Re: Using terrain coatings and existing code to model topography, weather, and vegetation

["Andreas Bringedal" <anbring at online dot no>]

> On Sun, 19 Sep 2004, Lincoln Peters wrote:
> > The more I think about this, the more I can see that, while writing the
> > terrain module itself might not be such a difficult task (albeit a
> > time-consuming one), re-writing the code for terrain coatings, as well
> > as the existing weather code, will be a lot of work.  On the other hand,
> > when you consider the benefits that such a weather model could have on
> > any existing or future game, I think that the return on such an
> > investment would be enormous.
>
> Just a caution:  This is a game.  It's supposed to be fun.  Before adding
> any new complication, I think it's important to ask "Will this make the
> game more fun?"  There isn't only one right answer, since the answer
> depends on who's answering, and on the context of the particular game in
> which the feature will be used.  But I think the question should be asked.

Yes making a funcionally weather system does seems like overkill. What about making a simplified weather system which is just based
on lontitude and time of year(and if implemented altitude) in a semi random manner.  Certain areas are prone to certain weathers in
certain periods of the year where only a handful of weather types has an impact. Rain/mud, Snow, Frozen, Fog, Storm and Blizzard.
Rain, fog, storm and blizzard affect visibility and thereby the 'to hit'-ability of units as well as speed, while snow, frozen,
blizzard and mud affect terrain (im)passability and speed.  I would think these 'areas' could be made mobile without too much
problem simulating the movement of a raincloud or a storm across the map. You could then get storm effects like Terrible Ivan that
just went rampant and the players would anxiously try to avoid them. Fly a plane into it and watch it crash, force move a troop of
infantry through it and see the attrition skyrocket.  It would be nifty to have a strenght 5 storm move semirandomly across the map
by spesific scenario design or by a very low random chance.

With such weather areas moving across the game you could give them different speeds and different sizes where the largest would be
covering the whole map and the smalles just a handful of provinces.  They could be tailored made for specific scenarios which
varying degrees of randomness which would help people create (historical) scenarios or they could be randomly created. A weather
area could for instance appear withing 1-5 turns before or after one specified turn, appear at province x,y or near it or it can
have a random size within given minimums and maximums etc.

The mobile weather areas could have parameters like size, start area, speed, direction, change of direction point, end area.  The
non mobile temperature areas (above or below zero mainly), would decide if the mobile weather area creates rain or snow.  You could
have a lingering mud area after a mobile rain area passed and the same lingering mud area when a frozen area thaw.  The non mobile
weather areas would have parameters like size, start(randomly within span of turns or a specific turn), end.  If you wanted to make
it even more relistic you could expand the temperature areas to the whole map and give extreme temperatures attrition effects on
units.  The heat of Sahara or the cold of the Alps could then be simulated.

If these weather areas had weak graphic representation that overlaid the GIS map that is suggested created now(great project btw!),
like rain drops, snow flakes, slight graying of the area for fog and faster moving and more rain drops/snow flakes for
storm/blizzard, you would have a very nice effect without what seems to me to be overwhelming work(?) and without cluttering up the
map with 4 types of overlay. Rain and snow shouldn't obscure a hex to any degree(just enough so that the player can see that it
rains/snows) but with a blizzard you should have trouble identifying what's in the hex even if you are in the hex next to it.

Just some thoughts from a player and non programmer though.

-Andreas