BRAD'S SETTLING OF AMERICA SERIES 3: RK CHOICE testing

[brads3]

good morning.it is a new year,so i'll start a new series

all prior save games are deleted. to find out what is in the new RK,i need to run it without any mods.i actually have a backup file of the game with no mods in the windata.that makes it easy.i did add the debug so i can test or look at some buildings quick.

       i can only do what the modders let me.lately they do try to keep me in a straight jacket.for those in other countries that may not know that term,it is a way to tie crazy people up so they can't hurt themself.this will be a challenge.RED already told me adding trapping will not be easy.

         hmmm this is goig to take some time. there are new terrain starts. there are several that say "no dirt".we have no explanations without going back and re-reading several pages of RED's development blog.there are new start condition settings. these do have an explanation.i'll start with a genesis setting which gives 2 families but no buildings.in my haste to crack this open i did goof. i forgot to totally clear the registry.i ment to do that to be 100% sure no other mod was having any affect.too late now.this enchanted plain start is super dark.i guess we do have a full moon as we can see.there is a lot of rocks.have no clue where i am.a different planet perhaps?

        next i tried the lake" no dirt" start with the 2 families.this terrain texture is neat.when did RED learn to read minds?it actually offsets something i was working toward.this will work nicely for those who like to build islands in the lakes.it works well for that.it doesn't change the rock texture when you terraform down from mountains.i went to check on the house icons and the game kicked me out.the patch files were the latest 1.07,however the video files were the beta 1.07.

    i decide on a fresh spring plain terrain start with gatherers.now the mini map looks checkerboarded or a blotched grid pattern.there is some shadowing to the terrain here and there. it doesn't look bad.might be causing the mini map to look odd.i debugged some houses and a fishing pier.enough to keep the bannies happy for a while.

    now i can go thru the icons and see what is new. RED added orchard foresters.  that was an unexpected addition. there is a furniture maker,a weapon maker ,and an armor maker.these will use up iron. so to run these, you will need a developed production center and mines.the garden walls mod was added in.this upgrade comes with a huge full dock set of buildings.though they require less materials,RED designed them not to be built on and. they don't require lumber but have to be built over water.this is 1 of the highlight or major changes to this version.there are 2 foresters,1 says it plants new trees. it does not say what trees are considered "new".

      i let the gatherer run a full year.the 2 workers didn't have the bridge until winter.they did collect a mixture including firewood.the forests are thick. the way the game lays the trees out ,you do get some different mixtures of forests. some with dark pines and some clumps of more leaf trees.plus there is some grassy meadows mixed as well.i do think there is more rocks than the older versions.

  that is 3 quick looks at the RK. non of this is a complaint,just observations from looking at the maps. it will take a some time to get used to it and see what all is in here.

pic 1 and 2: "enchanted plain" start
pic 3 and 4: lake "no dirt" start
pic 5: "fresh spring plain" start
pic 6: terrain shadows
pic 7: new workshops
pic 8:gatherer output  for the 1st year.

[RedKetchup]

i hope you will enjoy it

[brads3]

hi,RED. it is fun testing so much. did you add bee hives? i have not seen any yet.

[RedKetchup]

hi,RED. it is fun testing so much. did you add bee hives? i have not seen any yet.

no i did not

[brads3]

              TEST 2

     i do want to bring a couple mods over without changing anything. i did bring the propertime mod,since i am used to the speed.
TOM's quick hunter and fisherman and the mini mod were copied over.i also want to test a few new mods.i loaded KID's fairy tale and boat mods.

  i looked at a few more different starts. RED has added quite a few.the easy start seems to be the only 1 with houses.1 A&E start has no food or supplies.he gave different options for the medium starts with crops or orchards ort livestock.he does give the player a lot of different choices. 

