Von Falkenheyn
Chieftain
Disclaimer: I am brand new to this forum (although I have been reading stuff from here for quite a few years now) and English isn't my mother tongue so please be gentle.
With the recent installment (Brave New World) of the latest expansion for Civilization V, the game feels nicely polished and complete. Yet, as it is often said, a good product's enemy is a perfect product and to that we should all aspire. Without further delay, I will lay out some ideas of mine (which I'm sure others have laid out here or elsewhere) which I think will push an already great game towards perfection.
1) Tile Space, One unit per hex and combat changes
The introduction of hexagons in Civilization V was a superb idea, as this allowed for maps in better detail and for more strategic maneuvering from units. Hexes have been used in board game war games for quite a while now with great success. However, with the current implementation a problem arose; how much surface area does a single hex represent? This may seem as a trivial question but from this unanswered problem rise all manners of issues, such as the ranged unit discrepancy (where you have crossbows shooting further than riffles) the need for ranged units in antiquity to always have a range of two hexes for protection and the cluttering of the map in the end game. To be fair, this problem has much to do with the one unit per hex rule which forces ranged units to have a minimum range of two hexes if they are to be at all relevant in the early game. However how does one reconcile the fact that a machine gun has a lower firing range than a bow?
The answer here has to do with determining the area of a hex. If your map has 200 hexes in a world which simulates earth size, then you can easily determine the area that a hex simulates. This information in turn can help you determine how many units you can stack in a hex. Stacking units in a hex will lead to the creation of armies and thus into far more strategic and logical combat.
To elaborate further, units could have a new value attached to them, say UNIT WEIGHT. A melee unit could have a high weight since, in order to be effective it needs a lot of frontal space to attack efficiently. But a ranged unit, such as archers doesn't need to be in the front lines to be effective. In fact, ranged units have always been protected and shielded in combat by other units. So an archer could have a low unit weight. If for example a hex can accommodate units with a total weight of 10, then a melee unit of weight 3, a horse unit of weight 4 and an archer of weight 1 could form a stack/army and coexist in the same hex. Combat could thus be split in two phases; ranged and melee. In the ranged combat armies would exchange volleys and then melee would follow. Perhaps later, cavalry (mobile) elements of an army could pursue. This idea is not entirely new to the civilization series either; in Civilization III warlords, your general would merge with a unit forming a super unit. The implementation could work along those lines, replacing existing unit graphics with an army graphic (perhaps attaching a general as well). For those fearing the return of the stack of doom, if an army's weight surpasses the hex's capacity then that army should receive severe combat/movement penalties. The rationale here would be, that an overcrowding of units in limited space hinders their ability to function optimally.
The above idea would eliminate the need for archers have a range of 2 hexes and it would rationalize the ranged unit concept as a whole.
2) Customization
Allow for unit customization, for example units could have slots just like the new culture buildings have with brave new world. These slots could allow for weapons upgrade (for instance the forge could produce better swords, iron better weapons than copper, etc). Players simply love RPG elements in their games; it makes them feel that they have created something unique which they own. Also, units should receive multiple talent trees which should be visible to players, just like you can view the tech tree or the policies tree.
Leader customization. Besides unique buildings, units and civilization specific abilities, leaders could have RPG style qualities which could expand over time. For instance, a leader could have administrative skills, strategic skills and diplomatic skills (just like the Europa Univerallis Series) which could increase over time, depending upon civilization achievements. Also, a leader could have a court of advisers; great people could receive a new role as advisers to the leader, thus offering global modifiers to the realm. And besides, who wouldn't want the return of the council just like in Civilization II?
3) Health, Happiness and Corruption
Local Happiness instead of Global. As it is now, its virtually impossible to control a large empire or to initiate one until well into the medieval times and again, this is highly situational. Unless you sequence-build the proper wonders (Notre Dame, Circus Maximus etc) there is no way I can think of, through which you can have, say 4-5 cities early in the game. The penalty for capturing cities is insane early on and practically irrelevant later in the game. Via corruption and local happiness this could be more accurately simulated. Historically, when a leader returned from a successful overseas campaign a triumph was organized and the spoils were exhibited in front of the populace. How can the capital be unhappy if Rome captured the neighboring city state? How can you allow for strong military units early on to some civilizations when they cant effectively use them due to a lack of happiness? Local Happiness could allow for civil wars and local revolts without this being dependent on global modifiers.
