R:I. My personal spin-off

[TheBirdMan]

Next post will be about my changes for sailing units.

Freshwater Lakes greater than size 1 (the new terrain-feature Walter helped me with by making the NIF-file - see https://forums.civfanatics.com/threads/realism-invictus.411799/page-676 posts from Jun 6, 2025) are in my spinn-off from size 2 to size 49. From size 50 those lakes becomes "Open Sea".

Ships "normally" demand waterbodies of size 8 (most ships have this limit <iMinAreaSize>8</iMinAreaSize> ) but some have size 20 (fx. submarines have this <iMinAreaSize>20</iMinAreaSize>). However I mostly believe that this is an "unfinished task". In my spinn-off, I have tried to adjust this to "suit my taste". Have I made ajustments to all ship types? Maybe not yet - but this will be corrected if/when I find errors or shortcomings. Of course the number of Sea-tiles reflects that my maps are as big as they are. But the default values are - in my opinion - clearly too low. Even for the smaller maps.

Besides this, I have added some serious demands for all shiptypes except the Sailboat (and different type of workboats as this type isn't relevant here). I'm not going to show details for all type - but I'll post some of the earliest here to show what changes I have made or will make.

Spoiler Ships in my Spinn-Off :

<iMinAreaSize>6</iMinAreaSize>
This type is the only one (except the workboats), that do not demand anything but a tech.

<iMinAreaSize>200</iMinAreaSize>
As you can see, the demands here are somewhat extensive........
Available resources: Treelogs, Naval Supplies (Canvas for sails, Ropes, Boards and Planks) Woodtar, Bronze or Wrought Iron.
Buildings in the city, where the ship is build: A Harbor or a Naval Workshop (tech Sailing).
Buildings present elsewhere in the empire. Lumberyard (tech Woodworking - for Treelogs), Local Workhouse (tech Weaving - for Sails and Ropes), CharcoalBurnersHut (tech Mining - for Charcoal and Woodtar).
And either BronzeBloomery (should I rename it to CopperBloomery???) or IronBloomery.

Those settings limit the number of cities, where there sailing units can be build. And more advanced shiptypes demands more resources and other buildings. So you need to consider even more carefully than you are used to, where to build what buildings.

 

[TheBirdMan]

Tang Taizong has declared war on you Completely without warning. Gather the tribes - and attack the enemy.

Spoiler Screenshots from the war :

Enemies at the palisade.

And their reinforcements. More screenshots to be added.....
And here they come.

My city defense is down. The chinese have merged their armies.
Later:

My enemy do what they often do - hesitate. Guess reinforce will arrive - hopefully too later.

Because I'm planning an attack on them now. 1st Ram is comming from NorthEast and I have 3 more Rams in the buildingqueqe. Sometime tomorrow morning I should be ready to strike.

 

[TheBirdMan]

Continued

Spoiler Situation report Jun 21, 25 at 06:25 UTC +2 :

And what do we have here? An upcomming enemy or????

An upcomming enemy for sure. Guess the leader from Northern China and Korea had shared a few cup of tea while discussing their next more.

But now I shall teach those Chineese something - I'm going to whip their backs until they bleed and then cut off their heads and put them on poles.

Sorry to write this - but the AI never seems to learn. It is not very wise to declare war on a neighbor when you have not ensured proper defense of your own vulnerable cities.

The Koreans are moving on - wonder what they are up to.....
Update: Nothing - not yet that is.......

What to write now? Well, I can repeat myself: It is not very wise to declare war on a neighbor when you have not ensured proper defense of your own vulnerable cities.....

Easy come - easy go. 65 gold to get him off my back - that's cheap.

 

[TheBirdMan]

End of that war with the Northern China. It became too costly (read: It would take too long time for me to get re-inforcements down to continue the war).

Spoiler Peace considerations and result :

After bombarding the citydefense to zero, I used my 4 chariots to weaken the defenders. Not sure I should have continued......

Lost 2 axes to get 1 archer. I recon I can't do it. So lets see what TT will offer for a peace.

260 gold - that's ok. And now for some new settlements (east and north) plus expand my control over the conquered cities/areas.

Spoiler Too late my not so good friend :

 

[TheBirdMan]

Spoiler Nice try Ivan :

Ivan - that wasn't a nice move. A russian settlement in my backyard????? Guess this is somewhat we have to discuss

No - you do not need to change clothes to participate in this Mongolian ritual: Put a head (yours) on the tip (of a pole).

