RUS weather mod

Post new mods and scenarios here.
User avatar
berto
Posts: 21461
Joined: Wed Mar 13, 2002 1:15 am
Location: metro Chicago, Illinois, USA
Contact:

RUS weather mod

Post by berto »


Introducing my Weathers Mod for AGEOD's Revolution under Siege.

Please download the 20121129 release of the RUS weathers mod (also weathers mods for several other AGEOD games) here:

http://pikt.org/ageod/weathers

Or just click on: BertoWeathersMods.LATEST.zip

The 20121129 release contains the second official v1.2 of the RUS (and all other) Weathers Mod(s).

The RUS Weathers Mod should be compatible with any ongoing game-in-progress.

Enjoy!
Campaign Series Legion https://cslegion.com/
Campaign Series Lead Coder https://www.matrixgames.com/forums/view ... hp?f=10167
Panzer Campaigns, Panzer Battles Lead Coder https://wargameds.com
User avatar
berto
Posts: 21461
Joined: Wed Mar 13, 2002 1:15 am
Location: metro Chicago, Illinois, USA
Contact:

Berto's Weathers Mod: NOTES

Post by berto »


From the Weathers Mod main NOTES.txt file:
My weathers mods -- why bother? For some answers, see the NOTES.txt
files in the weathers mod game folders (for example, the weathers mod
ACW/NOTES.txt file).

In my weathers mods, I try to base weathers on real-world climate and
weather patterns, for example

* climate (weather) and terrain maps, such as:

* http://www.architecture.uwaterloo.ca/fa ... e-eere.jpg
* http://www.bamboobotanicals.ca/images/c ... one-lg.jpg
* http://www2m.biglobe.ne.jp/%257eZenTech ... te_Map.gif
* http://jb-hdnp.org/Sarver/Maps/WC/wc09_ ... sclimm.jpg
* http://pikt.org/ageod/ref/ClimateZonesEurope.jpg
* http://pikt.org/ageod/rop/weathers/ROPGameMapExtent.jpg

* climate graphs, such as:

* http://www.climatemps.com/graph/tbilisi ... age001.gif

* climate data and summary descriptions, such as:

* http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Astrakhan#Climate
* http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richmond,_Virginia#Climate

I also base things on my understanding of how climate and weather
work, from personal experience (residing and traveling), but also a
lifetime of casual study (geography classes, news accounts, global
warming blogs, histories, etc.).

Within reason -- given limitations in the AGE engine weather
mechanism, and limits on time and effort; I am not a meteorologist or
climatologist, and the weather mods are not a scientific study or PhD
thesis! -- within reason, you can expect a fairly good weather model
and representation of the real physical world.

In my weathers mods, there will be much less variability, fewer
weather patterns, than in the unmodded, official games.

In my opinion, AGEOD has in some ways over-engineered its weather
model (in other ways, under-engineered); the weather is too granular,
with too many weather areas and terrain types. This is especially
true of the earlier games (AACW, WIA, NCP). Simplifying is key.

But climate and weather are complicated and unpredictable, you might
say. You might say; and I would respond:

* day-to-day weather differences; but game turns are not one day,
rather 15 (or 30) days
* freak snowstorms or cold snaps, especially to the south; in real
life, they do happen, but rarely, and usually dissipate quickly
* inverted continental temperature patterns (warm to the north,
cold to the south; or warm to the west, cold to the east); but in
real life, these are atypical, are not at all usual
* the "Little Ice Age" -- roughly the 16th through the 19th Centuries
-- and the generally somewhat colder weather toward the end of that
age compared to our current weather; but the differences are
"somewhat" (in real life, real history), not drastic (as sometimes
in the official games)

We are looking to average normal weather over time (15 days, or 30
days) and space (the game map). Variety may be the spice of life, and
for some people make for more interesting game play; but my preference
is for realism, and plausibility. These are serious historical
simulations, not anything-goes fantasy games. My opinion.

So game weather will be blander and more boring than what you are used
to.

In my weathers mods, I strive to follow these general principles:

* colder to the north, warmer to the south
* colder in the uplands (hills and mountains, and depending on the
game, also wilderness, taiga, etc.); warmer in the lowlands and
toward the coasts
* consistency east to west (not north to south)
* broad banding, averaging out weather over the 15-day (or 30-day,
in the case of WIA) game turns
* no "crazy quilts" or "peek-a-boo" (now you see it, now you don't))
weather patterns, or as little as possible

In order to achieve the desired effects, I have to

* in all games, re-assign some regions from one weather area to
another
* in some games, reduce the number of weather areas
* in all games, constrain each region to just one or two "adjacent"
weather possibilities in any given month

Region re-assignments:

In the official game data files, regions are sometimes mistakenly
assigned from one adjoining weather area to another, leading to
"orphans", "holes", and "fingers". At other times, there are outright
goofs (for example, in RUS assigning the southern Steppe region
$Alexandrovsk to the northern Subarctic weather area). These must be
corrected.

