Feedback: Buildings and Wonders

[Howard Mahler]

Apparently this is being discussed somewhere else.
I think people are overthinking this.

Reducing it to +1 trade route from +2 trade routes cuts it in half.
This will be fine.
No need to get fancy or creative.

[Xyth]

Originally Posted by Howard Mahler

Apparently this is being discussed somewhere else.
I think people are overthinking this.

Reducing it to +1 trade route from +2 trade routes cuts it in half.
This will be fine.
No need to get fancy or creative.

It's fine for Archipelagos but not so much for other map types where this change weakens it much more. Remember that the Great Lighthouse gives coastal trade routes. I agree that we need to reduce it to just 1 coastal trade route in every city for the sake of balance on Archipelagos but also that there needs to be some smaller bonus as well to compensate. Here's my suggestions, copied from that other thread:

• +50% commerce from trade routes in the city
• +1 regular trade route in the city
• +25% commerce in the city
• Free naval promotion allowing double speed movement over reefs

None of these would make the wonder too strong on any maptype. And we should continue discussion of it here rather than there.

[Howard Mahler]

Like some wonders, the Great Lighthouse is stronger in certain situations. The GLH can currently only be built in a coastal city, and is only worthwhile to build if the Civ has or expects to have a reasonable number of coastal cities.
+1 trade routes in coastal cities in the right circumstances is strong, and in the wrong circumstances (with just one coastal city) is weak. Also, the more foreign and overwater trade routes the better.

The simplest and best extra bonus, if you think one is needed, is 2 rather than one extra trade routes in the city where the GLH is built. The other ideas can be saved for buildings, unique buildings, unique units, or other wonders.

By the way, this gets back to the idea of the cost of certain wonders depending on map type and size. I forget whether you said this as impossible, but if not the GLH is a good example of one where the cost could usefully vary.

Originally Posted by Xyth

It's fine for Archipelagos but not so much for other map types where this change weakens it much more. Remember that the Great Lighthouse gives coastal trade routes. I agree that we need to reduce it to just 1 coastal trade route in every city for the sake of balance on Archipelagos but also that there needs to be some smaller bonus as well to compensate. Here's my suggestions, copied from that other thread:

• +50% commerce from trade routes in the city
• +1 regular trade route in the city
• +25% commerce in the city
• Free naval promotion allowing double speed movement over reefs

None of these would make the wonder too strong on any maptype. And we should continue discussion of it here rather than there.

[Xyth]

Originally Posted by Howard Mahler

By the way, this gets back to the idea of the cost of certain wonders depending on map type and size. I forget whether you said this as impossible, but if not the GLH is a good example of one where the cost could usefully vary.

It's not impossible but it wouldn't be easy and would probably slow down AI decision making noticeably. I don't think it's worth the effort to be honest.

[KaneofEgypt]

What do you think of some kind of early naval academy? There were very experienced sailors in ancient Greece and Egypt, but the only building that gives you any XP is a dry-dock, which comes much later. The naval academy could become obsolete once the dry-dock steps in, or it could not be obsoleted at all, because America still has naval academies today.

[KaneofEgypt]

I don't quite understand the point of the religion office wonder. All it seems to do is make your cities unhealthy and give you less happiness once you reach free religion.

[Howard Mahler]

I do not think the religious office currently has much use in the game.

There is no game reason why you would want to remove religions from your own cities.

Since there is some advantage to an opponent to having religions in his cities, there may be some advantage to you to remove religions from opponents cities.
However, it requires a significant investment and open borders.
I tried it once, just to see how it works. After three or four failures I just gave up.

From a game point of view, there are usually much better uses of your hammers.

I think this is ripe for a significant revision or removal.

Originally Posted by KaneofEgypt

I don't quite understand the point of the religion office wonder. All it seems to do is make your cities unhealthy and give you less happiness once you reach free religion.

[Azoth]

Well, the Holy Office does have some uses.
For one thing, inquisitions are necessary to raise the influence of your state religion to 80% and achieve the new Religious Victory.

