more informative.

Anyway, I'm going to try it out a few times but I might include it packaged with PIG Mod.

 

[Zerzes]

Hi again!

After a broken computer and a hectic month I have finally found some time for Civilization again!

I have made a little update to the script, which makes it possible to play with different climates (plus a few minor tweaks). My personal favourites are arid and rocky, but I am quite satisfied with all of them. I have also put a link from the download page to this thread as you suggested PieceOfMind .

Enjoy!

 

[Le Sage]

I will add this to my Fairy Tale mod. I am in need of good mapscripts.

 

[dalwand]

I like this mapscript: giving weird maps but playing with regular rules is my thing. Kudus, and hope u give even more variation in related mapscripts!