Reducing the number of weather areas:

Here are some typical weather areas (in this case, from the
WIA/GameData/Areas.ini file):

---------------------------------------------------------------------

// Area #81, Western_Great_Lakes
{Area}
UID = $area_Weather_Western_Great_Lakes
Name = Western_Great_Lakes
Hierarchy = -1
ListParams = $Lac Huron Sud|$Lac Huron Nord|$Chutes aux Saubles|$Saginaw Bay|$Lac Huron|$Sauts des Francais|$Anse au Tonnerre|$Sault|$Lac Superieur Sud|$Lac Superieur Ouest|$Anse de Michipicoton|$Grande Baie|$Baie des Puans|$Lac Michigan Centre|$Lac Michigan Sud|$Lac Superieur Est|$Saint Joseph|$Muskoka|$Huron|$Nunda|$Ojibwa|$Buffalo|$Quinatowa|$Portage|$Saint Clair|$La Grande|$Ganago|$Keweenaw|$Laurium|$Marinette|$Menominee|$Laona|$Wausau|$Oconto|$Shawano|$Wautama|$Dubuque|$Oshkosh|$Kewaunee|$Manitowoc|$Mauwatosa|$Ocanomowoc|$Mascoutins|$Maquaketa|$Neenah|$Savanna|$Kitchigaming|$Green Lake|$Pottewatomis|$Le Detroit|$Saint Denis|$Sandusky|$Sebawaing|$Lapeer|$Levallon|$Flin|$Saginaw|$Standish|$Sable|$Mackinaw|$Cadillac|$Clare|$Alma|$Kalkaska|$Manistee|$Manton|$Muskegon|$Grand Havre|$Owosso|$Grand Rapides|$Fontain|$Maumee|$Saint Ignace|$Sault Sainte Marie|$Munising|$Manistique|$Marquette|$Ispheming|$Escanaba|$Saginaw river|$Elkhart|$Dawagiac|$Kenosha|$La Porte|
{/Area}

// Area #82, Eastern_Great_Lakes
{Area}
UID = $area_Weather_Eastern_Great_Lakes
Name = Eastern_Great_Lakes
Hierarchy = -1
ListParams = $Milles Iles|$Lake Ontario|$Niagara Mouth|$Long Point Bay|$Lake Erie|$Bass Islands|$Lake St Clair|$Nioure|$Famine|$Gameydoes|$Cataraqui|$Quinte|$Ganaraske|$Oshawa|$Rouille|$Mississauga|$Niagara|$Sippee|$Urse|$Cedar|$Utanvas|$Blanc|$Sandosky|$Lorain|$Miamee|$Ashtabula|$Cataraugus Creek|$Tegynagerunte|$Irondequoit|$Gannagaro|$Osceola|$Oneida|$Oswego|
{/Area}

---------------------------------------------------------------------

I effectively reduce the number of weather areas by emptying the
weather area members list, as in

---------------------------------------------------------------------

// Area #81, Western_Great_Lakes
{Area}
UID = $area_Weather_Western_Great_Lakes
Name = Western_Great_Lakes
Hierarchy = -1
ListParams =
{/Area}

---------------------------------------------------------------------

and reassigning the member regions to another weather area (in the
example, to Eastern_Great_Lakes).

(The consolidated regions are therefore sometimes misnomers. In the
above example, I would like to rename Eastern_Great_Lakes as simply
"Great_Lakes". But that would necessitate changing too many game data
files. To ease mod installation, I try to keep things simple, and
just live with some of the misnomers. But this is behind-the-scenes
stuff that shouldn't matter to you, the gamer.)

In the most extreme case -- WIA -- I have reduced the number of active
weather areas from the default 19 down to the mod 7. In other cases
-- ROP & RUS -- the number of active weather areas is unchanged (but
still with region re-assignments among areas).

More tightly constraining weather possibilities:

Here are some typical weather specifications (in this case, from the
ROP/GameData/Weathers/WeatherPatterns_Interior_Uplands.ini file):