For another:

• Removing religions from your cities eliminates shared-religion espionage discounts, thus increasing the cost of espionage missions for your opponents.
• Removing religions from any city reduces the gold yield of the shrine in the holy city.
• Removing religions from foreign cities reduces happiness, by eliminating temples and weakening the Free Religion civic.
• Removing religions from foreign cities reduces beaker output, by eliminating monasteries.
• Removing religions from foreign cities sharply reduces culture output and sabotages any attempt at Culture Victory, by eliminating cathedrals.
• Removing religions from foreign cities reduces the chance that an AI will convert to another religion, thus preserving "We care for our brothers and sisters of the faith" diplomacy modifiers.

That said, I agree that the Holy Office could benefit from significant revision.
Frankly, I think the new Religious Victory condition should be eliminated.
It leads to absurd gameplay: found a religion, research Dogma, build the Holy Office, send a steady stream of Inquisitors to every city in the world, and win!
Where's the challenge in that?

I would not mind removing the Holy Office as well but I think some players might prefer to keep it for flavour.
In that case, I would suggest we:

1. Prevent Inquisitors from holding inquisitions in foreign cities. That solves most of the balance issues, especially with regards to Culture Victory.
2. Reduce the Holy Office health penalty from -2 (like Industrialism) to -1 (like Slavery).

P.S. Howard, I think you mentioned that you captured an AI city with the Holy Office in one of your previous games. If that's true, it's a bug: the Holy Office is a National Wonder and should be destroyed upon city capture. I've actually had an AI city with the Holy Office revolt and join my empire peacefully; but in that case, I had the choice to rebuff the rebels, so I don't see it as a problem.

[KaneofEgypt]

I see some of the uses now, but the holy office is just not seeming worthwhile to me.

[Xyth]

Originally Posted by KaneofEgypt

I don't quite understand the point of the religion office wonder. All it seems to do is make your cities unhealthy and give you less happiness once you reach free religion.

Originally Posted by Howard Mahler

I do not think the religious office currently has much use in the game.

All the inquisitions stuff was included pretty much as is from another mod. I meant to go back and tailor it to HR better but never got around to it. I don't particularly like the Holy Office much but it's entwined into the Inquisitor code in general and will take a fair bit of effort to remove. On my todo list.

Originally Posted by Azoth

Frankly, I think the new Religious Victory condition should be eliminated.
It leads to absurd gameplay: found a religion, research Dogma, build the Holy Office, send a steady stream of Inquisitors to every city in the world, and win!
Where's the challenge in that?

It came with the borrowed Inquisition code and is probably removalable. However, is it worth keeping around in some form if foreign inquisitions are removed?

1. Prevent Inquisitors from holding inquisitions in foreign cities. That solves most of the balance issues, especially with regards to Culture Victory.
2. Reduce the Holy Office health penalty from -2 (like Industrialism) to -1 (like Slavery).

Both of these are easy to do. I could do them in as a temporary measure until the Holy Office can be removed (or significantly redesigned if removal isn't possible). However, I feel that removing foreign inquisitions pretty much defeats the purpose of having inquisitors at all. I'll look at options to tone them down a bit.

P.S. Howard, I think you mentioned that you captured an AI city with the Holy Office in one of your previous games. If that's true, it's a bug: the Holy Office is a National Wonder and should be destroyed upon city capture. I've actually had an AI city with the Holy Office revolt and join my empire peacefully; but in that case, I had the choice to rebuff the rebels, so I don't see it as a problem.

I checked and this is indeed a bug, the Holy Office can be captured. I'll fix this.

[Azoth]

Originally Posted by KaneofEgypt

I see some of the uses now, but the holy office is just not seeming worthwhile to me.

Yeah, the Holy Office works for some play styles and not for others. Many of the National Wonders are like that: in some of my games, I never bother to build the National Monument; in others, I skip the National Museum. I should mention that the Holy Office also provides +25% gold, +25% espionage, and three priest specialist slots, so it can be useful even if you don't hold any inquisitions. Those three specialist slots nicely round out the scientist, engineer, merchant, and artist slots from the Academy, Ironworks, Stock Exchange, and National Theatre National Wonders.

