[Freeciv-Dev] Re: (PR#3489) Patch to add new generator

["jjc@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx" <jjc@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

On Sat, Sep 13, 2003 at 04:20:21AM -0700, Gregory Berkolaiko wrote:
> 
> On Sat, 13 Sep 2003, Per I. Mathisen wrote:
> 
> > 
> > On Fri, 12 Sep 2003, Mike Kaufman wrote:
> > I do not see how it is obviously preferable to cramp players into a
> > smaller space with less ability to expand and maneuver.
> 
> I agree with Per here.  The idea of the generator is to give each player 
> territory of his own and yet have a way of quick contact.
> 
> I still think that this is more suitable for a custom scenario than for a
> map generator.  Still, there is a simple solution to Mike's objection to
> the road issue -- make them rivers.

Rivers that actually connect all the land would tend to look rather strange
since they would usually be long and parallel to the sea.  

I am still somewhat amazed at the amount dislike for putting roads in a 
map generator.  So far as the code is concerned, roads are a property 
of the map ( map_set_special(x,y,S_ROAD) ).  European civilations certainly
used roads that they did not build during the middle ages (as in they used
the roman roads).  I certainly agree that this is the only map generator 
that creates roads, but it is also the only map generator that really needs
some way to increase movement speed over land.  I played four or five games
without the roads, before coming to the conclusion that there must be some way
to increase the speed of movement.  Adding prebuilt roads seemed the simplest
and most logical way to accomplish that.   Play testing with the roads 
showed that it definitely did give a quicker start to the game.

The goal of this patch is to allow a different type of freeciv game,
and I hope that we can all agree that having roads in a map generator
certainly is different ;)
 
-- 
Josh Cogliati