Cossacks 1,2 and 3 Info Site

New Terrain Mod (NTM) v1.6.0.3

This mod aims to bring more variety in random map generation by adding new options and objects.

Download:

C3 NT Mod Animals

TLDR:
Additions:

1.)       New landscape options : Lakes, Rivers and coastal. (360+ map masks.)
2.)       New seasons options: Spring and Autumn.
3.)       New foreststype option: Countryside (rural with farms), Taiga (default), Black forest (Dense forest), temperate forest (new trees mix).
4.)       New harvestable treetypes : Willow, Oak, Beech, Birch, Cypress, Olive, Poplar, Maple, Oak bushes,...
5.)       New flowers and decoration types: cabbage, cornflower, thistle, caluna, editor buildings (rubbled houses, farmsteads, graves).
6.)       New map textures (summer, winter, autumn, spring)
7.)       New peace time options: 5 & 15 minutes.
8.)       New mapsize options (Medium & Very large): current options now are : tiny (256), normal(320), medium (400), large (480), very large (560), huge (640)
9.)       New warship options: with or without warships or transports only
10.)       New additional start options: 17th century barracks, log Cabins, a village and union of nations.
11.)      New resource start options: 10000, 50000, 100000 and 500000.
12.)      New diplomatic option: Expensive mercenaries, costing 3 times as much as normal.
13.)      New random map masks (350+) for existing landscape types bringing more variety in start positions & terrain, particularly for 8 player maps but also for 2-7 player maps.
14.)      New patterns for more landscape variety (200+)
15.)      Animated trees. They appear to be moving with the wind.
16.)      Animals: wild animals, farm animals and flying birds making the maps more lively.
17.)      All new options are localized in the various available languages.

Tweaks:

18.)        Added a small amount of gold to following additional start option : cannons, towers and cannons & howitzers to cover for the initial maintenance cost.
19.)        On 18th century barracks start option: one fewer Log Cabin (4 -> 3) for Ukraine, one fewer 17th barracks for Ukraine (5 -> 4), Algeria and Turkey (4 -> 3) to not cause issues on small islands maps, where some of these buildings might spawn in water.)
20.)        2 extra towers for the 'towers' start option, Ukraine gets 2 Log Cabins (previously they would get nothing).
21.)        Lowered the number of peasants Turkey/Algeria get on start option 'Army of Peasants', they previously would get many more than any other nation.
22.)        Changed the winter textures to be darker, as opposed to being blinded by the current snow textures.
23.)        Moved the desert landscape option from seasons to landscape.
24.)        Various changes to terrain generation, eg: landscape type 'plain' now is plain and no longer has hills generating on them. Hills generate hills and not plateaus/mountains, etc...

Fixes:

25.)       Fixes to existing random map masks (see list)
26.)       Fixed misdecor7 & 8 having a bad texture (tent texture pointing to wrong file.)
27.)       Fixed desert_plain_medium pattern group error (Generator.cfg & dogenerate.inc)

I got a bit annoyed at the lack of variation in the random maps GSC provided us with. They all look the same. You can tell the game was rushed. But even after a year, it still feels lacklustre in this aspect.

I started working on this mod last winter, but didn't have time to finish it due to work. The constant release of patches didn't help much either, because it meant I had to update more often than spend time on my mod. At the time, I had made a desert and artic option, along with various other map options (no diplo, etc), but GSC added these to the game shortly after, so I scrapped them out of my mod and continued with the other stuff I wanted in the game.

The mod isn't entirely finished yet. This is probably version 40 of the mod, i've spend many hours on it already, but it needs more polishing ( not entirely happy with all the textures yet and the terrain generation can use more tweaking aswell.), but I rather get some feedback and constructive critiscism, to see in which area's the mod needs improvement while I'm still working on it.

The intent of the mod is to bring more variety in map generation, and most additions are optional. This means, you can choose what you want to play. Try out the different options, see what you like. Some combinations of options may appear a bit weird eg; countryside + mountains, others are a match made in heaven. Some are disabled entirely eg: desert+ foresttype: it will always be palm trees on the desert maps. I didn't think a 'countryside' option with farms would fit well on a desert map.

I'm open to more suggestions/ideas/feedback in regards to the terrain generation, if they are feasible and doable, I might look into adding them. I still have plenty of 'things to do/add ' on my list, so if I find time, I hope i'll release a second version of the mod at a later time. (Wild & farm animals are on the top of my list.)

Compability with other mods:
It's unlikely this will be compatible with any 'big' mods, as many files are changed. However, I didn't touch the country scripts, so it all depends on the mod I guess, or if you are a mod creator, ask me if you can incorporate it into your mod.

Some Samples

Rivers (new)

Land maps (no water)

Coastal maps (new)

Lakes (new)

Continent

Mediterranean

Details

1. Fixes to existing vanilla random map masks:

Startpoints: Some original maps had their start points too close to each other which led to situations under certain start settings on normal maps that were unplayable:
Eg; Start option : 18th century barracks ; nation: Ukraine, Turkey, Algeria; This would put blockhouses and 17th barracks which these nations receive on start in odd places such as in water or outside of the map.
Because of this, the minimum distance to water/corners/edges has to be at least 0,7 cm for each start point.(East-West) Relative to each other at least 1,5 cm; but preferably a lot more or 0 pt games with these start options will lead to blockhouses killing another players' peasants right at start of game. I strongly suggest minimum 2 cm between start points.

