Berto's AACW Weathers Mod

berto · Post by **berto** » Sat Aug 04, 2012 6:16 pm

Introducing my Weathers Mod for AGEOD's American Civil War.

Please download the 20121129 release of the AACW 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 AACW (and all other) Weathers Mod(s).

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

Enjoy!

berto · Post by **berto** » Sat Aug 04, 2012 6:17 pm

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

berto · Post by **berto** » Sat Aug 04, 2012 6:49 pm

I have never liked the weather modelling in AACW, or in any of the other AGEOD games. As I think the following odd, questionable, and sometimes outright silly images below will demonstrate, the AACW weathers are among the worst in any AGEOD game.

All (or most of) the examples are from a single test game. I did not have to run through many different test games to cherry pick the worst examples. These are commonplace weather patterns, typical of each and every AACW game. (Note: These images are from the official AACW as of August 2012. The official game weathers may have changed since then.)

Here is a typical weather pattern, from Early October 1861:

Note how the higher elevation, Impassable Mountain regions are Fair or Mud, while the surrounding lower elevation Mountain and Hills regions are Snow.

Here is a "crazy quilt" weather pattern from Late November 1861:

Snow to the north, snow to the south, with generally Fair weather in between.

A crazy quilt weather pattern from Early December 1861:

Why "crazy"? The weather does not represent temporary cold snaps, or freak storms. It should represent weather averaged over the AACW game's 15-day turns. Hence we should be seeing broad bands, especially west to east, of generally consistent weather. Not weather peek-a-boo (now you see it, now you don't).

More crazy quilt, from Early February 1862:

I see some of those patterns, and I think "origami" or "clouds in the sky".

A scene from February 1862:

Striped Snow/no Snow bands running generally north to south? I don't think so.

More "origami", more "clouds in the sky", from Late March 1862:

This, from Late April 1862:

Snow in the Appalachian Mountains in late April? No problem. But snow regions surrounding Washington, DC (where the capital region itself is not Snow)? In late April? Not!

Repeating: These are examples from just one single test game. No tricks or replays. Common weather patterns. We've all seen them. And mostly ignored them. Except me.

Finally, one last example from the South (from an earlier test game), the worst I've ever seen:

Note how the north Florida coast is snow-bound, while the Georgia coast just to the north is not.

But aside from the crazy quilt aspect of it, what is (lingering) snow cover doing so far south? It makes no sense.

I find such weather craziness to be extremely off-putting, repugnant to the point where I don't even want to play the game. How can you devote such time, energy, and care to micro-managing your stacks, planning your strategies, plotting your moves, giving the game the seriousness it demands -- how can you do all of that in the face of such weather silliness? I can't. It destroys the immersiveness.

We can do better than this.

berto · Post by **berto** » Sat Aug 04, 2012 7:00 pm

Please see

tm.asp?m=2978333&mpage=3&key= [Post #76]

aka The Butterfly Effect

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Butterfly_effect

Little mistakes give rise to bigger mistakes, can undermine everything.

For example, following are some images showing -- as Snow regions -- some sample Weather Areas defined in the GameData/Areas.ini file.

North_Plains, southern portion:

Note the two mis-specified regions orphaned to the east.

More orphaned regions, in Great_Lakes west:

Great_Lakes east:

"Holes" in the region specification. But note also that the Upper Canada region (Toronto, the first of the two boxes at the top) is not in the Great_Lakes. Rather, it's been assigned to New_England. Huh? Toronto borders Lake Ontario to the north, and is in no way associated with New England.

(Omitting showing the New_England weather region, and several others, which are mostly done right.)

The North_Appalachian region:

What does the isolated Lawrence, PA region (the snow region isolated just to the west) have to do with Appalachia? And even if so, what about the non-Appalachian regions in between?

The Mid_Atlantic:

How does one explain the holes, orphans, and gaps?

The Coastal_Lowlands north region:

Burke, NC is far to the west from the coast. And Martin, NC & Craven, NC are not coastal? They look to me like they're right there on the coast.

The Gulf_Coast east region:

That coastal strip of land in northeast Florida has inexplicably not been assigned to the Gulf_Coast, unlike the regions just to the west and to the south.

The Ozarks region:

See the isolated orphaned region to the northeast? Sure you do.

The Upper_South:

Note the orphans. And why are the regions along the coast of Delaware not Coastal_Lowlands?

Upland_South north:

Appalachian orphans.

Upland_South southeast:

Ah, so those coastal regions in northeast Florida are (interior) uplands?

The South_Appalachian south:

More "holes" in the weather region specifications. Those Impassable Mountain regions are not in Appalachia?

And finally, the Mississippi_Basin:

Holes, holes, holes! (Also stretching far to the east away from the Mississippi.)

Seeing the weather region anomalies, we begin to understand how the end product -- the actual, in-game, turn-by-turn weather -- can look so strange. Those flapping butterfly wings have profound and far-reaching effects. The little things -- they all add up!

But fixing the weather region mis-specifications is just the beginning. There are other reasons for the crazy quilts and other forms of silliness. For these other reasons, please refer to the WIA, ROP & RUS weather mod links listed in Post #1 of this thread.

Enough for now. I have some region mis-specifications to fix, area boundaries to redraw, month-to-month weather parameters to adjust, and other things to tweak. Until next time...

berto · Post by **berto** » Sat Aug 11, 2012 12:25 pm

In my AACW weathers mod, there will be three main weather areas:

North_Plains (continental climate type)
Upper_South (temperate climate type)
Gulf_Coastal (subtropical climate type)

corresponding to the broad climate types in the eastern half of the United States displayed here:

Also three auxiliary weather areas:

Europe (temperate climate type)
Map_Seas (temperate climate type)
Central_America (tropical climate type)

All of the other official AACW weather areas -- Great_Lakes, New_England, North_Appalachian, etc. -- have been discarded (have been emptied of any regions).

Yes, the "North_Plains" weather area now encompasses the discarded Great_Lakes, New_England & North_Appalachian weather areas. So "North_Plains" is somewhat of a misnomer. What I'd really like to do is to define, in Areas.ini, an entirely new weather area, North_Continental (and also Upper_South_Temperate and Lower_South_Subtropical). But that would necessitate edits to ACW/Aliases/MetaAreas_Aliases.ini & ACW/GameData/AreasExtInfos.ini. Also, it would complicate merges with updated official ACW/GameData/Areas.ini. I shouldn't rewrite the game weather system more than necessary, or overly complicate the mod install process. So, I live with the weather area misnomers -- not pretty from a programmer viewpoint, but this behind-the-scenes stuff should be effectively transparent to the users.