---------------------------------------------------------------------

Interior_Uplands|January|normal|Fair|0
Interior_Uplands|January|normal|Mud|0
Interior_Uplands|January|normal|Snow|70
Interior_Uplands|January|normal|HarshWeather|30
Interior_Uplands|January|normal|VHarshWeather|0
Interior_Uplands|January|low|Clear|0
Interior_Uplands|January|low|Mud|0
Interior_Uplands|January|low|Snow|70
Interior_Uplands|January|low|HarshWeather|30
Interior_Uplands|January|low|VHarshWeather|0
Interior_Uplands|January|high|Clear|0
Interior_Uplands|January|high|Mud|0
Interior_Uplands|January|high|Snow|20
Interior_Uplands|January|high|HarshWeather|80
Interior_Uplands|January|high|VHarshWeather|0
Interior_Uplands|January|coldwater|Clear|0
Interior_Uplands|January|coldwater|Mud|0
Interior_Uplands|January|coldwater|Snow|70
Interior_Uplands|January|coldwater|HarshWeather|30
Interior_Uplands|January|coldwater|VHarshWeather|0
Interior_Uplands|January|water|Clear|0
Interior_Uplands|January|water|Mud|20
Interior_Uplands|January|water|Snow|80
Interior_Uplands|January|water|HarshWeather|0
Interior_Uplands|January|water|VHarshWeather|0
Interior_Uplands|February|normal|Fair|0
Interior_Uplands|February|normal|Mud|0
Interior_Uplands|February|normal|Snow|100
Interior_Uplands|February|normal|HarshWeather|0
Interior_Uplands|February|normal|VHarshWeather|0
Interior_Uplands|February|low|Clear|0
Interior_Uplands|February|low|Mud|0
Interior_Uplands|February|low|Snow|100
Interior_Uplands|February|low|HarshWeather|0
Interior_Uplands|February|low|VHarshWeather|0
Interior_Uplands|February|high|Clear|0
Interior_Uplands|February|high|Mud|0
Interior_Uplands|February|high|Snow|50
Interior_Uplands|February|high|HarshWeather|50
Interior_Uplands|February|high|VHarshWeather|0
Interior_Uplands|February|coldwater|Clear|0
Interior_Uplands|February|coldwater|Mud|0
Interior_Uplands|February|coldwater|Snow|100
Interior_Uplands|February|coldwater|HarshWeather|0
Interior_Uplands|February|coldwater|VHarshWeather|0
Interior_Uplands|February|water|Clear|0
Interior_Uplands|February|water|Mud|50
Interior_Uplands|February|water|Snow|50
Interior_Uplands|February|water|HarshWeather|0
Interior_Uplands|February|water|VHarshWeather|0
[...]

---------------------------------------------------------------------

As you can see, each terrain type is limited to just one or two
"adjacent" weather possibilities in any given month. For example:
100% chance Snow; or 50% chance Mud, 50% chance Snow. To allow three
or more possible weathers for a given region and month is to invite
inverted weather/temperature patterns, "checker board" patterns, or
worse.

Contrast the above with some typical standard defaults (in this case,
from the official
ACW/GameData/Weathers/WeatherPatterns_Weather_Upland_South.ini file):

---------------------------------------------------------------------

Weather_Upland_South|January|Other|Fair|20
Weather_Upland_South|January|Other|Mud|40
Weather_Upland_South|January|Other|Snow|25
Weather_Upland_South|January|Other|Frozen|15
Weather_Upland_South|January|Other|Blizzard|0
Weather_Upland_South|January|Marsh|Fair|60
Weather_Upland_South|January|Marsh|Mud|25
Weather_Upland_South|January|Marsh|Snow|5
Weather_Upland_South|January|Marsh|Frozen|10
Weather_Upland_South|January|Marsh|Blizzard|0
[...]

---------------------------------------------------------------------

For all the craziness that results, too much variation!

I use a Perl script (program), mkweathers.pl, to generate the
month-to-month weather parameters (chances) for each weather area and
terrain type.

You don't need to run this script, or to understand its operation;
that's my job. Just know that the script helps to ensure consistent
treatment across all climate types, across all terrain types, across
all games. The various Weathers *.ini files are a great mass of data.
mkweathers.pl helps to make sense of it all, to manage all the
complexity, and to reduce outliers, typos, and other mistakes (such as
the combined weather chances exceeding 100% for any given month and
terrain type).

How do my modded weather parameters compare to the AGEOD official
defaults? To answer that question, I use another Perl script,
ageweathers.pl, to compute concise, concise, easy-to-see cross
references of one game's weather specifications to another's. In my
weathers mods, you can expect many changes, but I try not to stray
unnecessarily far from the official AGEOD standards and defaults.

For the latest version of mkweathers.pl & ageweathers.pl, (also the
latest version of the Weathers Mods, other scripts, and possibly other
useful stuff), visit

http://pikt.org/ageod/weathers/

After all the region corrections, re-assignments, consolidations;
after specifying the weather parameters (chances); after performing
some rigorous, comprehensive QA (using AGElint, and by other means);
after all of that, I tested, tested, tested. Based on my tests, I am
fairly well satisfied with the AACW, ROP, RUS & WIA Weathers Mods
results. Not perfect. But good enough. Certainly better than the
standard defaults.

There is much more I could say, but let's keep this short (ha!). For
more, much more discussion, please see any of

* tt.asp?forumid=460 (AACW)
* http://www.ageod-forum.com/showthread.p ... athers-Mod (ROP) [older, but still interesting discussion]
* tt.asp?forumid=898 (RUS)
* tm.asp?m=3172568 (WIA)
* http://www.ageod-forum.com/showthread.p ... athers-Mod (WIA) [older, but still interesting discussion]

Some disclaimers:

* I am not a climatologist. (I only play one on TV.)
* My criticisms of AGEOD games weather modeling may be out of date.
The official game weathers may have changed recently, or since I
have written this.
* The AGE weather model is imperfect (what isn't?), and limits what
we can achieve. There are some maddening quirks and gotchas in
the AGE weathers system, also in the game data files. We try to do
the best we can, given all the constraints, and the mod objectives.
* I am diligent, and careful, and to the best of my ability I QA my
work and strive to give you the best product reasonably possible.
I make my share of mistakes, but except for honest differences of
opinion, I correct my goofs!

So, that in a nutshell (well, a bagful of nutshells) summarizes my
Weathers Mods.

Enjoy!

