R:I. My personal spin-off

[TheBirdMan]

After a little more than 200 turns I see the AIs have started or finished buildings like LumberYards, CharcoalBurnersHut and Butcher (YES, I did open WorldBuilder). So far so good.

 

[TheBirdMan]

The first 2 tests showed, as expected, quite a few errors and broken logic - whether I have fixed them all by now..... well time will tell. This 3rd test will start in a little while and with it I will - to the extent I remember it - upload screenshots and comments.

Since I'm not very good at GIMP, those who follow this page will - hopefully - make their "" silently, when they see my very limited graphic "talent". But some parts of my work are better than other.....

 

[TheBirdMan]

3rd Testgame startet.

Spoiler First Techs :

What you can see from above is how fast after each other the first 15-20 techs will "arrive". This is exactly what I want, as I believe that "humanity" had knowledge of the most basic technologies already around 4000-3500BC. But once that period has passed - then development will be somewhat slower than in the original version of RI.

 

[TheBirdMan]

After 77 turns. 13 techs discovered, first contact with a neighbor (the Greeks).

Spoiler Screenshots :

While waiting for my 1st settler, I'm going to find out where to settle. So far so good - though my scout was close to fail a moment ago.......

Spoiler More screenshots :

My scout is back onboard his sailboat - resting and recovering.

 

[TheBirdMan]

3rd city founded and a few more neighbors found - and some found me.

Spoiler Screenshot of the present situation. :

NO I say. For one or another reason I do not like slavery - guess it's a "left-over" from previous RI-versions...... I know the dis-advantages have been reduced quite a bit. But I still do not like playing that civic.

2nd city founded a while ago. Choosed to build it on the Cereals (Wheat) since that is a very-very vital resource now.

Soon I can change to my preferred civic - one I'm going to keep for quite some time. That civic together with the building "Imperial Cult" - that rocks for sure.

I have "lifted" some of the limitations for Imperial Cult. Now it only depends on, that the Regime of the Nation is an Autocracy. I do believe (as the background text more-or-less says), that any great (or huge or powerful) leader for any great (or huge or powerful) nation from ancient days and up to today "loves" this type of government (and type of building).

 

[TheBirdMan]

I made a minor - but annoying - mistake with a building, which I assigned more "tasks" than I should have. Among other things, this resulted in the building being able to produce natural fibers without access to even one of the resources that (should) be needed. Therefore I made a "copy" of the building Local_Workshop which was given the task of producing natural fibers, while the "original" building now only brews beer (I renamed it Local_Brewery).

Unfortunately, adding a building means that the game must be restarted - Can't help it, but that's the way it is. This time I start as England.

Spoiler Screenshots :

And below the now 2 buildings, that made a restart necessary:

 

[TheBirdMan]

Spoiler More screenshots 1 - details, discovered techs :

Spoiler More screenshots 2 - Terrain 'round London :

Nasty terrain - wet swamps, cold tundra, icy areas ..... but 1 big "plus" compared to the original RI: Sea_Ice might be coastal from start, but it can't spread to other coastal tiles. However Ocean Sea_Ice is still able to spread to other Ocean tiles.

 

[TheBirdMan]

I have added 25 new buildings and 40 new bonus(!). Now I'm ready to continue with my tests. Let the fun begin.

 

[TheBirdMan]

My first serious try with the Arabs.

 

[TheBirdMan]

So far so good -

Spoiler Screenshot :

And all nations seems to start fine (I have checked, that all have choosen spots for - at least - their 2nd and a 3rd city by now)

Spoiler MiniWorldmap :

 

[TheBirdMan]

YES - it works. I'm finally able to start building my first Trireme (after 464 turns).

Spoiler Screenshot :

Now that's late some would say - Yes maybe it is, but the demands for making a war-ship are high. But by a 2nd thought: Is year 944BC really that late????

Spoiler A Trireme is not cheap..... :

 

[TheBirdMan]

Even though it's been more than 2 months since I last wrote anything new here, I haven't "put my hobby on the shelf" in any way. I've just been too busy adding both old material and new ideas to the latest release.

 

[LeanArcticWolf]

Your submod looks really cool! I was wondering if you have considered looking into how geography and infrastructure could be tied into logistics:

, I was thinking that geography should also be tied to the logistic system. After all, geography is the very reason why we need logistics in the first place. Having ancient armies clashing in the middle of a desert should not be as doable as having armies clashing in lush farmland.
Logistics should be expanded beyond the urban/rural system and also take account of geography by food yields.

1-2 Food yields: Provide no bonus
3-4 Food yields: Expands logistics by 1
5-6 Food yields: Expands logistics by 2. And so on for higher food yields.
0 Food yields: Decreases logistics by 5

These numbers can always be changed for balancing, but the main point is that tundra and deserts should not be able to support the same size armies as lush farm land.

Logistics can also be improved by a few ways: coast/river, great generals, and buildings (in addition to aforementioned technology being an influencing factor)
Traveling by coast/river will improve logistics by 1 or two, regardless of the terrain, as the army is being supplied by “merchant ships”.

Great generals will negate the 0 food yield penalty on logistics completely. This simulates for example the brilliance of Alexander the Great navigating through the deserts of the Persian Empire. Or a great general can have a special promotion line that affects logistics. First level improves army logistics by one, level 2 improves it by 2, and level 4 negates the 0 food yield penalty on logistics completely.

I was also thinking that path improvements (cart path, road, paved road, etc) would also improve logistics and each better path improvement would provide a better bonus for the tile, but that may be too many variables for logistics already. Movement bonus may be good enough reason to use it already. Perhaps a slight terrain defense aid? Soldiers are better supplied by road, so they are better fed and able to fight better:

Cart path-no bonus,+1 to logistics?
Road-1 % defense bonus. +2 to logistics?
Paved Road-2 or 3 percent defense bonus, +3 to logistics?
Etc

Buildings, such as ammo depots and barracks would increase urban logistics.