In fixing the AACW weathers, the first steps are to

Correct region misassignments.
Reduce the number of weather areas, and conform them to actual, real-world climate.

In my revised Areas.ini file, I have taken those first couple of steps.

Still ahead:

Specify month-to-month rainfall, snow & temperature patterns. (This will base off of my earlier WIA & ROP weathers mods.)
Fix several vexing problems. (Among them: Impassable Mountain regions inexplicably failing reliably to display snow.)
Perform some rigorous, comprehensive QA.
Test, test, test.

(Sooner or later, most of this AACW weathers mod work will be back-ported to WIA. Also, lessons learned in the AACW weathers mod will be applied to the pending ROP & RUS weathers mods.)

In my preliminary tests, so far I am liking what I see. [8D]

Until next time...

berto · Post by **berto** » Sat Aug 11, 2012 1:43 pm

Here are some images of the revised weather areas.

First, the Upper_South, northeast portion:

The image displays, as snow-covered, the northeast Upper_South. From this, and all subsequent images, you can infer the revised North_Plains weather area -- all non-snow regions to the north -- and the revised Gulf_Coastal weather area -- all non-snow regions to the south.

The portrayed weather area(s) conforms to the climate map displayed in post #5 above. With some fudging, for aesthetic purposes, also to simplify the coding using already defined state areas (e.g., MD, VA, NC, ...) in Areas.ini.

Here is the Upper_South, northwest:

(Not shown: the Upper_South north central, whose boundary is pretty much a straight line between the northern boundaries of the northeast and northwest portions.)

Here is the Upper_South, southeast:

Again, Gulf_Coastal would be all non-snow regions to the south.

And finally the Upper_South, south central:

(Not shown: the Upper_South southwest, whose boundary more or less aligns with the state borders of Texas, Lousiana, etc.)

So, the Upper_South (displayed), and the North_Plains & Gulf_Coastal (implied) (not to mention the other three auxiliary weather areas) -- what you see is what you will get.

berto · Post by **berto** » Thu Aug 16, 2012 7:13 pm

Please find the 20120816 release of the AACW weathers mod (also unfinished, works-in-progress weathers mods for several other AGEOD games) here:

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

From the AACW Weathers Mod README file:

In this folder and all subfolders, you will find the files for Berto's AACW Weathers Mod v0.8.

To install:

--Make a backup of your standard default ACW/GameData/Weathers folder.
--Copy and paste the Weather*.ini files in the mod Weathers folder into your standard ACW/GameData/Weathers folder.
--Make a backup of your standard default ACW/GameData/Areas.ini file.
--Copy and paste the weather zones in the mod GameData Areas.new file into your standard default ACW/GameData/Areas.ini file, making sure to replace the existing weather zones (areas #71 through #86).

(Eventually, we will endeavor to simplify the install process.)

This mod should be compatible with all saved games.

For more info about this AACW Weathers Mod, visit the "Berto's AACW Weathers Mod" thread at

tt.asp?forumid=460

This mod is still a work-in-progress. Expect to see updated Weather*.ini specification files soon.

For future updates to this (and other) Weathers Mod, visit

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

Enjoy!

As stated, this is version 0.8 of the AACW Weathers Mod. 0.8 is an arbitrary number; it could have been 0.7, or 0.6, or ... But it's close enough to 1.0 to suggest that it is near its first official release, that I am pretty happy with the results so far.

Soon, I will be posting images from this weather mod in actual game play.

As always, your feedback is appreciated.

berto · Post by **berto** » Fri Aug 17, 2012 5:26 pm

Following are some sample weather screens, in chronological order, from a single test game of the AACW Weathers Mod v0.8.

The Upper South, Early November 1861:

Hills and mountains snow covered -- but not Impassable Mountains! This is one of the vexing problems I face: Impassable Mountains don't show snow reliably, when you expect them to. As we shall see by and by, Impassable Mountains can be snow-covered. I just need to figure out exactly when and why.

To the north (and generally across the entire north 1/3 of the map), all is snow-covered.

The Upper South Ozarks, Early November 1861, with only mountain regions snow covered:

The North Plains central, Early November 1861:

What about those non-snow (mud) regions just south of Michigan? Those are marsh. I'm not quite happy that, in this instance, marsh regions are mud, while surrounding normal terrain regions are snow. One of the reasons why this mod is not yet v1.0, why some additional tweaking may be necessary.

We must make allowance for the inadequacies of the, in some ways, simple AGEOD weather mechanisms. We don't have the precise control that we want. Or we might, but then we produce "crazy quilt", "peek-a-boo" (now you see it, now you don't) weather patterns.

It's best to rationalize certain situations, for example to think of "snow" to mean: light snow, perhaps patchy, at or just below freezing. Borderline snow/mud.

North Plains central, Late November 1861:

Ah, the very next turn, those marsh regions are now also snow-covered. Good!

The Upper South northwest, Early December 1861:

Generally snow to the north, snow in the mountains and hills to the mid south -- and also snowy woods and forest regions. A bit of a crazy quilt, but it can't be helped: it's how the regions are defined (as mountains, hills, woods, forests, etc.).

We might rationalize (excuse) woods and forest regions being prone to snow cover because trees provide extra shade, so the sun's rays are impeded from melting the in-forest snow. Non woods and forest regions lack significant tree cover, so the sun melts all snow in clear terrain.

The Upper South central, Late December 1861:

Oh, good. Impassable Mountain regions are now snow-covered. (But why now, and not before? Not sure.) Note the snow-covered lowland woods and forest regions here and there. To the south (and further down off-map), in the Gulf Coastal weather area, no snow.

The Upper South central, Early January 1862:

Entirely snow covered (no holes or crazy quilts anywhere) across the northern 2/3 of the game map; no snow at all to the south.

The Upper South east (including Atlantic coastal regions), Late January 1862:

Atlantic coastal regions tend to be warmer, hence less often snow-covered, than the inland regions. And coastal regions in general might only be snow-covered in deepest winter (i.e., January).

The North Plains east (including Atlantic coastal regions), Early March 1862:

Snow across the entire 1/3 of the game map, no snow in the southern 2/3.