Robert Osterlund, aka "Berto"
Oak Park, Illinois, USA
2012/09/12
Campaign Series Legion https://cslegion.com/
Campaign Series Lead Coder https://www.matrixgames.com/forums/view ... hp?f=10167
Panzer Campaigns, Panzer Battles Lead Coder https://wargameds.com
User avatar
berto
Posts: 21461
Joined: Wed Mar 13, 2002 1:15 am
Location: metro Chicago, Illinois, USA
Contact:

RE: RUS weather mod

Post by berto »


I have begun work on the RUS Weathers Mod. Hopefully I'll have something worthwhile to post by this weekend.
Campaign Series Legion https://cslegion.com/
Campaign Series Lead Coder https://www.matrixgames.com/forums/view ... hp?f=10167
Panzer Campaigns, Panzer Battles Lead Coder https://wargameds.com
User avatar
berto
Posts: 21461
Joined: Wed Mar 13, 2002 1:15 am
Location: metro Chicago, Illinois, USA
Contact:

RE: RUS weather mod

Post by berto »


Following my usual technique, described at

http://www.ageod-forum.com/showthread.php?t=22114

(and also in the separate WIA Weathers Mod thread), I have run a modified mkweathers.pl script to create special WeatherPatterns*.ini files to better visualize each RUS weather region.

I can now better understand why RUS weathers are so crazy quilt! [X(]

Observe the Subarctic (West) weather area (the regions shown with Snowy weather):

Image

The Fair weather anomalies -- including Juuka, Kangaslampi, Pryazha, Salmi -- have all been wrongly assigned to the NorthContinental weather area (in Areas.ini)!

It gets worse. Observe the Subarctic (East) weather area (again, the regions shown with Snowy weather)

Image

The Fair weather anomalies -- including Kubari, Pernaty, Yurya, Konnovo, among others -- have also all been wrongly assigned to the NorthContinental weather area!

Here is a portion of the NorthContinental weather area:

Image

You can see several regions -- Lysye Gory, Pogodajevo, Tuymazy -- isolated from the rest of the NorthContinental group.

Here is a portion of the SouthContinental weather area;

Image

Here too, several regions -- including Snihurivka & Orikhiv -- are clearly misassigned. Observe also the odd Snowy extension fingering southeast around the bend of the Don, and the one to the southwest extending towards Novocherkassk.

We might also question including regions to the southeast, in the Kuban and the Caucasus, in the SouthContinental weather area.

These incorrect weather area assignments (there are others, not shown) help to explain the crazy quilt RUS weather patterns, but only in part. There are other aspects of the default weather system that contribute further to the craziness.

Without some sort of visualization technique like the one I've developed (specialized WeatherPatterns*.ini files generated by mkweathers.pl), I can see where the RUS devs goofed up here and there. The list of regions in each weather area specification is quite long! So it's easy to get lost in all the detail.

But, plainly, I've got some cleaning up to do. [:(]
Campaign Series Legion https://cslegion.com/
Campaign Series Lead Coder https://www.matrixgames.com/forums/view ... hp?f=10167
Panzer Campaigns, Panzer Battles Lead Coder https://wargameds.com
User avatar
berto
Posts: 21461
Joined: Wed Mar 13, 2002 1:15 am
Location: metro Chicago, Illinois, USA
Contact:

RUS weather area region assignment errors

Post by berto »


On a hunch, I did some data mining. And discovered still more default RUS weathers errors!

The RUS/GameData/Areas.ini file has Weather Zones specified like so:

// Area #102
{Area}
UID = $area_Weather_Caucasus
Name = Weather_nam_Caucasus
Hierarchy = -1
ListParams = $Kaspi|$Tiflis|$Telavi|$Vanadzor|$Elizavetpol|$Slavyanka|$Kajaran|$Astara|$Pushkino|$Baku|$Bidzhov|$Seki|$Lenkoran|$Sabirabad|$Barda|$Safaraliyev|$Agdam|$Goradiz|$Gyumri|$Erevan|$Igdir|$Sadarak|$Nakhitchevan
{/Area}

I prepared a file, junk10, with just the RUS/GameData/Areas.ini Weather Zones stuff. Then, a complicated (and a bit kludgey) command sequence designed to discover duplicate weather area region assignments.

[root@berto agelint]# egrep -i listparams junk10 | awk -F= '{print $2}' | sed '1,$ s/|/\n/g' | awk -F$ '{print $2}' | sort | uniq -c | sort -n | tail
1 Zmiev
1 Znamenka
1 Zuevka
1 Zuya
1 Zvenigovo
2
2 Alexandrovsk
2 Lake Ladoga
2 Pacific Ocean
2 Zalitch

As you can see, there are duplicate assignments for:
  • Alexandrovsk -- assigned to both Subarctic & Steppe
  • Lake Ladoga -- assigned to both Subarctic & NorthContinental
  • Pacific Ocean -- doubly assigned to WarmSeas
  • Zalitch -- assigned to both SouthContinental & Steppe
Next, I created another file, junk11, with a list of weather area assigned regions:

[root@berto agelint]# egrep -i listparams junk10 | awk -F= '{print $2}' | sed '1,$ s/|/\n/g' | awk -F$ '{print $2}' | tr -d '\015' | sort | uniq > junk11

After manually editing out the one blank line, the file begins and ends with:

[root@berto agelint]# head -n 5 junk11
Abakan
Abatskoye
Abaul
Abaza
Abdulino

[root@berto agelint]# tail -n 5 junk11
Zmiev
Znamenka
Zuevka
Zuya
Zvenigovo

Thus confirming we have a list of assigned regions.

