This commit introduces detailed documentation for modifying the Fantasy Map Generator's population system to create more realistic settlement sizes suitable for medieval fantasy settings.
Key features of the documentation:
- Complete analysis of current population calculation system in burgs-and-states.js
- Detailed code modifications to reduce city populations from ~250k to ~30k
- Hierarchical scaling that maintains realistic population gradients
- Military impact analysis showing proportional army size reductions
- Step-by-step implementation guide with exact line numbers
- Testing procedures and validation methods
- Troubleshooting section for common issues
- Rollback instructions for safe implementation
The proposed changes will create settlement populations of:
- Capitals: 25-35k (down from 200-300k)
- Large ports: 20-30k (down from 150-250k)
- Regional centers: 10-20k (down from 100-150k)
- Towns: 2-8k (down from 20-50k)
- Villages: 0.5-3k (down from 1-5k)
Military forces will scale proportionally, creating more historically accurate medieval army sizes where capitals field 60-120 troops instead of 500-1000.
The documentation preserves all existing functionality while providing a complete reference for population system modifications.
