Prospect for Resources

[NinjaBushido]

Hello all

I am trying to figure out what the prospect for resources decision actually does. Does it only remove some of the regional impediments or is there also a chance to discover new natural resources? If so, is there a certain chance associated with finding each, or can certain regions only find certain goods?

In general, I was unable to find detailed information on any of the regional decisions. Am I looking at the wrong manual, or has it not been updated?

Thanks a lot for your response

Ninja

[Pocus]

You can find new resources, I don't think there is a document about it, but indeed some resources are restricted to some terrains. If you have the courage, you can open TERRAINS.CSV to look at that.
As for more info on decisions, there is also a .CSV listing them, but the custom effects are specific and done by scripts, which are readable with a text editor. When the Persian DLC was released, there was one § for each decision listed in the forum I believe, beyond that ... you need to check the in-game scripts directly or ask veterans players.

[Swuul]

This is a list I wrote myself during the Persia beta, not absolutely sure it is still 100% correct, but probably not many big changes at least.

Plain
Hemp, Grain, Amber, Fish, Honey, Horses, Cattle, Coral

Forest
Furs, Wild Beasts, Lumber*3, Nuts*2, Fish

Hill and Arid Hill
Iron, Tin, Lead, Copper, Silver, Marble, Stone*2

Mountain
Iron, Gold, Wild Beasts, Silver, Copper, Sulfur, Stone*2

Alpine
Gold, Silver, Sulfur, Stone*4

Marsh
Drugs (aka Herbs), Papyrus, Salt*2, Fish*2, Naphta, Amber

Steppes
Incense*2, Horses, Hemp, Honey, Figs

Desert
Sulphur, Naphta, Dates, Figs, Myrrh, Incense


For the chance of finding resources I think only Pocus knows the formula, but I *believe* the procedure of the regional decission to be:
Roll 1D10. If the result is 9 or 10 nothing was found, if it is a 1 to 8, consult the rows for that terrain type. A new resource is found matching the row, unless that resource is already in that terrain, or if that column shows empty for that terrain type (and you thus find nothing new in either case).

As for where to use the regional decission, don't use it in a region where you yet don't have Stone or Lumber and where the chance to find either is higher than 1 (because you are then very likely to find Stone or Lumber, and both of those can be "found" with buildings too -> would be a decission wasted, in my opinion).

Forests are the absolute worst places to have a decent chance find anything useful. Especially if you already Wild Beasts or Furs in a forest region, then it is in my opinion never a good idea to waste a Prospect decision there. Alpine is a close second, you are very likely to find Stone or nothing, especially if the region already has Gold, Silver or Sulphur.

If I have a Marsh without Herbs, Papyrus, Naphta or Amber, I tend to roll the dice and use the Prospect decision there. Each of those four rare resources would be a great boon.

Hills and Mountains are always worth prospecting, if they don't have any metal resources yet. Yeah, the chances are you will find nothing (because you either found stone or found nothing), but each of the metals (or Marble) would be nice to find (especially if you yet don't have any of those in the neighbourhood yet).

Also note that Plains actually have some pretty decent resources. If you have a plain region with just one or two resources, it might very well be worth to Prospect there -> nothing super exiting to be found, but all that can be found provide economic boost through synergy with buildings (in this region or adjacent ones).

Steppes and Deserts have some nice resources to be had, but they also have lots of empty columns. If you feel lucky, you might want to Prospect a region with only one resource, but don't have too high hopes of actually finding anything.

[NinjaBushido]

Thank you for the great response, both of you. Very helpful.

To make sure I understand, essentially there's a 10% chance to land on each row, with 8 rows that leaves 20% chance to "miss", and if I do not already have the good mentioned in that row it will now naturally occur there. If it hits a good that's already there, such as lumber or Stone, then nothing happens? Or does it get rerolled?

You mention it would be a decision wasted if you already have the good, so does that mean its not wasted if you have both goods there already?

Example: I am looking for coral for my Naval themed temples (forgot the name). If i prospect in plains, there's a 10% base chance to find it. Now, if that plain already has grain, fish, horses and cattle, does that change the chances at all? Or is it still a 10%, and its just more likely to find nothing? If the grain is from the large farm, can it at the same time be occurring naturally?

Also, i am trying to find the csv listing for the other decisions you mentioned, but so far unsuccessfully. Do you perhaps know what name I need to look for? I think I found the script file, but its quite hard to make sense of it.

Lastly, how are new regional decisions handed out? I see some can be "stored", while others maybe cant? At least I only ever got one of some, even if I never used them. To get new decisions, do you need to use existing ones? Are there certain triggers that make it more likely to get a decision?

Thanks a bunch
Ninja

[Swuul]

You can not get a resource two times, so if you already have it when you would get it another time (be it from a building, event, prospecting) that is "wasted" (no rerolls ).


You can look at the regional decision process (not just the prospecting decision) at \Field of Glory Empires\Data\scripts\RegionDecisions

You can get a new regional decision every turn. If you already have the full quota, then one of the existing decisions will be removed.

[Surt]

Hmm so if you live in the cold swamps of the north you could find Papyrus ... interesing!!!

[Swuul]

Hmm so if you live in the cold swamps of the north you could find Papyrus ... interesing!!!

In the north you should go for Irrigation Canals for papyrus. As a general rule: It is *always* better to go for a building providing a resource.

Also, you might want to take a look at he regional decision process (which I mentioned above) of what is allowed where. It might come as a shocking news that in the game you can not actually find Fish in a region with no access to water!