Making Cradle 3+ fully compatible with the Apolyton Edition

[Kull]

Commerce TIMP Update: As discussed earlier, the Villages and Towns which are buildable on Plains Terrain are restricted to the hexes adjacent to the city. Unfortunately, testing showed that to be so limiting a condition that they aren't available to many cities. To improve the situation (and since they can't be built outside the ring anyway), both TIMPs can now be constructed on all terrain-types except Mountains and Glaciers (and those allocated to other Commerce TIMPs). Tested and works as expected.

The attachment shows a city surrounded by a Ring of Villages.

[Kull]

Six "non-ButtonBank" TIMPs added to the Great Library & Tech Tree:

Even though six of the "new" TIMPs are really just aspects of others (since they don't have their own icon on the ButtonBank), each has now been given its own Great Library Entry. This affects the Early Farms (see attached), Radio Tower, Carbon Sink, Undersea Harvester, Nature Preserve and the Shopping Mall. They also appear on the Tech Tree and are "searchable" in the TIMP section of the GL. Not only do the new entries explain what they do, but just as important, indicate which button activates them (along with a link to the "real" TIMP). This also required four new GL images.

Files Changed: tileimp.txt, uniticon.txt, gl_str.txt, Great Library and the Tech Tree.

[Kull]

Level 5 Food TIMP - "Hydroponic Domes": Available with L23 Genetics. The primary change is that Hydroponic Domes used to be buildable on all Land Tiles, but that has been reduced to 8 (no Mountains/Jungle/Swamp/Glaciers). In addition, the original TIMP is only used by 4 terrain-types (Desert/Forest/Grassland/Plains), while the others use a modified version of the CtP1 Hydroponic Space Dome.

The attachment shows both Hydroponic Domes, R-to-L below Miletus

Once again we're adding a lot of new eye candy to the map, although the underlying benefits are largely the same at each level. However, as you would expect the new L4 TIMP provides better gradation between Advanced Farms and Hydroponics. And once again, the PW costs have been reduced to bring them more in line with AE, particularly for the early levels.

PW Cost (Old):
Pasture: Dunes/Hills +600, Plains +600, Grass (N/A)
Farms: Desert +300, Grass +600
Adv Farms: Desert +1200, Grass/Plains +1500
Mega Farms: Desert (N/A), Grass/Plains (N/A), Jungle/Swamp (N/A)
Hydroponics: Polar/Hills/Mtns +900, Forest/Desert/Jungle/Swamp +1800, Grass/Plains +2400

PW Cost New):
Pasture: Dunes/Hills +300, Plains +200, Grass +100
Farms: Desert +300 (No change), Grass +400
Adv Farms: Desert +800, Grass/Plains +1000
Mega Farms: Desert +1200, Grass/Plains +1400, Jungle/Swamp +1200
Hydroponics: All Hills/Tundra +2400, Desert/Forest/Grass/Plains +2000

Files Changed: tileimp.txt, tilerefund.slc, uniticon.txt, traits2.slc, gl_str.txt, tips_str.txt, Feat_str.txt, sounds.txt, Great Library, and the Tech Tree.

[Kull]

Level 4 Food TIMP - "Mega Farms": This is the second of two new TIMPs, thus completing the utilization of all 36 ButtonBank slots (the other being the previously reviewed Advance Trawlers). First available with L18 Corporation, there are 3 new TIMPs (one for each of the Grassland, Plains and Desert terraintypes), all of them heavily modified but based on the CtP2 "Crop Circle" graphic. The original image is used in the ButtonBank (see bottom image, right column in the "Status Report" attachment)

I made fun of it earlier, but there is a proper role for the "Nature Preserve", just not in the Commerce group. Instead it will be the 4th TIMP in the Mega Farms group, available with L20 Conservation, and buildable on Jungle and Swamp terrain. Similar to the approach taken with the "Carbon Sink", Nature Preserves have a very different set of attributes from the other Farm-type TIMPs. Although they provide small Commerce and Food bonuses, their primary function is a -20 to Production, thus providing a small offset to the global rise in pollution.

The attachment shows all four Mega Farms (Grassland, Plains, Desert & Jungle/Swamp), R-to-L below Miletus:

[Kull]

Level 3 Food TIMP - "Advanced Farms": Available with L10 Agricultural Revolution and buildable on Grassland, Plains and Desert. All three TIMPs are from LOTR, except the color of the farmland is different. In addition, the Desert Farm has been modified to add Palm trees along the edge of the field.

