BuildOnSlopes

Build more items on sloped tiles

Switch

Configuration file: buildonslopes

Command line: -Yb

Description

Normally, what you can build on slopes (sides of a mountain) is very limited, tracks and roads can only be parallel to the incline, not in any other direction.

With this switch, you will have more options for things to build on sloped tiles:

• Depots and truck and bus loading bays can be built facing towards the mountain or sideways, but not downhill
• Tracks, railway stations and roads can be built perpendicular to the slope
• Railway stations can be built over small "holes" in the ground, if they are at most one height level deep
• Edges of airports and company headquarters can be one height level lower than the rest
• Heliports can be built on sloped tiles
• Lighthouses and transmitters can be built (in the scenario editor) on sloped tiles, including coasts
• Inclined tracks and roads with inclined foundations on tiles with one raised corner
• Bridge heads on tiles with one raised or one lowered corner (but the ground under the bridge itself must still be flat)

Note that it is always impossible to build on so-called "steep slopes", which have a height difference of two levels between opposite corners. You can only build on slopes that have a height difference of at most one level. You also can't change the altitude of a tile corner on which there is a foundation.

One very useful side effect of this is that you can now build stations over several height levels.

Simply place for example one or more train station platforms, then add other platforms or other station facilities next to it, on the higher level. Adding more platforms of course only works if largerstations is on, and only if the lengths and orientations match.

The AI players would be of course unable to connect tracks and roads built on foundations properly, so they're not allowed to use this feature, except for placing their HQs and airports.

This patch was contributed by Marcin Grzegorczyk.