Suggestions and Requests

[NIKITAHAMA33]

On the game map, the region of Ukraine and the Kuban has terrible soils, but this is terribly wrong, as it is super fertile land, higher than the Nile Valley in Egypt for example!

 

[NIKITAHAMA33]

Thanks for the mod, I've played over a thousand hours exclusively on paragon difficulty - it's a great game. I always missed the Scythians in ancient times and later the Germanic tribes and the Huns - without them the map of northeastern Europe is dead at this time when in reality it was not at all

 

[hnrysml]

On the game map, the region of Ukraine and the Kuban has terrible soils, but this is terribly wrong, as it is super fertile land, higher than the Nile Valley in Egypt for example!

While this is true it also makes sense for it to be relatively unimproved by farms and cottages for much of history as it was often dominated by nomadic pastoral cultures, for example the Scythians and later the Crimean Khanate. If I recall correctly I remember Ibn Battuta described much of this land as uncultivated in the 1300s, when he passed through. Perhaps an extra resource or floodplains could spawn in the 1700s to coincide with the Russian Empire's expansion into these areas?

 

[banzay13]

Speaking of food resources, the game features Roman and medieval climate optima, as well as the Bronze Age, but mostly in Egypt, Mesopotamia, and Central Asia. How about expanding the geography?
I suggest adding Olives in the area of Casta Regina, and wine north of Colony Agrepina, as well as wine near Londinium - which will appear around 50 A.D. (or if Rome get England) and disappear after 1300AD, olives will disappear around 500 A.D.
Add wine in Crimea if Greece settles Chersonesos, which will disappear in 1300 A.D., but then it will appear again in 1850 A.D. Also, the point of Azak (Azov) should be made a floodplain or/and in must have wine with spawn/disappear time as in Crimea
The territories around and the plot where the Vikings settled cities in Iceland and Greenland should be grassland (including hills, i.e. hills with +1 food), and become tundra in 1300 AD (I'm not sure if this will help AI, but nevertheless). There should also be more grassland hills in Scandinavia before 1300 A.D., which would later become moorland (as in current map)
Food resources appearing by the time Moors appeared - perhaps they should appear there by the end or middle of the Roman period.

 

[Leoreth]

While this is true it also makes sense for it to be relatively unimproved by farms and cottages for much of history as it was often dominated by nomadic pastoral cultures, for example the Scythians and later the Crimean Khanate. If I recall correctly I remember Ibn Battuta described much of this land as uncultivated in the 1300s, when he passed through. Perhaps an extra resource or floodplains could spawn in the 1700s to coincide with the Russian Empire's expansion into these areas?

Food resources already spawn though.

 

[hnrysml]

Food resources already spawn though.

I must confess I haven't recently played many games that go late into the early modern period and beyond, I'll have to do that some time soon. I was also thinking about how these kind of discussions about high food yields in fertile areas also doesn't necessarily fit with the game itself, as high food yields need to go near population centres, rather than real life breadbaskets, I would almost love a mechanic for empires (maybe some civics only) where "unworked, improved food resources in the periphery of a civilisation add core population for stability calcs" in the same way worked towns in a core do. Forgive me if there has already been discussion of this kinda stuff recently, I might've missed it, but something like this suggestion would help simulate regions like the aforementioned Roman North Africa without actually adding some new mechanic of yields being transfered to another city.

 

[Leoreth]

I don't think there has been much discussion of it, so I thought I'd clarify.

You're right that it does not make sense to place abundant food resources in areas where there aren't any big cities, even if these regions actually produce a lot of food, because food production in the game is more localised than in reality. Still, often it is possible to cheat around the edges. For example, south Russian/Ukrainian food spawns appear generally in reach of genuinely large cities like Kyiv and Volgograd. Similar arrangements exist in e.g. North American where Great Plains food resources are placed so they benefit places like Denver or Chicago.

 

[hnrysml]

I don't think there has been much discussion of it, so I thought I'd clarify.

You're right that it does not make sense to place abundant food resources in areas where there aren't any big cities, even if these regions actually produce a lot of food, because food production in the game is more localised than in reality. Still, often it is possible to cheat around the edges. For example, south Russian/Ukrainian food spawns appear generally in reach of genuinely large cities like Kyiv and Volgograd. Similar arrangements exist in e.g. North American where Great Plains food resources are placed so they benefit places like Denver or Chicago.

That's true, the only exceptions in the whole map I can think of are generally in places that aren't so significant for most of the game: large grain growing rural regions that would be further from a large city's BFC in Australia, Brazil, Canada, and possibly some Siberian areas like Russia's Amur region.