Corruption Loss of productivity. The bigger an economy, the more corruption you have. The bigger the distance from the capital, the more corruption. Also, the more oppressive a regime, the more corruption you tend to have. The re-introduction of wasted production through corruption would allow you to have a large empire from early on without optimal productivity. It would give usefulness to such buildings as the courthouse, the police station, Forbidden Palace etc.
Health was a superb local modifier which really made city management interesting and offered diversification to resources, buildings, Wonders and civilization abilities. Aqueducts would gain a true meaning, you could add a whole new array of buildings (public baths for instance) and technologies (Sanitation), great doctors (Hippocrates, Galenus), Hanging Gardens could give health and resources (such as the citrus fruits, spices and salt) could increase health. I simply find a hospital giving out food as a bit bland to be honest. I understand that food simulates the growth rate of the populace but I think that health could be added without complicating the game too much.
War weariness. Essential. Nowadays we have the AI declare wars which last forever. Also, human players especially in the later game when happiness starts to be irrelevant can be on a non stop rampage with impunity. Likewise, there should be some sort of human capital upkeep for units in war. Gold upkeep is fine, but there should be some consideration about manpower too.
4) Economic Issues
Colonies/Trade Outposts. This is essential I think. You desperately need a resource (be it strategic or to fulfill a city-state quest). No one will trade with you, or the cost of trading is exceedingly high. There is a resource at a medium distance or on a remote island that you could use but you dont want to build a new city. Why not build an outpost or a colony? Coupled with the new trading system this could create all manners of new opportunities for game play. The Portuguese Feitoria is a great step towards that direction but it's only for the Portuguese. Why not let others do something less powerful instead?
Resource Cache: I believe that resources (especially fossil fuels) should have capacities per turn and a finite life. Instead of just receiving a resource, you should receive resource units per turn allowing them to be stockpiled. This could allow for all manners of diversification in buildings and techs. Salt could be used to stockpile fish, Refrigeration could increase your stockpiles, Wharfs could do the same etc. For instance to create a legion you could need 20 iron units. If you dont have iron mines you could import this from another civ without them being reluctant to trade it because its in short supply. The same is true with oil and uranium. No one will trade them as the game is today but they could trade you part of their stockpile without relinquishing the whole resource for 30 turns. For example, a large iron mine could generate 20 iron units per turn and depending upon your civ technology, you could store a maximum of 200 units. Also, I believe that manpower should be cached as well. If you're running a war with heavy losses then at some point your units will simply not heal anymore. Historically warfare is all about blood and treasure. Gold upkeep simulates treasure; there should be something about blood as well.
Buildings, Resources and their interaction: Building and Resource interaction is a great idea; it really gives a purpose to otherwise bland buildings such as the stable or the forge. We should see more resource - building interaction instead of just plain map modifiers. Also I think that composite manufactured goods (for instance turning sheep, cotton and silk into textiles, iron and coal into steel which could lead to high grade weaponry) would be a great addition to the game's economy and could lead to all kinds of new buildings and the enrichment of the tech tree.
5) Map Customization
I believe that there should be more map tile subcategories which would make for vastly enhanced maps. For instance, hill tiles could have subcategories as a) rolling farmlands, b) highlands c) alpine valleys. Mountains could have impassable Himalaya - like qualities to more gentle and passable qualities such as the Ardennes and the Apennines in the US.
There should be water canals added to the game, which could work just like a road does, allowing ship units passage over land (not to mention the irrigation of infertile terrain). We should have mountain tunnels making roads and rail pass through mountain chains.
I'm quite sure others have suggested this many times, but please give us more Terra forming abilities. For example, reclaiming land from the sea (the Dutch), making desert tiles fertile, planting forests and flattening terrain.
Allow for airfields, naval bases and land bases in remote locations. You shouldn't be required to build/capture cities just because your air units aren't properly situated.