        i want to look at the "pine wood plain"start. was wondering how much meadow there would be.i debugged in some houses,a crop field,and the mini hunter and gatherer.a workshop and townhall and a firewood chopper.just to keep the bannies busy.i sent the laborers to clear some trees.this will give an idea of how a modded gatherer works with the RK items.RED added flax and wild oats.i do see firewood,bird nests,and a variety of plants.i have not seen bee hives yet. 

     for the 2nd yr,i wanted to test the gathering more.the main gathering hut was added. i added a mulberry orchard but do not expect much from it this year.then just let this run a year and see what the bannies collect.the main gatherer did find more items.if the rocks were cleared,the output total would improve.the mini gatherer is not collecting the RK items.that does handicap its output.

       as i look at this more ,i will have many more questions for RED. 1> is there bee hives and i just haven't seen them? 2>did you increase the rock spawning,stones,iron ore,and copper ores? 3>should the firewood be collected from the forester not the gatherer? my concern here is the firewood takes away from the food total. my thinking is that it had to be modded that way.or a separate worker would have to collect the firewood.much like the pine trapper works to clear traps and collect pelts and furs.the forester does collect some of these as he plants trees. none of that is complaints. just observations and noting the differences from 1 mod to the other.mainly trying to understand the changes and how everything functions.

    as expected, i do need to run more tests to see what is in here. one thing i need to get where i can see.next test i will turn on the CC rain mod.

pic 1 and 2:  "Equinox valley" map
pic 3 and 4: "Lush green valley" map
pic 5 and 6: "Pine wood plain" map
pic 7: RK wild bison
pic 8:some of the RK gather items
pic 9: 1 yr mini gatherer output
pic 10: RK orchard forest toolbar
pic 11: 1yr of the main gatherer output,2nd yr of mini

[brads3]

TEST 3


     i do need to get where i can see better. CC rain mod and Ds Ui map mods are copied over.just to show how different the no dirt versions are,i ran the same map code, 1500, on both.not sure how RED started reading my mind,but i think this "no dirt" start option will get a lot of use by many players.

      i debugged 2 houses,the mini tailor,a BS,a shed,wood chopper,and a TH.the hunter and gatherer were also debug added.i sent them enough land to clear just to give some logs and iron ore.now i can let this run.

       temperature records: eary spring around 30 degrees f,spring 50's,late spring 60's,early-mid summer 70's,late summer mid 60's,
early fall bounced up to 70 dropping to 60.fall 50's,late fall 40's,early winter 30's snow,winter mid 20's,late winter 30's climbing to high 30's by spring,

year 1
     thru spring             summer             fall                    winter
  hunter   160 goose,   80 goose,    80 goose,24 duck,     72 duck, some oats thru the year.  total 416+26 oat,
  gatherer 147 total,   +42     ,                 +78  ,              71       year total 339  56 is firewood so 283 total.

   with the lake to the north and a stream to the east,we are working about half the radius.
  death:female in child birth,  this hurt.3 bannies working.1 worker is micro-managed. i did want to work far enough to test the new orchard forests.kinda hard to do with so few bannies.the game beat me up on this test.

          where am i?  opened several map starts to see what options are in the RK. looked at what buildings were added.then i started trying to figure out the gathering changes and what other changes RED might have made. i started with no other mods.slowly added enough that i can see better.the missing tools may be part of why i feel lost. it is more real life related.

         what do we know? not enough. RED added flax and oat but no beehives to the gathering. i noticed it is "oat"not "wild oat".this helps cut down on the long inventory and also gives players the option to mill it into four.not all "flax" is the same.there are about 3 or 4.some flax can be made into clothing.some has to be processed and then made into clothing. yeah more testing.

         RED has added some neat surprises.

pic 1 and 2: "no dirt" lake map
pic 3: zoomed and cleared trees to see tyhe RK items
pic 4: original lakes map, to compare and see the difference
pic 5: debugged start village
pic 6:yr 1 outputs

[Nilla]

Hi, it´s bin a while!

We are lucky that America is a large continent, so there´s plenty of room for you @brads3 to settle! I´m pleased to see that you are still busy! I feel a little inspired to start a new game, too. maybe soon. We´ll see.

