13.2 - Map Generation

By: CafeDave

All scenarios must begin with a saved game from Tropico, either from an existing scenario or a random game map that you create. There are a few things that you must be aware of when selecting or creating a map for your scenario:

• Whether using an existing scenario or a new random map as the basis for your scenario, be aware that you will be stuck with many of the choices you make or the original creator made when setting it up. These include the map size in cells, the dictator profile, the victory goals and any special circumstances chosen. So use caution when setting these up based on what you want your scenario to be.
• The environmental settings of vegetation, minerals, water coverage, population and elevation will affect how the random map is set up. If you are using the random map directly, make sure you plan ahead for how you want your map to look. Most of these can be altered with the map editor tools, but it is easier if you start with something close to the final map. The only feature you cannot alter once created is the map size, so choose this with care. If you import a map pcx, the generated map will take on the settings used with the new terrain but results may vary depending what the original map looked like. For example, if you want good vegetation coverage, choose an island with minimal water coverage to start with.
• The political difficulty and economic difficulty can be altered with the corresponding cheat codes once the map is set up. These are important since they affect the difficulty of retaining power and making money.
• The rated difficulty for the scenario can also be set to anything from 'moderate' to 'ridiculously hard' using the 'rateddifficulty' cheat code. As far as I know, this only affects the difficulty rating that shows up under the map in the scenario description page and not any scores.
• Choices that affect map difficulty and game length will only come into play if you use the map without any win/lose or almanac events. If you do use an almanac page, these will be ignored except for calculated scores using the difficulty adjusted variable.
• Similarly, the victory goal chosen will only affect you if you use the internal game score in an event or use the standard score page. Otherwise, your choice here doesn't matter, but it's best to use 'A Place in History' if undecided so all aspects of scoring will be included.
• Only choose one of the special circumstances if you want your scenario to use one of these restrictions. Otherwise choose None since this cannot be adjusted later.
• If you want the map to generate without people or buildings, make sure you press CTRL and SHIFT when clicking on 'Begin Regime' or on 'OK' in the last page of the dictator setup screen. If you forget, you can always bulldoze buildings and use the 'removepeople' cheat code.
• Be sure to pause the game as soon as the map comes up so that the date will remain at January 1, 1950. If you use the event creator program, it has options to reset the date. If you want a different date, you can either unpause the game and let it run ahead or use the date cheat codes to advance it.
• Use the 'editor' cheat code to edit your map as desired. You can test if editor mode is on by pressing the 'Z' key, which will bring up the bulldozer tool if the editor is on. Note that to build buildings instantly, you must also have the 'rapido' cheat turned on or they will be built as yellow buildings waiting for construction. You can test for this mode by observing the buildings in the construction menu. With rapido on, they will all be bright since they can be built. If rapido is off, some will be darkened since they have prerequisites or other conditions. Check especially the buildings that require electricity such as a substation or luxury house. Remember that the palace and shacks may only be built using the Shift-O cheat code. When done, be sure to set the amount of money in the treasury with the 'exacto' cheat.
• You should ALWAYS make sure that the 'editor' mode is turned on when you save the map after any editing, especially if the date has advanced past January 1, 1950. If you do not do this, the initial briefing event will not show up. With the editor mode on, the map is regenerated and the start flag reset. This also clears away any remnants of original city names if you have imported a map pcx.
• If you use a pcx file to create the map terrain, be sure to test for any areas that may trap ships with unusual shoreline configurations. My scenario was created using the Victoria, BC pcx at my site, but required extensive editing to remove areas where ships got trapped in endless whirlpool eddies or grounded on shore. The terrain can also affect unit pathing, so according to PopTop, it's best to stick with the standard map with lots of water around it and minimal lakes inland. My scenario apparently lets units walk out on the water, probably because of its unusual three-sided water coverage.