6) Revamping the Tech Tree
As it is right now, I fear that in single player games at least, those civilizations specialized upon research (Korea, Babylon, Maya) have a distinct advantage over others. This seems to have been alleviated with Brave New World as there is science trickling via trade routes but I think it's too early to tell. I propose a radically different idea for the tech tree. I think that the issues could be split into broad categories, such as Cultural, Economic, Military, Growth, Foreign Affairs, Internal Organization . Each category would have it's own tech tree and research could be siphoned into each one as the player sees fit. In order to avoid rampant leaders in a certain category, cross category dependencies can be devised and also time penalties as well (you're trying to research something which is too advanced for your civilization, your research is impeded by a penalty). This would lead to the abolition of the social policy tree as it is and the implementation of such policies within each new branch. For example, honor policies could be spread inside the military branch and so on.
Also, the new pyramid system used for ideologies could be used to create a non linear tiered tech system thus greatly diversifying the game.
The diplomatic game could be further enhanced; apart from the ideological struggle, the concept of the three traditions (as suggested by Martin Wight), rationalism, idealism and revolutionism could be introduced. For example, a rationalist AI player would be much more calculative about balance of power issues; an idealist AI would help out a fellow player with the same ideology and an autocratic revolutionary would wage war under any pretext in order to enforce his world vision over you. This somewhat exists when dealing with city states; they have characters. I'm proposing that this be built in to civilization AIs.
As far as military issues are concerned and in accord with what I wrote earlier about fielding armies, military formations could be researched (for instance the phalanx, the legion formation, combined arms, the Spanish tercio formation, the Brittish square etc).
7) Random Events & Other Random Ideas
Random Events. I think that there could be an array of both positive and negative events. Some could be unavoidable (such as a volcanic eruption or an earthquake. You could have the chance of volcanoes or earthquakes increase in mountainous regions for example) while others could be avoidable depending on circumstances (you could be immune to the plague if you have high health or have researched sanitation, immune to floods if you have dams and canals etc., bribing off a barbarian horde or a pirate fleet). Positive events could include mercenary units which are looking for an employer, traveling great people, bountiful crop season etc.
Unit Special abilities in combat. We would like to see more abilities such as the Polish Lancer's ability to push back. Units could have a unique - timer based - ability, for example Archers could have a bull's eye ability dealing out massive damage once, cavalry could have a blitzkrieg ability allowing pursuits or second attacks etc.
Well I hope I haven't tired you all with my rather lengthy text. I eagerly await your feedback!
With the recent installment (Brave New World) of the latest expansion for Civilization V, the game feels nicely polished and complete. Yet, as it is often said, a good product's enemy is a perfect product and to that we should all aspire. Without further delay, I will lay out some ideas of mine (which I'm sure others have laid out here or elsewhere) which I think will push an already great game towards perfection.
1) Tile Space, One unit per hex and combat changes
The introduction of hexagons in Civilization V was a superb idea, as this allowed for maps in better detail and for more strategic maneuvering from units. Hexes have been used in board game war games for quite a while now with great success. However, with the current implementation a problem arose; how much surface area does a single hex represent? This may seem as a trivial question but from this unanswered problem rise all manners of issues, such as the ranged unit discrepancy (where you have crossbows shooting further than riffles) the need for ranged units in antiquity to always have a range of two hexes for protection and the cluttering of the map in the end game. To be fair, this problem has much to do with the one unit per hex rule which forces ranged units to have a minimum range of two hexes if they are to be at all relevant in the early game. However how does one reconcile the fact that a machine gun has a lower firing range than a bow?
The answer here has to do with determining the area of a hex. If your map has 200 hexes in a world which simulates earth size, then you can easily determine the area that a hex simulates. This information in turn can help you determine how many units you can stack in a hex. Stacking units in a hex will lead to the creation of armies and thus into far more strategic and logical combat.
To elaborate further, units could have a new value attached to them, say UNIT WEIGHT. A melee unit could have a high weight since, in order to be effective it needs a lot of frontal space to attack efficiently. But a ranged unit, such as archers doesn't need to be in the front lines to be effective. In fact, ranged units have always been protected and shielded in combat by other units. So an archer could have a low unit weight. If for example a hex can accommodate units with a total weight of 10, then a melee unit of weight 3, a horse unit of weight 4 and an archer of weight 1 could form a stack/army and coexist in the same hex. Combat could thus be split in two phases; ranged and melee. In the ranged combat armies would exchange volleys and then melee would follow. Perhaps later, cavalry (mobile) elements of an army could pursue. This idea is not entirely new to the civilization series either; in Civilization III warlords, your general would merge with a unit forming a super unit. The implementation could work along those lines, replacing existing unit graphics with an army graphic (perhaps attaching a general as well). For those fearing the return of the stack of doom, if an army's weight surpasses the hex's capacity then that army should receive severe combat/movement penalties. The rationale here would be, that an overcrowding of units in limited space hinders their ability to function optimally.