Originally Posted by Xyth

It came with the borrowed Inquisition code and is probably removalable. However, is it worth keeping around in some form if foreign inquisitions are removed?

If foreign inquisitions are removed, then you could keep Religious Victory as a convenient shortcut to either Conquest or Domination Victory, much like Vassal States. If you control 80% of the world's population, but prefer not to settle the few remaining desert and tundra regions for Domination Victory, or attack your few remaining friends for Conquest Victory, then you can take a well-deserved Religious Victory.

Originally Posted by Xyth

Both of these are easy to do. I could do them in as a temporary measure until the Holy Office can be removed (or significantly redesigned if removal isn't possible). However, I feel that removing foreign inquisitions pretty much defeats the purpose of having inquisitors at all. I'll look at options to tone them down a bit.

Is there any historical precedent for foreign inquisitions? The Inquisitions of the Catholic Church were largely local affairs, approved by the pope but directed by the Crown and conducted by local church officials. As for the suppression of indigenous belief systems in the colonies: the missionaries may have arrived before the conquerors and administrators, but the inquisitors surely came after. Taking a broader perspective, I have to assume that inquisitions everywhere, whatever their form, were civilization- and indeed region- specific. No leader would allow foreign agents to torture her people if she had any say in the matter. Wait, there's an idea: you could allow foreign inquisitions only in cities held by vassals.

[Howard Mahler]

With new early buildings that provide culture, the importance of the Theatre has declined. Also it no gives happiness with Dyes.

Possibly there is something you can add to make the Theatre a little more valuable.

[Howard Mahler]

I rarely build the levee.
It only seems worthwhile when you have an awful lot of river tiles.

I suspect you could afford to reduce the hammers to build the levee by about 1/3.

[davidtylr]

I was thinking like with some buildings like with barracks, Library and market you can upgrade buildings for example you start off building a small barracks and end up building a large barracks.

another idea you can build commercial, industrial centers which then unlock other buildings.

[Xyth]

Originally Posted by Howard Mahler

With new early buildings that provide culture, the importance of the Theatre has declined. Also it no gives happiness with Dyes.

Possibly there is something you can add to make the Theatre a little more valuable.

I'm dropping the Weaver to just 1 culture and it's possible that it may get shifted later in the tree. Either way, this should help restore the Theatre's role a bit.

Originally Posted by Howard Mahler

I rarely build the levee.
It only seems worthwhile when you have an awful lot of river tiles.

I suspect you could afford to reduce the hammers to build the levee by about 1/3.

It's situational but very powerful in appropriate cities. Rivers are not as abundant on Archipelago maps too.

Originally Posted by davidtylr

I was thinking like with some buildings like with barracks, Library and market you can upgrade buildings for example you start off building a small barracks and end up building a large barracks.

another idea you can build commercial, industrial centers which then unlock other buildings.

I've considered this but it adds a lot of clutter. In BTS you can make buildings require another building but there's no easy mechanic to make them replace another building. It might be possible and certainly has some merit but I think it would be something to explore at a later time.


Copying this from another thread as it's more appropriate to this one:

Weaver
Requires Textiles
Cost: 50
• +1 culture
• +5% commerce from Dye, Cotton, Flax, Silk, Sheep

What do you think of that as a rough concept? Basically, a modifier that increases the more types of resources you get, up to a maximum of 25%. Not all the resource buildings would suit such a change of course but do you think something like this is worth pursuing?

[Howard Mahler]

"I'm dropping the Weaver to just 1 culture and it's possible that it may get shifted later in the tree. Either way, this should help restore the Theatre's role a bit."

This will help.
You should consider adding maybe +1 coins to Theatre.

[Azoth]

All right. Let's talk resources:

Resources
There are exactly 50 resources in HR.

