More Terrains / Terrain Features / Bonus Ressources [IMPLEMENTED]

[ConjurerDragon]

Salt from the ocean:
Historically several attempts in colonial US times to get salt simply from "coastal waters" failed or produced miniscule amounts of salt.

The reason was that some were attempted within the Cheasapeake bay and there the percentage of salt in the water is far lower than in the real ocean due to the influx of sweet water from rivers. The salinity rises the more south (closer to the real ocean) the bay get but the whole bay even at the south has less than the ocean
https://www.chesapeakebay.net/discover/ecosystem/physical_characteristics#:~:text= Chesapeake Bay salinity 1 Salinity is,fresh water. Brackish water has a... More

That is the reason that the more successful historical colonial salt production at the eastern coast of Virginia produced more salt as they went outside the bay to the barrier islands
https://chesapeakebaymagazine.com/old-salt/

So it is a good rule not to allow salt harvesting everywhere in "coastal water" but forbid it if a river enters/neighbours the coastal water in that square.


Pictures how the "mines" for producing salts could look
Salinen in Maras (South America, Peru)

spanish atlantic islands

This kind of production using the sun needs not only coastal waters but a lot of sun so should not be possible e.g. in Greenland but in tropical/subtropical areas or should take much longer/produce less the colder the area is.

Bermudas, Turks and Caycos Island coastal salt production
https://www.tcmuseum.org/culture-history/salt-industry/

Important salt production in colonial times that became unimportant due to ever rising demand for salt and better locations to mine or "pump-out" salt elsewhere in larger quantities with less work

https://www.liquisearch.com/history_of_bermuda/bermuda_salt_and_the_turks_islands

 

[raystuttgart]

So ok, now I added Terrain Feature Flood Plains
(It is exclusive to Deserts, more info see below)

Graphics I created myself.
(But I do hope that a talented graphical modder will later create something better ...)

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Before anybody asks why I did not just use "Flood Plains" from Civ4BTS:

Spoiler :

Because it is d*** f*** not possible in Civ4Col !
If I ever catch that d*** Civ4Col Vanilla programmer that just left out or even removed that capability ...

The tag "bRiverArt" that is availalbe in Civ4BTS was never added to Civ4Col.
Our exe just does not know how to draw "Terrain Features" that adjust themselves to Rivers ...

Since we can not mod the exe there is no way we can have such graphically nice "Flood Plains" as Civ4BTS has ...
So without the capability of creating Flood Plains like in Civ4BTS I created this here.

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Gameplay:

Flood Plains are rare can only spawn next to a River in Deserts.

When they do spawn, they add Food to the Plot like e.g. a Plot of Grasland or Savannah.
They can also even have Corn, Oasis, Rice, ... or other Food Bonusses on top and also allow to build a Farm on it.

Basically Flood Plains can potentially become the key to settling in Deserts.
But again, finding them means you were pretty lucky ... (There are not that many rivers in Deserts to start with ...)

 

[modmod]

With 180 I am convinced -> ok.

 

[raystuttgart]

So ok, here we have the next.

Terrain Feature Impassable Mountains
(Mountains also having Terrain Features is a new capabiliy of the current branch I am working on.)

Credits for graphics:
Caveman 2 Cosmos mod

It is pretty rare (and of course spawns only on Peaks).
Otherwise is pretty much what the name says:

It is 100% impassable - no Scout, no Pioneer, no Native, ... can cross it.
Thus there will be no Yields, no Road, no Improvement, ...

 

[modmod]

Mushrooms as bonus resource?

https://www.vecteezy.com/free-vector/mushroom
https://pixabay.com/images/search/wild mushrooms/

 

[raystuttgart]

Mushrooms as bonus resource?

Why not?

Alway felt that "Magic Mushrooms" were missing in WTP.
(But no, it will not get a new Yield sold and consumed on the Domestic Market ...)

I can give it a try to create a Bonus Ressource for them.
(Maybe for Bogs / Swamps to give +1 Food)

Ok, this is already the Button I created:
(Using an image I found in the net.)

 

[modmod]

For bogs/ swamps/ rivers/ lakes also:
https://www.birds-of-north-america.net/north-american-ducks.html

 

[Tugboatspotter]

I really love a lot of what I am seeing here but I used to play C2C, and I remember it always used to crash eventually because there was too much added to the mod. I think they managed to rewrite a lot of the code to alleviate this. With a gigantic map and all these new features added to WTP, is this something that is being considered with the limitations of a 32bit program?

 

[Nightinggale]

I really love a lot of what I am seeing here but I used to play C2C, and I remember it always used to crash eventually because there was too much added to the mod. I think they managed to rewrite a lot of the code to alleviate this. With a gigantic map and all these new features added to WTP, is this something that is being considered with the limitations of a 32bit program?

Yes. I have been looking into reducing memory usage. Take for instance the memory used to store if a team has discovered a plot. The vanilla code would use 200 bytes. I wrote EnumMap, which stores the same data in 8 bytes. Multiply that by the number of plots in the game and it adds up. In addition to reduced memory usage, it's now static memory meaning it reduces the performance impact from memory latency.

I have done stuff like that in multiple locations and will continue to do so. Overall it's my impression that the memory usage of the code itself is going down even though we add more features because the new code is more memory efficient.