List of fixed masks:

7pl_mask_nowater_1_gauss.tga : 2 most Eastern start positions were too close to each other, leading to odd situations under certain start conditions (with blockhouses). They have been moved further away from each other.

4pl_mask_continent_78_gauss.tga : the 4 start spots in the center were way too close, leading to peasants getting killed by blockhouses at start of game. Some blockhouses even overlap (AOP start option, 18th barrack start option)

4pl_mask_continent_88_gauss.tga : lower left start spot made barracks spawn in water.

7pl_mask_continent_3_gauss.tga: 2 western start spots moved because peasants were spawning in water becoming unusable.

7pl_mask_continent_6_gauss.tga: 2 starting spots (lower east and west) were making barracks spawn in water.

7pl_mask_continent_8_gauss.tga: top west start spot was too close to water making barracks/peasants spawn in water.

7pl_mask_continent_11_gauss.tga: middle western starting spot was too close to water, leading to barracks and blockhouses spawning in water.

7pl_mask_continent_14_gauss.tga: 2 top start spots too close to water. The eastern barracks makes serdiuks spawn in water and these cannot be moved on to land.

7pl_mask_continent_18_gauss.tga: top left start spot was a bit too close to water making a blockhouse spawn in water.

4pl_mask_mediterranean_4_gauss.tga: fixed 2 west start spots being too close to the corner.

4pl_mask_mediterranean_8_gauss.tga: fixed east start spot being too close to edge of map.

4pl_mask_mediterranean_14_gauss.tga: fixed lower right start spot, was too close to corner of map.

4pl_mask_mediterranean_15_gauss.tga: fixed 2 center spots being too close, blockhouses killing each others peasants at start of game.

4pl_mask_mediterranean_17_gauss.tga: fixed top right start spot being to close to the corner.

4pl_mask_mediterranean_22_gauss.tga: fixed eastern start spot being too close to water.

4pl_mask_mediterranean_25_gauss.tga: fixed 2 start spots being to close to water/border.

4pl_mask_mediterranean_28_gauss.tga: fixed 1 start spot being too close to the corner.

4pl_mask_mediterranean_30_gauss.tga: fixed 1 start spot being too close to water.

4pl_mask_mediterranean_33_gauss.tga: fixed 1 start spot being too close to the corner.

4pl_mask_mediterranean_36_gauss.tga: fixed 1 start spot being too close to the corner.

4pl_mask_mediterranean_55_gauss.tga: fixed 1 start spot being too close to the corner.

4pl_mask_mediterranean_67_gauss.tga: fixed 2 start spots that were too close to edge of map/water.

4pl_mask_mediterranean_69_gauss.tga: fixed 2 start spots that were too close to the edge of map.

4pl_mask_mediterranean_71_gauss.tga: fixed 3 start spots being too close to edge of map.

4pl_mask_mediterranean_72_gauss.tga: fixed 3 start points being too close to edge/water.

4pl_mask_mediterranean_73_gauss.tga: fixed 4 starts spots, all being too close to the map edge.

4pl_mask_mediterranean_74_gauss.tga: fixed all 4 spots, having insufficient space for 18th barracks option.

4pl_mask_mediterranean_75_gauss.tga: fixed all 4 spots, being too close, blockhouses were killing peasants at start of game, blockhouses overlapped.

4pl_mask_mediterranean_79_gauss.tga: fixed 3 start spots being too close to the edge of map.

4pl_mask_mediterranean_83_gauss.tga: fixed 1 start spot being too close to the corner.

4pl_mask_mediterranean_84_gauss.tga: fixed all 4 spots, too close to map border, putting blockhouses outside of map.

4pl_mask_mediterranean_86_gauss.tga: fixed 2 start spots putting blockhouses outside of the map.

7pl_mask_mediterranean_1_gauss.tga: 3 start spots too close to the map border, placing blockhouses outside of the map.

7pl_mask_mediterranean_10_gauss.tga: fixed 1 start spot being too close to eastern map border.

2. What's new: 736 new random map masks

2.1 196 new random land maps (no water) :

- added 14 new 2 player random land maps (no water) which split up the map in half giving more space compared to previous maps using a 4 way division.

- added 21 new 3 player random land maps (no water) which split up the map three way giving more space compared to previous maps using a 4 way division.

- added 32 new 4 player random land maps (no water) splitting the map 4 way, bringing more variation compared to the previous map only using the corners.

- added 32 new 5 player random land maps (no water) splitting the map 5 way, bringing more variation compared to the previous 4 maps being used.

- added 32 new 6 player random land maps (no water) splitting the map 6 way, bringing more variation compared to the previous 4 maps being used.

- added 42 new 7 player random land maps (no water) splitting the map 7 way, bringing more variation compared to the previous 4 maps being used.