• 12 Strategic Resources: Aluminum, Coal, Copper, Elephant, Gas, Horse, Iron, Marble, Oil, Rubber, Stone, Uranium
• 23 Happiness Resources: Amber, Cocoa, Coffee, Cotton, Dye, Flax, Fur, Gems, Gold, Hit Movies, Hit Singles, Hit Stageshows, Incense, Jade, Seal, Silk, Silver, Spices, Sugar, Tea, Tobacco, Whale, Wine
• 15 Health Resources: Banana, Bison, Cattle, Corn, Crab, Deer, Fish, Olives, Pig, Potato, Rice, Salt, Sheep, Shellfish, Wheat

Comments

1. Elephant is classified as a strategic resource because in HR, unlike in BtS, it does not provide a passive +1 happiness bonus. It is still useful for the units it unlocks and is valued appropriately by the AI.
2. Salt is classified as a health resource even though it does not provide a passive +1 health bonus. It should. As it stands, the AI considers Salt worthless. I also see no reason why it should go obsolete. Salt is still used as seasoning and as a preservative in the modern age.
3. In BtS, three happiness resources - Ivory, Fur, and Whale - go obsolete in the Industrial Era, and are replaced by the three wonder resources - Hit Movies, Hit Singles, and Hit Musicals. In HR, I suggest three slightly different resources: Seal, Fur, and Whale. Elephants, much like Horses, will automatically go obsolete as military technology advances. Their obsolescence does not need to be coded directly.
4. I much prefer the name "Clam" to "Shellfish". "Clam" is a common word for a variety of edible bivalves, including clams, oysters, scallops, and mussels. "Shellfish" is too broad a term, and covers both clams and crustaceans, such as lobsters and crab. But we already have a Crab resource! "Shellfish" is also a misnomer: shellfish are not a kind of fish.
5. Likewise, if you think "Hit Musical" is too narrow, I might suggest "Hit Shows" instead of "Hit Stageshows." "Stageshow" is not really a word in North America and it's rather long besides. But it's a minor point compared to "Shellfish."

Resource Buildings
Of those 50 resources, 15 are new to HR: 2 strategic, 9 happiness, and 4 health. All of the resources provide further benefits when paired with buildings, sometimes more than once. Even when you consider that the average empire has roughly 10 to 15 different resources within its borders, that adds up to a lot of health and happiness. And any player who goes conquering will have access to much more. It doesn't help that various buildings (the Cemetery, Well, Aqueduct, Bath, Sewers, and Hospital) provide +13 health even without resources, not to mention +1 happiness per Temple.

Replacing bonus health and happiness from resource buildings with a percent commerce modifier is an interesting idea, but it would be tricky to balance. To take your example:

Originally Posted by Xyth

Weaver
Requires Textiles
Cost: 50
• +1 culture
• +5% commerce from Dye, Cotton, Flax, Silk, Sheep

It strikes me that +25% commerce is very strong, comparable to +25% beakers and +25% gold from a Library and Market, plus +25% culture and +25% espionage, depending on how the sliders are set. Put another way, a city with a +25% commerce multiplier produces the same commerce as a city 25% larger without the commerce multiplier. That means that a +25% commerce bonus is effectively equivalent to +25% health and +25% happiness; and I think we can already that would be too strong. Or rather, it's too strong coming from a single building that can be built in every city. Commerce multipliers would be appropriate for a National Wonder that can only be build once; the National Theatre could handle +5% commerce from Dye, Cotton, Flax, Silk, Sheep just fine. Alternatively, +25% commerce spread out over multiple buildings across the entire tech tree, and tied to strategic resources that all players would have access to, would be balanced. Anything short of that is problematic.

I suggest a much simpler fix:

1. Resources should not be tied to more than one building. No more +1 health base, +1 health from Granary, and +1 happiness from Distillery.
2. Buildings should be linked to a maximum of three resources. A single building should not solve all health and happiness problems for an era.
3. In general, most buildings should see their happiness and health bonuses reduced, or their hammer cost increased.

If you agree, I have a first draft ready to post.

[Xyth]

Originally Posted by Azoth

Resources
There are exactly 50 resources in HR.