 

[AOS9001]

I remember the Portland/Seattle/Vancouver trio being a bit of an issue when the map was being redone. They just don't play nicely with the mechanics without being too close together

Having spent my life in this part of the world, I can safely say that Portland is less important than Seattle. Sure, Portland is the most important fresh water port on the West Coast (which doesn't matter in Civ)... but Seattle and Vancouver both dwarf Portland in history and commerce (and arguably culture, though Portland's been a meme city since the 1970s). So if the city map needs to be adjusted to make Seattle and Vancouver both viable cities at the cost of Portland, so be it.

 

[Zalfos]

Having spent my life in this part of the world, I can safely say that Portland is less important than Seattle. Sure, Portland is the most important fresh water port on the West Coast (which doesn't matter in Civ)... but Seattle and Vancouver both dwarf Portland in history and commerce (and arguably culture, though Portland's been a meme city since the 1970s). So if the city map needs to be adjusted to make Seattle and Vancouver both viable cities at the cost of Portland, so be it.

The current positions are fine by themselves, they're two tiles apart — in the Mediterannean or in South-East Asia, they'd call it spacious. The issue is mostly the culture in such a late start.
We could also imagine a "shove-off" upon Canada's spawn like it's done on other civ spawns, but on a larger scale : for 5-10 turns the Culture along the frontier is nullified unless there is a close-by city, in which case it would only keep the culture on the side of the frontier the city is — that frontier is very flat, making it easier to check. This way, no matter if Vancouver or Seattle is founded first and no matter who holds it, America/Canada can still found the other.

Though right now it's not a big issue either, only if you're unlucky playing Canada — and you can immediately launch a new game if so.

 

[ThreeBlackSevens]

The current positions are fine by themselves, they're two tiles apart — in the Mediterannean or in South-East Asia, they'd call it spacious. The issue is mostly the culture in such a late start.
We could also imagine a "shove-off" upon Canada's spawn like it's done on other civ spawns, but on a larger scale : for 5-10 turns the Culture along the frontier is nullified unless there is a close-by city, in which case it would only keep the culture on the side of the frontier the city is — that frontier is very flat, making it easier to check. This way, no matter if Vancouver or Seattle is founded first and no matter who holds it, America/Canada can still found the other.

Though right now it's not a big issue either, only if you're unlucky playing Canada — and you can immediately launch a new game if so.

Has ai Canada started actually founding a city on the west coast? I haven't played into the late game in quite a while lol

 

[Dannimal]

Here's a suggestion related to breadbasket / imperial resources: severely reduced the local tile resource yields and greatly increase the actual tradable resource yield (the ones limited to # of cities)

For example if rome takes Egypt, most of the grain should go to romes core - likewise England taking the subcontinent would syphon away most of the food and commerce the the banks and universities in the homeland.

 

[Dracosolon]

While that'd be a realistic effect, I feel like that might be too radical a change if it applies to the entire game and could have some unforeseen consequences. Civ IV doesn't really model the flow of food resources between far away regions, besides bonuses + corporations.

There could, however, be more effects assigned to late game buildings.

 

[AOS9001]

Here's a suggestion related to breadbasket / imperial resources: severely reduced the local tile resource yields and greatly increase the actual tradable resource yield (the ones limited to # of cities)

For example if rome takes Egypt, most of the grain should go to romes core - likewise England taking the subcontinent would syphon away most of the food and commerce the the banks and universities in the homeland.

I proposed an Egyptian wonder a while back that gives to the wonder controller's capital - so Rome, Constantinople, Baghdad, or wherever, whoever owned that wonder would get bonus in their capital.

While that'd be a realistic effect, I feel like that might be too radical a change if it applies to the entire game and could have some unforeseen consequences. Civ IV doesn't really model the flow of food resources between far away regions, besides bonuses + corporations.

There could, however, be more effects assigned to late game buildings.

I too would like to see more

buildings in the late game. The supermarket doesn't do much to cities that aren't already loaded with

.

 

[Zalfos]

If there is a need for extra Food in the late game, Abattoirs and Grain Silos could take that role. If so, the cost of the Abattoir should increase a bit.
Those two have a niche, but it's hard to make good use of it. If you want cheap Health before a Coal Plant, Sewers are cheaper. If you already have a Coal Plant and Production is more abundant, a Park is better.
The best use of them is if you are truly struggling with pollution even with all other health buildings already online, but in this situation what you really need is clean power and you should instead think about a Laboratory.

Has ai Canada started actually founding a city on the west coast? I haven't played into the late game in quite a while lol

No, but the British could theoretically do so, it's on their settling map if I remember correctly. Never saw it in game, though.