Tinto Talks #45 - 8th of January 2025

[Johan]

I understand that graphics are very important for the base game, but for players who don't mind if a "farmland province has trees on it would it be possible to make a modding backend that allows for mods to change a province's terrain without changing its graphics?

it exists yes.

 

[Johan]

But other factors will not change the fact that, in the end, the climates of Moscow, Beijing, Turku, Mogadishu and the Great Victoria Desert can attract migrants (in principle), while the climate of Valencia, Thessaloniki, Varna, Odessa and Baku does not, for some reason

Yes, but if those there from below 5k pops I'd be surprised.

I think our usage of cold arid in some places is wrong though. For me, its like Gobi Desert, not Valencia.

 

[Johan]

I don't know how the engine works so just spitballing here, but would it not be possible to use the same kind of code used for city graphics and stuff like the Hagia Sophia minarets in EU4? Like the minarets only appear on the map once the mosque decision is pressed or cities and buildings in Vicky 3 only appear on the map after some population or building thresholds are met. Can't the same be applied to forests? Except in reverse? i.e. tree models only appear on map if tree vegetation is present and disappear if the, I assume, "deforested" modifier since we can't change vegetation is present, the tree graphic disappears? And make it only update if one of those types of modifiers are added or removed for performance?

its not that trivial

 

[Johan]

Okay! Then please please please at the very least make it possible to script it, even if you don't decide to utilize it in the base game, just having the ability to modify it with scripting would amazing for modders.

that exists yes, just won't be any correlation between graphics and gameplay though.

 

[Johan]

This really looks a lot like modern office workers projecting their living preferences onto early modern farmers.

If all you do outside is go to the park and stroll through the streets, then absolutely, we want warm and dry weather. But if you’re a subsistence farmer, the attraction of a place is all about whether you can grow enough food for your family regularly every year, and perhaps have some surplus to trade. You’ll take the cold place over the warm one if there’s more available land producing good amounts of food.

Dry is bad, you need regular rain.

However cold is bad, really really bad.

I use to live in the countryside outside of Stockholm. It was impossible to grow ANYTHING for many months, not just because it goes below 0 C many times each week even when its relative mild. The ground also freezes solid. One year me and my wife was planning to erect a new deer-proof "fence", and wanted it ready before we started planting season.. We had to make controlled fires for every single of the 80 poles we wanted to get into the ground, as its literally impossible to dig a half meter deep hole into the ground during that part of the year.

 

[Johan]

When you say it exists you mean the possibility to make it possible with mods or that it already exists in game? I'm confused by some of these answers of yours...

mods can do it..

we just wont unless graphics match.

 

[Johan]

Not feasible in the game engine, or not feasible by release but a potential future update?

one day

 

[Johan]

We got confirmation that the effects of terrain can be replicated by some other modifiers, but what I'm curious about is if the GRAPHICAL terrain generation logic can be meddled with in mods.

yes, you need to paint the terrain graphics in the map editor and then repackage the files. need a pretty powerful PC to use it though

 

[Johan]

I, for one, would be completely fine with playing without terrain details on a paper map if it allowed me to modify the terrain type at will. Such a system is unprecedented in Paradox history and is a huge leap forward for it.

I think my words will resonate with the majority of the playerbase.

some people will be like you yes.