• 12 Strategic Resources: Aluminum, Coal, Copper, Elephant, Gas, Horse, Iron, Marble, Oil, Rubber, Stone, Uranium
• 23 Happiness Resources: Amber, Cocoa, Coffee, Cotton, Dye, Flax, Fur, Gems, Gold, Hit Movies, Hit Singles, Hit Stageshows, Incense, Jade, Seal, Silk, Silver, Spices, Sugar, Tea, Tobacco, Whale, Wine
• 15 Health Resources: Banana, Bison, Cattle, Corn, Crab, Deer, Fish, Olives, Pig, Potato, Rice, Salt, Sheep, Shellfish, Wheat

Seals are actually a health resource. Like Bison they currently give base health but happiness from their related building. Rubber currently has no use beyond it's tile yield, it's there for possible future expansion.

Salt is classified as a health resource even though it does not provide a passive +1 health bonus. It should. As it stands, the AI considers Salt worthless.

Oversight, already fixed for 0.9.5.

I also see no reason why it should go obsolete. Salt is still used as seasoning and as a preservative in the modern age.

Salt obsoleted so that the Smokehouse wouldn't have to. The Smokehouse was redesigned since then though so there's probably no need to have it obsolete anymore.

In BtS, three happiness resources - Ivory, Fur, and Whale - go obsolete in the Industrial Era, and are replaced by the three wonder resources - Hit Movies, Hit Singles, and Hit Musicals. In HR, I suggest three slightly different resources: Seal, Fur, and Whale. Elephants, much like Horses, will automatically go obsolete as military technology advances. Their obsolescence does not need to be coded directly.

Agreed.

I much prefer the name "Clam" to "Shellfish". "Clam" is a common word for a variety of edible bivalves, including clams, oysters, scallops, and mussels.

Another regional semantic difference it seems. A clam to me (and according to Wikipedia, the UK and parts of the US too) is one variety of shellfish, completely different from oysters, mussels, etc.

"Shellfish" is too broad a term, and covers both clams and crustaceans, such as lobsters and crab. But we already have a Crab resource!

It can be used in the broad sense but, at least in my experience, it's far more commonly used to refer to bivalve molluscs specifically.

Likewise, if you think "Hit Musical" is too narrow, I might suggest "Hit Shows" instead of "Hit Stageshows." "Stageshow" is not really a word in North America and it's rather long besides. But it's a minor point compared to "Shellfish."

You North Americans talk weird! :P 'Hit Shows' works well enough though. Also tempted by 'Hit Drama'.

Of those 50 resources, 15 are new to HR: 2 strategic, 9 happiness, and 4 health. All of the resources provide further benefits when paired with buildings, sometimes more than once. Even when you consider that the average empire has roughly 10 to 15 different resources within its borders, that adds up to a lot of health and happiness. And any player who goes conquering will have access to much more. It doesn't help that various buildings (the Cemetery, Well, Aqueduct, Bath, Sewers, and Hospital) provide +13 health even without resources, not to mention +1 happiness per Temple.

I'm planning to lower some of that health from buildings and also to review the religious buildings happiness bonuses.

Replacing bonus health and happiness from resource buildings with a percent commerce modifier is an interesting idea, but it would be tricky to balance.

Yep, I was just throwing it out as a concept rather than a plan. I think you extrapolate much too far in your example but it certainly is strong. It's definitely not the solution to balancing health/happiness but it could be useful in a specific case.

Resources should not be tied to more than one building. No more +1 health base, +1 health from Granary, and +1 happiness from Distillery.

The Distillery is the culprit here, it needs to be redesigned. The only other resource that gives benefit to 2 buildings is Cattle (Tannery and Supermarket).

Buildings should be linked to a maximum of three resources. A single building should not solve all health and happiness problems for an era.

My target was 4 maximum, at least in terms of happiness/health. In several cases it might be tricky to reduce these to 3 without removing resources.

In general, most buildings should see their happiness and health bonuses reduced, or their hammer cost increased.

Definitely.

If you agree, I have a first draft ready to post.

Please post your ideas. I've got several of my own too but still very much experimental.

[Azoth]

The First Draft

Added or adjusted bonuses are in green.
Removed bonuses are in red.
I've listed all resource buildings as a matter of course, whether or not any changes were made.
All other buildings are only listed if I had a suggestion to make.