[brads3]

WOW. stranager. you have been missed, how are you??? there are some changes to the game. someone gave RED some mods and we now have wild animals.REd has been working for a long time on this new mod. we also have a mod manager that allows us a better way of organizing the mod orders. are you back for a long time?

[RedKetchup]

@Nilla : Hi Nilla !
we missed you ! How are you ?


@brads3 : i added cotton flax and oats. i did NOT included bee hives.
we cannot ask the forester to gather the firewood. it is a forester building, not a gatherer-type of buildings.

Trees are spawning : onion, shrooms, root, berries and deadwood.
flowers spawn everything else.

[brads3]

TEST 4

          i need to run a longer map.set this up as gatherers on the pine wood lake map. the terrain is darker than the original.i do wonder if the trees are different from 1 start setting to another.it might be subtle enough i can't see it. i don't start in the best spot. up against a stream so half the gathering radius is not useable.the 8 adult bannies will have to work.

       they need a house to stay dry at and a bridge.then they can expand into the lake.they will need the bridge before they can find many logs.the start is so bad,there is nothing to hunt.the start pile has been downsized.this does make the bannies work differently to clear land.they clear some iron ore for tools and then trees.if you clear too much to fast, that pile will get full.it is a small change but has big effects.if the pile gets full,the bannies  won't be able to clear land for the next building.

     these bannies are having a rough time keeping up on logs.they are using them faster than they cut them.not wanting to cut trees in the gathering circle,they have had to work farther out.food production has gone very wella quick hunter did help take in some bison and leather.the gathering hut has a full list of itemsa huge variety of food.

      they didn't get a lot of construction done.a tailor and wood chopper are needed.about half the bannies don't even have a house yet.a couple of the children will help more next year. 

     this map is considerably warmer.it is 60 in early spring.hit high 80's in early summer.fall temps dropped quicky to 25 and snow came in mid autumn.brrrr,early winter the temp has dropped below 10 degrees F.will it go below zero? these bannies don't have any blankets.wow,a 40 degree longer temperature range than the last test.this is most likely an extreme swing of the temps.

     these temps matter to food production a lot.too cold and food will start to decay.not warm enough and fields won't produce as much.some of this modders can affect.however, lots is hard coded in the game beyond the modders' reach. LUKE kept enough of the coding hidden to make the game challenging.this isn't a bad thing.

      from what i have seen over time of playing the game,crops do better closer to the 80 degree temp.if the temp gets to 90,the growth slows down.they will grow but are sluggish about it at 70.at 80 they will mature faster.at 70,they will need a longer growing season.this can be somewhat different depending on the crop you are growing.a tropical fruit will be way different.
   
      how much does this temp variation affect the gathering foods or the rice farm? RED can set a range for the plants ,and i think a die off temp for the spawned items.beyond that, LUKE's coding and programming to the game has control.  we often throw stones at LUKE.a lot of what he did is neat and intesting.a lot of complex things happen due to LUKE that we never see directly.

     i was surpised to see the temp hit 88 degrees. it stayed there for over a month.if i had a lot of crop fields,the food production would have seen a huge jump.i really like this range.there are some drawbacks. it was warmer than it should have been in spring.i doubt this is even close to a normal year.climate is something i have looked at tweaking. ran some experiments on it.it is a juggle since it affects the food so much.the game has a tendency to neutralize or balance the temps out.as in this case,to get the warm summer,the game raised the spring temp. an on-going challenge.


      questions for RED KETCHUP> are the trees and temperatures the same from map setting to map setting if all are set to fair climate? 


pic 1: map settings,my 9th test map
pic 2: start point
pic 3: construction to summer
pic 4: yr 1 outputs
pic 5: the bannies keep seafood fresh by storing it in water,don't fall in

[RedKetchup]

TEST 4

      questions for RED KETCHUP> are the trees and temperatures the same from map setting to map setting if all are set to fair climate? 

i didnt edited any game temperature at all. mild/fair/harsh.... i absolutely did nothing on those. so it is game original setup and there are RNG that can make a seed diff than another.