The attachment shows all three Advanced Farms (Grassland, Plains and Desert), R-to-L below Miletus:

[Kull]

Level 2 Food TIMP - "Farms": Available with L3 Water Lifts and buildable on Grassland and Desert, the two current TIMPs were taken from the LOTR Mod, but both have been significantly revised. The Grassland TIMP now uses the "in-process" farmland graphic which has 2 green quadrants and two brown, indicating that half the land is fallow. That will be the centerpiece and also replaces houses with huts, adds trees, and removes the "rock border fence" as a further indication of primitive early farming.

The Desert TIMP has been replaced with the "African Village" style previously allocated to the L3 Advanced Farms, with the added change that the trees along the border are now Palms rather than Deciduous.

To simplify the ButtonBank graphic, there's now a new one based on the "green and brown" quadrants in the grassland TIMP, but without the huts and trees (see top image, left column in the "Status Report" attachment).

This attachment shows both Farms (Grassland and Desert), R-to-L below Miletus

[Kull]

Revised Food TIMP system:

Similar to Mines, the "Land Food System" did not require wholesale changes, but the alterations were quite significant. The L1 "Pasture" has been enhanced, and while L2 Farms and L3 Advanced Farms are mostly the same, they feature new graphics. L4 Mega Farms is one of the new TIMPs (and will be reviewed in detail) while L5 Hydroponic Domes features several alterations.

Level 1 Food TIMP - "Pasture": The original pasture is still available with L1 Domestication, and can be constructed on Plains, Dunes & Hills. As discussed in the previous post, this TIMP also serves as "Early Farms" and can be built on Grasslands with the discovery of L1 Agriculture. This has a new graphic which features a pair of huts adjacent to a tilled field.

The attachment shows both the original Pasture and the new Early Farms, L-to-R below Miletus:

[Kull]

Granaries and Early Farms:

Before examining the revised Land Food TIMP system, let's review a small but significant change to the Tech Tree. All the early Buildings (Bazaar, Ziggurat, Shrine, Walls) are available at Levels 1 or 2, while Granary is Level 3. Yet historically the Granary preceded most of them, and should be one of the first buildable structures. As an additional indicator of the problem, it was usually possible to reach the Dynasty Gov-type before Granaries were even available.

While not a perfect solution, the chosen fix was to shift the Granaries Advance to L2 and move Water Lifts (which holds the "Farms" TIMP) to L3 (see attached). The pre-req Advances are fine (except with respect to each other), while the research costs have been modified to match their new levels (they are still sequential Advances in the "Environment" series). In addition, we'll alter one of the Dynasty pre-reqs to Granaries (the old pre-req of Brick Making is still part of the chain), thus ensuring they are researched before Dynasty.

The main downside to all this is "Farm" TIMPs have now shifted out to L3, when in reality that was also a very old technology. Accordingly, I'm going to add a new feature to the "Pasture" TIMP, allowing them to be constructed on Grassland with the discovery of L1 Agriculture. This is a very cheap improvement (100) which adds a modest +5 to the Food level. Although they have a unique graphic and appear as "Early Farms" on the Tech Tree and in the Great Library, the name will appear as "Pasture" when you see them on the map (similar to how "Carbon Sink" is really just a version of the "Mega Mine").

Files Changed: Advance.txt, advancelists.txt, tileimp.txt, GL.txt, and the Tech Tree

[Kull]

Level 4 Production TIMP - "Mega Mines": These are buildable on all designated terrain-types with L21 Global Economics. The original CtP2 graphic appears on Hills and Dunes, a modified version is used for Alpine and Brown Mountains, a third image (an edited version of the CtP1 space station) appears on Polar Hills and Mountains, and a grey-colored oil pumper is seen in Deserts (see attached). The final Mega Mine graphic is the one used for Carbon Sinks (as previously discussed here)

With that, there is far more visual diversity associated with Mines, even though - it must be emphasized - the underlying benefits remain the same at each level. On the other hand the PW costs have been significantly reduced on the early levels (which brings them more in line with AE).

PW Cost (Old):
Mine Shaft: Dunes +1200, Hills +1500, All Mtns +1800
Mines: Dunes +900, Hills +1200, All Mtns +1200
Adv Mines: Desert +1500, Tundra +1500, All Hills +1800, All Mtns +2400
Mega Mines: Desert +1800, All Hills +2400, All Mtns +3300, Tundra/Glacier N/A

PW Cost (New):
Early Mines: Dunes +400, Hills +600, All Mtns +800
Mines: Dunes +700, Hills +900, All Mtns +1000
Adv Mines: Desert +1500, Tundra +1500, All Hills +1200, All Mtns +1800
Mega Mines: Desert +2000, All Hills +1500, All Mtns +2200, Tundra/Glacier +3000

Files Changed: tileimp.txt, tilerefund.slc, uniticon.txt, traits2.slc, gl_str.txt, tips_str.txt, Feat_str.txt, sounds.txt, Great Library, and the Tech Tree.