The North Plains east, Early April 1862:

Snow in the mountains and hills only, not in the lowlands. Note the isolated snow-covered hills region to the west in Ohio.

In other test games, I have seen early spring weather patterns showing New England and North Appalachian mountain regions snow-covered, but not hills. (And of course not also the lowland regions, or regions to the south.)

Finally, North Plains west, Late April 1862:

Snow-covered hills regions in Wisconsin and Michigan only.

Throughout the winter months, and also in the rest of the year, mud/clear patterns are similar: broad banding (averaging across the 15-day game turns), not peek-a-boo rain/mud/clear. (We of course can't show mud bands visually in the same way we can clearly display snow bands.)

These weather patterns are not fixed. There is variation, from turn to turn and from game to game -- it's just not as varied as the standard game defaults. (Which give rise to frequent crazy quilts, holes, mud to the north but snow to the south, and other forms of implausibility.)

It's not perfect (impossible with the limitations and constraints we face), but it's better than the default standard game weather model, IMO. I will tweak as necessary. (Also hopefully solve the mystery of the occasional no-snow Impassable Mountains -- the single worst "unsightliness" I face.)

A reminder: the AACW Weather Mod is save game compatible. You can substitute the current v0.8, and all future versions, for the existing Weathers files whenever you wish.

Your feedback is appreciated.

berto · Post by **berto** » Wed Aug 29, 2012 6:29 am

[What follows is a rather long-winded technical discussion. If you wish, skip most of it and just go down and read the conclusions I give at the bottom.]

In crafting my weathers mods, I try to follow several principles, among them: try not to deviate too much from the AGEOD official standard.

How to check for deviations?

For my mods, I have written a Perl script -- mkweathers.pl -- to auto-generate the weather .ini files. (I will unveil mkweathers.pl more fully at a later date.) In that script, I have a system for specifying area-to-area, month-to-month weather (fair, mud, snow, etc.) parameters in a concise and easy to understand form.

The five different weather types are assigned numbers, as in:

0 = Fair (aka Clear)
1 = Mud (aka Rain)
2 = Snow
3 = HarshWeather (aka Frozen)
4 = VHarshWeather (aka Blizzard)

In mkweathers.pl, here are the (current, subject to future change) month-to-month weather parameters for "normal" (not coastal, not elevated) terrain in continental weather areas:

# jan feb mar apr may jun jul aug sep oct nov dec
@continentalnorm = (3.2, 2.4, 1.6, 1.0, 0.5, 0.2, 0.1, 0.1, 0.2, 0.3, 1.6, 2.4);

(Pardon the poor formatting and mis-alignments in the displays here. In the actual code, things line up nicely.)

In general, I am striving to follow these general principles:

colder to the north, warmer to the south
colder in the uplands and wilderness, warmer in the lowlands and toward the coasts
consistency east to west (no "crazy quilt" weather patterns)

#!/usr/bin/perl

# ./ageweathers.pl -g rus | egrep "jan|Subarctic|SiberianSteppe|EasternSiberian|Caucasus|Mountain"

$DEBUG = 0;

$ROOT = "/media/KINGSTON/Games/AGEOD";

@months = ("January", "February", "March", "April", "May", "June", "July", "August", "September", "October", "November", "December");

while ($#ARGV >= 0) {
if ($ARGV[0] eq "-e") {
shift;
$elevation = $ARGV[0];
shift;
} elsif ($ARGV[0] eq "-g") {
shift;
if ($ARGV[0] eq "acw") {
$ACW = 1;
} elsif ($ARGV[0] eq "ncp") {
$NCP = 1;
} elsif ($ARGV[0] eq "pon") {
$PON = 1;
} elsif ($ARGV[0] eq "rop") {
$ROP = 1;
} elsif ($ARGV[0] eq "rus") {
$RUS = 1;
} elsif ($ARGV[0] eq "wia") {
$WIA = 1;
} else {
die "invalid or missing game parameter\n";
}
shift;
} else {
print "Usage: ageweathers.pl -e {-1|0|1} -g {acw|ncp|pon|rop|rus|wia}\n";
exit 1;
}
}

if ($ACW) {
$gamedir = "AGEod\\'s\\ American\\ Civil\\ War/ACW";
%levels = ("Clear", 0, "Mud", 1, "Snow", 2, "Frozen", 3, "Blizzard", 4);
} elsif ($NCP) {
$gamedir = "Napoleon\\'s\\ Campaigns/NCP";
%levels = ("Clear", 0, "Mud", 1, "Snow", 2, "Frozen", 3, "Blizzard", 4);
} elsif ($PON) {
$gamedir = "";
} elsif ($ROP) {
$gamedir = "Rise\\ of\\ Prussia/ROP";
%levels = ("Clear", 0, "Mud", 1, "Snow", 2, "HarshWeather", 3, "VHarshWeather", 4);
} elsif ($RUS) {
$gamedir = "Revolution\\ under\\ Siege/RUS";
%levels = ("Clear", 0, "Mud", 1, "Snow", 2, "HarshWeather", 3, "VHarshWeather", 4);
} elsif ($WIA) {
$gamedir = "Wars\\ in\\ America/WIA";
%levels = ("Clear", 0, "Mud", 1, "Snow", 2, "Frozen", 3, "Blizzard", 4);
}

print " jan feb mar apr may jun jul aug sep oct nov dec\n";

open(WEATHERS, "cd $ROOT/$gamedir; ls -1 GameData/Weathers |");
while (<WEATHERS>) {
chomp;
$file = $_;
print "$file\n" if $DEBUG;
next if $file eq "WeatherAreas.ini";
if ($ACW || $NCP || $RUS) {
if ($file =~ /WeatherPatterns_Weather_(.+)\.ini/) {
$warea = $1;
print "$warea\n" if $DEBUG;
}
} elsif ($ROP || $WIA) {
if ($file =~ /WeatherPatterns_(.+)\.ini/) {
$warea = $1;
print "$warea\n" if $DEBUG;
}
}
undef %wlevel;
open(INIFILE, "cd $ROOT/$gamedir; cat GameData/Weathers/$file |");
while (<INIFILE>) {
chomp;
$line = $_;
print "$line\n" if $DEBUG;
@fields = split /\|/, $line;
if ((($elevation == -1) && ($fields[2] =~ /^(low|coastalwaters)$/i)) || (($elevation == 0) && ($fields[2] =~ /^(normal|other)$/i)) || (($elevation == 1) && ($fields[2] =~ /^(high|mountain)$/i))) {
$month = $fields[1];
$weather = $fields[3] eq "Fair" ? "Clear" : $fields[3];
$pct = $fields[4];
print "$month $weather $levels{$weather} $pct\n" if $DEBUG;
$wlevel{$month} += $levels{$weather} * $pct / 100;
}
}
close(INIFILE);
printf "%-21s", $warea;
for ($i=0; $i<12; $i++) {
$wl = sprintf "%.1f", $wlevel{$months[$i]};
$sp = $i<11 ? " " : "";
printf "%s%s", $wl, $sp;
}
print "\n";
}
close(WEATHERS);

exit 0;

(In the actual script, lines are indented and nicely formatted. I'd like to display the script better here, but the Matrix Forum code display facilities are quite broken, so I have to resort to a flatter, plainer display as shown above.)

