No, that's exactly what it is - extremely unpleasant direct editing of the XML. Now you see why I am not particularly enthusiastic about it.
When I was looking at the topic of translations for Civ4 recently, I saw some kind of tool that allows to export/import strings. I can't find back the link anymore, but I'm positive I saw it. And the "A new dawn" mod apparently had its translations handled on Transifex:
https://forums.civfanatics.com/threads/translation-of-main-mod-help-needed.526671/ Which means they did manage to do the export/import of strings.
Setting up something like that would massively simplify the contribution of translations. Which doesn't mean they would happen immediately, but they could happen without being as much of a pain.
Doesn't Trading Post also grant non-insignificant economic bonuses? Basically, the intended design here was to reward civs that get ahold of some scarce resources.
I think the trading post is much less of an issue for two reasons:
- It becomes available significantly later. This gives more time to either expand and try to grab the resource or to establish a trade supply
- It also allows Glassware, which can be either obtained in a guaranteed way with a Great Merchant, or can also be obtained with a Great Artist getting a great work of art. This is not something that every civilization will achieve, but it's something that can be achieved independently of local map resources. This gives the player agency even if the goal may not always be achieved.
And while certainly nice, the +50% to foreign trade routes is not multiplicative so my gut-feel guess is that it's weaker than the boost from the tailor in most situations, although that heavily depends on civics, etc.
Yeah, seems reasonable. However, I must add IRL sources of fur would run out, and by the discovery of the New World, a lot of traditional European sources, for instance, were totally depleted. I am not sure I want the depletion mechanics in RI, so I wouldn't increase the amount too much.
In modern times, fur (when not replaced by plastic ersatz) has become farming-based instead of hunting-based like it used to be, so it's essentially renewable, but it's true that the traditional methods of gathering fur hit a wall. I'd be happy with any meaningful increase of fur spawning. I also feel that tundra only is very restrictive, and it can be problematic on some map generations. Since I notice that there is already a min/max latitude option available, couldn't that be used to also allow fur on grassland forests located near enough the poles? Although it could restrict fur from spawning on tundra terrain generated in temperate latitudes like Toterstra likes to do it.
I also suggest allowing salt on hills. RI doesn't really represent properly salt extracted from the sea (it would have to spawn on coastal marshes to be somewhat appropriate), but salt from mines has also been very commonly used by humanity and there is many examples of such mines in hilly or mountainous regions, the famous Himalaya salt being the most well-known.
The truth is actually even more complicated than that; the resources have different levels of importance and get placed in successive passes (for instance, the map script will first ensure there are enough vital strategic resources before even considering placing others). The end result for a particular resource, therefore, is dependent not only on what is set for it, but also on the settings for all other resources.
Does it only matter if the script runs out of "eligible" tiles to place the resource on, or will it not place resources simply because another one was selected for a given square first?