And yeah if you try to look inside some buildings... you can see some unseen polygons gone to help people PCs

[brads3]

i am glad you didn't alter the temps. everything that happens with temps is me or LUKE's fault. 
i don't think crops produce based on a RNG. i think it is a formula,most of which is in the hidden coding.i'll touch on this more later.

[brads3]

                                TEST 4 year 2

             i had a plan to place a forester across the stream.the bannies have had to cut those trees for logs.as it is,more workers are needed at the docks.the forester tests will be delayed.the bannies are stuggling to get a stockpile of logs.finally,the tailor is finished.according to it, flax is a 2 step process.the fishing is going very well from the dock.the bannies figure they will leave 2 fishing this year and try to build a house and storage across the stream. in year 3,they plan to build an apple orchard forest.hopefully the apples will bring a herd of deer or elk.

         between my construction and RED's design,the bannies got scared of some trip hazards.i built it with no steps.there is some gaps around the buildings. the dock walkway is narrower than the walkways of the buildings.most of this isn't a problem at all.the BS can't be built next to without a gap on 1 side.   

       warmer than average spring.upper 70's in the summer.temp held above 50 til mid fall.then it dropped fast enough to snow even. 

pic 1:dock tailor
pic 2: hill texture
pic 3: dock step down
pic 4: gaps,note the BS walkway is wider than the main walkways.there is some gaps by buildings depending on how they are placed.  can't be build tight against the BS. 

pic 5:forester house,nobody homless finally
pic 6:yr 2 ouputs

[brads3]

         TEST 4 yr 3

         good morning. yes these tests are taking some time. playing the RK CHOICE without adding mods did need to be done. adding mods can change more than expected or more than we know even. for instance players have added a CC addon mod and end up with feathers.even though nothing in the particular mod used feathers.since i normally have 100+ mods,how much of these "extra affects" do i have? what i see now with the RK by itself might not be something RED changed to this version. i didn't reset the game registry when i started these tests. there is a chance that a mod i had before could be affecting things. unless someone tells me,i will assume everything i see is the RK itself.    so bare with me if i give numbers or info that might not be new to this version.


           the bannies drop back to 1 fishrman and cut more trees.the wood chopper stops working as well.hopefully they can get the log count up.  the forester does overlap the gatherer radius slightly.in time a hunter and another gatherer can be built.it will take several years for the trees to grow.  a quickhunter will be sent when animals pass nearby.this will supply leather for coats.otherwise, things are stable and the map can run a while. by now, the rocks have been cleared from the gathing area.


year 3 temps
         spring starts with 30 deggrees,mid 40's thru mid spring,a slower climb to 60's thru late spring,early summer starts at 70,climved to 75 and dropped back to 70 before late summer, down to mid 60's by fall,drop to mid 40's by mid fall,dropping to high 20's by early winter,mid 20's thru winter.late winter climbing back into 30's.
steadier climbs and drops.a cooler summer.

     my goal with these temps is to get the map close to where i live. i am in the Mid-Atlantic states,half way between the coast and the Great Lakes.it is actually a plateau. so we have flat valley areas with rivers surrounded by hills. some of the hills are fairly flat on top and some are steaper than others. some days it will snow in the hills and do nothing in the valley.this gives us lots of spring fed ponds and lakes.temps range from below zero for some weeks in winter to 90's in summer.growing season nowadays from may into mid fall.
       the mainland US has deserts and high mountains out west.swamps and some sub tropical south.plains in the middle.   being a large country,the climate and terrain varries a lot. you can sit in 80 degree California and see snow on the mountains.some of our states are the size of countries in Europe.

pic 1:RK apple forester
pic 2: fall overview
pic 3: quickhunter
pic 4: yr 3 outputs

[Artfactial]

That's a beautiful map right there.