A sample invocation of ageweathers.pl would be (in Linux, where I do most of my AGEOD development work):

[root@berto weathers]# ./ageweathers.pl -g acw
jan feb mar apr may jun jul aug sep oct nov dec
Central_America 0.5 0.5 0.6 0.5 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.5 0.1 0.2 0.2
Coastal_Lowlands 1.1 1.1 0.6 0.3 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.3 0.8
Europe 2.9 1.8 1.1 0.7 0.3 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.2 1.3 2.7
Great_Lakes 2.9 2.2 1.6 0.5 0.2 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.2 1.4 2.7
Gulf_Coastal 0.4 0.4 0.5 0.4 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.4 0.1 0.2 0.2
Map_Seas 1.1 1.1 0.7 0.5 0.2 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.4 0.8
Mid_Atlantic 2.2 2.2 1.6 0.6 0.2 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 1.4 2.7
Mississippi_Basin 2.2 2.0 1.7 0.3 0.2 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.2 1.2 2.4
New_England 2.9 2.9 2.0 1.1 0.2 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 1.6 2.9
North_Appalachian 2.9 2.9 1.8 0.6 0.3 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 1.4 2.9
North_Plains 2.9 2.2 1.8 0.3 0.2 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.2 1.4 2.7
Ozarks 2.9 2.0 1.7 0.3 0.2 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.2 1.2 2.7
South_Appalachian 2.1 2.0 1.8 0.3 0.3 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.2 1.2 2.7
South_Plains 2.2 1.9 1.6 0.2 0.2 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.2 1.1 2.7
Upland_South 1.4 1.4 0.6 0.3 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.3 0.9
Upper_South 1.1 1.1 0.6 0.3 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.3 0.9

(Again, pardon the poor display. Aargh!)

In effect, each monthly weather parameter is a weighted average of the five weather types, 0 to 4, based on their probabilities.

To show the weather parameters for just the colder weather areas, I might grep (pattern match) the above output, as in:

[root@berto weathers]# ./ageweathers.pl -g acw | egrep "jan|North_Plains|Great_Lakes|New_England|North_Appalachian"
jan feb mar apr may jun jul aug sep oct nov dec
Great_Lakes 2.9 2.2 1.6 0.5 0.2 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.2 1.4 2.7
New_England 2.9 2.9 2.0 1.1 0.2 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 1.6 2.9
North_Appalachian 2.9 2.9 1.8 0.6 0.3 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 1.4 2.9
North_Plains 2.9 2.2 1.8 0.3 0.2 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.2 1.4 2.7

I have still another script -- doageweathers.sh -- to show the weather parameters across all supported (by my weathers mods) AGEOD games:

Game by game, doageweathers.sh greps weathers in several broad weather groupings, from coldest to warmest: subarctic, continental, temperate, subtropical, desert.

Here is the doageweaters.sh output (for normal, not coastal or mountain, elevation):

[root@berto weathers]# ./doageweathers.sh
ACW WEATHERS

jan feb mar apr may jun jul aug sep oct nov dec
Great_Lakes 2.9 2.2 1.6 0.5 0.2 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.2 1.4 2.7
New_England 2.9 2.9 2.0 1.1 0.2 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 1.6 2.9
North_Appalachian 2.9 2.9 1.8 0.6 0.3 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 1.4 2.9
North_Plains 2.9 2.2 1.8 0.3 0.2 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.2 1.4 2.7

jan feb mar apr may jun jul aug sep oct nov dec
Coastal_Lowlands 1.1 1.1 0.6 0.3 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.3 0.8
Europe 2.9 1.8 1.1 0.7 0.3 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.2 1.3 2.7
Map_Seas 1.1 1.1 0.7 0.5 0.2 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.4 0.8
Mid_Atlantic 2.2 2.2 1.6 0.6 0.2 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 1.4 2.7
Mississippi_Basin 2.2 2.0 1.7 0.3 0.2 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.2 1.2 2.4
Ozarks 2.9 2.0 1.7 0.3 0.2 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.2 1.2 2.7
South_Appalachian 2.1 2.0 1.8 0.3 0.3 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.2 1.2 2.7
South_Plains 2.2 1.9 1.6 0.2 0.2 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.2 1.1 2.7
Upland_South 1.4 1.4 0.6 0.3 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.3 0.9
Upper_South 1.1 1.1 0.6 0.3 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.3 0.9

jan feb mar apr may jun jul aug sep oct nov dec
Central_America 0.5 0.5 0.6 0.5 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.5 0.1 0.2 0.2
Gulf_Coastal 0.4 0.4 0.5 0.4 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.4 0.1 0.2 0.2

NCP WEATHERS

jan feb mar apr may jun jul aug sep oct nov dec
Arctic 2.9 2.9 1.8 0.8 0.4 0.1 0.0 0.0 0.1 0.2 1.4 2.9
Mountaineous 2.9 2.9 1.8 1.1 0.4 0.1 0.0 0.0 0.1 0.2 1.0 2.9

jan feb mar apr may jun jul aug sep oct nov dec
Continental 2.2 2.2 1.4 0.6 0.6 0.2 0.0 0.0 0.1 0.2 0.8 2.7
Northern_Seas 1.1 1.1 0.7 0.5 0.2 0.1 0.0 0.0 0.1 0.1 0.4 0.8
Northern_Steppes 2.9 2.0 1.8 0.8 0.3 0.1 0.0 0.0 0.1 0.2 1.3 2.7

jan feb mar apr may jun jul aug sep oct nov dec
Southern_Steppes 0.5 0.5 0.6 0.5 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.5 0.1 0.2 0.2
Temperate 1.3 1.1 0.7 0.5 0.2 0.1 0.0 0.0 0.1 0.1 0.4 0.8

jan feb mar apr may jun jul aug sep oct nov dec
Mediterranean 0.8 0.6 0.6 0.3 0.1 0.1 0.0 0.0 0.1 0.1 0.3 0.7
Southern_Seas 1.1 1.1 0.7 0.5 0.2 0.1 0.0 0.0 0.1 0.1 0.4 0.8
Tropical 0.5 0.5 0.6 0.5 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.5 0.1 0.2 0.2

jan feb mar apr may jun jul aug sep oct nov dec
Desertic 0.2 0.1 0.1 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.1 0.2 0.2

