Minor Cities

[Cymera]

I actually posted an arguement and a reasoning about this, but THAT thread never came through. At any rate, does anyone else want minor cities? here is an example of this:

[Cymera]

I think that they would add nice eye candy, realism, and possibly a useful resource.

Opinions?

[Bootsiuv]

Definitely....That's why I liked ports when I first played this game, they seemed to add to the realism and make the province look more vibrant and populated.

Would this be something you could mod in rather easily?

[Cymera]

Dime DID do it as an example in SOME thread, he replaced watchtowers with cities. We were brainstorming to make them resources that would ACTUALLY contribute to an economy. However, I don't think that it got off the ground.

[Bootsiuv]

Well, I for one, would very much like to see it "get off the ground". Would add much to the game.

[DimeBagHo]

This is technically pretty easy to do. IIRC there were three possible ways of doing it: (1) Convert watchtowers to minor settlements - no upgrades, no economic effect, but you would get the same view effect that you get with watchtowers; (2) Convert an existing resource - one less trade resource on the map, and maybe no economic effect; (3) Convert the gold or silver resource, and convert mines into upgraded minor settlements - you get upgrades, and some economic effect.

Option 1 is the easiest to do - but it would still require a time consuming effort to come up with a list of locations for all the minor settlements.

[Balikedes]

This is technically pretty easy to do. IIRC there were three possible ways of doing it: (1) Convert watchtowers to minor settlements - no upgrades, no economic effect, but you would get the same view effect that you get with watchtowers; (2) Convert an existing resource - one less trade resource on the map, and maybe no economic effect; (3) Convert the gold or silver resource, and convert mines into upgraded minor settlements - you get upgrades, and some economic effect.

Option 1 is the easiest to do - but it would still require a time consuming effort to come up with a list of locations for all the minor settlements.

I was working on getting small town coordinates for the entire MM map for DBH a while ago and actually forwarded some for Asia Minor. I completed Greece as well but lost the .doc file. After that I never heard back and assumed that the we all lost interest. Though I will be happy to continue if it's requested of me.
DBH did the first set of coordinates work?

[dvk901]

This is technically pretty easy to do. IIRC there were three possible ways of doing it: (1) Convert watchtowers to minor settlements - no upgrades, no economic effect, but you would get the same view effect that you get with watchtowers; (2) Convert an existing resource - one less trade resource on the map, and maybe no economic effect; (3) Convert the gold or silver resource, and convert mines into upgraded minor settlements - you get upgrades, and some economic effect.

Option 1 is the easiest to do - but it would still require a time consuming effort to come up with a list of locations for all the minor settlements.

Since 'pigs and dogs' were removed from Roma Surrectum, I used pigs and dogs resources for the barbarian and greek versions of the small towns. So no resources were lost, and you could tie in various economic requirements to having these...or more of them, if you wanted. What I have yet to do is get all these things located on the paths of the roads and highways, and yes..it is a load of work. But it definately adds a nice 'populated' flavor, and a more realistic look to regions.

[Cymera]

Who needs research? Who ACTUALLY knows where all these small settlements were? No one expected (I hope) that this would be historically accurate! That could be saved for a much later version of the mod. I just think that it would look good AND could have a positive impact.

I really don't care which option is used. I think that watchtowers would be very easy and could look good. However, changing a gold or silver mine to make them upgradeable and beneficial would be cool. Either way, it would be a nice thing.

I might ask RS if XGM could use their models for cities and ships. I've already incorporated those models in my XGM, but I think they would be great for the mod!

[Cymera]

Since 'pigs and dogs' were removed from Roma Surrectum, I used pigs and dogs resources for the barbarian and greek versions of the small towns. So no resources were lost, and you could tie in various economic requirements to having these...or more of them, if you wanted. What I have yet to do is get all these things located on the paths of the roads and highways, and yes..it is a load of work. But it definately adds a nice 'populated' flavor, and a more realistic look to regions.

Dammit! You posted right before I did! Well, I might as well ask, is there anyway that XGM could use some of the EXCELLENT campaign map models of Roma Surrectum? Or would we have to ask Riczu? I already pm'd and posted on his thread, no response. I don't know how else to get my hands on 'em!

[dvk901]

Prometheus made the city models for Res Gestae, actually. You'd have to ask him for permission on those. As for the ships, Riczu is the one to ask. If you can't get ahold of him, post a request in the Cassus Belli thread...he's active there.

[Balikedes]

Who needs research? Who ACTUALLY knows where all these small settlements were? No one expected (I hope) that this would be historically accurate! That could be saved for a much later version of the mod. I just think that it would look good AND could have a positive impact.

Don't you still have to go through and pick coordinates to place the towns?

[dvk901]

Yes indeed.....very tedious.

[Cymera]

I would think to just put them in logical locations as opposed to historical ones. As for the city models, I will follow up on this soon. Thank you for the information dvk901!

[dvk901]

You're most welcome!

[Cymera]

UPDATE

Great news! Has anyone other then dvk901 and I seen Riczu's campaign models? Well check em out.

I post this because he gave me permission (about 2 months ago!) to use his models in XGM! I am hoping that Dime will like them and add them to the mod!

My next step will be to ask Prometheus if we can use his city models. Combine all of this with RedFox's campaign map textures, and we have the baddest map ever!

[Balikedes]

I would think to just put them in logical locations as opposed to historical ones. As for the city models, I will follow up on this soon. Thank you for the information dvk901!

You still have to pick coordinates to apply the towns to, historical accuracy or not. When I was picking town placements I would try and loosely find a town in the area and give those coordinates (the semi-historical way).

[Bootsiuv]

Glad to see this might come to fruition....although I haven't actually played the game in over a week. I've got an important wedding this weekend. My girl is doing the catering, and I'm bartending, so after that....I'll have much more time to devote to my favorite hobby. Haven't even had a chance to download Diadochi yet. Oh well.

Later

Jim

[DimeBagHo]

Balikedes: If you have the time to keep working on that list I will definitely implement the minor settlements when you are done.

dvk901: Thanks for the suggestions.

[Cymera]

I hope that you will consider using those campaign map models that I found above. Riczu was kind enough to offer ALL his models. That includes some excellent ships and characters.

I have tried to contact Prometheus, and am awaiting a reply.