I've been brainstorming possible ways to improve the Civ4 combat system. One aspect of it I want to improve is the way how experience is accumulated. I find the linear exp gain dull and unrewarding when it comes to winning battles with marginal odds. So I came up with the following.
The experience a unit gains from combat should be influenced by the odds of winning. Winning at only 40% odds should give your units more experience than casually wiping out the enemy at over 90% chances. It would be an incentive to use your units more aggressively, instead of "exping up" units against beat-up or weaker opponents. Maybe not the most original of ideas, but nevertheless something that is gravely missed and deserves implementing. I devised a simple way of achieving the desired result using experience multipliers.
Solution: The experience points a unit gains after combat are multiplied by a value that is determined by its odds for winning.
Odds / Exp Multiplier
< 10% 3X
11-40% 2X
41-59% 1.5X
60-89% 1X
> 90% 0.5X
For example, if you Knight has a 60% chance of winning an enemy Maceman, it will after successful combat receive only the default amount of experience (multiplier 1). However if the same Knight is then attacked by a Pikeman and wins despite having only 40% chances, it will receive twice the experience (multiplier 2). If it gets attacked again and by some freak chance happens to win despite the attacker now having 97% odds, the Knight's experience points from that combat are tripled (multiplier 3).
Cry for modders: I don't know if any of this is actually doable. If it is, coding it is beyond my abilities, them being limited to some basic XML editing. So I'm pleading for you who know your way around the tricks of Civ4 customization (yes, YOU!) to, if you like the idea, code this feature for the rest of us to enjoy.
Thank you!
The experience a unit gains from combat should be influenced by the odds of winning. Winning at only 40% odds should give your units more experience than casually wiping out the enemy at over 90% chances. It would be an incentive to use your units more aggressively, instead of "exping up" units against beat-up or weaker opponents. Maybe not the most original of ideas, but nevertheless something that is gravely missed and deserves implementing. I devised a simple way of achieving the desired result using experience multipliers.
Solution: The experience points a unit gains after combat are multiplied by a value that is determined by its odds for winning.
Odds / Exp Multiplier
< 10% 3X
11-40% 2X
41-59% 1.5X
60-89% 1X
> 90% 0.5X
For example, if you Knight has a 60% chance of winning an enemy Maceman, it will after successful combat receive only the default amount of experience (multiplier 1). However if the same Knight is then attacked by a Pikeman and wins despite having only 40% chances, it will receive twice the experience (multiplier 2). If it gets attacked again and by some freak chance happens to win despite the attacker now having 97% odds, the Knight's experience points from that combat are tripled (multiplier 3).
Cry for modders: I don't know if any of this is actually doable. If it is, coding it is beyond my abilities, them being limited to some basic XML editing. So I'm pleading for you who know your way around the tricks of Civ4 customization (yes, YOU!) to, if you like the idea, code this feature for the rest of us to enjoy.
Thank you!