Desert

[bongo]

Including oceans, only some 3-4% of the earths surcafe is habitable.

Of course, it all depends on how you define "habitable". If you say "permanent self-supporting settlements without massive terraforming" you exclude beduins, inuits and Las Vegas

[Ijuin]

Exactly what do I have to alter in the XML to allow farms on desert tiles? I added "TERRAIN_DESERT" etc. under the farm entry in the terrain improvements file. What else do I need to do?

[Urban Ranger]

Originally posted by bongo
Including oceans, only some 3-4% of the earths surcafe is habitable.

Of course, it all depends on how you define "habitable". If you say "permanent self-supporting settlements without massive terraforming" you exclude beduins, inuits and Las Vegas

Most lands are habitable - it just depends on the size of the settlement.

[bongo]

12% is *not* most lands.


Trade and new technology allow us to put more land to good(or bad) use but it's a slow process at best.

[Urban Ranger]

Originally posted by bongo
12% is *not* most lands.

Um, I was questioning the standard used for "habitable" for your stat.

[bongo]

Got any better sources?

Edit: Found this number in "a short history of nearly everything" by Bill Bryson, he did not go into detail explaining the details behinds that number (but he probably has a footnote pointing to it, the footnotes in the book is some 0.5cm thick... Never bother checking footnotes unless 1) it is important 2)I find it particulary interesting or 3)I think it is wrong)

[johnmcd]

12% almost sounds like the land that you could live in with stone age tools. Even then it sounds low as the various eskimo tribes (the Innuit are just one of many) and desert dwelling aborginal tribes show that much land just needs an imaginative approach to what is edible.

[bongo]

The key here may be population density. In marginal territories, like deserts, jungles and tundra, it is of course possible to survive, but only when small groups of people spread out to cover vast areas. For demographic purposes they can probably be considered uninhabitable.

Living in those 12% will of course alter you perspective somewhat. In norway, the amount of land in use by buildings, infrastructure and agriculture is only 4.6%. The population density in those areas is some 100 times bigger than overall population density ( 15 vs 1500 people/km2)

[Ijuin]

I think that the 12% figure actually refers to the percentage of land that is suitable for farming without bringing in large amounts of fertilizer and water from outside.

[Saldrin]

I'm just surprised that there really is nothing in game to put in a desert tile.

I'm surprised no one modded solar plants, or modern windmills for production bonuses. Or there has to be something....from distilleries to glass... or even silicon.

Heh we could even have nuclear testing grounds Area 51s...

[make]

I just caught the AI in cheating. It can build mines in desert. I have just checket it to be sure. I cant build mines in desert. Hmm, whats going on here.

[chuckdelicious]

Germany has iron working and you do not. He mined the iron, but you can't see it.

[make]

Yep, that was it. Now I have ironworking and can see the iron. I stand corrected. Sorry about that.

[Urban Ranger]

You could have iron in the desert? I have never seen that...

[smbakeresq]

The game should be modded to allow some things in the desert. If you can build a city there, it makes no sense that you cant build other things there. In addition, all desert next to water squares should not be flood plains, look at the Hoover dam, you dont see farming done along the river, however you can generate power there.

But I believe desert and mountain squares were left undevelopable as a game issue. You dont want to have all land be terraformable, since then city placement will be much easier if you did not have to build around some obstacles.