sir_schwick
Archbishop of Towels
What I am proposing is definitely too much of a paradigm shift for Civ 4. It may even be too much of a shift for Civ 5. Besides that warning, I am also avoiding too many specifics to see what problems with the idea exists.
This thread really has two seperate ideas that would really compliment each other. The first is the more important one.
New Production Concept
The current civ production model is Tile->City->Improvement/Unit/Wonder. It leaves no room for non-macro products(such as small commercial and industrial products). This also means the current civ trade generate is Tile->City->Trade.
I am proposing this variation of those chains. Raw Materials->Production Center->Products->Trade. Raw Materials come from tiles, but those tiles do not automatically produce x-shields. Production Centers could be defined as cities now or as the variation I will later propose. Products are the outcome of raw materials to production centers. They include the units and improvements we know and love. They also include ordinary mundane refined materials, industrial supplies, and commerical wares. Trade and trade arrows are now found by selling these products to someone. Tiles no longer inherently produce trade arrows, they must do something useful with the raw materials to generate the trade.
This new chain does not limit itself to just shields. Food is a raw material as well. In many cases the square that produced the excess food(Raw Material) is often the production center as well. The product is food ready to ship out. Its a wierd extrapolation, but means that trading and delivering food is as healthy an industry as any other.
Now the value of roads and infrastructure is when they allow better transportation of goods and services. This also opens up whatever level of complexity, as any part of the chain can be modified without reworking the entire game.
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My next theory post will be about modifying what defines the production center. This model still works with city squares as the production center, but my idea will suggest a new definition.
This thread really has two seperate ideas that would really compliment each other. The first is the more important one.
New Production Concept
The current civ production model is Tile->City->Improvement/Unit/Wonder. It leaves no room for non-macro products(such as small commercial and industrial products). This also means the current civ trade generate is Tile->City->Trade.
I am proposing this variation of those chains. Raw Materials->Production Center->Products->Trade. Raw Materials come from tiles, but those tiles do not automatically produce x-shields. Production Centers could be defined as cities now or as the variation I will later propose. Products are the outcome of raw materials to production centers. They include the units and improvements we know and love. They also include ordinary mundane refined materials, industrial supplies, and commerical wares. Trade and trade arrows are now found by selling these products to someone. Tiles no longer inherently produce trade arrows, they must do something useful with the raw materials to generate the trade.
This new chain does not limit itself to just shields. Food is a raw material as well. In many cases the square that produced the excess food(Raw Material) is often the production center as well. The product is food ready to ship out. Its a wierd extrapolation, but means that trading and delivering food is as healthy an industry as any other.
Now the value of roads and infrastructure is when they allow better transportation of goods and services. This also opens up whatever level of complexity, as any part of the chain can be modified without reworking the entire game.
-------------------------------------------------
My next theory post will be about modifying what defines the production center. This model still works with city squares as the production center, but my idea will suggest a new definition.