A few ideas on how to use resource generating improvements in C3X

[Predator145]

If you have a city improvement that generates bonus yield require a resource to be built it will only yield the bonus if the city it's in has access to that resource. This mechanism can be used to make obsolete resources relevant. The AI will appreciate it since they will happily pay a premium for Saltpeter. For example: Have an improvement called "Fertilizer" requiring Saltpeter to be built and giving 2 food bonus yield. You'd need Saltpeter connected to the city to build it. But once Fertilizer is built, the city still needs Saltpeter connected Fertilizer to continue generating the 2 food. The AI will still benefit from purchasing your Saltpeter for the whole game.

You can also use this mechanism to make corruption fighting improvements useful in capital cities. Example: Have the courthouse generate local strat resource called "Courthouse Res". Create a 0 shield small wonder (since there's only 1 of them tied to the capital a SW can't be destroyed via bombardment) called "Courthouse (Capital)" that requires the Court Res and the Palace in the city to be built. That way you and the AI can only build it in a capital city that has a courthouse. Have that SW generate a bonus yield to your taste. I set it at 2 gold and 2 shield and call it "Courthouse Bonus". That IMO is worth the slightly more than 80 shield (even the 0 shield SW will take up your capital's 1 turn production) and 1 gpt maintenance. Because the Courthouse (Capital) SW needs Courthouse Res to continue generating the bonus yield, the human player can't sell the courthouse to avoid having to pay maintenance. And if the courthouse gets destroyed by bombardment, the SW too will temporarily cease working until the courthouse is rebuilt.



The AI benefits greatly from perfumed courthouses and police stations. But the drawback of that is that they will build these in their capitals. This C3X mechanism helps remedy that. And why wouldn't the human player not enjoy building them in their capitals also?

 

[robotlincoln]

Has anyone experimented with religion resources that can be spread? I'm thinking a wonder that produces a virtual strategic resource (say Zoroastrianism), and allows you to build small wonders or improvements that give you a surplus that you can trade (say Zoroastrian Mission). These resources could be required for religion-specific improvements (say Fire Temples). If you export Zoroastrianism to another player, they can then go on to build the religion resource-producing small wonder or improvement themselves and spread the religion onward. This would allow for a religion functionality and different religious improvements without forcing specific civs to have specific religions--England could be the homeland of Zoroastrianism, and Persia could opt for Buddhism. Thoughts?

 

[Predator145]

Has anyone experimented with religion resources that can be spread? I'm thinking a wonder that produces a virtual strategic resource (say Zoroastrianism), and allows you to build small wonders or improvements that give you a surplus that you can trade (say Zoroastrian Mission). These resources could be required for religion-specific improvements (say Fire Temples). If you export Zoroastrianism to another player, they can then go on to build the religion resource-producing small wonder or improvement themselves and spread the religion onward. This would allow for a religion functionality and different religious improvements without forcing specific civs to have specific religions--England could be the homeland of Zoroastrianism, and Persia could opt for Buddhism. Thoughts?

Sounds like a good idea to have spreadable religion. Importing it means you can construct improvements requiring that strat res. Some religions can boost happiness, others may give you 1 extra commerce or shield (think prostestant and confucian work ethic).

 

[robotlincoln]

I'm also thinking of doing this with organic resources to simulate their spread through domestication and breeding. For instance, a small wonder called Palace Stables that both requires and produces Horses. My only question with this (which is relevant to the spreadable religions) is whether in C3X, with wonders and improvements that require and produce the same resource, losing access to the required resource would prevent it from being produced. So if you're importing Horses, build Palace Stables to produce Horses, and the trade deal ends, do you wind up with 1 or 0 Horses?

 

[Predator145]

I'm also thinking of doing this with organic resources to simulate their spread through domestication and breeding. For instance, a small wonder called Palace Stables that both requires and produces Horses. My only question with this (which is relevant to the spreadable religions) is whether in C3X, with wonders and improvements that require and produce the same resource, losing access to the required resource would prevent it from being produced. So if you're importing Horses, build Palace Stables to produce Horses, and the trade deal ends, do you wind up with 1 or 0 Horses?

