So time for the third thread: Wonders. Wonders are the reason I got into modding in the first place, and they are definitely my very favorite thing to work with.
My Wonder design principles are different from my building design principles; I feel buildings have to be carefully chosen so as not to clutter the building list of every single city, but Wonders remove themselves from the list as soon as one civilization builds them, so there isn't as much pile-up. I will look for Wonders that might flesh out a "one-trick-pony" technology, as anything that beefs those techs up is a good thing to me.
Here's the things that I try to accomplish with a new Wonder:
My Wonder design principles are different from my building design principles; I feel buildings have to be carefully chosen so as not to clutter the building list of every single city, but Wonders remove themselves from the list as soon as one civilization builds them, so there isn't as much pile-up. I will look for Wonders that might flesh out a "one-trick-pony" technology, as anything that beefs those techs up is a good thing to me.
Here's the things that I try to accomplish with a new Wonder:
- Mechanical hook: What is this Wonder going to do that is different? Wonders should have big effects, but preferably not effects that encroach on another Wonder; I don't really care for "counts as a Palace" wonders because that is Versailles's schtick. When possible, World Wonders should have global effects; I think this was part of Civ4's main Wonder design philosophy in that National Wonders give effects confined to one city, while World Wonders affect everything.
- Story hook: What makes this Wonder wondrous? This is especially where I look for structures in different time periods and areas of the world. Is this Wonder still inspiring today? (Things that have been Wonders in other Civilization games are prime targets.) This does rely on a lot of feeling more than thought.