Next, I created a file, junk12, with a sorted list of all regions specified in RUS/GameData/Regions:

[root@berto agelint]# export RUSROOT=/media/KINGSTON/Games/AGEOD/Rev*FY/RUS [done earlier]

[root@berto agelint]# ls -1 $RUSROOT/GameData/Regions | egrep -iv playboard | sed '1,$ s/^[0-9]*//' | sed '1,$ s/\.rgn//' | sort > junk12

[root@berto agelint]# head -n 5 junk12
Abakan
Abatskoye
Abaul
Abaza
Abdulino

[root@berto agelint]# tail -n 5 junk12
Zmiev
Znamenka
Zuevka
Zuya
Zvenigovo

Then, to determine regions in RUS/GameData/Regions but not in RUS/GameData/Areas.ini weather areas:

[root@berto agelint]# cat junk11 junk11 junk12 | sort | uniq -u
Aleksandrovsk
Don
Lappeenrenta
Pieksimaki
Wallachia
Zelenaya Roshcha

Confirming:

[root@berto agelint]# for r in Aleksandrovsk Don Lappeenrenta Pieksimaki Wallachia Zelenaya; do echo "region $r:"; egrep $r junk11; ls -1 $RUSROOT/GameData/Regions | egrep "$r"; echo; done
region Aleksandrovsk:
1604Aleksandrovsk.rgn

region Don:
Don Estuary
Donetsk
Don River
Donskoe
Kalach-on-Don
Lower Donets
Middle Don
Middle Donets
Mouth of the Don
Upper Don
Upper Donets
1023Don Estuary.rgn
1024Lower Donets.rgn
1025Middle Donets.rgn
1026Upper Donets.rgn
1027Don.rgn
1029Middle Don.rgn
1030Upper Don.rgn
520Donetsk.rgn
618Donskoe.rgn
673Kalach-on-Don.rgn
851Mouth of the Don.rgn

region Lappeenrenta:
107Lappeenrenta.rgn

region Pieksimaki:
910Pieksimaki.rgn

region Wallachia:
857Wallachia.rgn

region Zelenaya:
1143Zelenaya Roshcha.rgn

And to determine regions in RUS/GameData/Areas.ini weather areas, but not in RUS/GameData/Regions:

[root@berto agelint]# cat junk11 junk12 junk12 | sort | uniq -u
Don River
Lappeenranta
Pieksamaki
Tuymazy

Confirming:

[root@berto agelint]# for r in 'Don River' Lappeenranta Pieksamaki Tuymazy; do echo "region $r:"; egrep "$r" junk11; ls -1 $RUSROOT/GameData/Regions | egrep "$r"; echo; done
region Don River:
Don River

region Lappeenranta:
Lappeenranta

region Pieksamaki:
Pieksamaki

region Tuymazy:
Tuymazy

Recapping, we have at least the following errors in the default RUS weathers specification:
  • duplicate weather area region assignments: Alexandrovsk, Lake Ladoga, Pacific Ocean, Zalitch
  • weather area assignment in Areas.ini, not among Regions: Don River, Lappeenranta, Pieksamaki, Tuymazy
  • among Regions, no weather area assignment in Areas.ini: Aleksandrovsk, Don, Lappeenrenta, Pieksimaki, Wallachia, Zelenaya Roshcha (in effect, these regions have no assigned weathers!)
(Several of the above errors are due to simple region misspellings.)

Still more cleaning up to do. [:(]

One more item to check with AGElint. [:)]

This has been a quicky, messy, and suboptimal analysis of the RUS weather area region assignments. In final AGElint form, these checks will take the form of a script, for example (something like): 'chkweathers.pl -g rus'.

It will be interesting to discover (and report) if these same sorts of mistakes are repeated in the other four or five AGE system games. [;)]

(Note: This analysis was done on the RUS/FY installation, so these weather mistakes may need to be cleaned up in Fatal Years, too.)
Campaign Series Legion https://cslegion.com/
Campaign Series Lead Coder https://www.matrixgames.com/forums/view ... hp?f=10167
Panzer Campaigns, Panzer Battles Lead Coder https://wargameds.com
Panama Red
Posts: 147
Joined: Wed Sep 14, 2005 2:06 pm

RE: RUS weather area region assignment errors

Post by Panama Red »

I use your WIA and ROP Weather mods, so I am looking forward to this mod too.
User avatar
berto
Posts: 21461
Joined: Wed Mar 13, 2002 1:15 am
Location: metro Chicago, Illinois, USA
Contact:

RE: RUS weather area region assignment errors

Post by berto »


Glad you like them.

