The other day, when I was playing around with a few confusing intersections in my cartographical nightmare of an Itjtawy, I began to notice something which has not been particularly well documented or explained by other forum members. I discovered that there were many more alternative pavilion layouts than most of us take for granted.
Above are the twelve ‘pure’ pavilion layouts. Following standard convention for North being top-left, the only one which cannot be placed in a city is the furthest left on the second row, which the game doesn’t seem to like for some reason. But below, there are also a number of ‘mutated’ layouts, all of which can be placed as shown, and most of which can also be rotated to suit requirements. These are just a few of the many alternative designs I discovered in my brief investigation: Uses of the layouts So what possible use can these unusual pavilions be? Well, I don’t know what VAIA, Brugle and other special-rules ‘purists’ might say, but I have no particular aversion to sticking pavilions on intersections which are not part of a specific housing block, as long as those intersections are an integral part of a city and not in an isolated ‘culture park’. Therefore, if you plan your cities the way I do (i.e. absolutely no planning at all, just throwing down blocks and industry wherever takes your fancy, then demolishing half of it to fit in an extra granary/conservatory/pavilion), then knowing that you don’t have to totally change the road layout to fit in that pavilion can be very useful. Being aware that you may only have to move one road or slightly move the entrance to a housing block to create an acceptable pavilion layout can save you a lot of time and money shifting buildings and roads. A prime example of this is in my Itjtawy, where I found myself looking at this intersection: I found that I couldn’t. But with some experimentation, I discovered that adding just one more road square made this layout possible: The layout on the right can be used at a corner. It is much more effective than any of the ‘pure’ layouts at directing walkers the right way. I can’t give you any absolute figures, but I estimated that the mutant block sent the walkers on about 80% of the time, compared to about 66% for the couple of standard pavilions I tried. Again, never did I see a walker get permanently stuck in the loop, or make more than two circuits of said loop. Other layouts I am by no means saying that the layouts I have discovered are the only ones available, far from it. The way I see it, there are just a few rules governing what does or does not constitute a valid layout: 1)The layout must contain less than 9 road tiles 2)The layout must contain two roads which run the full length/width of the area, which must be at right angles. 3)The layout must contain a 2x2 space (for the dance stage) 4)In addition, the layout must contain a 2x1 space (for the music stage) As long as these four rules are satisfied, there are few layouts which are considered unacceptable by the game (which just doesn’t like some ideas, see top glyph). Also remember that once you have found a layout, roads and gardens may be interchanged as long as rules 1 & 2 are still satisfied. Please note that not all the above information is mine ane mine alone. This effect has been noted in passing by other players, but perhaps not explained as well as it could have been. This thread merely attempts to bring together the threads of knowledge gathered by several players, not just me. Enjoy your newfound sense of freedom with pavilions. Good night. [This message has been edited by WinterPharaoh (edited 08-20-2004 @ 03:27 PM).]
And wondering if I could put a pavilion on it. After clearing away the buildings:
Problem solved. And some of these pavilions are not just useful for random intersections. Some of them have proved useful in housing blocks too. These two are my current favourites:
The one on the left is to be used in permanent intersections. Random walkers entering from the left always (in my tests and in a real housing block) either went up half the time and right half the time, in an alternating pattern; or went up three quarters of the time and right the rest. NEVER, in all my tests, did a random walker spend more than eight tiles in the left-most block. Never did a walker exit the same way as he/she entered. Never did the walker go round in circles.