ROP WEATHERS

jan feb mar apr may jun jul aug sep oct nov dec
Alpine 2.6 2.4 2.0 0.6 0.6 0.1 0.0 0.0 0.1 0.3 1.3 2.6

jan feb mar apr may jun jul aug sep oct nov dec
Baltic_Coast 2.5 2.0 1.2 0.6 0.5 0.1 0.0 0.0 0.1 0.3 1.1 2.6
Interior_Lowlands 2.1 1.8 0.8 0.4 0.2 0.1 0.0 0.0 0.1 0.3 0.6 1.3
Interior_Uplands 2.5 2.4 1.8 0.6 0.6 0.1 0.0 0.0 0.1 0.3 0.9 2.4

jan feb mar apr may jun jul aug sep oct nov dec
North_Sea_Coast 1.4 1.1 0.8 0.5 0.2 0.1 0.0 0.0 0.1 0.2 0.6 1.4

RUS WEATHERS

jan feb mar apr may jun jul aug sep oct nov dec
Caucasus 2.4 2.3 1.9 0.6 0.3 0.2 0.1 0.0 0.1 0.4 0.7 2.3
EasternSiberian 2.6 2.5 1.8 0.7 0.1 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.2 0.3 1.3 2.4
Mountain 2.9 2.7 2.0 1.2 0.4 0.1 0.0 0.0 0.1 0.3 1.6 2.9
SiberianSteppe 2.6 2.5 1.8 0.7 0.1 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.2 0.3 1.9 2.4
Subarctic 2.8 2.8 2.5 1.1 0.4 0.2 0.0 0.0 0.2 0.3 1.4 2.8

jan feb mar apr may jun jul aug sep oct nov dec
BalticSea 1.1 1.1 0.7 0.5 0.2 0.1 0.0 0.0 0.1 0.1 0.4 0.8
NorthContinental 2.6 2.5 1.8 0.8 0.3 0.2 0.0 0.0 0.2 0.4 1.5 2.6
SouthContinental 2.4 2.3 1.3 0.7 0.3 0.2 0.0 0.0 0.2 0.5 1.5 2.3
Steppe 2.4 2.4 1.4 0.6 0.2 0.1 0.0 0.0 0.2 0.5 1.4 2.1

jan feb mar apr may jun jul aug sep oct nov dec
European 2.3 2.2 1.2 0.5 0.3 0.1 0.0 0.0 0.1 0.4 0.7 1.8
WarmSeas 1.1 1.1 0.7 0.5 0.2 0.1 0.0 0.0 0.1 0.1 0.4 0.8

jan feb mar apr may jun jul aug sep oct nov dec
BlackCaspianSeas 1.1 1.1 0.7 0.5 0.2 0.1 0.0 0.0 0.1 0.1 0.4 0.8
Mediterranean 2.2 1.6 0.9 0.5 0.1 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.1 0.1 0.9 1.7
Moonsoon 0.0 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.6 0.8 1.1 0.8 0.7 0.2 0.1 0.0

jan feb mar apr may jun jul aug sep oct nov dec
DeserticSteppe 1.3 1.2 0.6 0.4 0.1 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.1 0.1 1.0 1.3

jan feb mar apr may jun jul aug sep oct nov dec
CentralAsian 1.3 0.9 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.1 0.3 0.9

WIA WEATHERS

jan feb mar apr may jun jul aug sep oct nov dec
Canadian_Maritimes 2.9 2.9 2.4 1.6 0.6 0.1 0.0 0.0 0.1 0.2 1.3 2.9
Eastern_Canada 2.9 2.9 2.4 1.6 0.6 0.1 0.0 0.0 0.1 0.2 1.3 2.9
Eastern_Great_Lakes 2.9 2.0 1.8 1.2 0.3 0.1 0.0 0.0 0.1 0.2 1.3 2.7
Lower_New_England 2.9 2.0 1.8 1.2 0.3 0.1 0.0 0.0 0.1 0.2 1.3 2.7
Northern_Plains 2.9 2.2 1.9 1.2 0.5 0.1 0.0 0.0 0.1 0.3 1.3 2.7
Upland_Middle_States 2.9 2.0 1.8 1.2 0.5 0.1 0.0 0.0 0.1 0.3 1.3 2.7
Upper_New_England 2.9 2.1 1.9 1.3 0.3 0.1 0.0 0.0 0.1 0.2 1.4 2.7
Upper_West 2.9 2.2 1.9 1.0 0.5 0.1 0.0 0.0 0.1 0.3 1.3 2.7
Western_Canada 2.9 2.9 2.4 1.6 0.6 0.1 0.0 0.0 0.1 0.2 1.3 2.9
Western_Great_Lakes 2.9 2.9 2.4 1.6 0.6 0.1 0.0 0.0 0.1 0.2 1.3 2.9

jan feb mar apr may jun jul aug sep oct nov dec
Coastal_Middle_States1.1 1.2 1.1 0.8 0.5 0.1 0.0 0.0 0.1 0.2 0.7 0.8
Kentuckee_Uplands 1.7 1.8 1.8 1.4 0.2 0.1 0.0 0.0 0.1 0.2 0.9 1.5
Southern_Plains 2.2 1.5 1.1 0.7 0.5 0.1 0.0 0.0 0.1 0.3 1.1 1.9
Upland_Southeast 0.9 0.9 0.9 0.7 0.3 0.1 0.0 0.0 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.8
Upland_South 0.9 0.9 0.8 0.5 0.2 0.1 0.0 0.0 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.3
WxAtlantic 2.9 2.0 1.8 1.2 0.3 0.1 0.0 0.0 0.1 0.2 1.3 2.7
WxEurope 0.5 0.5 0.6 0.5 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.5 0.1 0.2 0.2

jan feb mar apr may jun jul aug sep oct nov dec
Coastal_Carribean 0.5 0.5 0.6 0.5 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.5 0.1 0.2 0.2
Coastal_Southeast 0.5 0.7 0.6 0.5 0.2 0.1 0.0 0.0 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.5
Lower_Louisianne 0.5 0.5 0.6 0.5 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.5 0.1 0.2 0.2

This is really nifty, because I have a concise, easy-to-see cross reference from one game to another, from one weather area to another, between the AGEOD defaults and my own modded parameters.

