Adapting Policy Cards

[Gedemon]

I like the policy cards mechanism of Civ6, and I do plan to keep it in the mod, but a lot of the policies will need a complete rework to fit the mod's mechanisms.

Here is a list of policies that need to be adapted or removed:

[table=head] Policy | Type | Effect |
God King | Economic | +1 Gold and Faith in the Capital | no religion mechanism (yet)
Strategos | Wildcard | +2 Great General points per turn | no great people mechanism (yet)
Land Surveyors | Economic | Reduces the cost to purchase a tile by 20% | no tile purchase
Inspiration | Wildcard | +2 Great Scientist points per turn | no great people
Revelation | Wildcard | +2 Great Prophet points per turn | no great people
Insulae | Economic | +1 housing in all cities with at least 2 specialty districts | separated housing, less districts
Charismatic Leader | Diplomatic | +2 influence points per turn | No mechanism to use influence/envoys yet
Diplomatic League | Diplomatic | The first envoy you send to each city-state counts as 2 envoys | No city-state
Literary Tradition | Wildcard | +2 Great Writer points per turn | no great people
Bastions | Military | +6 City defense strength, +5 City ranged attack strength | no ranged attack for cities
Natural Philosophy | Economic | +100% Campus district adjacency bonuses | no campus
Scripture | Economic | +100% Holy Site district adjacency bonuses | no Holy Site
Naval Infrastructure | Economic | +100% Harbor district adjacency bonuses | limited adjacency bonuses
Navigation | Wildcard | +2 Great Admiral points per turn | no great people
Meritocracy | Economic | Each city receives +1 Culture for each specialty district it constructs | less districts
Retainers | Military | +1 amenity for cities with a garrisoned unit | no amenity mechanism (will be replaced by "needs")
Sack | Military | Yields gained from pillaging are doubled for districts | less districts
Professional Army | Military | -50% discount on all unit upgrades | maybe applied to reinforcement costs (would be OP at50%)
Merchant Confederation | Diplomatic | +1 Gold from each of your city-state | no city-state
Aesthetics | Economic | +100% Theater Square district adjacency bonuses | no Theater Square
Medina Quarter | Economic | +2 housing in all cities with at least 3 specialty districts | separated housing, less districts
Craftsmen | Economic | +100% Industrial Zone district adjacency bonuses | less adjacency bonuses
Town Charters | Economic | +100% Commercial Hub district adjacency bonuses | no Commercial Hub
Traveling Merchants | Wildcard | +2 Great Merchant points per turn |
Colonial Offices | Economic | +15% faster growth for cities not on your original Capital's continent |
Invention | Wildcard | +2 Great Engineer points per turn |
Frescoes | Wildcard | +2 Great Artist points per turn |
Wars of Religion | Military | +4 combat strength when fighting civilizations that follow other religions |
Simultaneum | Economic | Doubles Faith yield from Holy Site district buildings
Religious Orders | Economic | All religious units gain +5 religious strength in theological
Triangular Trade | Economic | +4 Gold and +1 Faith from all Trade Routes |
Rationalism | Economic | +100% Science from Campus district buildings | no Campus
Free Market | Economic | +100% Gold yield from Commercial Hub district buildings | no Commercial Hub
Liberalism | Economic | +1 amenity to all cities with at least 2 speciality districts
Raj | Diplomatic | +2 Science , Culture , Faith and Gold from all city-states you're Suzerain of
Symphonies | Wildcard | +4 Great Musician points per turn
Expropriation | Economic | Settler cost reduced by 50%. Plot purchase cost reduced by 20%. | no plot purchase
Military Organization | Wildcard | +4 Great General points per turn
Resource Management | Economic | 1 copy of a Strategic Resource allows you to produce or purchase units requiring it in every city | different mechanisms
Laissez-Faire | Wildcard | +4 Great Merchant points per turn |
Nobel Prize | Wildcard | +4 Great Scientist points per turn |
Economic Union | Economic | +100% Commercial Hub and Harbor district adjacency bonuses |
New Deal | Economic | +4 Housing, +2 Amenities , and -8 Gold to all cities with at least 3 specialty districts |
Gunboat Diplomacy | Diplomatic | Open Borders with all City-States, and +4 influence points per turn towards earning Envoys |
Five-Year Plan | Economic | +100% Campus and Industrial Zone district adjacency bonuses |
Collectivization | Economic | +4 Food from domestic Trade Routes | need to be balanced with the food values in the mod
Containment | Diplomatic | Each Envoy6 Envoy you send to a City-State counts as two, if its Suzerain has different government than you |
Heritage Tourism | Economic | +100% Tourism from Great Works and Artifacts |
Sports Media | Economic | +100% Theater Square district adjacency bonuses, and Stadiums generate +1 Amenity |
Satellite Broadcasts | Economic | Triples Tourism from Great Works of Music |
International Space Agency | Diplomatic | +10% Science per City-State you are the Suzerain of |
Online Communities | Economic | +50% Tourism output to civilizations to which you have a Trade Route |
Collective Activism | Diplomatic | +10% Culture per City-State you are the Suzerain of |
[/table]

