LokiHack '99 Patch Patch Title: Multifractal Penguins and Porcupines Author: Joshua Shagam E-mail: joshagam@trikuare.cx Short Description: Mapgen, Splashscreen, Porcupines Long Description: One main hack and two mini-hacks. The main hack is a complete rewrite of the map generation, giving it 1000 total discrete combinations of algorithms for terrain, vegetation, and climate, using yummy quasi-multifractals. The first mini-hack is a new, better-looking splashscreen which replaces the "Linux port by Loki" screen. The second mini-hack is the addition of a new civilization, which has a backstory behind it (read below for it). Documentation: These patches are all simple drop-ins which require no additional user knowledge or interaction. However, the porcupine civilization makes a little more sense if you read the backstory, which follows: (Note that this was written in an extreme case of sleep deprivation :) -=-=- Begin dramatic voiceover -=-=- Deep in the heart of the forest, there lived a colony of porcupines. These porcupines weren't just any porcupines, however... they had once been, aeons ago, super-intelligent porcupines, who had evolved and gone far beyond where humanity is today. They had even developed nanotechnology, which allowed them to explore transcending the limitations of their flesh. A favorite activity of theirs was to change their colors. Over time the lines between their technology and themselves were blurred, and they slowly began to take it for granted, until one day when the nanorobots which helped them shape their world malfunctioned. Before the nanorobots could wreak havoc upon an unspoiled world, the porcupines acted quickly to control the problem, and resolved to forget that their technology ever existed, doing whatever they could to return the world to the way it was. Over time, they did forget, and although they still thirst for knowledge of science and technology, all that physically remains of their previous technological splendor is their ability to, through vestigal genetics installed by the nanorobots long ago, choose and change the coloration of the pigments which are deposited into their fur, skin and quills. One rarely sees one of these porcupines directly, however. They coexist happily with humans who have lived symbiotically for a long time, though they are the ruling class and are never seen, save for when one sends a diplomat (usually identified with lavender skin and fur and cyan quills) for negotiation purposes with other governments. They are otherwise happy to live in peaceful covertness. -=-=- End dramatic voiceover -=-=- Note that the mapgen patch will work perfectly-well with any other hack which happens, as it doesn't affect any of the main Civ:CTP code at all. Likewise, the other patches will work just fine with everything else that can be thrown at them (since they're just data hacks), except that in the case of other civilizations being added in, the two gamedata files which are modified will have to be rolled together manually. Incremental patches should work fine in that case, but care must be taken to update the number of civilizations at the top of default/gamedata/civilisation.txt. Known Bugs: In certain circumstances, the map generator can cause the game to hang upon trying to start up, depending on what particular circumstances happen. There is no way to avoid this, however, as the multifractals are based on statistical models, rather than deterministic procedural mechanisms, so sometimes, for example, it may generate a landscape which is too flat to have any real differentiation, which CTP's map tiling engine (which is separate from the mapgen) interprets as all water; thus, it can't find starting locations for the settlers, and the game hangs indefinitely. The only recourse is to kill the process. ---