Ancient Era
Kiln: -1 health, +2 beakers, +5% commerce with Stone (+2 production, +1 commerce removed)
Granary: +25% food stored, +1 health from Corn/Rice/Wheat, +1 health from Agrarianism, +1 happiness from Redistribution
Smokehouse: +25% food stored, +1 health from Bison/Deer
Tannery: -1 health, +2 hammers, +1 happiness from Fur/Seal
Theatre: +3 culture, +2 artist slots, +1 happiness from Dye (+1 happiness per 10% culture rate removed)
Circus: -1 health, +2 gold, +1 happiness from Elephant/Horse, requires Elephant or Horse [new building]

Classical Era
Harbour: +50% trade route yield, +1 health from Crab/Fish/Shellfish
Aqueduct: +2 health from fresh water (does not provide extra health to cities already connected to fresh water), spreads irrigation to adjacent tiles
Forge: -1 health, +25% production, +1 engineer slot, -1 health from Copper/Iron, +1 happiness from Gems/Gold/Silver
Stadium: +1 happiness, +1 from Hit Shows, +1 happiness per 20% culture rate
Market: +25% gold, +2 merchant slots, +1 happiness from Amber/Jade, +2 happiness with Professionalism
Jail: +4 espionage, +25% espionage, +2 spy slots, -25% war wariness

Medieval Era
Weaver: +1 culture, +1 happiness from Cotton/Flax/Silk
Tavern: +25% trade route yield, +1 happiness from Cocoa/Tobacco/Wine (+1 culture, +2 commerce removed)
Bath: +1 culture, +25% GPP, heals units an extra +10% damage/turn (+2 health removed)
Grocer: +25% gold, +2 merchant slots, +1 health from Banana/Olive, -1 health from Tobacco
Great Temple: +50% culture, +2 priest slots, +2 happy with state religion, +1 happy from Incense
Civic Square: +2 culture, +25% GPP, +10% Great General emergence, +5% commerce with Marble

Renaissance Era
Inn: +1 trade route, +25% trade route yield, +1 health from Tea, +1 happiness from Coffee, requires Tavern [new building]
Customs House: +50% foreign trade route yield, +1 health from Salt, +1 happiness from Spices
Sewers: +2 health, +25% espionage, +1 population
Observatory: +25% beakers, +1 scientist slot, +50% spaceship production
Distillery: -1 health, +1 happiness from Potato/Sugar, -25% war wariness
Drydock: -1 health, +4 XP for Naval Units, +50% production for Naval units, +1 health from Whale

Industrial Era
Supermarket: +2 food, +1 health from Cattle/Pig/Sheep, -1 health from Tobacco
Factory: -2 health, +25% production, +50% production with power, -1 health from Coal/Gas/Oil, +2 engineer slots, +5% commerce with Rubber
Cinema: +1 happiness, +3 culture, +1 happiness from Hit Movies, player suffers -5% war wariness
News Press: +25% GPP, +1 happiness per 10% espionage rate, enemies suffer +10% war wariness
Industrial Park: -2 health, 1 free engineer, +2 engineer slots, -1 health from Coal/Gas/Oil, +5% commerce with Oil

Modern Era
Broadcast Tower: +50% culture, +2 artist slots, +1 happy from Hit Singles, +1 happiness per 10% culture rate
Laboratory: -1 health, +25% beakers, +1 scientist slot, -1 health from Tobacco, +5% commerce with Copper


