Forests Affect Rainfall?

[Puppeteer]

I've had moist tiles go arid before, but usally later in the game when other factions are terraforming or I'm making boreholes. In my most recent game I'm using huge map of planet and have lost several moist tiles well before raise/lower terrain and boreholes are possible. I do have a forests to the west of these tiles, though.

FWIW, I recently installed the the WinXP compatability on top of SMAC 4.0, and several things seem a little different. (Sounds, pods, native life abundance.) I usually play standard-sized random maps, and I play Librarian.

[Maniac]

Forests indeed have a drought effect when planted in mass.

[Puppeteer]

Thanks. Is the effect to the East or just in the general vicinity?

[Ecthy]

Yeah, how do those effects work exactly? Also, is there a way to incease humidity?

[Senethro]

Originally posted by Ecthy
Yeah, how do those effects work exactly? Also, is there a way to incease humidity?

Condensers.

This drying effect irritates me as well as I've recently been incorporating more farm/solars into my style as my worldbuilder makes very hilly worlds.

[Puppeteer]

While we're on the subject, does Planet have a constant net rainfall rate? i.e. if I have a tile go from moist to arid does a tile somewhere else go from arid to moist?

I figure this is the case for raising/lowering terrain (as weather moves from West to East, mountains capture moisture on the West side and starve areas to the East), but what about drying due to forests and boreholes?

[Straybow]

A very interesting question, indeed.

[Chaos Theory]

I believe it does not. I've condensored an entire continent, and the rest of Planet doesn't seem to try out any.

[bluetemplar]

Also what about
14, ; Solar Energy (Latitude DIVISOR for temperature based on HEAT) Smaller # increases effect of HEAT selection
14, ; Thermal band (Latitude DIVISOR for thermal banding) Smaller # widens hot bands
8, ; Thermal deviance (Latitude DIVISOR for thermal deviance) Smaller # increases randomness
8, ; Global Warming (Latitude DIVISOR for global warming) Smaller # increases effect of warming

Does it means that rainfall (fungus?) varies based on latitude and these factors?

IIRC the pole "bands" are always dry, and Monsoon Jungle always situated near the equator...
Imho if this feature is implemented it's nice, but peaks play a far more important role in this game to capture clouds... not like in Civ3-4 where you have the tundra...

[Qwerty88]

I think you're supposed to ignore heat settings, in one of the files it has the chose of distance from the sun if you make a custom random map, also when you discover the tech for planting forests it tells you you can't plant forests in arid or rocky squares, and also that there good for squares to hot or cold to produce anything else. Obviously Firaxis intended to add a heat factor that they couldn't work out.

[Leon Trotsky]

I think we'd have to experiment in a planet without ocean, as I suspect rainfall over the seas is calculated even though it is not displayed.

[vyeh]

Long after winning a game, I continued. I raised the terrain so there was no ocean and placed condensors on every square. The squares next to the poles maxed out at "moist". The other squares all became "rainy". So there is no limit on rainfall.

[Straybow]

You actually wasted a substantial portion of your mortal life doing this?

Interesting that they made forests have a drying effect. From an ecological stance forestation increases transpiration compared to grass and brush. At least for Earth vegetation.

[Puppeteer]

Originally posted by Straybow
You actually wasted a substantial portion of your mortal life doing this?

RTS game forum. HeloOOo?

I waste enough time playing these things. I'm glad others have the patience to study these particulars in such detail.

Seriously, this stuff is cool to know. Thanks!

[Straybow]

TBS game forum. We're considerably more sane than RTS twitchers.