By default, Xconq allows only one unit in each cell at a time. This has the advantage of simplicity, but also makes some bizarre situations, such as the ability of a merchant ship to prevent an airplane from passing overhead or a submarine from passing underneath.
To fix this, you can allow players to stack several units in the
same cell. This is governed by several tables, which give you control
over which and how many of each type can stack together in which kinds
of terrain. The basic idea is that a cell has a certain amount of room
for units, as specified by the terrain type property capacity
,
and each unit has a certain size in the cell, according to the table
unit-size-in-terrain
.
(add (plains canyons) capacity (10 2)) (table unit-size-in-terrain ((indians town) plains (1 5)) ((indians town) canyons (1 2)) )
In this example, a player can fit 10 indians or 2 towns into a plains cell, or else one town and 5 indians, while canyons allow only 2 indians or one town.
In addition, some unit types may be able to count on a terrain type providing
a guaranteed place; for this, you can use the unit/terrain table
terrain-capacity-x
. This table (which defaults to 0) allows
the specified number of units of each type to be in each type of
terrain, irrespective of who else is there. For instance,
a space station could be given space via
(table terrain-capacity-x (space-station t* 10000))
So while units on the ground are piling together and being constrained by capacity, space stations overhead can stack together freely (space is pretty big, after all).