Comments

• Every resource is linked to only one building. Every building is linked to a maximum of three resources. Two new buildings, the Circus and the Inn, are introduced: not only for their connection to certain resources, but also because they fulfill a certain niche.
• The Kiln, Tannery, and Circus now have a clear function. They each produce -1 health. They also provide +2 beakers, +2 hammers, and +2 gold, respectively. Thus, they ensure that every city is at least minimally productive in the early game. Marginal cities can build all three buildings and pay the price in reduced health. More important cities might prefer to skip them, and head directly to Libraries, Forges, and Markets.
• One of the reasons Archipelago maps are somewhat imbalanced is that coastal cities can accumulate a total of +150% trade route yield from the Harbour and Customs House, while inland cities get nothing. This issue has now been fixed. The Tavern and the Inn each offer +25% trade route yield to coastal and inland cities alike. The Inn also provides an extra trade route, as I gather you cut the bonus trade route at Record Keeping. The Customs House has accordingly been reduced to +50% foreign trade route yield, and picks up a bonus from Salt and Spices to compensate. That leaves the Smokehouse with bonus health from Bison and Deer.
• There was talk earlier of balancing the increased war wariness from News Presses with decreased war wariness elsewhere. I chose Cinemas as the most logical choice: war propaganda is very effective on film. Players are thus tasked with building enough Cinemas to counter their opponents News Presses; much like Corporations, it's a new side show for the Industrial Era.
• Tobacco no longer has a passive health penalty. Rather, Tobacco produces -1 health when paired with the Grocer and Supermarket. This creates better gameplay: Tobacco fields will be wildly popular in the early eras; and later, they will be paved over with farms and towns, or their resource exported to other civilizations.
• Five commerce multipliers have been added, one each to the Kiln, the Civic Square, the Factory, the Industrial Park, and the Laboratory. In exchange, the Civic Square GPP bonus was reduced to 25%, the remainder having been transferred to the News Press; and the +50% spaceship production was moved from the Laboratory to the Observatory. The commerce multipliers are tied to strategic resources - Stone, Marble, Rubber, Oil, and Copper - that all players might have access to. Stone, Marble, and Copper were chosen because they see little use after the Ancient and Classical Eras. Rubber need a role to play and Oil was simply too important to omit.
• A few buildings have been reassigned to different eras. The Weaver moves to the Medieval Era because there are plenty of other happiness sources in the Ancient Era and even +1 culture overshadows the Monument. Similarly, the Harbour moves to the Classical Era, the Bath, Tavern, and Great Temple move to the Medieval Era, and the Customs House moves to the Renaissance Era. The Drydock, however, moves back to the Renaissance from the Industrial Era. It also picks up +1 health from Whales, as whale oil was the first commercially available animal oil.
• Some health bonuses were readjusted. The Distillery penalty was reduced to -1 health, to match the Forge and the Kiln/Tannery/Circus trio. The Granary bonus from Agrarianism was also reduced to +1 health. Baths were stripped of their health bonus entirely. Public baths were a prime vector for contagious diseases, so their effect on health was ambiguous. In its place, Baths picked up +10% damage healed/turn. Furthermore, the Factory and Industrial Park were both assigned -2 health, along with -1 health from Coal/Gas/Oil. The Sewer was set to match that, with +2 health. I also suggested +1 population, as a localized version of the Hanging Gardens bonus; I'm not sure if it's possible to code. Meanwhile, the espionage bonus on Sewers meant that the Jail bonus could be reduced from a ridiculous +50% to a more tame +25%, matching the Library and Market.
• +1 happiness from Dye was restored to Theatres. However, Theatres lost +1 happiness per 10% culture rate to Broadcast Towers. Only Stadiums provide bonus happiness from culture spending in the early game. Meanwhile the three Hit resources were divided evenly amongst the Stadium, Cinema, and Broadcast Tower.

Originally Posted by Xyth

Seals are actually a health resource.

Duly noted.

Originally Posted by Xyth

You North Americans talk weird! :P 'Hit Shows' works well enough though. Also tempted by 'Hit Drama'.

Right; because slang from "Down Under" isn't weird at all!
(Wait: does New Zealand count as "Down Under"?)

But, seriously, either Hit Shows or Hit Drama would work. And I suppose I can broaden my horizons on the meaning of Shellfish.


And that's a wrap!
Well, what do you think?
I must say I'm quite pleased with how this draft turned out.

[Xyth]

Still digesting all of that, thanks for your hard work on it. Rather than comment on everything I think I'll see what changes I might want to make to it and produce a new draft. Will probably take me a few days though, busy weekend here. I'll comment on a few aspects now though:

Every building is linked to a maximum of three resources.