If you look at the official AGEOD AACW weathers in the doageweathers.sh output above, you will see a North_Plains weather area,

jan feb mar apr may jun jul aug sep oct nov dec
North_Plains 2.9 2.2 1.8 0.3 0.2 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.2 1.4 2.7

Contrast the above AGEOD official defaults with the continental weather area parameters in the first-release v0.8 of my AACW Weathers Mod:

# jan feb mar apr may jun jul aug sep oct nov dec
@continentalnorm = (3.2, 2.4, 1.6, 1.0, 0.5, 0.2, 0.1, 0.1, 0.2, 0.3, 1.6, 2.4);

Hmm. There's a bit of difference between my specs and the official AGEOD specs. In some cases, for mountain regions especially, I can see that maybe I've tended too strongly toward harsher winter weather. I maybe need to tone that down a bit. Adjustments will be made.

This all looks very complicated. (It is! In my discussion here, I omit some detail and complexities having to do with warmer or colder weather parameter "tilts" for coastal and higher elevations. And other details.) If you don't quite follow this discussion, don't worry. What you should take from all of this is:

I try not to stray unnecessarily far from the official AGEOD standards and defaults. (I try to minimize weather area adjustments and region re-assignments, for example.) You should not expect a radically different gaming experience.
I am basing my mod on real-world climate and weather patterns. 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.
The weather mod will follow these general principles: colder to the north, warmer to the south; colder in the uplands and wilderness, warmer in the lowlands and toward the coasts; consistency east to west (no "crazy quilt" or "peek-a-boo" now-you-see-it-now-you-don't weather patterns).
I am diligent, and careful, and to the best of my ability I will QA my work and give you the best product reasonably possible.

In the next release of my weathers mods, due out in a week or so, I will provide updates for all four of the now-supported AGEOD games -- AACW, ROP, RUS & WIA. (NCP will come later. PON likely never. AJE? Hmm, maybe...) Expect to see the next version of the AACW weathers mod soon.

berto · Post by **berto** » Thu Aug 30, 2012 4:51 am

In the ageweathers.pl & doageweathers.sh scripts, I have added the capability to output month-to-month weather parameters based on elevation -- i.e., normal vs. low (coastal) vs. high (mountain). See the revised ageweathers.pl & doageweathers.sh in the previous post #9.

A sample ageweathers.pl run, to view the AACW high elevation weathers:

[root@berto weathers]# ./ageweathers.pl -e 1 -g acw
jan feb mar apr may jun jul aug sep oct nov dec
0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0
Central_America 0.5 0.5 0.6 0.5 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.5 0.1 0.2 0.2
Coastal_Lowlands 1.3 0.9 0.7 0.5 0.3 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.2 0.7 1.2
Europe 1.4 1.4 1.1 0.9 0.4 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.2 0.8 1.3
Great_Lakes 3.4 3.0 2.0 0.5 0.3 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.2 1.8 3.1
Gulf_Coastal 0.4 0.4 0.5 0.4 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.4 0.1 0.2 0.2
Map_Seas 1.4 1.4 1.1 0.9 0.4 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.2 0.8 1.3
Mid_Atlantic 3.5 3.0 1.9 0.6 0.3 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.2 2.2 3.1
Mississippi_Basin 3.4 3.0 1.9 0.4 0.3 0.2 0.1 0.1 0.2 0.3 1.6 3.1
New_England 3.6 3.5 3.0 1.4 0.7 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.2 2.2 3.6
North_Appalachian 3.6 3.5 3.2 0.7 0.4 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.2 2.2 3.6
North_Plains 3.5 2.9 2.1 0.5 0.2 0.2 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.2 1.6 3.1
Ozarks 3.4 3.0 1.9 0.4 0.3 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.3 1.6 3.1
South_Appalachian 3.1 3.0 1.7 0.4 0.3 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.2 1.5 3.1
South_Plains 2.4 2.4 2.0 0.3 0.3 0.2 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.2 1.6 3.1
Upland_South 1.8 1.3 0.9 0.5 0.3 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.2 0.9 1.5
Upper_South 1.7 1.4 1.1 0.6 0.3 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.9 1.4

When combined with suitable pattern matches (egreps), I can employ doageweathers.sh to get handy summaries across all (supported) AGEOD games of, for example:

Desert weathers, normal elevation:

[root@berto weathers]# ./doageweathers.sh 0 2>/dev/null | egrep "Desert|CentralAsian"
Desertic 0.2 0.1 0.1 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.1 0.2 0.2
DeserticSteppe 1.3 1.2 0.6 0.4 0.1 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.1 0.1 1.0 1.3
CentralAsian 1.3 0.9 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.1 0.3 0.9

Continental weathers, high (mountain) elevation:

[root@berto weathers]# ./doageweathers.sh 1 | egrep "North|Great.*Lakes|New.*England" | egrep -iv "coast|steppe|seas"
Great_Lakes 3.4 3.0 2.0 0.5 0.3 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.2 1.8 3.1
New_England 3.6 3.5 3.0 1.4 0.7 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.2 2.2 3.6
North_Appalachian 3.6 3.5 3.2 0.7 0.4 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.2 2.2 3.6
North_Plains 3.5 2.9 2.1 0.5 0.2 0.2 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.2 1.6 3.1
NorthContinental 2.8 3.5 2.0 1.0 0.4 0.2 0.0 0.0 0.2 0.6 1.6 2.7
Eastern_Great_Lakes 3.5 2.9 2.1 1.6 1.4 0.3 0.1 0.1 0.2 0.3 1.8 3.1
Lower_New_England 3.5 3.0 2.6 1.5 1.4 0.3 0.1 0.1 0.2 0.3 1.8 3.1
Northern_Plains 3.5 3.0 2.2 1.6 1.2 0.3 0.1 0.1 0.2 0.4 1.8 3.1
Upper_New_England 3.5 3.0 2.6 1.7 1.4 0.3 0.1 0.1 0.2 0.3 1.8 3.1
Western_Great_Lakes 3.5 2.9 2.1 1.6 1.4 0.3 0.1 0.1 0.2 0.3 1.8 3.1

In addition to comparing the mod weathers parameters to the official AGEOD defaults, I also need to fact check my parameters against actual, real-world weather data. Wikipedia and Google search to the rescue!

berto · Post by **berto** » Fri Aug 31, 2012 10:45 pm

In the next release of the AACW Weather Mod, I will be splitting the middle 1/3 temperate weather band into two halves: Upper_South (north half) and Upland_South (southern half). Snowy months are extending too far south, and the weather spreads are too monolithic to my taste. (It is conceivable I might bifurcate the northern 1/3 of the game map also, but that is less likely.) The split will require some painstaking, and painful, region reassignments in the Areas.ini file.

