Custom Map Creation Parameters

[KinS]

Recently I'm enjoying playing in the following conditions:
small barren pangea maps, very crowded, lots of independent cities, hard, aggressive AI, fast tech advancement. Sometimes I give myself resource advantage, sometimes not.

I find that it focuses the game on local strategy and focused tactical decisions, which are the some of the strengths of the game, IMO. It also feels more like a board game, and plays faster.

However, even though I love how customized I can set the game's conditions, there are certain points I would like to change as well, and I would like to know if it's possible:

-first of all, is it possible in the creation of a random map to prioritize a more mountainous terrain? TBH I loathe plain maps, in any game not just this one, and I love how mountains add a strategic layer to all wars and settlements. Can I tell the game to put more mountains by default? Or even changing the savegame file somehow?

-secondly, is it possible to disable the "influence city" mechanic? I find it very annoying that conquering a city after a long siege, for instance, suddenly another civ from lots of tiles away 'buys' the city. I generally don't do it until it's been used on me. I know it's historically accurate but still, if I could disable it somehow, it'd be great. I have disabled Generals for the same reason. I don't mind "normal" passive influence spreading and revolts. I just don't love that active 'buy-out' mechanic, and in small maps it's much more annoying to me.

-lastly, about the tech tree. Even starting the game in a advanced condition, the techs researched are not many. Is it possible to give me more techs (or every player) from the savegame file? The one I want the most is forts (ideal in mountainous terrain), but also once I started a game completely landlocked, and for a 100 turns I couldn't build a coastal city, and therefore I couldn't research the shipyard tech. And b/c I play with randomized tech tree, it happened that that tech was a requirement for all the rest, so I was positively stuck.

Mainly are those three things: mountains, the influence mechanic, and technologies.

(I have another tiny unrelated question, I post it here so I don't start a new one: if I disable the mythical quests, etc., is there another use for Heroes, besides scouting? Is there a reason why I should not send them to reveal the map until they suddenly die? A tactical advantage to keeping them closer to cities/units?)

[Kube Games]

In short, yes. It is all possible to achieve because all the "inputs" are in external files and moddable.
There is no UI window which would allow it though, it is all in files.

Yet, it is a pretty advance stuff and I am not sure if without any experience or assistence you would be able to figure it out.

Nevertheless, here are some clues:

All the changes should be performed in mod.ims file in section <customizedGameData>
When you find <CustomizedGameDataType id="3", there are different options (meaning different climate types setups) and terrainId with percentages. This CustomizedGameDataType is setup for the "climate" part of the generator.
Which terrain is which be found in the same file in <terrainProperties>. For example id=1 is grassland, id=2 is plains, etc.

You can disable the "influence city" action when you delete this line
<MoveData msgType="97" /> in mod.ims (there is just one so you cannot make a mistake).

Regarding the tech tree - you can either modify the rules of custom worlds generation itself in sections <customizedGameDataTechnologies or you can give players in particular games (saves) certain technologies in the in-build game editor.
For more information about the game editor, please read this
https://cdn.cloudflare.steamstatic.com/steam/apps/1183470/manuals/GameManual.pdf?t=1612382367#page=199
and part "17.8 Research" particularly. It is extremely easy to change/add/remove certain technology for certain players.

I could answer the question regarding hero here, but the exhaustive and well structured answer is here
https://cdn.cloudflare.steamstatic.com/steam/apps/1183470/manuals/GameManual.pdf?t=1612382367#page=129

[KinS]

Thanks for the detailed reply, as is always the case!

I'm glad these things are possible to do.

I have tried changing the mod.ims file, however I'll need some more trial and error to find which values i should modify exactly. I have some experience coding in C# in Unity, but only as a hobby, so I am limited.

Thanks once again!

[Kube Games]

This is not really related to C#, the file is a declaration in XML format.
Nevertheless, if you have experience in C#, you can try advance stuff like scripting in Imperiums. It is all written in C# and using .NET.

If you have any questions, feel free to ask in the mod subforum our directly on our Discord[discord.com]

[KinS]

Yes, I noticed. Still, at least some experience with coding, is what I meant.

But I think I found what I was looking for:

In line 43653: <MapGeneratorTerrainType terrainId="5" propotion="0.15" >

I ramp it up to .95 to test it and it worked. Will I need to re-modify this line after each update?

[Kube Games]

Originally posted by KinS:

I ramp it up to .95 to test it and it worked. Will I need to re-modify this line after each update?

I am not sure how Steam works with updated files, yet there are few things to point out:

• If you don't update the file for the next update, you might miss some new stuff and features.
  
• Once you change the file, Steam might mark this file as "dirty" and not update it automatically anymore. You would need to run the Files integrity check.
  
• The ideal way how you should make any modifications is so called override mod using the basic mod as prototype. This is how for example Troy mod works, so you can check it out. Once you make it and override mod, this will stay as it is even between updates and it will pick up all the new stuff from the prototype mod. You would also be able to share it on Steam workshop.

Override mod is quite a broad topic and it is simply not possible to explain it all here. Yet, you can check out the Troy mod and also the Fantasy mod created by a modder.
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2379654978&searchtext=

[KinS]

Great! Thanks a lot for those details, I'll check out what you mention! =)