[Kull]

Level 3 Production TIMP - "Advanced Mines": First available with L15 Modern Metallurgy, this is yet another upgrade TIMP that's buildable on the same 6 terrain-types as the earlier levels. Once again there are three graphics, one of which is the original CtP2 mine shaft (used exclusively on Alpine Mountain terrain). With the discovery of L17 Oil Refining, Advanced Mines are buildable on Desert terrain (the graphic is an Oil Derrick) while L18 Corporation extends availability to Tundra terrain (with an Oil Pumper graphic) (see attached).

[Kull]

how can I acquire this mod?

It's not released yet, but definitely getting close.

[thistleknot]

how can I acquire this mod?

[Kull]

Level 2 Production TIMP - "Mines": These become available with L7 Iron Working, use "open pit" graphics, and all are buildable on the same 6 terrain types as Early Mines. From a visual coherence perspective, the LotR Mod mine graphic (used at this level) has the same "rock border" used by several of the "Farm" graphics featured in the roughly contemporaneous "Advanced Farms" series. In addition, the metal scaffold has been replaced by the wood struts from the AOM graphic, and those are featured in all three of this level's mine graphics (see attached).

[Kull]

Revised Production TIMP system:

Unlike the Commercial TIMP system, Mines did not require a complete overhaul and there are still four levels, but the alterations were quite extensive. The major change (other than additional graphics) was to shift "Mine shaft" graphics from the second level of Mines to L1, and move the "Open Pit" graphics from Level 1 to L2. There were several reasons for this:
- The "open pit" is the underlying look for the existing mine TIMPs used in L3 and L4, so it's a more coherent sequence to use pits for the last 3 levels instead of going "pit-shaft-pit-pit".
- The new Shaft graphics from Civ3 are all smaller and look fairly primitive. Plus the reality is that large open pit mines (at least in early times) were primarily used for exposing and then excavating large sections of rock - things like marble, granite or sandstone. Conversely, the earliest forms of mining were tunnels of the sort used to obtain flint nodules or follow veins of metal into a hillside (thus "shafts"). Of course historically it wasn't "either/or", as both types co-existed in history and still do.
- For this reason the name of the first level will also change, from "Mine Shaft" to "Early Mines".
- Another major change is to remove buildability from the Plains terrain-type, primarily to keep it largely devoted to Food TIMPs.
- Lastly, the original CtP2 shaft graphic is modern in appearance, with a timbered entrance and a metal cart on rails. Accordingly, that graphic is more appropriate for a later era, and will shift to L3. That also means a new ButtonBank graphic is needed.

Level 1 Production TIMP - "Early Mines": Available with L2 Mining, these can be constructed on Dunes, Hills (2 types), and Mountains (3 types). They use three Civ3 "mineshaft" graphics borrowed from the Modern Times Mod, with one dedicated to Dunes, another in Hills, and the third in Mountains (counterclockwise from Pylos in the attachment). A new ButtonBank graphic was also created using the "Dunes" version.

[Kull]

Level 4 Commerce TIMP - "Urban Area" (as shown in the attachment above): These become available with L20 Advanced Urban Planning. Similar to "Suburbs", this uses the third level "Modern City" TIMP graphics. Once again we restrict construction to the tiles immediately surrounding the city, but now we extend buildability to all terrain types except Mountains and Glaciers. Visually the result is a city surrounded by tall high rises and then a series of lower structures, but all with similar art.

Taken altogether, this results in a map which contains a vast amount of pleasing visual diversity, and utilizes a Commercial System that mirrors the one seen across the world, from the earliest of times until now, and on into the future.

Finally, while the depiction of the four Commerce Levels has radically changed, the PW costs at each level remain fairly close to what they were:

PW Cost (Old):
Trading Post: Grass/Plain/Forest/Jungle/Desert/Glacier/Swamp/Tundra +600
Latifundia: Grass/Plain/Forest/Jungle/Br.Hills/Hills/Desert/Swamp +1200
Township: All except Glacier +1500, Tundra +1800
Nature Preserve: All except Glacier/Tundra +2100

PW Cost (New):
Village: Plains/Forest/Jungle/Swamp +500
Town: Plains/Forest/Jungle/Swamp +1000
Suburb: Grass/Plains/Desert/Forest/Hill +2000
Urban: All except Glacier/Mountains +3000

Files Changed: tileimp.txt, tilerefund.slc, uniticon.txt, traits2.slc, gl_str.txt, tips_str.txt, Feat_str.txt, sounds.txt, Great Library, and the Tech Tree.