But the WIA & ROP weather mods are not quite finished. I strive for still greater meteorological accuracy, not to mention the dynamic seasonal variations described in post #2 above.

In addition to the WIA & ROP and soon RUS weather mods, ACW & NCP weather mods are in the planning stages.

Tons of effort lies ahead of me... [:(]
Campaign Series Legion https://cslegion.com/
Campaign Series Lead Coder https://www.matrixgames.com/forums/view ... hp?f=10167
Panzer Campaigns, Panzer Battles Lead Coder https://wargameds.com
User avatar
Chilperic
Posts: 964
Joined: Sun Mar 21, 2010 4:11 pm

RE: RUS weather area region assignment errors

Post by Chilperic »

I will integrate them for FY and SVF [:)]
User avatar
berto
Posts: 21461
Joined: Wed Mar 13, 2002 1:15 am
Location: metro Chicago, Illinois, USA
Contact:

RE: RUS weather mod

Post by berto »


Here are several examples of what the RUS weather mod is designed to fix.

Oddity due to region weather area misassignments:

Image

The weather patterns above base off of the default RUS weather data files. Note how they conform to the earlier posted (in post #4) test visualization of the Subarctic weather area.

Here is a typical crazy quilt pattern (again basing off of the default RUS weather files) from Late March:

Image

AFAIK, the anomalies are not due to region misassignments. Rather, this is an example of the RUS weather WAD.

And just one more example, of some typical Early April weather:

Image

Note how northerly regions, at or near the Arctic Circle, are rain (or fair); while regions to the south are still snowbound. Again, this is mostly WAD.

The displayed weather patterns are not helter skelter randomness. Apart from outright bugs, and when WAD, there is a logic to how all of this works. But it's not a logic I agree with. Maybe you don't either.
Campaign Series Legion https://cslegion.com/
Campaign Series Lead Coder https://www.matrixgames.com/forums/view ... hp?f=10167
Panzer Campaigns, Panzer Battles Lead Coder https://wargameds.com
User avatar
berto
Posts: 21461
Joined: Wed Mar 13, 2002 1:15 am
Location: metro Chicago, Illinois, USA
Contact:

RE: RUS weather mod

Post by berto »


Here's an interesting find: Bavaria (856Bavaria.rgn), assigned to the ... BlackCaspianSeas weather area.

I can see why that assignment was made, but better to place Bavaria in the European weather area, I think.
Campaign Series Legion https://cslegion.com/
Campaign Series Lead Coder https://www.matrixgames.com/forums/view ... hp?f=10167
Panzer Campaigns, Panzer Battles Lead Coder https://wargameds.com
User avatar
berto
Posts: 21461
Joined: Wed Mar 13, 2002 1:15 am
Location: metro Chicago, Illinois, USA
Contact:

RE: RUS weather area region assignment errors

Post by berto »

ORIGINAL: Chliperic

I will integrate them for FY and SVF [:)]
I have finished the arduous work of preparing visualization test images for each of the ~15 weather areas defined in Areas.ini.

I now have ~30 such images to help me assess the current, default weather area region assignments.

I project having to make 200+ weather area region reassignments in Areas.ini! [X(]

There are significant differences between the default RUS Areas.ini file and the RUS/FY Areas.ini, not surprisingly.

I will base my edits off the current FY 1.06RC Areas.ini (which I assume is no different from the Cohesion Mod version).

If you intend to change the Areas.ini file between FY 1.06RC and the next (and future) version(s), we should both be aware of the need to coordinate.

Fortunately, I am quite experienced at this text file diff'ing/merging business. So I can manage. (It would be so much easier if this were all managed by a standard text file version control system. But since AGEOD persists in using source .XLS DB files, and unless and until we get serious about developing and maintaining a library of spin-off mods, using a full-fledged VCS is impractical. We'll have to manage the changes and diffs and merges by hand. [:(])

(IIRC, I was told that Areas.ini is one of those files that is maintained officially as a text file, not as a component sourced from the official .XLS DB files. Understandable. But why stop there? As Areas.ini goes, so goes the rest (or many of the rest) of the data files? Why not?)

With Areas.ini changing from one RUS/FY version to another, and from one official RUS version to another -- but RUS 1.04 was said to be the "final patch", right? [;)] -- this presents quite a challenge, merging the RUS Weather Mod with the ever changing Areas.ini files.

The bad news is that with the weather mods (for RUS, and other games), I might have to maintain version-specific weather-modified Areas.ini files. (For example, a RUS 1.04 Areas.ini, a RUS/FY 1.06 Areas.ini, a RUS/FY 1.07 Areas.ini, ...)

I could just prepare weather-modified Areas.ini files for major releases only, and skip any RCs. Or I could just support RUS/FY but not "official" AGEOD-supported RUS (if it ever updates beyond RUS 1.04).

Or I could write yet another handy dandy Perl script to take any given Areas.ini file, and automagically merge my weather modifications with the base file. (Such a script might go like this: Input the base Areas.ini file and strip it of all weather area stanzas. Append the weather mod addendum. Done. Simple.) [:)]

We'll see how it goes.

But now, I've got those 200+ Areas.ini edits to do, then after that work on defining weather parameters in mkweathers.pl, then testing, testing, testing ...