Let's start the war.

Order restored.

No more sneaking 'round here Ivan. Time to make peace (if you like).

Now you are talking.... 225 gold in exchange - very nice. And you have 15 Cities I see - good to know and something to remember.

 

[TheBirdMan]

Now with less than 2 years to change BC to AD - its time to change from Autocracy and Paganism to a little more "civilized" government.

Spoiler Civic and religion changes :

1st: Change of religion to SolarCult. Reason: I already have 3 cities with that religion. I can't see where it came from, so there's a chance it's still "un-owned". Time will tell.

Change of Government to Monarchy. I have too many cities for Republic and I do not think the Confederation is the "one" for me.

Ohhh - my dear neighbors don't like me anymore - just because I believe in slightly different gods (no one mentioned and no one forgotten) than they do?!?!?!

 

[TheBirdMan]

My gametime yesterday was a long "walk" with war from nearly 1st turn and all turns after. The wars - with a "s" - continues soon. But 1st some screenshots from yesterday.

Spoiler War, war and more even more war. Seems like the AI doesn't like me at all :

-->

Ivan declares war.

And the Russians hit hard.

Korea joins the war - not that I do think the Russians asked them, because they do not like each other much. It's more likely, that they "just" took the oppotunity. But you never know........

The Russians did divide their invasionarmy into 2 - that was a big mistake.

Now the Koreans took a city.......

2nd Russian invasion. In above screenshots you can see the consequence of my changes, where resources play a crucial role in which buildings are "active". Without resources - no production/activity..... (guess those 2 screenshots could be posted in the R:I mainforum too).

As usual (that actually is the way I wage war - flexible) I seldom attack an enemy directly where the enemy is strongest. Instead I try to circle 'round and attack "elsewhere - somewhere - anywhere" I think I can get any kind of a victory.

 

[TheBirdMan]

Spoiler More screenshots from yesterdays gaming :

The 2nd Russian invasion was barely beaten back. The last defender was a badly wounded spearman.

After reading in the mainforum...... now I do not care about this errormessage anymore

2nd Korean city taken.

Northern Dynasty (China) joins my enemies.

And the Russians (still) demands too much for a peacetreaty. With "still" you should understand, that this isn't the 1st time I have asked for a peace - but I have not been "ready" to pay what Ivan demands.

3rd Korean city taken. And that was last turn yesterday.

 

[TheBirdMan]

It's not that I have stopped playing - not at all. But I have decided to have my focus on playing my testgame(s) and not use time to write about them - that will come when I think my mod-mod is "more ready" for it.

However if some are interested in how I make a good testgame - then read here:

Spoiler How to make a game to a scenario :

Above the normal start for a custom game. I use SmartMap_mst as mapgenerator. To have all RI features, bonuses and terrain included, I have to select "standard" for most of the choices.
Remember ALL leaders - including you - should play as Nobles.

When the game is created - give it a "good name" and save it!

Open the game in WorldBuilder and save it. Give it same name as you gave the "standard" game you just created.

When saved - close WorldBuilder. Close the game you are playing (you do not have to exit the program). Your WorldBuilder file should be found here (if you use the default paths): ....\My Games\Beyond the Sword\Saves\WorldBuilder\.........


1st section in the file is the gamesettings. You can alter them here - as long as you use the correct text, delete one or more setting(s) or add one or more.
Platy Builder
bLoadSpecial=1
Version=11
BeginGame
Era=ERA_ANCIENT
Speed=GAMESPEED_REALISM
Calendar=CALENDAR_DEFAULT
Option=GAMEOPTION_NO_BARBARIANS
Option=GAMEOPTION_NO_TECH_TRADING
Option=GAMEOPTION_NO_TECH_BROKERING
Option=GAMEOPTION_NEW_RANDOM_SEED
Option=GAMEOPTION_NO_VASSAL_STATES
Option=GAMEOPTION_NO_GOODY_HUTS
Option=GAMEOPTION_NO_REVOLUTIONS
Option=GAMEOPTION_NO_BARBARIAN_CIV
Option=GAMEOPTION_HOLY_CITY_MIGRATION
Option=GAMEOPTION_PROTECT_VALUABLE_UNITS
Option=GAMEOPTION_AI_PLAYS_TO_WIN
Option=GAMEOPTION_IDW
Option=GAMEOPTION_LEADER_SWITCH
Victory=VICTORY_TIME
Victory=VICTORY_CONQUEST
Victory=VICTORY_DOMINATION
Victory=VICTORY_CULTURAL
Victory=VICTORY_DIPLOMATIC
GameTurn=0
MaxTurns=2200
MaxCityElimination=0
NumAdvancedStartPoints=1080
TargetScore=0
StartYear=-4000
Description=
ModPath=
EndGame


Next part is the TeamSettings. I never use teams, so....... no info here from me.


