Matrix Games Forums

Hey all,
Getting the old itch again and looking at the terrain data types, I was wondering about rivers.

We currently have Major and Minor with Major rivers being >18 m across. This means in game terms that any river 20m wide is the same as a 500m wide river. I think this is too coarse IMO. I'd like to create an intermediate hexside river hex for those rivers that are 20-100m wide and I see that the minor lake type would fit the bill nicely as the description states that it's too wide for a bridge layer. Is there somewhere where we can tag a water hexside with this trait or is it hard-coded? Otherwise I'll just use the minor lake hexside for those rivers.

Plodder, great to see you back in action. I will get WIlliam to get you a final answer, but there are 3 types of water crossings. Small streams (faint hex edge waterways), small rivers (the hex edge crossing requiring a bridge), and large rivers (full hex water that needs two spans to cross).

I'll also ask if you would like to join the team as a content maker? We need map makers to help cover all of the projects we are doing. DM me if you are interested.

Have a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

Hi Plodder!

Plodder wrote: Fri Dec 22, 2023 4:04 am Hey all,
Getting the old itch again and looking at the terrain data types, I was wondering about rivers.

We currently have Major and Minor with Major rivers being >18 m across. This means in game terms that any river 20m wide is the same as a 500m wide river. I think this is too coarse IMO.

For the commander, in the context of a scenario, a river of 20m indeed offers the same problem as a river of 200m wide: unless you have amphibious units or an existing bridge, you cannot cross it. We have chosen to bias the map presentation towards the commander and his decisions, not towards topographic details.

Plodder wrote: Fri Dec 22, 2023 4:04 am I'd like to create an intermediate hexside river hex for those rivers that are 20-100m wide and I see that the minor lake type would fit the bill nicely as the description states that it's too wide for a bridge layer. Is there somewhere where we can tag a water hexside with this trait or is it hard-coded? Otherwise I'll just use the minor lake hexside for those rivers.

Yes, you can paint hex sides as minor lake, and that should work. It is being used in Southern Storm.

Let me know if you need help or QGis templates for your plans.

William

CapnDarwin wrote: Fri Dec 22, 2023 12:28 pm Plodder, great to see you back in action. I will get WIlliam to get you a final answer, but there are 3 types of water crossings. Small streams (faint hex edge waterways), small rivers (the hex edge crossing requiring a bridge), and large rivers (full hex water that needs two spans to cross).

I'll also ask if you would like to join the team as a content maker? We need map makers to help cover all of the projects we are doing. DM me if you are interested.

Have a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

Merry Christmas to you too Jim and thanks. I'll hold fire on about being a content maker at this stage as I really cant commit to anything at the mo'

WildCatNL wrote: Sun Dec 24, 2023 1:31 pm Hi Plodder!

For the commander, in the context of a scenario, a river of 20m indeed offers the same problem as a river of 200m wide: unless you have amphibious units or an existing bridge, you cannot cross it. We have chosen to bias the map presentation towards the commander and his decisions, not towards topographic details.

Hi William
That makes perfect sense, however in an large urban setting such as Berlin, the Spree and most of the canals are 50m wide and the Havelsee is 500m at it's narrowest and having them look the same width would just look strange. It would also make the map lose a lot of detail. That's why I thought I'd go with an intermediate sized river.

WildCatNL wrote: Sun Dec 24, 2023 1:31 pm

Plodder wrote: Fri Dec 22, 2023 4:04 am I'd like to create an intermediate hexside river hex for those rivers that are 20-100m wide and I see that the minor lake type would fit the bill nicely as the description states that it's too wide for a bridge layer. Is there somewhere where we can tag a water hexside with this trait or is it hard-coded? Otherwise I'll just use the minor lake hexside for those rivers.

Yes, you can paint hex sides as minor lake, and that should work. It is being used in Southern Storm.

Let me know if you need help or QGis templates for your plans.

William

Cheers, I gather the old QGis templates are out of date now? I'm using 3.30.2 these days as well. Oh, and Merry Christmas!

I've used minor lakes in custom maps to simulate wider rivers that don't consume a 500m hex. Works perfect.