So, no quicky RUS weather mod this weekend. I foresee releasing a more substantial (but still unfinished) mod by sometime next week.
Campaign Series Legion https://cslegion.com/
Campaign Series Lead Coder https://www.matrixgames.com/forums/view ... hp?f=10167
Panzer Campaigns, Panzer Battles Lead Coder https://wargameds.com
User avatar
Chilperic
Posts: 964
Joined: Sun Mar 21, 2010 4:11 pm

RE: RUS weather area region assignment errors

Post by Chilperic »

FY areas.ini is indeed different, as I've added a few events area definitions, changed a bit some AI areas. However, the weather areas are unchanged in FY. ANd I don't plan to do any more change to the whole areas.ini file. [:)]
User avatar
berto
Posts: 21461
Joined: Wed Mar 13, 2002 1:15 am
Location: metro Chicago, Illinois, USA
Contact:

RE: RUS weather mod

Post by berto »


More interesting finds:

in RUS/GameData/Areas.ini:

region $Zalitch re-assigned in weather area [assigned to South Continental & Steppe]
region $Lake Ladoga re-assigned in weather area [assigned to Subarctic & NorthContinental]
region $Alexandrovsk re-assigned in weather area [assigned to Subarctic (!) & Steppe]
region $Pacific Ocean re-assigned in weather area [doubly assigned in WarmSeas (admittedly without bad consequence, most probably]

Campaign Series Legion https://cslegion.com/
Campaign Series Lead Coder https://www.matrixgames.com/forums/view ... hp?f=10167
Panzer Campaigns, Panzer Battles Lead Coder https://wargameds.com
User avatar
berto
Posts: 21461
Joined: Wed Mar 13, 2002 1:15 am
Location: metro Chicago, Illinois, USA
Contact:

RUS Areas.ini errors

Post by berto »


After much region re-assignment, bug fixing, and many game reloads, I now have an essentially clean RUS Areas.ini file -- at least from a weather perspective.

I should clarify that the region re-assignments were not drastic changes; rather, mainly moving regions from one weather area to an adjoining weather area in order to eliminate salients and other distortions. There were other cases needing more far-reaching re-assignment (e.g., regions from one weather area as isolated pockets in another area; and other oddities), but they were fewer in number.

For completeness, I/we really should review the other, non-weather areas, to see if an odd far-away region was mistakenly assigned to the $Area_Vladivostock (just a hypothetical example; not suggesting it's true); if regions have been multiply assigned to conflicting geographical areas; if $EventArea_Epidemic_Swamp encompasses truly swamp regions; if $Event_RepairRailroad encompasses rail regions; etc.

There is lots to check there, but that is checking inappropriate to a weather mod. That's more an AGElint project task.

Nonetheless, I still have checked the RUS Areas.ini file for things like: unknown regions; regions without weather area assignments; mis-assigned weather regions; multiple weather assignments; and other syntax errors (spot checked; this awaits the full-fledged AGElint treatment). Areas.ini is now much cleaned up.

Things are looking good. If all continues to go well, we might expect a first-release RUS Weathers Mod later this week.
Campaign Series Legion https://cslegion.com/
Campaign Series Lead Coder https://www.matrixgames.com/forums/view ... hp?f=10167
Panzer Campaigns, Panzer Battles Lead Coder https://wargameds.com
User avatar
berto
Posts: 21461
Joined: Wed Mar 13, 2002 1:15 am
Location: metro Chicago, Illinois, USA
Contact:

RE: RUS weather mod

Post by berto »


On second thought, maybe not...
Campaign Series Legion https://cslegion.com/
Campaign Series Lead Coder https://www.matrixgames.com/forums/view ... hp?f=10167
Panzer Campaigns, Panzer Battles Lead Coder https://wargameds.com
User avatar
berto
Posts: 21461
Joined: Wed Mar 13, 2002 1:15 am
Location: metro Chicago, Illinois, USA
Contact:

RE: RUS weather mod

Post by berto »


[8|]

Um, on third thought, quite possibly.

Back to work...

My earlier clean-up of the RUS Areas.ini weather areas (corrected region misassignments, and adjustment of weather area boundaries) has been incorporated into Chliperic's FY 1.07, I believe.

Beyond that, I need to:
  • Reduce the number of weather areas, and conform them to actual, real-world climate. (Much like the work done in my AACW weathers mod; see http://www.matrixgames.com/forums/tm.asp?m=3156944.)
  • Specify month-to-month rainfall, snow & temperature patterns.
  • Perform some rigorous, comprehensive QA.
  • Test, test, test.
In connection with the first point, I will base my weather area redefines on the following weather maps: And possibly others.

Expect to see progress on this RUS weathers mod sooner or later...
Campaign Series Legion https://cslegion.com/
Campaign Series Lead Coder https://www.matrixgames.com/forums/view ... hp?f=10167
Panzer Campaigns, Panzer Battles Lead Coder https://wargameds.com
User avatar
berto
Posts: 21461
Joined: Wed Mar 13, 2002 1:15 am
Location: metro Chicago, Illinois, USA
Contact:

a fundamental disagreement

Post by berto »


On p. 102 of the RUS Manual, it states:
Weather effects are applied on a regional basis. For example, the weather conditions present in one region can be considerably different than weather occurring in an adjacent region.
Following that, you get crazy quilts, holes, fingers, peek-a-boo (now you see it, now you don't) weather -- WAD. I fundamentally disagree.