The above idea would eliminate the need for archers have a range of 2 hexes and it would rationalize the ranged unit concept as a whole.
2) Customization
Allow for unit customization, for example units could have slots just like the new culture buildings have with brave new world. These slots could allow for weapons upgrade (for instance the forge could produce better swords, iron better weapons than copper, etc). Players simply love RPG elements in their games; it makes them feel that they have created something unique which they own. Also, units should receive multiple talent trees which should be visible to players, just like you can view the tech tree or the policies tree.
Leader customization. Besides unique buildings, units and civilization specific abilities, leaders could have RPG style qualities which could expand over time. For instance, a leader could have administrative skills, strategic skills and diplomatic skills (just like the Europa Univerallis Series) which could increase over time, depending upon civilization achievements. Also, a leader could have a court of advisers; great people could receive a new role as advisers to the leader, thus offering global modifiers to the realm. And besides, who wouldn't want the return of the council just like in Civilization II?
3) Health, Happiness and Corruption
Local Happiness instead of Global. As it is now, its virtually impossible to control a large empire or to initiate one until well into the medieval times and again, this is highly situational. Unless you sequence-build the proper wonders (Notre Dame, Circus Maximus etc) there is no way I can think of, through which you can have, say 4-5 cities early in the game. The penalty for capturing cities is insane early on and practically irrelevant later in the game. Via corruption and local happiness this could be more accurately simulated. Historically, when a leader returned from a successful overseas campaign a triumph was organized and the spoils were exhibited in front of the populace. How can the capital be unhappy if Rome captured the neighboring city state? How can you allow for strong military units early on to some civilizations when they cant effectively use them due to a lack of happiness? Local Happiness could allow for civil wars and local revolts without this being dependent on global modifiers.
Corruption Loss of productivity. The bigger an economy, the more corruption you have. The bigger the distance from the capital, the more corruption. Also, the more oppressive a regime, the more corruption you tend to have. The re-introduction of wasted production through corruption would allow you to have a large empire from early on without optimal productivity. It would give usefulness to such buildings as the courthouse, the police station, Forbidden Palace etc.
Health was a superb local modifier which really made city management interesting and offered diversification to resources, buildings, Wonders and civilization abilities. Aqueducts would gain a true meaning, you could add a whole new array of buildings (public baths for instance) and technologies (Sanitation), great doctors (Hippocrates, Galenus), Hanging Gardens could give health and resources (such as the citrus fruits, spices and salt) could increase health. I simply find a hospital giving out food as a bit bland to be honest. I understand that food simulates the growth rate of the populace but I think that health could be added without complicating the game too much.
War weariness. Essential. Nowadays we have the AI declare wars which last forever. Also, human players especially in the later game when happiness starts to be irrelevant can be on a non stop rampage with impunity. Likewise, there should be some sort of human capital upkeep for units in war. Gold upkeep is fine, but there should be some consideration about manpower too.
4) Economic Issues
Colonies/Trade Outposts. This is essential I think. You desperately need a resource (be it strategic or to fulfill a city-state quest). No one will trade with you, or the cost of trading is exceedingly high. There is a resource at a medium distance or on a remote island that you could use but you dont want to build a new city. Why not build an outpost or a colony? Coupled with the new trading system this could create all manners of new opportunities for game play. The Portuguese Feitoria is a great step towards that direction but it's only for the Portuguese. Why not let others do something less powerful instead?
