- I would avoid 1x1 and 1x2. Space mattered the wrong way around in those days. In the countryside people lived under 'one roof' with the beasts and accordingly the houses were bigger (or more than one made for a single lot). In towns buildings may have been 2x1, but often had courtyards which would make them 2x2 or 2x3. The only place where I can see smaller lots are in cities (like London). It's not by chance that the great fire burned down the whole place and not just a couple of blocks.
- It might be worth it to make both growable and ploppable versions of each release. That way, people canhave a lot more customization options.
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EDIT: I brought this up in pm to thingfishs, but the 'water' and 'power' civics could be switched to 'agriculture' and 'commodities' (given the lack of either resource in modern terms), to better simulate agrarian vs. urban settlements.
Farms, etc. could be given the water quality, and sent in neighbor deals to urban centres, which would, in turn, give the 'commodities' (artisan products, etc.) for food. It could be a rudimentary way of establishing rural vs. urban life.
Not sure about the last one. IMO this shouldn't be (and never has been) about recreating social structures, for that there are plenty of other games around. SC4 is a CityBuilder and I think we should keep it this way.
As for the utilities, water was definitely a needed resource in any type of human existence and using wells (in all shapes and sizes) should be kept as it is (plus local quirks, as in leftover roman acqueducts or underground reservoirs).
- The comercial and industrial entities are scattered among the houses to be easy for pedestrian access.
I use the NAM simulator Z and the graphic option for city detail is set to low ( for no trafic automata to the zoom 5 )
90% of lotts ar 1x1 tile, remastered to not include vehicles, vegetation and street furniture, are set for "Style Chicago" and growth stage 1-4
depends on residential zone types, capacity is set between 5 and 30
Industrial and comercial are mostly ploped with capacity of 50 - 100 for "C", 500 for "ID" and "IM" the reason is to control and reduse cargo trafic.
water only where needed
NO schools
NO hospital
The presence of "CO" and "CS"$$$ is due the status of some ploped building that act as park and landmark, can be ignored.
Tips:
an intersection contains a maximum of three entries
The strets ar winding, short and always discharge in a building
Start from a center and spread in a radial maner.
remove the base texture of a lot - is better and more real to be painted later with flora ( dirt, stone, grass )
Make clear distinction between homes in urban and rural areas. all you have presented so far are doing well in rural areas where density was something like 1-2 houses in 50-500 meters of the road. (farm house type)
In urban areas (small towns or fortified cities), density was so high that the sun does not reach the street.
- "It might also be an idea to divide monasteries into three types: religion, education, commerce" Some monasteries were simply places were monks lived, others had schools and scriptoriums (copying of books) and still others were outright agricultural coops.
-- Edited by thingfishs on Tuesday 22nd of June 2010 04:48:18 AM
Maybe the density levels could be accurately scaled in regards to BAT construction? The low-density buildings would be for the ubitquitous villages and settlements, the medium for semi-urban ones, and the high-density for the extremely rare metropolises?
Take this scale, for instance.
Low-density: Villages, hamlets, thorps, etc. Non-linear, usually formed along minor routes of transportation. Heavily agricultural. The lots would be large, to house one or more homes, not arranged in a 'block' pattern, but scattered about, and containing the necessary side-buildings that the house of the poor contained (storage sheds, small barns where appropriate, pens for animals in some cases, common wells, feeding troughs, etc.). There should be small churches, maybe, if absolutely necessary, a keep, or a motte and bailey, but more often than not this is not needed.
Low crime rate, low flammability, low population, lots and lots of animals, extremely contained and small, maybe several villages within a half-mile, like dots on a paper
Medium-Density: Small cities and villages centered around a junction of travel or trade routes. The centerpiece for this settlement would most-liekly be the keep/bailey/small castle. The buildings would likely retain their scattered nature, somewhat, but streets would be planned inside city walls, and for a small area outside the walls from points of egress/entrance into the keep. Here, the buildings would approach rectilinear design and layout. For a large area around the settlement, agricultural subsistence would feed the city. This would necessitate a market or gathering area for commerce, and numerous storage facilities for grain. This is also the first type of city where dockyards and semi-urban industry would be common. We're talking about tanners, coopers, bakers, blacksmiths, etc. However, these would be smallish operations. They would likely have a monopoly.
Low to medium population. Medium Flammability. Low to high crime rate. Good mix of animals and people. Presence (likely) of manorial houses, with one being the local lord's. Semi-common along important routes and strategic locations.
High-Density: The closest equivalent to 'metropolises,' these cities would likely not number above 15,000 (especially in timmystwin's idea of medieval Britain). I mean, the door is open to Constantinople/Rome/Cordoba style settlements of 1,000,000+ inhabitants, but giant centres of inhabitance weren't quite common in western early to high medieval europe. The Byzantines, Italian City States, and the Islamic Countries had a monopoly on that. (Well, the Rus did too...). The buildings will be cramped, rectilinear as possible, and several businesses will be established for each trade, with competition being the norm. There will likely be enough of them to consider making guild houses, to attempt a restablishment of the monopoly possesed in smaller settlements. The castle may or may not be large, but the momentum of population basically keeps the population safe.
High population in high population density. High crime. High flammability. More people than animals, as local agricultural settlements ship food in for products shipped out. Guilds, castles (one or more), walls, chruches, docks (if on water), public works buildings (tombs/mausoleams/temples/etc.). Not common in frequency.