TLDR: Basic idea is to adapt the logistics system in regards to geography, great generals, path improvements, and buildings as influencing variables to rural/urban logistics.

 

[TheBirdMan]

Your submod looks really cool! I was wondering if you have considered looking into how geography and infrastructure could be tied into logistics:

No I can't say I have. But I can say, that I stick to the original R:I and only add/change what I like, since my "version" is personal. It will never become public.

 

[TheBirdMan]

After Walter kind of "pushed" me - I guess I can call it that, because he gave me some good instructions on how to add new buildings and new resources (only produce-able, not terrain) - then time just went by with new additions and endless new tests and fixes.

Now it's time for the first big test: Will I be happy with my work? Yes - or No.

So we start from here:

 

[TheBirdMan]

Spoiler 7Screenshots :

mapsize 160*128, 9850 landtiles, 1 nation from Europe (Russia) and 11 from Asia.

Startingposition

1st tech: Toolmaking (as usual).

2nd tech (only if startingposition is close to water and I see a Fish nearby). Pls note one of my new buildings: The Local_Dye hut (see more below).

Nice fast tech discoveries - here in the start of the game that is. As I wrote earlier (somewhere): All techs in the Ancient Era should - in my (not so) humble opinion - be available much faster than in the default game.

Again a new building: The Butcher, who provides Fresh Meat and Hides. Pls note that I'm not using the Hides for anything right now - but I guess I'll find something useful for that resource later on. Also note, that Path making is available from now (and that Roads comes somewhat later than in the default game).

 

[TheBirdMan]

Spoiler 5 Screenshots from yesterday afternoon :

Agriculture opens up a number of new buildings and resources - many borrowed from C2C/CoM. A more detailed description follows below.

The Stonegrinder or Quern. A more detailed description is probably not needed here.

The EarthOven. Couldn't find a good dds-file, so the Tent was re-used (just as you will see the Workshop.dds many places later on - as below fx......).

Locally produced goods are a small addition to R:I. Here, for example, is a small brewery.

Mysticism and thus the consequences of the influence of sorcerers/medicine men and priests on local societies have moved quite a few years forward in time (see tech_map in previous post). Mysticism is now a prereq for Priesthood - which by the way is a prereq for most other techs - except the military branch.

 

[TheBirdMan]

Spoiler 2 sceenshots of the snow- and ice-filled mountain regions. :

Since ships can't travel on the default rivers, I often make my "own" by using continuous row of coast tiles when I make my maps.

Spoiler 2 More screenshots from todays gaming (added 14:20 UTC +2). :

As usual a very important workplace. But here, the "cut-off" when making those Limestone blocks and masonry material actual is useful. Here the Crushed_Limestone is used in the proces of making Copper to Bronze and later IronOre to Iron. More about this later.

Most often you can't build everything without the proper resources. Here making a Monument, the work "demands" access to 2 units of Masonry (guess I'll change that to 1 unit of Limestone (Stone) - or 1 Stone and 1 Masonry).

 

[TheBirdMan]

Just saw the first barbarian units in this game. But before showing the screenshot, a little info on my generel settings for barbarians.

First: I do want to play with barbarians. But I do not want them to show up too early - too many of my "regular" AI competitors lose a city or two before the game has really started - which I don't find particularly satisfying.

So I have made a few changes to the default setup in the CIV4HandicapInfo.xml file in the Monarch section.

Spoiler CIV4HandicapInfo.xml for barbarians - original and my changes :

Original
<iUnownedTilesPerGameAnimal>35</iUnownedTilesPerGameAnimal>
<iUnownedTilesPerBarbarianUnit>40</iUnownedTilesPerBarbarianUnit>
<iUnownedWaterTilesPerBarbarianUnit>320</iUnownedWaterTilesPerBarbarianUnit>
<iUnownedTilesPerBarbarianCity>110</iUnownedTilesPerBarbarianCity>
<iBarbarianCreationTurnsElapsed>25</iBarbarianCreationTurnsElapsed>
<iBarbarianCityCreationTurnsElapsed>30</iBarbarianCityCreationTurnsElapsed>
<iBarbarianCityCreationProb>7</iBarbarianCityCreationProb>

My changes
<iUnownedTilesPerGameAnimal>35</iUnownedTilesPerGameAnimal>
<iUnownedTilesPerBarbarianUnit>80</iUnownedTilesPerBarbarianUnit>
<iUnownedWaterTilesPerBarbarianUnit>480</iUnownedWaterTilesPerBarbarianUnit>
<iUnownedTilesPerBarbarianCity>110</iUnownedTilesPerBarbarianCity>
<iBarbarianCreationTurnsElapsed>100</iBarbarianCreationTurnsElapsed>
<iBarbarianCityCreationTurnsElapsed>30</iBarbarianCityCreationTurnsElapsed>
<iBarbarianCityCreationProb>7</iBarbarianCityCreationProb>

Line2: Only half the number of Barbarians now shows up on the stage.
Line3: Somewhat fewer Barbarian ships now shows up.
Line5: Barbarian units shows up 4-5 time later than usual - Playing with the Monarch handicap, that is 'round turn 250-350. And I also allow Barbarian Units to spawn through all the eras except the Future Era.

Reason why I do not have to make changes for the Barbarian cities are, that I do not allow the Barbarians to settle their own cities. However - they can take over a city by revolting or slave rebellions just as they can in default games.

Animals - they show up as default and they continue in the game until the Barbarian units take over - in my games that will be turn 300-400.... more-or-less.