Resource Cache: I believe that resources (especially fossil fuels) should have capacities per turn and a finite life. Instead of just receiving a resource, you should receive resource units per turn allowing them to be stockpiled. This could allow for all manners of diversification in buildings and techs. Salt could be used to stockpile fish, Refrigeration could increase your stockpiles, Wharfs could do the same etc. For instance to create a legion you could need 20 iron units. If you dont have iron mines you could import this from another civ without them being reluctant to trade it because its in short supply. The same is true with oil and uranium. No one will trade them as the game is today but they could trade you part of their stockpile without relinquishing the whole resource for 30 turns. For example, a large iron mine could generate 20 iron units per turn and depending upon your civ technology, you could store a maximum of 200 units. Also, I believe that manpower should be cached as well. If you're running a war with heavy losses then at some point your units will simply not heal anymore. Historically warfare is all about blood and treasure. Gold upkeep simulates treasure; there should be something about blood as well.
Buildings, Resources and their interaction: Building and Resource interaction is a great idea; it really gives a purpose to otherwise bland buildings such as the stable or the forge. We should see more resource - building interaction instead of just plain map modifiers. Also I think that composite manufactured goods (for instance turning sheep, cotton and silk into textiles, iron and coal into steel which could lead to high grade weaponry) would be a great addition to the game's economy and could lead to all kinds of new buildings and the enrichment of the tech tree.
5) Map Customization
I believe that there should be more map tile subcategories which would make for vastly enhanced maps. For instance, hill tiles could have subcategories as a) rolling farmlands, b) highlands c) alpine valleys. Mountains could have impassable Himalaya - like qualities to more gentle and passable qualities such as the Ardennes and the Apennines in the US.
There should be water canals added to the game, which could work just like a road does, allowing ship units passage over land (not to mention the irrigation of infertile terrain). We should have mountain tunnels making roads and rail pass through mountain chains.
I'm quite sure others have suggested this many times, but please give us more Terra forming abilities. For example, reclaiming land from the sea (the Dutch), making desert tiles fertile, planting forests and flattening terrain.
Allow for airfields, naval bases and land bases in remote locations. You shouldn't be required to build/capture cities just because your air units aren't properly situated.
6) Revamping the Tech Tree
As it is right now, I fear that in single player games at least, those civilizations specialized upon research (Korea, Babylon, Maya) have a distinct advantage over others. This seems to have been alleviated with Brave New World as there is science trickling via trade routes but I think it's too early to tell. I propose a radically different idea for the tech tree. I think that the issues could be split into broad categories, such as Cultural, Economic, Military, Growth, Foreign Affairs, Internal Organization . Each category would have it's own tech tree and research could be siphoned into each one as the player sees fit. In order to avoid rampant leaders in a certain category, cross category dependencies can be devised and also time penalties as well (you're trying to research something which is too advanced for your civilization, your research is impeded by a penalty). This would lead to the abolition of the social policy tree as it is and the implementation of such policies within each new branch. For example, honor policies could be spread inside the military branch and so on.
Also, the new pyramid system used for ideologies could be used to create a non linear tiered tech system thus greatly diversifying the game.
The diplomatic game could be further enhanced; apart from the ideological struggle, the concept of the three traditions (as suggested by Martin Wight), rationalism, idealism and revolutionism could be introduced. For example, a rationalist AI player would be much more calculative about balance of power issues; an idealist AI would help out a fellow player with the same ideology and an autocratic revolutionary would wage war under any pretext in order to enforce his world vision over you. This somewhat exists when dealing with city states; they have characters. I'm proposing that this be built in to civilization AIs.
As far as military issues are concerned and in accord with what I wrote earlier about fielding armies, military formations could be researched (for instance the phalanx, the legion formation, combined arms, the Spanish tercio formation, the Brittish square etc).
7) Random Events & Other Random Ideas
Random Events. I think that there could be an array of both positive and negative events. Some could be unavoidable (such as a volcanic eruption or an earthquake. You could have the chance of volcanoes or earthquakes increase in mountainous regions for example) while others could be avoidable depending on circumstances (you could be immune to the plague if you have high health or have researched sanitation, immune to floods if you have dams and canals etc., bribing off a barbarian horde or a pirate fleet). Positive events could include mercenary units which are looking for an employer, traveling great people, bountiful crop season etc.
Unit Special abilities in combat. We would like to see more abilities such as the Polish Lancer's ability to push back. Units could have a unique - timer based - ability, for example Archers could have a bull's eye ability dealing out massive damage once, cavalry could have a blitzkrieg ability allowing pursuits or second attacks etc.
Well I hope I haven't tired you all with my rather lengthy text. I eagerly await your feedback!