I haven't tested with strat res but with bonus yield the improvement/SW will stop working if you don't have the required strat res anymore. So I think you'd end up with 0. That's how I want to implement synthetic rubber. You need to have coal and oil to build the synthetic rubber factory that produces the strat res rubber.

 

[robotlincoln]

Sounds like a good idea to have spreadable religion. Importing it means you can construct improvements requiring that strat res. Some religions can boost happiness, others may give you 1 extra commerce or shield (think prostestant and confucian work ethic).

I'm testing this now, it seems to work reasonably well.

I've made 8 major religions into low-cost wonders that each have a different tech prerequisite and each produce a resource named after the religion. This resource allows the construction of religion-specific Temple-equivalents (e.g., Church, Mosque, Jewish Temple, Buddhist Temple, etc.). These Temple-equivalents produce culture and a local luxury called Faith (rather than directly producing happiness). That way if a civ gets access to multiple religions, they can spam Temple-equivalents to increase their culture, but the amount of happiness generated by multiple Temple-equivalents is capped at 1 (from the local Faith luxury). Multi-religious civs are cultural powerhouses, but can't get all their happiness from Temple-equivalents. (Generic Temples themselves work this same way).

Religion-specific Temple-equivalents (but not generic Temples) allow the construction of SWs that themselves generate the relevant religion resource, and represent state institutionalization of that religion's hierarchy ("Clergy" for Christianity, "Ulemah" for Islam, "Rabbinate" for Judaism, etc.). Because these SWs create a surplus religion resource for the civ that originated a given religion, they allow that civ to export that religion resource (i.e., send missionaries). Civs that import a religion resource (i.e., receive missionaries) can build at least one Temple-equivalent, then build one of these SWs to allow civs that import the religion resource to institutionalize it and spread it throughout their territory. This mechanism is how religions spread.

With Theology, religion-specific Temple-equivalents also allow the construction of religion-specific Cathedral-equivalents (e.g., Cathedral, Grand Mosque, Synagogue, Stupa, etc.). Like the Temple-equivalents, these Cathedral-equivalents produce culture and another local luxury called Piety (rather than directly producing happiness). Again, multi-religious civs can pump out lots of culture with these improvements, but can't get all their happiness from Temples and Cathedrals.

To lay this out for one sample religion:
Judaism (Wonder): requires Organized Religion, produces Judaism resource
Jewish Temple: requires Judaism resource, produces local Faith luxury
Rabbinate (SW): requires Jewish Temple, produces Judaism resource
Synagogue: requires Jewish Temple, produces local Piety luxury

So, to give an example: England discovers Organized Religion first, which gives them access to the Judaism wonder. They build it quickly and get access to the Judaism resource, and use this to build Jewish Temples throughout their territory. China discovers Chivalry first, which gives them access to the Islam wonder. They build it quickly and get access to the Islam resource, and use this to build Mosques throughout their territory. Both civs then build their respective religions' SW: England builds a Rabbinate, giving them a surplus of Judaism, and China builds an Ulemah, giving them a surplus of Islam. England trades their surplus Judaism to China for their surplus Islam. While importing Islam, England builds one Mosque; while importing Judaism, China builds one Jewish Temple. The Mosque allows England to build its own Ulemah, which produces Islam and means they no longer have to import it. The Jewish Temple allows China to build its own Rabbinate, which produces Judaism and means they no longer have to import it. England begins exporting Judaism to another neighbor--let's say Persia--while China begins exporting Islam to its neighbor--let's say Maya. Persia builds its own Rabbinate, Maya builds its own Ulemah. Now Judaism and Islam have each spread to three different civs, Persia and Maya now have access to Temple- and Cathedral-equivalents, while multireligious England and China--which could already build Temple- and Cathedral-equivalents--can choose to foster their imported religions, spending production and upkeep to build that religion's improvements to get more culture.

I've decided to make each religion function identically because it's easier than deciding that Protestantism makes people more productive, etc. This is a matter of personal taste but also a way to keep the role of each religion in the game more open-ended.

The main thing I'm wondering now is how this will evolve across a full-length game. Will all civs wind up being deeply multi-religious by the end of the game? Will some civs be locked out of religion entirely? Will leading civs hoard religions because their neighbors don't have anything worth trading? Will it be too easy for a human player to skip religion altogether?

Thoughts?