Floodplain Farming Expansion
"Floodplain Degradation" is triggered either periodically or when an era changes. If a floodplain is re-improved between two degradation events, it gains stackable output bonuses. However, if two degradation events occur consecutively without re-improvement, the floodplain turns into a swamp and loses all accumulated bonuses. Clearing the swamp will restore the tile to a floodplain.
Under the effects of this mod, floodplains become the feature with the highest development potential, serving as the core economic zone of your empire.
The inspiration comes from the agricultural environment of the Fertile Crescent, where irrigated fields, saline-alkali lands, and swamps intermingle. This mechanic abstracts the long-term historical accumulation of irrigation infrastructure, land maintenance, and farming expertise in mature agricultural regions into the repeated improvement of tiles. This represents how long-term cultivation gradually creates highly productive farmland, while land degradation occurs due to abandonment, war damage, and similar factors.
Main Features:
- Triggered periodically (e.g., every 24 turns) or when the era changes. Upon triggering: All improved floodplain tiles within a civilization’s territory have a chance (e.g., 50%) to lose their improvements. Re-improving such tiles grants a random bonus of +2 Food or +2 Production. This bonus is stackable (default maximum: 5 stacks), and only takes effect when the tile has an improvement. All unimproved floodplain tiles within a civilization’s territory—those without improvements or districts—have a chance (e.g., 50%) to transform into swamps, losing any previously accumulated output bonuses.
When a swamp is cleared, the tile’s terrain is converted into a floodplain corresponding to the local base terrain (e.g., Desert Floodplain, Grassland Floodplain, etc.).
After a "Floodplain Degradation" event occurs within a civilization’s territory, a notification will appear in the alert panel on the right side of the screen.
Multiple trigger options for "Floodplain Degradation" are provided. The default is every 24 turns (Standard Speed ). Alternative options include triggering on era change, every 12 turns (Standard Speed ), or both every 24 turns (Standard Speed ) and on era change—the latter options are available in the advanced settings.
Noticed while playtesting that even the base-game AI struggles to handle this mechanic, so "Floodplain Degradation" is disabled for AI by default. What? You want to enable it for AI too? Well, I’ve included a toggle switch in the advanced options—feel free to turn it on if you dare.
Hope this mod brings you the prosperity and sense of achievement that comes from truly cultivating the land.
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15 Likes: Unlock adjustable values for the accumulated yield per re-cultivation. For example, if the current setting grants +2 yield per improvement, options for +1 or +3 will be added. (Done )
25 Likes: Unlock an option to remove the cap on yield accumulation (e.g., beyond the default 5-stack limit).(Done )
And "Floodplain Degradation" Circle is now changing following Gamespeed.
45 Likes: Unlock an option to convert accumulated yield bonuses into adjacency bonuses for districts (e.g., Holy Site, Campus, etc.).
After all, the core framework is already in place—reaching these Like milestones will give me the motivation to fine-tune the details. And honestly, implementing the adjacency bonus integration does require a bit more technical work!
