• We are currently performing site maintenance, parts of civfanatics are currently offline, but will come back online in the coming days. For more updates please see here.

What are the National Park criteria?

PresidentMike

Technical Fool
Joined
Jun 12, 2003
Messages
556
Location
United States
The Civilopedia says you need four hexes that are either mountains, natural wonders or have sufficient appeal. It also says they need to be in a "diamond" shape, without specifying exactly what that means.

Can anyone post a screenshot or explain exactly what a "diamond" shape is. Much appreciated.
 
You need to have 1 Hex at the top, 2 below that, and a fourth below those, forming a parallelogram.
/\
\/
 
Also all 4 tiles must be within three tiles of the same city. You may need to go into the citizen management screen and swap tiles to get it so all four tiles of the NP are associated with the same city.

When you select the naturalist, eligible tiles will be highlighted if you have it set up correctly.
 
I really dislike the 'diamond shape' requirement. I would prefer a mechanic where we just pick 4+ consecutive tiles, regardless of shape.
I second the motion.
 
I really dislike the 'diamond shape' requirement. I would prefer a mechanic where we just pick 4+ consecutive tiles, regardless of shape.

Yeah, I suspect the diamond shape is the result of some limitation in the game engine for designating 4 tiles at once. Note that all the 4 tile Natural Wonders are arranged like this.

If you could lay it out 1 tile at a time, it would probably not need the diamond requirement and have a more organic appearance as well as being easier to use.
 
Yeah, I suspect the diamond shape is the result of some limitation in the game engine for designating 4 tiles at once. Note that all the 4 tile Natural Wonders are arranged like this.

If you could lay it out 1 tile at a time, it would probably not need the diamond requirement and have a more organic appearance as well as being easier to use.


Perhaps, but maybe they decided it would be too easy to get a NP if you could just pick any four tiles.
 
Also all 4 tiles must be within three tiles of the same city. You may need to go into the citizen management screen and swap tiles to get it so all four tiles of the NP are associated with the same city.

When you select the naturalist, eligible tiles will be highlighted if you have it set up correctly.
That is perhaps the most annoying, because you can't swap tiles between cities if it is distance 4 or 5 from them.
(it should probably be all tiles belong to your empire, and the National Park will "belong" to whichever city's tile the Naturalist was standing on when they made the park)
 
I really dislike the 'diamond shape' requirement. I would prefer a mechanic where we just pick 4+ consecutive tiles, regardless of shape.

I'm sure it's unintentional, but the diamond shape requirement actually does make some sense from a conservation perspective. A consolidated reserve is better than a long, spread out, snakey one at preserving biodiversity, all else being equal (reserve size, buffer zones and connectivity to other reserves are also important considerations), as it minimizes the area subject to edge effects, and a diamond is the most consolidated 4 tile shape you can make on a hex grid.
 
Yeah, I suspect the diamond shape is the result of some limitation in the game engine for designating 4 tiles at once. Note that all the 4 tile Natural Wonders are arranged like this.

I got the Pantanal shaped horizontally <> and did not meet the requirements. This feature could def use some tweaks, but I doubt we see much until a proper expansion on this one.
 
National Parks in general are just a mess.

The first time you try to build one without having read how to properly do it on the internet is bound to cause you headaches unless you're lucky enough to have the right shape available the first time... in which case the headache will certainly kick in next time you try.
 
The interface really doesn't make it clear which tiles you are selecting.

At a minimum it should allow horizontal diamonds like <> in addition to vertical diamonds like
/\
\/
 
When one plays a game without seeing this dialog first it is slightly upsetting to buy land tiles into a diamond shape as stated in the help but then find one cannot build ones national park.

The bug and priority fix should be a clarification in the in-game help that the diamond must be North - South or similar decription
The game is then correct and the said enhancement of east to west should ideally be added to make the national park a little easier to use.

Damn the civic Bureaucrats for stating my park should be so... is one not queen of ones own country?
This is simply not cricket.
 
National Parks in general are just a mess.

The first time you try to build one without having read how to properly do it on the internet is bound to cause you headaches unless you're lucky enough to have the right shape available the first time... in which case the headache will certainly kick in next time you try.

My sentiments exactly.
 
Are there any constraints on
  • Roads: If yes how do i remove them?
  • Water: No charming level in tooltip or overlay
I have a spot in mind, but don't want to make any investment and find out it's not working.

The other contstraints in this thread (Diamond on head, one city) are met.
Sorry but i can't make a screenshot as it is all black (mac version)
 
Answering to self & everybody
  • Coast(water) cannot be part of the national park
  • Roads do not influence national park creation
 
I love the ideas of national parks but the requirements need a little bit of loosening. I'm all for planning and what not for thousands of years in the future (game future) when you can actually build the park, but the diamond shape is extremely limiting.
 
Back
Top Bottom