Premade Scenarios and Random Maps

[Brent]

I guess these two topics sort of go together, and it seems the Scenario and Map Editor thread is more for the Editor.

Other people say premade scenarios aren't needed because of each player's ability to create and exchange their own, but I really want the original game to include several scenarios and for expansions to have many designed officially. I don't want to have to do all the work for common scenario themes (largely specific historical situations), and I want to see what the professionals come up with.

I want the game to have maps to use without neccessarily being the same thing as scenarios, like in Civ2. I think one of the main options should be to play on a wellmade map of the whole real world. By default, you would choose from the main world powers for this map, but if so desired you could choose underdogs or whoever you want. One reason for choosing from main world powers would be so you wouldn't have to choose from the entire list if it's a big list. Also, these main world powers should be selectable as a group for random maps, again so you don't have to choose from the whole big list. And there could be similar setups for smaller regions of the world, that wouldn't have to be fullfledged scenarios, where you have a map and civs to choose from for that map by default or you could choose that set of civs to choose from for a random map, and you wouldn't neccessarily have to choose each specific rival. You could pick a number and have the game choose from your selected list if you want to be surprised but want the selection to still be guided. These sets can overlap, and you could go by era as well as region, and for modern America, you could choose all European- derived civs or all native ones.

About random maps, I want an option for maps randomly created consisting of geometric shapes, like several more or less perfectly rectangular continents on one world, perhaps with the specific terrains not so geometric. Another geometric sort of map I'd like it to give me without me knowing what it will be beforehand, would be two or three concentric circles. And going along with this, it could be interesting if the game gives me almost a normally random map, except it is symmetrical, including the specific terrains. So there should be a setup option for how realistically you want your map to be shaped, whether resembling a random Civ3 map or more artistic. It should be able to come up with a decent variety of somewhat geometrical maps.

[star mouse]

On scenarios:
Yes, definitely include premade scenarios in the game. Scenarios do more than just create scenarios, they also have resources such as graphics files that the players can include in their own mods.

Random maps:
I would like to see more options for random maps. At present, we have a single terrain editor that can only create nine different map types (ignoring terrain). If this could be expanded with more options, then the game would have more replay value.

On terrain, there's only one terrain model (earthlike, with polar caps and jungles, and mountain ranges).

How would one expand the map generation options beyond the basic pangaea/continent/archipelago, water/average/land maps?

* Private islands. Every player starts on an island that is the same size as every other player's island (same number of tiles). Good for multiplayer.

* Different placement of hills and mountains. Instead of mountains always being in long chains, also have mountains and hills occuring in clusters. This would simulate a volcanic model of land creation instead of a tectonic model.

* Archipelago should be true archipelago (lots of islands), not long, skinny continents. Retain long, skinny continents as a separate map option.

* Climate-based terrain features should have more options than just polar ice caps and equatorial jungles. Worlds with different axial tilts and rates of rotation can produce strikingly different terrain. For example, a world with a 60-degree axis instead of Earth's 23-degree axis would have equatorial ice caps. A world that always keeps one face towards its sun would not have a north pole and a south pole as such; instead it would have a hot pole (sun always overhead) and a cold pole.

* Allow a player to import and export terrain maps as bitmaps.

[Brent]

Another point I forgot to post: I want the game to be able to give you a map where all the land consists of islands of one square each. I want the game to give each civ special Traits based on the map, so each civ on the map I described might have some degree of the seafaring Trait. They would be specially suited to use resources from the sea tiles. They would be able to get extra use out of the one land tile where the city is. The same for other sorts of maps. You can be given special Traits based on the whole map as well as your starting location. These Traits would be in addition to the ones preprogrammed for your Civ. These features can be turned on and off, with the possible exception of extreme cases like the one I described above. Maybe the way a random map turns out could affect the random selection of Civs. The map I described would be good for the Polynesians. It may be a reason to divide up the Polynesians, or maybe in addition to the Polynesians you would have the Japanese, the English, and maybe the Scandinavians.

If you choose or end up with a hot pole and a cold pole, they could be either at the top and bottom edges of the map or equidistant along the equator. Or be able to model a normal planet but on its side with the north and south poles along the equator. Or be able to randomly generate a polar map, with the coldest terrain in the center and warmer terrain farther away.

[Fake Boris]

star mouse

[Brent]

If you really want a true pangea with strictly one big lanmass, you should be sure to get it, and not have other landmasses as happens in Civ3. You can set preferred random map guidelines and have it have a particular chance, say 85%, or conforming strictly. This would be a default setting. You tell it that you prefer a young, moderate temperature, moderate precipitation, high land ratio pangaea once and each time you play it has an 85% chance of giving you exactly what you ask for. You can change the chances of conforming strictly, and each time you set up a game you can manually set things differently than the usual, and you can change your default at any time.

[Odin]

I would also like somw pre-set "templates" so if I don't want to set all the parameters myself. For example, the "Carboniferous" template gives you a cool, wet, world with one continent; the "Cretaceous" template would give you a hot, wet world with many small continents; "Pleistocene" would give you a cool, dry world with a few large continents, etc.