If you ask if we will run out of memory due to adding graphics, then I can't give you a definitive answer. I have to admit I haven't investigated that part. However I do not believe the impact from more terrains will be significant. We won't have more plots to add graphics to meaning assuming the new stuff use the same amount of memory as the old, all we have to do is store each once. In percentage, that increase seems to be insignificant. Still it's worth considering and testing. I would however be surprised if it causes issues.

 

[ConjurerDragon]

For bogs/ swamps/ rivers/ lakes also:
https://www.birds-of-north-america.net/north-american-ducks.html

Aren´t ducks to specific and should, if at all, rather be a bonus resource "fowl" or at least "waterfowl" (ducks and geese)?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fowl#Terminology

 

[raystuttgart]

I really love a lot of what I am seeing here but I used to play C2C, and I remember it always used to crash eventually because there was too much added to the mod. I think they managed to rewrite a lot of the code to alleviate this. With a gigantic map and all these new features added to WTP, is this something that is being considered with the limitations of a 32bit program?

Don't worry, those graphics are really not problematic.
Please have a bit of trust that we know what we are doing.

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Take for example the Swamp graphics - It is just 548kB. Hardly much more than a text file.
Even small pictures in higher resolution take more data storage.

The number of sprites and the detail they use is really low.
And they are not even animated.

And considering the graphic engine, it does not really make a difference if it needs to draw a Forrest or a Swamp on a Plot.
The graphic cards of today can easily cach those graphics (because they are tiny) and the graphics engine just requests those graphics.

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Nothing about the new Terrain Features / Bonus Ressources needs much computation.
At most the little impact they have on Yields on the Terrain.

But they are no different there than the existing Terrain Features / Bonus Ressources.
Also with existing Terrain Features / Bonus Ressources the Yields on the Terrain already need to be calculated for each Plot specifically anyways.

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We have e.g. Unit graphis that are much more detailed and are thus much bigger.
And those Unit graphics are also animated - especially in combat and such.

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There is no real risk on inmage performance or crashes in those graphics themselves. (At most the loading times may minimally increase.)
The only real risk on ingame performance or crashes only comes from game features being implemented using them.

 

[raystuttgart]

However I do not believe the impact from more terrains will be significant. We won't have more plots to add graphics to meaning assuming the new stuff use the same amount of memory as the old, all we have to do is store each once. In percentage, that increase seems to be insignificant.

Exactly.

 

[raystuttgart]

Guys,

I know that for you all the stuff I do here must seem "chaotic" and "random" but it really is not.
I am following a plan - I have concepts for gameplay in mind.
(Only the way I work on the details of these concepts is chaotic creative, not the goal / plan itself.)

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I am not just "adding whatever I can" just for eye candy.
(Which is great, but still never reason enough in its own.)

Whenever I add something I do because I see a gameplay reason for it.
(But of course I also try to do it by taking car of immersion and balancing.)

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I am trying to achive 3 goals - all in one simultaneously - without ever hurting a single of them:

1. Solving some small balancing issues (like we had with "Barley" being too common and "Salt" being to rare.)
2. Creating more immersion and diversity (by creating more realistic and good looking Terrain Features / Terrains / Bonus Ressources)
3. A massive gameplay expansion: "Natural Environment Overhaul" + "Health Overhaul" (letting Nature have much more impact on gameplay)

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My way of modding details is "chaotic", it is "creative" and it is hard to understand for others because my plans are usually very big.
But you can always rely that I follow a larger plan and have at least one if not several gameplay concepts in mind.

 

[modmod]

Aren´t ducks to specific and should, if at all, rather be a bonus resource "fowl" or at least "waterfowl" (ducks and geese)?

From the general perspective: yes.

But from graphic waterfowl is a bit more difficult.
Also needs some additional explanation because I doubt most players are in biology that much.

Consider that game have turkeys instead of galliformes as bonus resource.

 

[raystuttgart]

As requested:

Here we have Bonus Ressource Mushrooms.
(3D graphics are from Caveman 2 Cosmos mod, Button I created myself.)

It is only found in Marsh and Wetland.

Currently there is not much special about it yet, it just gives +1 Food and it allows to build a Farm on it at the moment.
Will however definitely try to involve it in my "Health Overhaul" later on.

 

[raystuttgart]

Do I read this correctly?
So there were rabbits in the New World before the Europeans introduced the "European Rabbit"?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cottontail_rabbit << Native New World Rabbit?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/European_rabbit << European Rabbit?

 

[raystuttgart]

So ok, here we have it finally: Bonus Ressource Guinea Pig
(Credits for Graphics: Caveman 2 Cosmos Mod)

These little beasts love all kind of Grass (Lush Grass, Meadows and Shrub).

They can only be found in Tropical Regions - Savannah Hills to be more precise.
The places where they live can not breed Sheep - somehow your Sheep seem to be scared of them.

Your Colonist seem to like them though ... it looks like they are tasty and also give some fur ...
Also the children in any adjacent City like to play with them as pets which increases Happiness as well.

 

[raystuttgart]

Hi guys,

here are first preview screenshots of the next 4 Bonus Ressources I plan to add.
(Now focussing a bit more on the North and High North.)

Duck:

Loon:

Caribou:

Moose:

 

[modmod]

Do I read this correctly?

Yes.
As for mention the European types were more domesticated -> which cheat the facts a bit as we see with the example of Australia: they have much life ability without care. Actually they cannot exterminate rabbits there yet tried in various ways.

 

[modmod]

Moose and Caribou.

Santa will be happy.