Marathon speed needs improved balancing

[Bodin]

I enjoyed playing past Civ games on Marathon speed so I could have time to build up my empire, or if I switched to war, build up many units for campaigns along a fairly sizable border. Yes, there were some longer build times associated with Marathon games, but there was also more time to build and maneuver.

However, in the current Civ 6 game, the amount of time it takes to build is way, way too long. For example, I founded a city and asked them to build a granary (usually one of the first buildings chosen), and it said it was going to take those young settlers 191 turns to construct it. That's outrageous. In the amount of time that would pass, according to the game clock, it would take those settlers centuries to build one granary. That's like being able to hammer one nail in a month. I get that there's probably dozens of OSHA regulations and Union contract issues to consider with required break times, no overtime, and paid holidays, but that's just unreasonable.

Marathon games used to be for building extensive empires (very developed cities) and even more period-specific wars given the longer times between researched tech. But the current time it takes to build anything now is painfully boring, waiting for a single unit to be built in 50 to 80 game turns.

MOD SUGGESTION: It would be nice if the Marathon speed could be applied separately to research and not build times. Faster build times and slower tech would make for a better balance in Marathon games.

 

[Feyd Rautha]

That was actually a very easy fix in Civ V. I plan on making a personal mod when Mods have more centralized support in VI.

If you want to fiddle with it for yourself, just search for the <gamespeeds> xml file, make a copy, put it in its own folder in the Mods folder, open it with wordpad, and fiddle with numbers. I believe it's x3 cost, but making it x2 cost would probably make it reasonable. You might also fiddle with the population growth numbers... It was probably 191 since you were getting only ~1-2 hammers. Grow your pop to 5 and the various tiles will cut that down drastically.

 

[Bodin]

I look forward to trying out your mod when there is more centralized support in Civ VI.

When the population size got to 3, the figure dropped to 160 turns. But that's still way too much. I didn't want to submit the feedback until I had properly tested the marathon speed. After about 20+ hours invested in the game (and around the Modern Age), I finally quit from the frustration. I guess the kind of marathon game I enjoy has much longer eras (with slow tech development), shorter build times (so cities can build districts, buildings, wonders, and units), and gives the player an opportunity to build structures, wonders, and armies that can be used during that era (instead of spending all extra 'build' that time just moving a unit or two around on the map). If my city is building a granary throughout an entire age, what's the fun in that? At least, I didn't find it enjoyable.

Good suggestion about the xml file. I might just try that.

 

[Feyd Rautha]

Just to confirm. The <gamespeeds> xml states that costs are 300% for built items even though it is only half as slow. I'd just change that number to 200 which would put it in line with the actual timeframe. Civics and techs don't need to be altered from 300 though to keep things moving slower.

That said, I only think that will be the best solution. The XML text is different than in 5 and it doesn't specify units over buildings. For a really fun marathon (in my opinion), the unit costs coincide with (almost) standard, but the building costs remain high. A flat number perhaps moves too fast for buildings and too slow for units tho...

 

[Lord_Azazel]

I finished a marathon game the other day, I think I'm going epic for the next game, there's just too much clicking next turn without doing anything. But I did manage to build up quite a sizeable navy and an ok army, it might be that there will be too many units by the modern era if you lower the cost with 33%. Might cause problems on huge maps.

 

[Ryika]

Just to confirm. The <gamespeeds> xml states that costs are 300% for built items even though it is only half as slow.

Marathon has always been 300%. It's 3x the construction/research times.