Question about bonus resources

[MonsterMan]

I'm having a go at making my first mod, since I decided to start a new game and I want to spice things up.

I've created several new bonus resources from the spare resource.pcx illustrations. But unlike the other two types of resources, it seems I can't control how often they appear on the map. Naturally I want to balance the bonus resources so that the default ones appear less often to give room for the new ones. How can I do that?

[Gramphos]

Have you tried the Appearance Ratio?

[MonsterMan]

Originally posted by Gramphos
Have you tried the Appearance Ratio?

Hi Gramphos, I love your work on the MultiTool. I wouldn't have started modding without your program :-)

The problem is that the whole section called "Strategic and Luxury resources" -- on the Natural Resource tab -- gets blanked out when it comes to bonus resources. Which isn't so odd since that section seems not to deal with Bonus resources. That's why I ran into the wall.

[Gramphos]

If you change the type to strategic, then editi the ratio, and change it back. Will it be saved then?

[MonsterMan]

Originally posted by Gramphos
If you change the type to strategic, then editi the ratio, and change it back. Will it be saved then?

No. It looks like it at first -- the number in the greyed out box stays put -- but when I leave the page, it changes back to 0. I recall hearing about "Seed" in map creation; maybe the Bonus resource numbers are hardcoded in that section. I could always define it as a strategic resource that lacks application, but that seems silly

[Gramphos]

How are the other bonus resources (don't want to start the editor this late) if you change them to something else? Do they have a value then?

[Willem]

No you can't set limits on bonus resources, they just get placed randomly on the map. And if you change a resource to luxury or strategic, you'll have to dump one of the existing ones. There's only enough room in the city screen windows for 8 of each, as those windows don't scroll. So there would be a very strong likelihood that the game will crash everytime you open the city display. I haven't really put that to the test though, I'm just making a logical assumption.

Also, the game will only recognize 24 resource icons in the resources.pcx file. Anything after that won't appear on the map. So if you want to add a bunch of bonus resources, you'll have to double up on the icons for some, or settle for not being able to see them. It doesn't look like there's a limit as to how many bonus resources you can add, I'm up to 20 in my game. But you don't get any more appearing on the map than what already exists. The game will just spread them around more. It actually does a pretty good job of it, I'm getting a nice variety spread around my maps.

Occasionaly, you might get a conflict with some resources. I'm not positive, but the game might be trying to put two resources on one square. In my case, it would crash after I added Sheep to my Hills, but the problem cleared up after I switched Gold to a luxury.

[lockstep]

Originally posted by Willem
No you can't set limits on bonus resources, they just get placed randomly on the map.

Another example of what I hope to be changed in the next version of the editor. With cattle and wheat having a higher appearance ratio than now, attaching them to techs ('animal husbandry' and 'crop rotation', as in Vel's NoName-mod) really would add strategic choice to this game.

BTW, great post Willem!

[MonsterMan]

Willem: Copper shows up fine on the map. Copper is a strategic luxury in my game. Here is a screenshot:

[MonsterMan]

Civilopedia entry 1:

[MonsterMan]

Civilopedia entry 2:

[MonsterMan]

Walrusses (bonus resource) seem to appear as they should, but they lack an icon in the civilopedia. The icon shows up fine on the map.

[MonsterMan]

Here we can plainly see both cotton (luxury) and timber (strategic) resources. They both too lack civilopedia icons, but function amicably on the map.

[MonsterMan]

Oasis Overload

Case in point of not being able to control the appearance frequency of bonus resources; this desert is cluttered with oasis when there should only be one or two in that whole desert.

[MonsterMan]

Lots of images :-) To round out my collection, here is the "Mineral" bonus resource, proving that every single resource I added functions.