GeneralX
Warlord
Ive tried to find if this topic has been dealt with elsewhere, but I cant see if that is so. Therefore, at the risk of covering ground already surveyed I have some ideas about communications and supply links.
1. Infrastructure - I would like to see the game require the construction of relevant infrastructure before strategic resources can be exploited. Already there needs to be a road/rail connection, however I would like to see a mine built for mineral resources, a farm for agricultural resources, and perhaps a pump for oil.
2. Oil pipelines Before there can be trade in oil there needs to be a pipeline (as many as you like) connecting the oil supply to a city with a port (or an airport, as a concession to land locked civilizations, or perhaps another civilizations oil pipeline). The same principle can be applied to water, whereby you can pipe water from a river into arid areas and establish irrigation networks.
5. Telecommunication lines There may be some wonders (such as the internet) which require telecommunication lines. Outside of this, telecommunications increase commerce as the ability to transmit information lends itself to the placement of orders, transmission of funds etc. There is also a need to have good telecommunications for an integrated national defence system, radar network etc. Effective telecommunications are also a necessity for science as they allow a rapid and accurate transmission of ideas.
6. Roads - I like the idea that others have put forward that there needs to be highways, as well as ordinary road and rail networks. There is a military point though in all this. Roads are essential for the mobility of forces. The best example I am aware of is Gettysburg. The town was significant because it was the junction for a number of roadways. Somehow this concept of transportation hubs and nodes needs to be incorporated into the game. As it is now, if a city is captured the road system can be robust enough that mobility by road or rail is still easy. In warfare it is not always so. Perhaps we need to have different types of road (dirt, sealed, highway etc) so that this concept or critical transportation links exists within the game
7. Nationalised energy grid As the game stands each city can have some form of power station built in it to improve productivity. Yet in the real world nations have a national power grid. Some cities, like the one I live in, dont have a power station, yet major industry exists because power is drawn from elsewhere. A similar scenario could be incorporated into the game through the construction of power lines linking cities and power stations built as required to meet the increasing energy demands. Perhaps one city could have several power stations, or you might want to spread them about. Either way, there needs to be some way of graphically presenting the demand for energy, and the energy produced by a power grid. There may even be the possibility of connecting to another civilizations power grid and selling/buying power. This could work also for oil and water.
8. Strategic communication/supply nodes The creation of a network like this will create strategic cities. For example, if one city has five major roads, three power stations, four power lines and three telecommunications links, and two oil pipelines extending from it as well as a port and an airport, then that city is of strategic importance, certainly of more importance than a city with only a local road/rail network, one power line etc. This has implications for national defence, and the strategic placement of cities. Imagine the problems that could come from having a major strategic city like this right next door to an enemy civilization. It would change the way you structure your armed forces, where you deploy them, even foreign policy. There is also an obligation on the player to plan and construct a robust communications/supply infrastructure that can handle pillaging/warfare.
Again, Im sorry if all this has been covered before, but if not then I hope it at least gives food for thought.
1. Infrastructure - I would like to see the game require the construction of relevant infrastructure before strategic resources can be exploited. Already there needs to be a road/rail connection, however I would like to see a mine built for mineral resources, a farm for agricultural resources, and perhaps a pump for oil.
2. Oil pipelines Before there can be trade in oil there needs to be a pipeline (as many as you like) connecting the oil supply to a city with a port (or an airport, as a concession to land locked civilizations, or perhaps another civilizations oil pipeline). The same principle can be applied to water, whereby you can pipe water from a river into arid areas and establish irrigation networks.
5. Telecommunication lines There may be some wonders (such as the internet) which require telecommunication lines. Outside of this, telecommunications increase commerce as the ability to transmit information lends itself to the placement of orders, transmission of funds etc. There is also a need to have good telecommunications for an integrated national defence system, radar network etc. Effective telecommunications are also a necessity for science as they allow a rapid and accurate transmission of ideas.
6. Roads - I like the idea that others have put forward that there needs to be highways, as well as ordinary road and rail networks. There is a military point though in all this. Roads are essential for the mobility of forces. The best example I am aware of is Gettysburg. The town was significant because it was the junction for a number of roadways. Somehow this concept of transportation hubs and nodes needs to be incorporated into the game. As it is now, if a city is captured the road system can be robust enough that mobility by road or rail is still easy. In warfare it is not always so. Perhaps we need to have different types of road (dirt, sealed, highway etc) so that this concept or critical transportation links exists within the game
7. Nationalised energy grid As the game stands each city can have some form of power station built in it to improve productivity. Yet in the real world nations have a national power grid. Some cities, like the one I live in, dont have a power station, yet major industry exists because power is drawn from elsewhere. A similar scenario could be incorporated into the game through the construction of power lines linking cities and power stations built as required to meet the increasing energy demands. Perhaps one city could have several power stations, or you might want to spread them about. Either way, there needs to be some way of graphically presenting the demand for energy, and the energy produced by a power grid. There may even be the possibility of connecting to another civilizations power grid and selling/buying power. This could work also for oil and water.
8. Strategic communication/supply nodes The creation of a network like this will create strategic cities. For example, if one city has five major roads, three power stations, four power lines and three telecommunications links, and two oil pipelines extending from it as well as a port and an airport, then that city is of strategic importance, certainly of more importance than a city with only a local road/rail network, one power line etc. This has implications for national defence, and the strategic placement of cities. Imagine the problems that could come from having a major strategic city like this right next door to an enemy civilization. It would change the way you structure your armed forces, where you deploy them, even foreign policy. There is also an obligation on the player to plan and construct a robust communications/supply infrastructure that can handle pillaging/warfare.
Again, Im sorry if all this has been covered before, but if not then I hope it at least gives food for thought.