Then we have the PlayerData.
BeginPlayer
Team=0
LeaderType=LEADER_SURYAVARMAN
LeaderName=[default]
CivDesc=Khmer Tribes
CivShortDesc=Khmer
CivAdjective=Khmer
FlagDecal=Art/Interface/TeamColor/Khmer_tri.dds
WhiteFlag=1
CivType=CIVILIZATION_KHMER
Color=PLAYERCOLOR_MIDDLE_BLUE
ArtStyle=ARTSTYLE_INDIA
PlayableCiv=1
MinorNationStatus=0
StartingGold=0
StartingX=65, StartingY=20
StartingEra=ERA_ANCIENT
RandomStartLocation=false
CivicOption=CIVICOPTION_GOVERNMENT, Civic=CIVIC_DESPOTISM
CivicOption=CIVICOPTION_LEGAL, Civic=CIVIC_RULEOFFEAR
CivicOption=CIVICOPTION_LABOR, Civic=CIVIC_TRIBALISM
CivicOption=CIVICOPTION_ECONOMY, Civic=CIVIC_DECENTRALIZATION
CivicOption=CIVICOPTION_RELIGION, Civic=CIVIC_PAGANISM
Handicap=HANDICAP_NOBLE
ScriptData=(dp1
S'lUsedCityNames'
p2
(lp3
s.
HandicapScoreModifier=0
EndPlayer

Important here are:
Check that the nation is playable (value = 1).
Check the Handicap (Handicap=HANDICAP_NOBLE). It should always be that - you should change this to your own preferred setting when starting the scenario.
Don't mess up with the bolded text (it's not bolded in the file itself - I did this here).


Next part again is the general mapsettings.
BeginMap
grid width=72
grid height=48
top latitude=90
bottom latitude=-90
wrap X=1
wrap Y=1
world size=WORLDSIZE_SMALL
climate=CLIMATE_TEMPERATE
sealevel=SEALEVEL_MEDIUM
num plots written=3456
num signs written=0
Randomize Resources=false
EndMap

wrap X=1 connects the western edge with the eastern (round)
wrap Y=1 connects the northern edge with the southern (round).
If both the X and Y are 1, then you will have a globe.

My normal settings are
wrap X=0
wrap Y=0
which makes the map flat.


Next part is the PlotInfo.

Don't change anything here even you can - do it on the WorldBuilderMap.


Last part if the SignInfo

This part if empty until the game is up running.


When you have made your changes - save the file. Go back to the game itself and start your scenario.

 

[TheBirdMan]

Continued:

If I modify the CIV4WorldInfo file after a map has already been generated (4000 BC save), will my changes still take effect? Or do I need to start a new game and generate a fresh map for the modifications to apply?
I want to modify things like research cost, research cost increase, maintenance per city, trade income…

Depends. Change in settings, that are activated in the start of a game fx. most - if not all - of the files in the GameInfo folder (files like CIV4CivicInfos.xml, CIV4HandicapInfo.xml, CIV4GameSpeedInfo.xml, CIV4EraInfos.xml and CIV4WorldInfo.xml). I would say: No, start a new game. But if you make a change to file, where part(s) of it not yet has been activated - then you can. I have often made changes to a "future" building, tech or unit during a game without problems.

Now all those changes I'm making all the time are the reason why I changed my games from "a normal game" and started to make them to scenarios. Then I both have the same game to compare notes and screenshots with and at the same time have the "liberty" to play the game again with either same nation or another nation to see, where the differences are.

I’ve never tried it myself, but I’m curious how Switch Leaders Every Era actually works for the AI.
Does the AI evaluate its situation and pick the leader that best fits its current interests?
Or does it simply assign leaders according to historical chronology?
Or perhaps the selection is completely random?

1: No.
2: No
3: Yes.
Comment: The attitudes are resat with every new leader (yours or the AIs). It just works and it's a wonderful new feature I wouldn't miss in any of my games. We have a very small "slip" in the full version (3.72c) but I think this is fixed for those playing the SVN-releases. You can see more on page 668 in the official thread.