Settlements and ports Location: where is it possible to place them?

[+Mr.Crow+]

Hi all,

where is it possible to place settlements and ports on map_regions?

I know that map_region pixels correspond to even pixels in map_ground_type and map_height . I also know that it's not possible to place settlement and ports evrywhere i want, but i don't know each situation that can cause en error during settlement and port placement.

I just know that it's not possible to place settlement in the sea (obvious ) and that ports need to be on the coastline (more obvious then the previous statement). But, for example, i don't know if also the bordering pixels of a settlements must be different from the sea or it's possible to create a costline settlement...or, for example, i don't know if every costline pixel can contain a port...

So i need that someone lists for me every situation in which i can't place a settlement or a port on map_region.

Is anyone able to do it?

Best regards,
+Mr.Crow+

[danny X]

Iirc you need at least 3 pixels for a region in map_regions, so that would be e.g:

settlement, spare pixel, port.

So yes, settlements can touch the sea.

[+Mr.Crow+]

Thx Danny for your reply.

And what about other error situations?

[AntonisTheGreek]

You can't,for example,place a settlement on impassable territory(this includes dense forest and mountains).In such case you get a CTD,but IIRC the log tells you...

[+Mr.Crow+]

Thx Antonis, but i can't just place them on impassable territory or also near impassable territory?

For example this can be a common situation in map_ground_type (this represent a 3X3 pixel square in map_ground_type):

M O O
M S O
H O O

In which:

M = mountain
O = plain
H = hill
S = settlement location (on a plain)

As you can see, S is not placed on an invalid ground, but S is bordering M (mountain) that is impassable.

This is allowed or will cause error?

[danny X]

Thx Danny for your reply.

And what about other error situations?

Well, I've had a port not show once before, the game ran fine and re-placing the port in another location made the port show, so I cant really say what caused it. Apart from that, I've had no troubles putting ports or settlements in any location I like, other than as AntonisTheGreek has mentioned about impassable territory in map_ground_types.

If you're getting a ctd then the best thing would be to post a log report and/or your map files.

The files that are most likely to cause ctd's are: map_regions, descr_regions, imperial_campaign_regions_and_settlement_names and using 0,0,0 colour in map_heights.

Thx Antonis, but i can't just place them on impassable territory or also near impassable territory?

For example this can be a common situation in map_ground_type (this represent a 3X3 pixel square in map_ground_type):

M O O
M S O
H O O

In which:

M = mountain
O = plain
H = hill
S = settlement location (on a plain)

As you can see, S is not placed on an invalid ground, but S is bordering M (mountain) that is impassable.

This is allowed or will cause error?

Yes, that's fine as long as there is at least one route into the settlement.

[Gigantus]

The easiest way to explain is via Geomod: in the pic below the grid shows the ground_type pixels whereas the big black square is the settlement pixel. It may partially overlap invalid terrain which will be logged as error but is not fatal. Only if more then half of the settlement is on invalid terrain will map generation fail.
The same applies to map_height.

[+Mr.Crow+]

Thx a lot Gingantus!!! This is exactly the answer i need!

I've just one more little question.

In map_ground_types i can have this type of ground:

Beach
Fertile High
Fertile Low
Fertile Medium
Forest Dense
Forest Sparse
Hills
Impassable
Mountains High
Mountains Low
Ocean
Sea Deep
Sea Shallow
Swamp
Wilderness

Which of them are valid for settlement placement and which are not?

[AntonisTheGreek]

Valid ground types:
Beach
Fertile High
Fertile Low
Fertile Medium
Forest Sparse
Hills
Swamp
Wilderness

All the others are not valid.Just remember that the valid ground types for placing a city are all accesible by land characters