Regions

[Jackard]

Here is what you could basically rename things to

█ deeps
█ shallows
█ shore

█ midland rocky
██ midland grass
██ midland swamp
█ midland forest

█ highland rocky
█ highland grass
█ highland swamp
█ highland forest

four major terrains per region

[sabinati]

what about lowlands

edit: i was also trying to have acidity/alkalinity in there for macro-regional resources, like limestone and chalk in alkaline areas, certain plants that do better in acidic soil, stuff like that

[Jackard]

i didnt include a third region in the OP because they currently lack the terrain to support it. new terrains would also need to be visually distinctive

anyways you are using a simulation approach not a gameplay one. is there really any point to adding a entirely separate region for calcareous grassland and alpine tundra when you already have grassy/rocky highland terrain? just work it into one of the existing categories, like heath/grass.

[Pacho]

The problem with having such cut and dry differences between ground types is that people will just settle in places where they can have the most variety of tyle types and still have a mine.

[sabinati]

calcerous grassland would have the chalk or limestone resources, alpine tundra is just a fancy name for non-rocky terrain above the treeline

[niltrias]

The main reasons I dont like two regions with mutually exclusive crops are that it would:

1) Artifically limit players in both regions and
2) Create a fairly boring dichotomy of regions. Also, if they dont have a mine, everyone will simply get around it by living on the border areas. Wheat on the left, grapes on the right, etc.

Having 4 regional types would mean that only 25% of the crops are unavailable, as opposed to 50%. Now, only 25% will grow at optimal speeds, but that would lead to interesting choices...do I grow them slowly or make trade runs to other regions? Or possibly grow them slowly and trade them to others in my region not interested in the slower-growth crops? It adds complexity yes, but not in the sense of being harder to play. More in the sense of having more available strategies.

As far as the Sgrid-size of the regions, Im not married to that at all. They should be fairly large, tho, I would think.

There could be all sorts of reasons for the the different regions, such as elevation, rainfall, soil acidity, drainage...I dont really think that is particulary important.

[Lothaudus]

well, i agree that a third region for coastland sounds interesting, but we would need more content to support it. and that is an awful lot to place on the developer plate all at once, so maybe later on? the original suggestion is something that can work with what we have now.

I think the trick to implementing this will be developing all the extra "stuff" and adding it in the game now. Then when a better map generator is created, splitting it up over regions then.

One thing I hated about the last map reset was that the map generator is still incapable of creating rivers cross super-grids. I'd like the next reset to hold off until we have a better map generator to play with.

And Oceans.

Also large Sailing Ships.

- acidity or alkalinity, lowland or midland grass/forest, what does all this really matter for a game?

I would imagine a "behind the scenes" game mechanic could be implemented. Crops would each have an "ideal" acidity requirement. If they're planted in the appropriately matching soil, they grow fast and well, have an increased bonus at upping in Q and perhaps give a bonus seed. As you move further away from this "ideal", the growing speed is reduced along with the amount of seeds received at harvest and there's a higher chance of getting lower Q seeds.

Your "regions" are then defined as "Alkali" vs "Acidity" at the extremes. Random googling produced this list of foods (as an example). Each super-grid between the extremes is then simply a "step" or "point" in one direction or another.

EG:
North = Alkaline (+)
Middle = Neutral (0)
South = Acidic (-).

Foods are defined with an ideal "Acidity" value such as Peas -7. Crops grown in the region with their ideal acidity (something that can be tested by analysing the soil - something suggested already) receive a bonus seed on harvest perhaps. If Peas are grown in a -6 region instead though, then you miss out on the bonus seed and the growing speed is slightly slower. The closer to the other side of the scale you get, the worse it becomes. Perhaps passing +7 and Peas stop growing in those regions at all.

This would spread crops out over larger areas. Also, as new super-grids are added, the areas such crops grow could expand.

For example, the max Acidity / Alkalinity something can have is +10 with the min being -10. North is +, South is -. If a new row of Super-grids is added North then that becomes the "new +10" region and all the grids between that edge and the middle are re-distributed accordingly. This would obviously create "bands" of crops which would not be ideal, so some sort of randomisation within a band is necessary (even the chance for wild and completely out of step variance just for giggles). Like so:

http://i46.tinypic.com/dvmzk0.jpg

New Super-grids Triggers Re-distribution:

http://i48.tinypic.com/2yotuop.jpg

(Whoops, didn't change any numbers in that middle row. Oh well).

This redistribution with each expansion could be explained on "Climate Change" or changes in the weather as obviously with each new row of grids, it will push certain crops further and further out. This in some ways, may make people choose to re-locate for certain crops and creates a more dynamic world (historically, crops have grown in different regions at different times and people have moved accordingly, so this isn't unusual). It some senses making a more living and less static world.

It will also piss some people off. "WTF Jorb Climate Change fucked my peas."

Obviously localised "acidity spots" within each grid would add or subtract to the grid's "overall" level, creating some variety across the grid. This can be matched with the "more unique geography" feature, such that it may only be a particular valley within a particular grid that has "the best" spot to grow Peas. Certain features may even have set Acidity. EG: Mountains, no matter grid they are in, may always have a "set" acidity.

Throw in tree and animal varieties along the same principles and you're done.

This makes it fairly simple then to add new crops (or just about anything really). You just need to give the new item an "Ideal Acidity Level" and the system will handle the rest as to where it should end up.

Possible bonuses / negatives:

Acidity level of Soil matches "Ideal Acidity Level" of Crop == Bonus Seed on Harvest; Q adjustment on harvest is -2/+10; Growing speed is fastest (1 day);
+ / - 1 == Q adjustment on harvest is -5/+8; Growing speed is fast (1.7 days);
+ / - 2 == Q adjustment on harvest is -5/+5; Growing speed is moderate (2.4 days);
+ / - 3 == Q adjustment on harvest is -8/+5; Growing speed is slow (3.1 days);
+ / - 4 == Q adjustment on harvest is -10/+2; Growing speed is slowest (3.8 days);
+ / - 5 == Will not grow in this soil.

Farming or applying special treatments to the soil may also raise or reduce the alkalinity / acidity of your soil too. Rotating in other crops every couple of harvests may help keep this under control or allow you to adjust (to an extent, say by +/- 3) the soil type of your area. This may mean that something like Wheat with an ideal Acidity of 0 would possibly be found growing in +/-6 or 7 regions, depending on local soil acidity spots and soil treatments that have been applied.

and then on the other hand reducing the entire matter to "go north/south for mordor" sounds rather uninteresting - arbitrarily restricting the layout of the world in this fashion doesnt inspire much in the way of exploration. even worse, this makes map expansion mostly ho-hum, you already know what the new grids will be

While this creates an inherent "North / South" feature, I think the variety of crops that can be split up will mean people will head East / West as well to seek out what they can grow out there. Mines will also play a big part in movement as well. A few more metal types and other resources (maybe precious stones as well?) will help with variety. Rubber, Oil, Coal, Diamonds, Marble, Limestone, Salt etc...

[Jackard]

updated OP for 2011

[Sarge]

viewtopic.php?f=5&t=8114&p=90789&hilit=regionality#p90789

[Jackard]

The intent here is to reintroduce the Mordor environment [except better] from previous worlds, so despite this thread sharing a name and some elements it's not really the same idea.

Your thread has some interesting stuff but also requires a lot of new content that it would probably take them forever to get around to.