I am still bedeviled by my inability to force Impassable Mountain regions to experience the colder weathers and to consistently display Snow. Is there a bug in the engine code, I wonder?

I am also not happy about Woods and Forest regions. They tend towards Snow, while the clear terrains around them do not. This contributes to an occasional crazy quilt effect.

(Earlier today, I released an updated BertoWeathersMods.20120831.zip. (See post #1 above.) The update includes RUS Weather Mod revisions only, and leaves the AACW Weather Mod files unchanged from the previous release.)

Still lots more work to do...

berto · Post by **berto** » Sat Sep 01, 2012 1:07 pm

Please download the 20120901 release of my weathers mod, which features the v0.9RC AACW Weathers Mod, also the updated v0.8 ROP Weathers Mod. Get the entire package (which includes 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.)

The v0.9RC AACW Weathers Mod achieves the weather area bifurcation that I spoke of above. Snow doesn't extend so far south quite so often, and there is a greater and pleasing variety to the month-to-month weather patterns.

The v0.8 ROP Weathers Mod is a significant update from the version available for about a year at the AGEOD ROP Mod subforum. I have accomplished some much-needed region reassignments that help to ensure consistent treatment of elevated (Mountain, Hills) regions around Bohemia and central Germany.

The AACW & ROP Weathers Mods should be compatible with any ongoing game-in-progress. Feel free to apply and test!

berto · Post by **berto** » Sat Sep 01, 2012 7:48 pm

Here is a pretty picture:

[8D]

Why so pretty? Because with the region re-assignments mentioned in the previous post, there are no more illogical, unrealistic, and "unsightly" gaps in the Mountain & Hills snow coverage around Bohemia (also in central Germany) -- one of several flaws in the official AGEOD ROP/GameData/Areas.ini file (and a flaw that was not quite fixed to my satisfaction in the older v0.4 ROP Weathers Mod available at the AGEOD ROP Mod subforum).

I have more pretty in-game pictures of today's released v0.9RC of the AACW Weathers Mod, but I'm not quite ready to post them yet. [:'(]

berto · Post by **berto** » Sun Sep 02, 2012 5:47 pm

No mas! I give up! I admit defeat. Try as I might, I am unable to figure out how to force snow cover in the AACW Impassable Mountain regions:

160Lee, VA.rgn
162Russell, VA.rgn
214Hay, NC.rgn
569Claiborne, TN.rgn
592Morgan, TN.rgn
626Williams, AL.rgn

To me, it really looks stupid to have a blanket of snow across the Middle South, and South Appalachians, with those six regions as non-snow "holes" in the game map. Aggravating to no end.

Trust me, I've spent hours on this problem, trying all sorts of possibilities, and conducting all sorts of tests. At one point, I was tantalizingly close to an explanation, to a solution. NOT! My hypothesis was blown to bits in the very next (and all subsequent) tests.

What to do? If at first you don't succeed, and you try and try again but still don't succeed ... maybe it's time to take a fresh look at the problem.

Which I did, by fact checking myself at Wikipedia; by investigating actual snowfall amounts and patterns across the eastern United States.

To give among the "best" cases for southern snow, we turn to the Wikipedia page for Richmond, VA, where it states:

Richmond has a humid subtropical climate (Köppen Cfa), with hot and humid summers and generally mild winters. The mountains to the west act as a partial barrier to outbreaks of cold, continental air in winter. The cold winter air is delayed long enough to be modified, then further warmed as it subsides in its approach to Richmond. The open waters of the Chesapeake Bay and Atlantic Ocean contribute to the humid summers and mild winters. The coldest weather normally occurs from late December to early February, when low temperatures usually average in the upper 20s °F (−3 to −2 °C), and the high temperatures in the mid-upper 40s (7 to 9 °C)...

... Snow has been recorded during seven of the twelve months. Falls of 4 inches (10 cm) or more occur on average of once a year. Annual snowfall, however, is usually light averaging 12 inches (300 mm) per season.[38] Snow typically remains on the ground only one or two days at a time, but recently remained as much as 16 days (January 30 to February 14, 2010)...

So, when it snows in Richmond, it doesn't snow much, and it tends to melt within a few days -- not really deep enough or lasting long enough to represent as averaged "Snow" across the 15-day turns of AACW.

The story is similar, but even more so, the further south you go, to places like Knoxville, TN or Chattanooga, TN. Yes, it might snow from time to time, but not very much, and it usually melts pretty fast.

Better to represent this "snow" more as "mud" in game terms.

Relieved of the "obligation" to represent "Snow" in most southern regions of the game map, it sidesteps the problem of snow not displaying in those pesky Impassable Mountain regions -- all of which are far enough south as to sit squarely in the little-to-rare-snow subtropical climate band.

Having said that, it is proper to display occasional snow, but only in the South_Appalachian weather area, northern half. It does snow enough somewhat down south to represent in game terms, but only in the elevated regions -- i.e., in the mountains of Virginia and West Virginia.

Based on these new insights, I have tweaked the weather parameters. This also has repercussions for northern snowfall patterns. I have dialed back snow to the north. The northern weathers now tend to be somewhat more varied.

Testing is underway. I might be issuing another beta test release sometime soon, but time will tell...

berto · Post by **berto** » Sun Sep 02, 2012 7:54 pm

I invite you to download the 20120902 release of my weathers mod, which features the v0.9 AACW Weathers Mod (also updates to the RUS & ROP Weathers Mods over the past several days). Get the entire package (which includes 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.)