No, by my notions, it should be:
Weather effects are applied on an [weather] area basis. For example, the weather conditions present in one area can be somewhat different than weather occurring in an adjacent area.
I say "somewhat", because we can't IMO allow warmer weather to the north simultaneous with colder weather to the south, for example. By some freak of nature, such weather implausibility and even craziness might happen -- but over just a few days only, not averaged over 15-day turns.

Some people get all tied up in a knot if two leader portraits get switched, or if the color of a uniform is wrong. Me, I get upset if the weather is silly. What could be more important than getting the basic facts of nature and the physical world done right?

Just my philosophy, and my 2 cents.
Campaign Series Legion https://cslegion.com/
Campaign Series Lead Coder https://www.matrixgames.com/forums/view ... hp?f=10167
Panzer Campaigns, Panzer Battles Lead Coder https://wargameds.com
User avatar
Chilperic
Posts: 964
Joined: Sun Mar 21, 2010 4:11 pm

RE: a fundamental disagreement

Post by Chilperic »

Waiting your next files[;)]
User avatar
berto
Posts: 21461
Joined: Wed Mar 13, 2002 1:15 am
Location: metro Chicago, Illinois, USA
Contact:

Revised weather areas

Post by berto »


Here are some images of the revised weather areas, as defined in the modded Areas.ini (not publicly released yet, but incorporated into Chliperic's Fatal Years mod).

The images display, as snow-covered, the indicated weather areas.

First, the Subarctic weather area:

Image
Image
Image

This image, from the Mountain weather area, fills in the "holes" in the above images.

Image

Next, the NorthContinental weather area:

Image
Image
Image

The European weather area:

Image
Image

The SouthContinental weather area:

Image

The Steppe weather area:

Image
Image
Image

The Mediterranean weather area:

Image

The Caucasus weather area:

Image

Together with the Mediterranean image, this image, from the Mountain weather area, fills in the "holes" in the Caucasus:

Image

The SiberianSteppe weather area:

Image
Image

The DeserticSteppe weather area:

Image
Image
Image
Image

The CentralAsian weather area:

Image

This image, from the Mountain weather area, fills in the "holes" in CentralAsian:

Image

I may yet decide to do away with (empty) the Mountain weather area, and just reassign Mountain regions to their encompassing weather areas.

And finally, the EasternSiberian weather area:

Image

Weather areas not shown: BalticSea, BlackCaspianSeas, Monsoon, WarmSeas. (Not shown, because we lack the graphics files to highlight them as "snow".)

These revised weather areas reflect the "200+ weather area region reassignments in Areas.ini" mentioned above. See post #11 above for more.

I may yet have to do further weather area tweaks. But hopefully not, or not too many, because happily the revised default weather areas run generally west to east, and conform reasonably well to actual, real-world climate bands.

Sometime later this week, I foresee preparing some Weathers *.ini files, with month-to-month rainfall, snow & temperature parameters, and offering these for use in Chliperic's Fatal Years mod. Even without revised Weathers *.ini files, the revised (and incorporated into the FY mod) Areas.ini is already showing better weather patterns over the RUS standard defaults.

After that, if all goes well, I anticipate releasing the next Berto's Weathers Mod package for public use within a week or two. My current plan is to update the weather areas and weather parameters for all four of the now-supported AGEOD games -- AACW, ROP, RUS & WIA. (NCP will come later. PON likely never. AJE? Hmm, maybe...)
Campaign Series Legion https://cslegion.com/
Campaign Series Lead Coder https://www.matrixgames.com/forums/view ... hp?f=10167
Panzer Campaigns, Panzer Battles Lead Coder https://wargameds.com
User avatar
berto
Posts: 21461
Joined: Wed Mar 13, 2002 1:15 am
Location: metro Chicago, Illinois, USA
Contact:

BertoWeathersMods.20120831

Post by berto »


Please download the 20120831 release of the RUS weathers mod (also unfinished, works-in-progress weathers mods for several other AGEOD games) here:

http://pikt.org/ageod/weathers

(Note: You might wait a bit, because I anticipate issuing a thoroughly tested, at or near v1.0, weathers mod package -- encompassing the AGEOD games AACW, ROP, RUS & WIA -- by the first or second week of September 2012. So be sure to check back later.)

This is v0.8, the very first public release of the RUS weathers mod. Some preliminary tests show encouraging results. But before I tweak any further, I'd appreciate your feedback.

Note: The RUS Weathers Mod should be compatible with any ongoing game-in-progress. Feel free to apply and test!
Campaign Series Legion https://cslegion.com/
Campaign Series Lead Coder https://www.matrixgames.com/forums/view ... hp?f=10167
Panzer Campaigns, Panzer Battles Lead Coder https://wargameds.com
Post Reply

Return to “Mods and Scenarios”