I'm not sure we need to be quite this strict, so long as we are sensible with resource distribution*, era of availability, and production cost. As mentioned earlier I had 4 resources in mind as the maximum when I was adding the new resources and buildings. While in some cases it works to prune some of these building/resource combinations down to 3 or less, in others it feels a little forced. I'll think it through more thoroughly when I work on a second draft.

*By this I mean how resources are placed on the map. Resource to Player ratio, resources only appearing on one continent and such.

Circus: -1 health, +2 gold, +1 happiness from Elephant/Horse, requires Elephant or Horse [new building]

I'm not sure we need this, at least not in the early game. Horses and Elephants have strategic value and since we're trying to cut down on health/happiness it seems counterproductive to add happiness to 2 resources that don't really need it. However, in the later game once Horses and Elephants lose their strategic value then having a building like this might sense. I'm sure we can easily find a different home for the +2 gold.

Theatre: +3 culture, +2 artist slots, +1 happiness from Dye (+1 happiness per 10% culture rate removed)
Stadium: +1 happiness, +1 from Hit Shows, +1 happiness per 20% culture rate
Cinema: +1 happiness, +3 culture, +1 happiness from Hit Movies, player suffers -5% war wariness
News Press: +25% GPP, +1 happiness per 10% espionage rate, enemies suffer +10% war wariness
Broadcast Tower: +50% culture, +2 artist slots, +1 happy from Hit Singles, +1 happiness per 10% culture rate

Overall I think this is a very good direction to take for these buildings. Just a few changes I'd want to make:

Theatre: +25% culture, +2 artist slots, +1 happiness from Hit Drama
Stadium: +1 happiness, +1 happiness per 20% culture rate

The Theatre gets a culture modifier to compensate for the removal of some bonuses and to make it scale better throughout the game. Each building now has a well defined role.

I've decided to go with Hit Drama as the name of that resource and I think that this cannot be attached to anything but the Theatre. Dye I still want to connected to the Weaver but that may change when that building is finalized.

One of the reasons Archipelago maps are somewhat imbalanced is that coastal cities can accumulate a total of +150% trade route yield from the Harbour and Customs House, while inland cities get nothing.

I've often wondered why Firaxis made such a discrepancy between inland and coastal trade. It might be worth doing some forum research first to see if there are any reasons that we might not be aware of. Trade route mechanics are notoriously obscure and complex.

Tobacco no longer has a passive health penalty. Rather, Tobacco produces -1 health when paired with the Grocer and Supermarket. This creates better gameplay: Tobacco fields will be wildly popular in the early eras; and later, they will be paved over with farms and towns, or their resource exported to other civilizations.

This makes sense. I actually think I had it like this at one point (though via the Market) but changed it unnecessarily.

A few buildings have been reassigned to different eras.

Some of these changes will be possible but others won't without completely messing up the techtree. I'll see how it goes.

Aqueduct: +2 health from fresh water (does not provide extra health to cities already connected to fresh water), spreads irrigation to adjacent tiles

That's something I've thought of before but I'm not sure it's possible to code, at least for the Aqueduct. This is because the Aqueduct has to have a decent 'standard' bonus alongside the coded one that the AI doesn't understand directly. It might be possible to do for the Well though, I'll look into it.

Bath: +1 culture, +25% GPP, heals units an extra +10% damage/turn (+2 health removed)

This is a good one to remove health from, looks reasonable.

Sewers: +2 health, +25% espionage, +1 population

That should be doable.

Meanwhile, the espionage bonus on Sewers meant that the Jail bonus could be reduced from a ridiculous +50% to a more tame +25%, matching the Library and Market.

Good plan.

Observatory: +25% beakers, +1 scientist slot, +50% spaceship production
Laboratory: -1 health, +25% beakers, +1 scientist slot, -1 health from Tobacco, +5% commerce with Copper

I don't think these changes are important enough to warrant shifting spaceship production back to the Medieval/Renaissance era. It just doesn't feel right.