TheDS
Regular Riot
Do you find lots of straits in your games, where you have to post a Galleon or Transport, just in case? Isn't it an unnecessary micromanagement hassle, to load a transport, then wait a whole turn and unload it, just to bridge a 1 tile gap? Yes it is! I have a simple solution: Ferries.
Bridges would be unrealistic - we don't have any bridges that cross 100+ miles, and probably never will, but we do have lots and lots of ferries.
In-game, a Ferry is formed by a Work Boat, not unlike how a Fishing Boat, Whaling Boat, or Offshore Platform are formed. When built, the Ferry acts like a road across that water tile. Multiple Ferries could bridge larger gaps.
Now, instead of having to assign a transport or two to cover a gap, and having to deal with the monotony of all that, you instead assign a Work Boat to act as a Ferry, and units can now cross short water gaps as if they had roads on them.
Why like a Road? First, the transport units are much more capable, in that they can bridge gaps of 4-14 water tiles. Allowing Ferries to act like Roads is a good compromise, and it just makes sense. Second, if the tech for Ferries is early enough (which it should be), then you can also implement the Road effects of Construction and Engineering - treat the Ferry like it's a bridge over a river! Third, once you get railroads, Ferries really don't need to be all that much more efficient than they already are. True, a Transport would be capable of keeping up with a Railroad, but if you want to do that, build a Transport.
To keep Ferries from being abused, a few things need to be done as well.
Ferries need to be the water-counterpart to Forts, such that a Ferry cannot exist unless it is coastal - deep water Ferries are prohibited.
Units that are attacked while on a Ferry - the Ferry itself is attacked by enemy ships - are treated just like as if they were on Transports. They die without a fight. Ferries are not combat craft.
Units cannot conduct attacks from Ferries. Ferries are still not combat craft. This also includes entering enemy territory from a Ferry; even though you're not attacking a unit, that doesn't mean you're not conducting combat on a scale too small to be seen.
You can't enter an enemy Ferry. For some reason, they don't serve your kind. This also includes "unclaimed" Ferries, which can happen when cities change hands and are still in revolt. As this also affects Forts-as-canals, this is entirely consistent.
If you've ever played the default Earth map, you know there is a lot of use in linking England, Japan, N/S America, Spain/Africa, and even Sweden/Denmark, and regular civ maps, particularly archipelagos, would benefit tremendously from this simple simplification.
Bridges would be unrealistic - we don't have any bridges that cross 100+ miles, and probably never will, but we do have lots and lots of ferries.
In-game, a Ferry is formed by a Work Boat, not unlike how a Fishing Boat, Whaling Boat, or Offshore Platform are formed. When built, the Ferry acts like a road across that water tile. Multiple Ferries could bridge larger gaps.
Now, instead of having to assign a transport or two to cover a gap, and having to deal with the monotony of all that, you instead assign a Work Boat to act as a Ferry, and units can now cross short water gaps as if they had roads on them.
Why like a Road? First, the transport units are much more capable, in that they can bridge gaps of 4-14 water tiles. Allowing Ferries to act like Roads is a good compromise, and it just makes sense. Second, if the tech for Ferries is early enough (which it should be), then you can also implement the Road effects of Construction and Engineering - treat the Ferry like it's a bridge over a river! Third, once you get railroads, Ferries really don't need to be all that much more efficient than they already are. True, a Transport would be capable of keeping up with a Railroad, but if you want to do that, build a Transport.
To keep Ferries from being abused, a few things need to be done as well.
Ferries need to be the water-counterpart to Forts, such that a Ferry cannot exist unless it is coastal - deep water Ferries are prohibited.
Units that are attacked while on a Ferry - the Ferry itself is attacked by enemy ships - are treated just like as if they were on Transports. They die without a fight. Ferries are not combat craft.
Units cannot conduct attacks from Ferries. Ferries are still not combat craft. This also includes entering enemy territory from a Ferry; even though you're not attacking a unit, that doesn't mean you're not conducting combat on a scale too small to be seen.
You can't enter an enemy Ferry. For some reason, they don't serve your kind. This also includes "unclaimed" Ferries, which can happen when cities change hands and are still in revolt. As this also affects Forts-as-canals, this is entirely consistent.
If you've ever played the default Earth map, you know there is a lot of use in linking England, Japan, N/S America, Spain/Africa, and even Sweden/Denmark, and regular civ maps, particularly archipelagos, would benefit tremendously from this simple simplification.
But I would still think that it is open to abuse. You could take advantage of it to load and unload in friendly territory in one turn, and use railways or roads to penetrate an enemy on the same turn. So, you could go much further inland that 2 tiles, given the use of railways and roads.
