Firaxis: why is there NO OIL in my game?

[heidlejohn]

I am playing my first 1.21f version of Civ3 with a standard random map. I am in the industrial age having researched refining and now motorized transport. BUT there is NO OIL anywhere in the
world! NONE AT ALL! I can see the entire map (no black spots) due to my getting maps or exploring (I conquered the Great Lighthouse). I have scanned several times with the map revealed.

The reason there is no oil is because there is no tundra or desert in the game. According to the online encyclopedia, oil can only appear in desert or tundra (which is a separate stupidty, e.g., Romanian or Indonesia oil in WW2). I also am not using any modifications or using the editors. This game is not a continuation of a game started on 1.17f either.

I would like an answer from Firaxis as to HOW this could occur. Isn't there an internal check to see whether or not the game can have oil? There seems to be a luxury resource check, but why
isn't there a similar check for strategic resources? Shouldn't the game check to see if all resources are available, and then redraw the map if they aren't? (Iron, coal, and rubber are in this game, but oil is not.)

My PC is a new Dell (2002) with XP, 256 MB RAM.

Attached zipped file if it works == no oil anywhere
or email heidlejf@yahoo.com to get the zipped file

[player1]

Random map has no tundra or Desert?
How is that possibile?

[cephyn]

Originally posted by player1
Random map has no tundra or Desert?
How is that possibile?

I once played on a warm, wet world that had no tundra...and very little desert.

[Fake Boris]

Actually, this is quite funny! Humanity can at last exist in a pollution-free world!

[ixnay]

I'm currently playing on a tiny random map, and for some reason, the only luxury resources that exist are wines....

[AJ Corp. The FAIR]

Heidlejohn,

Aren't there any oil requiring units active at all by any civ?

If so, a (AI) city may have been built on the resource and you wouldn't be able to see it (? , maybe yes through terrain info).

AJ

[monkeyman]

I had the same thing happen and I was the Germans waiting for my chance to blitz the romans and zulu. , imagine my surprise when this happened

I'll likely lose to the Chinese now, but if this is intentional, it does make an interesting end game. I just wish I knew beforehand that this was possible.. I feel like Wile E. Coyote running into a painting of a tunnel...

I don't know that there is no desert or tundra, but it sounds right and it seems that nobody has oil.
no one else has tanks or transports or battleships or destroyers. I don't know how to check for oil under AI cities.
-mm

[Grrr]

That is insane. All resources should be present. Indeed, you should however check if the AI hasn't built a city on oil though.

[Inverse Icarus]

:: points to firaxians that said there were at least 3 sources of every resource on every map ::

but firaxis hasn't lied before, so look harder. you'll find it, eventually...

[PatLasch]

Try to look under the celan map in the map preferences. That might help.

[Cort Haus]

Lucky you ... no enemy tanks or battleships to worry about then

The nearest I got was on a tiny map where there was only one oil. Luckily it fell into the hands of a weaker Civ and I won without it

[hetairoi22]

Originally posted by UberKruX
:: points to firaxians that said there were at least 3 sources of every resource on every map ::

but firaxis hasn't lied before, so look harder. you'll find it, eventually...

[FrostyBoy]

Same here, tho there was no desert or tundra in my game, I did find oil on a forest (that was on grassland). The only civ that had it were the damn Greeks. (which is why I was forced to go to war with them (see thread about culture problem =o) ).


Honestly, the game just got screwed over, have to start a new one now.


p.s. it did make the game very interesting, much like it is now if you were without oil, you had to fight for it. but in my case, it was near impossible considering their culture size aswell. I had to ask the Japanese to help out, they seemed pretty happy about doing that too.

[Shadowlord]

Wierd...

[Shadowlord]

But it is possible for worlds to form with no oil. That makes sense. For instance, there's no naquadah (sp?) on earth. (I assume at least one person will know what I'm talking about...)