I will start off the improvement list with a feature that I feel could really improve the realism, strategy, appearance, and overall enjoyment of the game. An introduction of the feature follows:
The "city" is a key object in Civ3. It is one of the fundamental building blocks to a civilization's empire.
The city is:
1. A center of commerce, production, and population.
2. An extension to an empire's national borders and influence.
3. A foothold in unfamiliar territory.
4. A symbol of power and control.
5. A hallmark of a civilization's testimony to its own excellence.
Combined, cities make up the infrastructure of a civilization's empire. With so many important aspects of the city, shouldn't it deserve more focus? I for one, agree. So here is what I think should be improved:
One thing that concerned me about the city in the Civilization series (which didn't become evident until the release of Civ3) was the concrete confinement of a city's physical size on the game map. It was always limited to one square. In the first Civilization, you could build cities directly adjacent to another, but that feature was revoked in the subsequent generations of the game. In the real world, cities are not confined to set physical dimensions. Cities are expansive and inherently extend their borders as population increases.
In short, the city should not be confined to a single square on the game map, it should be allowed to expand to adjacent squares once it reaches certain population milestones. The square to which the city expands to can be either set automatically by the computer or chosen by the player. The act can be prompted by the advisor or done silently without acknowledgement by the player. Finally, the expansion can be optional; if the expansion act is denied, then the city size will be stagnated depending on the current technology available. Therefore cities in early eras will need to expand to adjacent squares in order to increase their population effectively and cities in later eras will be able to condense their population with the advent of higher capacity buildings. To be realistic to city infrastructure, cities must expand to a certain number of squares in order to condense their population in a particular city square. In other words, a city must grow "out" before it can grow "up." A city can expand to any number of available squares within the player's national borders. Unavailable squares include those occupied by other cities, mountains, ocean, etc.
City expansion can improve the strategy element of the game and introduce a new concept such as partial occupation where invading civs capture one city square at a time, allowing for different portions of a city to be controlled by different civs. (think East and West Berlin)
To follow up on how technology level affects city expansion and population density
as technology level increases, civilizations are allowed to increase a city's population density which allows the player to choose to grow a city "up" as opposed to "out", remembering that a city can only grow "up" a certain amount of levels before needing to grow "out". At beginning tech levels, cities will only have the option of expanding to adjacent squares, only after certain technologies are discovered, can a city increase a population point in a given city square.
The implementation of city expansion will obviously affect current rules of how a city produces its commerce, production, and food. Currently, one city square can work up to 21 squares (including the center square). A city can "see" 2 squares out from the center square. Cities gain commerce, production, and food by "working" these squares, but this is all elementary to us Civ veterans. With city expansion, this will need to change. The working range of a city will no longer be limited to 21 squares, but instead be dependant upon the actual square size of the city. A city can see (and therefore work) 2 squares out from each of its city squares. Once a city expands from one city square to two, the overall city view (and total squares available to be worked) increases. Cities will still produce commerce, production, and food in the same way, but with a few perks. First, commerce and production are gained by working the same squares as before but additional bonuses are given for working city-occupied squares with certain city improvements built. Food however, is not gained by working city occupied squares; instead it can only be produced by working unoccupied, irrigated, or farmed squares. (realism is achieved by not having food produced in occupied city squares, after all, how can land be worked for food if it's filled up with homes, shops, and factories!)
Since food can only be obtained through squares that are unoccupied by a city, then growing a city can pose a huge problem as farmland is constantly overrun by city squares (much as it is in real life). However, unlike in Civilization, a city in real life has a way of growing without working food in its vicinity; it is done through transportation and distribution. As another strategic element, farmland can be concentrated in key areas and harvested by farmers, the food can then be transported to any available city (whether it be by road, rail, sea, or air). This can really improve the playability of the game, by allowing island cities with little land available or cities surrounded by un-bountiful land (such as desert) to increase in population by being supplied by a main continent's farmland or other strategic food source. This also adds even more strategy by allowing food supply lines to truly be cut off by an enemy. You will finally be able to starve an empire without occupying all available land inside its territory as is the case now in current Civ versions.
Phew, that was a lot to cover. To summarize:
1. Make cities expansive as opposed to being confined to a single square.
2. Make city expansion dependent on technology level
3. Allow partial occupation of cities where each city square can be occupied by different nations separately from the entire city. Imagine the political and diplomatic challenges that would need to be overcome!
4. Make food workable only on unoccupied (non-city-inhabited) terrain and allow it to be transported through various networks (road, rail, sea, air) to cities that are available (connected to a food transportation network).
In conclusion:
The intricacies of implementing this feature are up to the design team and programmers, how they choose to incorporate it into the game is obviously their call. Furthermore, the city expansion feature and all the additional game elements that come with it are probably too extensive for an expansion pack (unfortunately), so most likely it will be saved for a Civ4 (or whatever other catchy name they decide to use). Hopefully this sparks an interest in the tireless Civilization development team (if one of them even happens to read this post). For all I know, Sid Meier or some other member of the team has already thought of this feature (or something of the like) and are just waiting for the right time to implement it.
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Comments are welcome, but please remember to provide your own ideas for new features to Civilization, as is the purpose of this thread. Also, let me know if there is any part to this post that you feel needs clarification and feel free to piggy back on this idea, add your own ideas to it. I think city expansion could be a truly deserving addition to the game.
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