Smart Map 9.1 file

ReadMeSmartMap.txt
ReadMe file describing how to use SmartMap, and its various features.

SmartMap has two related discussion threads.
CivFanatics:
Forums.civfanatics.com
Apolyton:
Apolyton.net

Sections:
1) How to use
2) Options
3) Thanks
4) Version History

1) How to use
Extract the SmartMap.py to your CivIv install directory's PublicMaps
folder. Start the game, and select Single Player followed by Custom Game.
On the option titled 'Map:' select SmartMap as the map. Set other options
to your liking (I suggest trying all the defaults first!), and Launch!

A common error is to extract to civdirPublicMapsSmartMapSmartMap.py. You
want to just have civdirPublicMapsSmartMap.py

Be patient. This script is slower than many of the default scripts. A large
map takes about 30 seconds to generate on my 1.8ghz pentium-M laptop. Huge
takes close to a minute. Pangea is the slowest to generate, picking fair
start locations on a pangea takes a lot longer.

2) Options
Options are the point of SmartMap. There are a bunch of them. I will
describe how to use each of them in turn to get just the map you are
looking for.

Map: SmartMap, otherwise you're not using SmartMap!

Size: Duel, Tiny, Small, Standard, Large, Huge. SmartMap will use this
setting to determine the overall area of the map, unless you choose to override
the width and height manually, as explained later. SmartMap picks a random
width and height that produce the required area, so not all maps will be the
same shape (if you want to force a specific shape, use the overrides
described later).

Climate: Temperate, Tropical, Arid, Rocky, Cold. These mean approximately
what they do in the normal map scripts. Tropical has less desert and jungle than
you would get in the normal generator. If you feel like you get too much tundra
and snow in temperate, try tropical. Arid produces a lot of desert. Rocky means
an extra boost to hills and mountains. Cold means more snow and tundra.

Sealevel: low, medium, high. This option is used by SmartMap in a unique way.
Since SmartMap offers a direct ocean percent control, sealevel is used to control inter
continental strategy. In particular:
Low = all land on the map MIGHT (or might not) be reachable by galley
Medium = it is very unlikely you will be able to reach another continent by galley,
but contact between civs on different continents may happen early due to
influence borders touching (it is only possible to reach another continent
occasionally by galley due to a bug in civiv that will rarely allow a galley
to enter an ocean tile).
High = guaranteed that you cannot reach another continent by galley, and civ contact
between different continents will not happen until two near as possible cities
both reach level 3 culture, or caravel (almost always caravel happens first).
This option is not guaranteed to be enforced if you select a non-default land style, as
explained later.

Era / Speed: These options are not affected by and do not affect SmartMap. They are for the
mod or the game to use.

Continents: Controls the number of continents generated by the script. Each option is fairly
self explanatory. On low sea level, continents are permitted to merge, so you may receive less
than the expected number of continents. You may also receive less than the expected number if
the script cannot find enough room (as might happen if you select duel size with 36 continents).
You may receive more than the expected number if you select a non-default land style, as explained
later. If you select 0 continents, you'll get a very archipelago style map. You may also select
'single tile isles' if you are playing a mod that prefers maps with only single tiles (such as
planetary space based mods). You can also select various specific land forms, such as earth,
north america, south america, africa, europe, asia, and australia. You can also load the map shape
from any Civ4WorldBuilderSave map (WBS) through this menu.

Terrain: selects a terrain generator. The terrain generator decides if a given land or hill plot is
a desert, plains, grass, tundra, or snow. The oasis and great plains generators are taken from those
scripts, while standard is just what you normally get on default scripts. SmartMap is a custom terrain
generator that knows how to generate terrain for all kinds of map setups. You can also use this
setting to exclude certain types of terrain such as desert. I recommend SmartMap. There are
additional options that will restrict or alter the types of terrain offered as well,
such as no snow or desert or more grass. The 'use map data' option will take terrain from the WBS
or blue marble data, if available for the map you've chosen. Otherwise this option defaults to SmartMap
terrain generation.

Features: selects a feature generator. Features are things like oasis, flood plains, forest, and jungle.
They go on top of the base terrain to enhance it in some way. Again, the oasis and great plains options
are just what you'd expect from those scripts. Note that you do NOT have to match terrain and feature
generators. Oasis terrain with Great Plains features works just fine, as do all other combinations.
The default SmartMap feature generator generates a few combinations that do not occur in the standard
scripts, in particular things like floodplains on grass are possible, and oasis will occassionally be seen
on tundra. These are things that happen on earth, and so are 'realistic' but some may find undesireable
because they aren't normal in the sense of the default scripts. If you are one of these people, there is
the SmartMap Strict option, which to the best of my knowledge will not generate any combinations not found
in the default scripts. I recommend either SmartMap or SmartMap strict.

Bonuses: selects how bonuses are placed. You can choose from the standard placement or SmartMap placement.
SmartMap attempts to be fairer about how resources are placed strategically, and offers control over how many
resources you get. There are restricted placement options that place resources more like the standard
generator, or which obey additional rules enforced by the standard generator. I recommend SmartMap Normal.

Goodies: selects how goody huts are places. Options are similar to resources, but also includes an option
to disable goody huts entirely (SmartMap None). I recommend SmartMap Normal.

Ocean: determines the percentage of ocean to be used on the map. Note that selecting low ocean
levels may result in a map with significantly more useful land area than is typically expected for
a given size of map, and may cause a gameplay imbalance. There is a no ocean option which will produce
lakes but not ocean, and a no lakes, no ocean option which will produce an all-land map. You may also
choose from various options that will generate an inland sea or lakes rather than an ocean based map.

Hills: allows you to specify what percentage of the land area should be coverd in hills.

Peaks: allows you to specify what percentage of the land area should be coverd in peaks. The no block
options will prevent certain situations where a single peak blocks access to a resource.

Forest/Jungle: allows you to specify if you'd like more or less than the standard amount of forest and
jungle. Note that this option only affects the results of the SmartMap feature generator.

Rivers/Lakes: allows you to specify if you'd like more or less than the standard amount of rivers and
lakes. Note that this option only affects the results of the SmartMap feature generator.

Land Style: this option controls a couple of special features that are that are included to allow for a
greater map variety. First, you can control how round your continents will turn out. Rounder
continents have a tendency to be more fair, so very round is the default. As you transition to somewhat or
less round, you will get odder continent shapes which various people have requested, or find to be
'more realistic'. Independently, you may also choose a level of fragments. Fragments are little pieces
of land added randomly to the map which will appear