- added 32 new 8 player random land maps (no water) splitting the map 8 way, bringing more variation compared to only 1 map being used previously.

2.2 Added 151 new random lake maps supporting 2 to 8 players.

2.3 Added 57 new random coastal maps supporting 2 to 8 players.

2.4 Added 157 new random river maps supporting 2 to 8 players.

2.5 Added 48 new random continent maps:

- 32 new 2 player random continent maps splitting up the map in half giving more space compared to previous maps using a 4 way division.

- 16 new 8 player random continent maps giving more variety compared to previously only 1 map being used.

2.6 Added 10 new random continents maps for 8 players, as opposed to only 1 map being available previously.

2.7 Added 10 new random island maps for 8 players, as opposed to only 1 map being available previously.

2.8 7 new random peninsula maps for 8 players

2.9 Added 100 new random mediterranean maps:

- Added 33 new random mediterranean maps for 8 players, as opposed to only 1 map being available previously.

- Added 56 new random mediterranean maps for 2 players, splitting the map in half giving more space compared to previous maps using a 4 way division.

All maps saved in .tga type 10 , 24 bits, rle compressed, gaussian blur format as the vanilla one's.

Version Changes

NTM v1.2.9.1 : Steam Beta Test version.

Version 1.3.1.2: (12/01/2018)
- Fixed bad texture display on some trees (on taiga) after work transform. (Reported by @Foeurdr , Gal Gadot, Anderson)
- Fixed issue with patterns not loading on choosing 'random' foreststype. (Reported by ???????????)
- Added custom autumn lightning table: less red than previous versions, darker ambient. (Suggested by Przemek_kondor)
- Added longer shadows for autumn maps. (Suggested by Przemek_kondor)
- Added colourtables to onloadfull.inc & docreate.inc for completions sake.
- Temporary disabled AI treating a river/lakes maps as an 'island/water' map, because it behaves weirdly. It needs a proper setup for these types of maps. (@Foeurdr)
- Fixed new mixed tree patterns/stones spawning on taiga maps around the start position.

Version 1.3.2.4: (17/01/2018)
- Updated to Game version 2.0.4.85.5830
- Fixed 2 farm patterns having bad decoration trees with no winter textures.
- Added some rubbled decor buildings on countryside & default start option.
- Added few larger tree patterns for countryside start option, it wasn''t having enough of them.

Version 1.3.3.7: (20/01/2018)
- Improved the generation time for the 'black forest' option. Reduced the amount of trees/patterns that were being generated. Still one of the 'longest' generation times, but managed to reduce it by up to 30 seconds. I''ll try to improve more in the next version.
- Added a 'transport only' option for the 'warships' option. Usefull for river/lake maps if you do not want fishboats/warships, but only ferries.
- Added a 'union' additional start option. On choosing a nation it will be paired with one other nation.
(Austria - Hungary; Turkey - Algeria; Spain - Portugal; Venice - Piemonte; Sweden - Denmark; France - Switzerland; Ukraine - Russia; Poland - Prussia; Bavaria - Saxony.
On choosing England you will be paired with Netherlands because not everyone has the scotland dlc, but if you have and you choose Scotland you will be paired with England.
- Added an 'expensive mercenaries' option. They will cost 3 times as much as normal when this option is enabled.
- Added animals: Farm animals (cow, goose, hen, pig, sheep) & wild animals (bear, deer, fox, wild pigs, wolf). You''l find farm animals on the 'country side' maps, and wild animals in forests & plains on the various maps. These bring variety and make the maps more lively.

Version 1.4.2.5: (26/01/2018)
- Added flying birds (falcon, generic bird, stork) to the random maps who will fly around randomly. You''ll find them on the various maps (except desert).
- Added more decoration patterns on the country side map ('churches with graveyards, castles, rubbled buildings')
- Added 2 new map size options (Medium & Very large) : current options now are : tiny (256), normal(320), medium (400), large (480), very large (560), huge (640).
- Added winter textures to the 'farmhouses' you see on the country side maps.
- Replaced 3 bad new road textures with better one''s matching the buildings decals better, for later use.

Version 1.5.2.2: (08/02/2018)

- Added some extra editor objects (crows:flying and on the ground), horses, donkey
- Reduced the amounts of birds spawning on maps, in some area''s it was too much.
- Tried adding an 'urban' map type with villages, but ended up taking it out as the map generation was taking too long.
- Removed unintended ability for clients to change the seasons in multiplayer (possible cause of failed loading/synch errors). Only the host should be able to change the season.
- Removed ground collision on the flying stork, it could interfere in an annoying way with building placement and is unnecessary.
- Fixed some bad collisions on some of the farms/rubbled buildings.

Thanks to following people for checking some of the translations:

[KGR]-^K[o]K^- - Czech
[GDF]Warren - Polish
Francesco_Cavalli - Italian
Foeurdr - French
Carlos - Spanish
Mark Kandaurov - Ukrainian
Mark Kandaurov - Russian
[1453]Atabey - Turkish
Anderstein - German

~Ebel