The v0.9 AACW Weathers Mod reflects the snow adjustments mentioned in post #14 above. Also some region reassignments: adding the "finger" (a real-world one!) of snow-cold weather that extends from southwest PA down to southern WV (see the map in post #5 above); and extending the "Great_Lakes" region westward to the edge of the game map. And a few more weather parameter tweaks.

Based on my tests, I am getting close to satisfied with the AACW, ROP & RUS Weathers Mods results, satisfied enough that I really do foresee releasing 1.0 versions of these mods within a week or two. With much of the AACW work finished, it should be fairly straightforward applying region reassignments, weather parameters, and lessons learned in that mod to the WIA Weathers Mod. So work on that mod should go quickly.

The AACW Weathers Mod (so too the others) should be compatible with any ongoing game-in-progress. Feel free to apply and test!

berto · Post by **berto** » Sun Sep 02, 2012 11:15 pm

Earlier, I had pledged:

I try not to stray unnecessarily far from the official AGEOD standards and defaults. (I try to minimize weather area adjustments and region re-assignments, for example.) You should not expect a radically different gaming experience.

In light of my rethinking about southern snow -- its infrequency, its scarcity, and its short-livedness -- I can no longer honor that pledge.

Revisit the screenshots in post #3 of this message thread. So much snow so far south. With my mod, you will never see that again!

berto · Post by **berto** » Wed Sep 12, 2012 3:33 pm

I have released v1.0 of my Weathers Mod for AGEOD's American Civil War.

Please download the 20120912 release of the AACW weathers mod (also weathers mods for several other AGEOD games) here:

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

Or just click on: BertoWeathersMods.LATEST.zip

The BertoWeathersMods package contains weathers mods for the AGEOD games AACW, ROP, RUS & WIA. (NCP in future, AJE maybe, PON never.)

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

Enjoy!

berto · Post by **berto** » Mon Sep 17, 2012 4:51 pm

Here are some sample screen shots from a single test game of the AACW Weathers Mod v1.0.

Early November 1861 East.

The Snow regions are actually all in a single uber weather area (North_Plains, for consistency of weather results, redone to encompass most of the North). The snowy mountain regions in W. Virginia are consistent with the climate map shown here. Since all Northern mountain and hills regions are snow-covered, that explains the isolated snowy hills region in north central Ohio.

Early December 1861 East.

An early Southern snowfall! South of the Ohio River, the Appalachians, all mountain and hills regions in the Upper_South uber weather area -- that is as far south as you will ever see snow. No snow, ever, further southward. And no snow, ever, in coastal Virginia, Maryland, and Delaware. Might it ever snow elsewhere in the South? Yes, but light snow, and melting snow that wouldn't last, certainly not for the AACW 15-day game turns. In game turns, better to treat such "snow" as "mud" (which in my mod, usually means just that, but also encompasses the occasional light, wet, melting snow). For more explanation, see my Weathers Mods NOTES in post #2 of this message thread.

To the north, all Mountain, Hills, Woods, Forest, and Marsh regions snow-covered. (Which explains the snow regions to the west in Ohio and Indiana.)

Early December 1861 Ozarks.

It can occasionally snow in the Ozarks, but in the northern half only. No (persistent, significant) snow in the southern (Arkansas) Ozarks. Ever. (Again, see the NOTES above.) In the southern Ozarks, in winter, expect to see rain/mud (also meant to include brief, light, melting snows), just not full-blown snow.

Late December 1861 East.

Mountains in the Upper South snow-bound, but not hills. Those non-snow gaps in northern Virginia are lower, non-elevated, valley, lowland, and coastal regions.

To the north, not fully snow-bound yet.

Early January 1862 East.

To the north, fully snow-covered. In the Upper South, snow in the mountains and hills. Elsewhere in the Upper South, and down in the Deep South, don't go looking for snow, because you won't find any!

Early February 1862 Northeast.

The north, including Canada and the Great Lakes, fully snow-bound. No "holes"!

Late March 1862 Northeast.

In the Appalachians, including the W. Virginia Appalachians, snow in the mountain regions only. No snow in the hills (and other lower elevation regions). Snow in the hills up around northern New York, just south of Lake Ontario, because in the Great Lakes uber weather area.

No more "holes", "orphans", "fingers", or "crazy quilts" (except where climate science and the AGEOD-specified region terrain types mandate them). No more incredible southern snows. A plausible treatment of rain/mud patterns across the map, and in all seasons, too. A model of game weathers more consistent with climatological facts (as I interpret them).

With my AACW Weathers Mod, what you see is what you'll get. Subject to possible further tweaks. But all in all, I'm pretty happy with these results. I hope you'll agree.

berto · Post by **berto** » Thu Nov 29, 2012 6:03 am

I have released v1.2 of my Weathers Mod for AGEOD's America Civil War (AACW).

v1.2 delays the onset of winter by a month. November weather is now more like April weather, not like March. May rain/mud has been reduced. (And pertinent to RUS, winter has been scaled back in desertic steppe regions.)

The overall impact is to lengthen the effective campaigning season by up to a month, at both beginning and end.

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

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

Or just click on: BertoWeathersMods.LATEST.zip

In v1.2 of the Weathers Mod, the Areas.txt file is unchanged. Only the Weathers/*.ini files have changed. Updating from the previous version is as easy as copying the new Weathers/*.ini files in place.

Entirely new mod installs require, additionally, a simple Areas.ini file edit (copy and replace).

As always, be sure to make backups first!

The BertoWeathersMods package contains weathers mods for the AGEOD games AACW, ROP, RUS & WIA. (NCP & AJE in future, PON never.)

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

Enjoy!

Berto's AACW Weathers Mod

Berto's AACW Weathers Mod

Berto's Weathers Mod: NOTES

RE: Berto's AACW Weathers Mod

RE: Berto's AACW Weathers Mod

RE: Berto's AACW Weathers Mod

RE: Berto's AACW Weathers Mod

Berto's AACW Weathers Mod v0.8 (release 20120816)

RE: Berto's AACW Weathers Mod v0.8 (release 20120816)

ageweathers.pl

RE: ageweathers.pl

Still lots more work to do...

BertoWeathersMods.20120901

a pretty picture

No mas!

BertoWeathersMods.20120902

RE: No mas!

BertoWeathersMods v1.0 released

BertoWeathersMods v1.0 -- sample AACW screen shots

AACW Weathers Mod v1.2 released