I am not subscribed to -i18n. If it's subscriber-only, edit and forward as desired.... Those on -dev know a quick look in RT would have shown that this was thoroughly documented.
Daniel Markstedt wrote: > In the case you don't subscribe to freeciv-i18n: I think you're in the > best position to explain this! > > ---------- Forwarded message ---------- > From: Joan Creus <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > Date: Nov 11, 2007 1:50 AM > Subject: [Freeciv-i18n] New terrain types: an explanation, please > To: [email protected] > > Probably you have noticed the (quite cool) terrain editor in the > trunk, with an astounding new variety of terrain types. I have a > problem with some names, though. I can understand the difference > between sea, ocean, and the shelf, but "briny deep" beats me. > Try Googling! That's a literary reference (as is "the abyss"). http://thesaurus.reference.com/browse/the%20briny%20deep Looking at the terrain.ruleset(s), you'd see that it's the ocean floor. Since the terrain and tiles were decoupled (a project that started long before me), the terrain names can be more interesting and whimsical! Or, trying out the editor itself, you'd see that there's a drop-off between shelf and floor. For a vision about the intended look (other than existing games), see Google Earth. Yes, we need artists. :-) Basically, trying to support future import of maps from other games, Hope to have civ1/2/3 someday soon, and I'd like to see others, such as Call to Power (CTP). To do that, I'd have to stop fixing "urgent" crashes in 2.1.... I'm trying to do one 2.1+ patch, and then one 2.2+ patch, alternating. > Also, how will we decide whether a square is a lake, a sea or ocean? > Depending on the number of contiguous squares of the same type? And Yes. The code already handles this. Lakes are fresh water, based on size (and eventually elevation), and (eventually) a river to an ocean to keep the water fresh. As we all know, river generation still needs work! > the "shelf", "briny deep", "ocean vent" seem to be subcategories of > "ocean" or "sea"; not really alternatives. Will squares be "sea-briny > deep" or "sea-shelf"? > No, seas are salty lakes. Think Dead Sea, Great Salt Lake, Salton Sea. Based on size and elevation and the lack of a river to an ocean. The generation code doesn't (yet) work. I'm pretty sure existing generation code will consider the Mediterranean to be an ocean, but that code is obscure, based on bordering continents. The ocean levels are: coastline/shoreline continental shelf (called "sea" in civ3) floor ("briny deep") In addition, there are features: trenches ("abyss") -- really deep, but rare mountains ("oceanic ridges") -- failed islands (too small or too low) volcanoes ("oceanic vents") -- CTP -- may make new islands during game The features have special terrain tiles, as it's simply easier to draw them than build them up from layers. > Will the new terrain types have new gameplay properties? Yes, for any rulesets that support the new features. For example, vents and floor could have new resources, such as manganese ingots (CTP), shelf could have oil platforms.... > ... Or they will > be just a cosmetic enhancement to classic terrains to make > better-looking maps? > Yes, considerable effort has been to make them merely cosmetic for rulesets that don't support the features. They still have to be defined in every ruleset. Otherwise, loading some savegames would have "holes". The code already (and has always) checked for valid tiles. _______________________________________________ Freeciv-i18n mailing list [email protected] https://mail.gna.org/listinfo/freeciv-i18n