And here is a list of effects that I'd like to attach to some policies (existing or news), I'd like your help on the design/naming:

Those two to control the debt (multiple level, with a new card every 2 eras for example):

- allow units to buy supply (for reinforcement/upgrades), even when the treasury is low (raising the debt, with a gold limit per turn)
- allow cities to buy resources (for construction/ repairing), even when the treasury is low (raising the debt, with a gold limit per turn)

 

[Knasp]

I haven't given it much thought but I have some general suggestions:

• District adjacency bonus could be changed to a building combo bonus (in each city) or a cumulative bonus for each city having the building (i.e. the number of libraries).
  
• Faith bonuses could be changed for culture bonuses (although I think religion should be implemented in some way later).
  
• Diplomacy category could be renamed "Trade" and the "green" policies would then influence foreign trade (affecting rate of imports/exports between cities and Civs), maybe affecting migration? The regular Economic policies would then refer to domestic policies in particular.
  
• Great people wildcard policies could either be changed to reflect some completely different category, or they could be changed to give access to unique units/buildings/improvements etc that you can only access while having that policy.

 

[heinous_hat]

And here is a list of effects that I'd like to attach to some policies (existing or news), I'd like your help on the design/naming:

Those two to control the debt (multiple level, with a new card every 2 eras for example):

- allow units to buy supply (for reinforcement/upgrades), even when the treasury is low (raising the debt, with a gold limit per turn)
- allow cities to buy resources (for construction/ repairing), even when the treasury is low (raising the debt, with a gold limit per turn)

For the ancient era into classical, something like "Liturgical Institutions" would be appropriate... essentially, voluntary (or semi-compulsory) philanthropy from wealthy citizens pays for military upkeep, civic improvements, or whatever is called for. Such a policy could even tie into population class numbers, and religion (when that takes shape). So, for example, a higher proportion of wealthy citizens could have greater effect. Likewise for a high faith output, since liturgy is a civil/religious concept. In later eras, tax themed policies would be more appropriate, although philanthropy might remain as a weaker option, or a supplement.

BTW, the vanilla district policies that affect buildings directly (Rationalism, Free Market and... I forget the name of the culture policy) are functional. I routinely pick these, as they're among the handful of economic policies that are actually useful.

District adjacency bonus could be changed to a building combo bonus (in each city) or a cumulative bonus for each city having the building (i.e. the number of libraries).

I like this idea of a synergistic bonus for multiple building copies, if it's doable.

 

[Knasp]

Those two to control the debt (multiple level, with a new card every 2 eras for example):

- allow units to buy supply (for reinforcement/upgrades), even when the treasury is low (raising the debt, with a gold limit per turn)

I'm just gonna throw out a couple of ideas:

Maybe it could be tied to reduced income from fighting/plundering? Meaning that you'd get less gold when you plunder or defeat enemy units (to repay the debt). Otherwise the trade off could be that production of new military units is slowed down (or it could lower the output of science/culture/non-military resources).

Another option would be a policy like "Citizen soldiers". This policy would represent soldiers paying their equipment out of their own pockets. In return the soldiers are promised their fair share of war spoils, meaning that you get reduced income from plundering, and that any captured equipment/enemies are "lost" (i.e. sold in order to repay debt).To expand upon this you could have military units loosing morale every turn they're not getting any plunder from tiles/enemy units. In time, the rising indebtedness of soldiers (unless plundering) could cause a transfer of lower class citizens to slaves, middle class to lower... and so on.

A later 19-20th century policy for when the State is incurring debt in order to build/upgrade army could be called "War bonds".

 

[gaborpesti]

Policies are about choice. What about providing 1-1 policy for every material separately? Or malybe 2 one somehow making that 10% better (10% better spearmen) and the other speeding up manufactory spead of spears...

 

[Gedemon]

Good point about the policy categories,I'd prefer to avoid adding more (= UI editing), so what about changing the existing to those:
- Military
- Foreign
- Domestic
- Wildcard

I also agree about choices we'll have to try to prevent "must have" policies.

New policies:
[table=head] Policy | Type | "Civic" | Effect |
Liturgical Institutions | Domestic | Mysticism | Reduction of production & supply cost in cities based on the percentage of higher class population in that city (caped at 50% for -hypothetical- 100% higher class) |
"War Bonds" | Military | Nationalism | No limit to the debt from military expense when at war
[/table]


Modified policies:
[table=head] Policy | Type | "Civic" | Effect |
Strategos | Military | Military Tradition | -10% units supply cost | unit "maintenance" from vanilla game will be removed as there is a constant flux of new equipment creating supply cost (and if that not enough in some case, we could add a small materiel consumption per turn depending of unit type)
Conscription | Military | State Workforce | -20% units production cost
[/table]

 

[dunkleosteus]

I like the policy card system as well, but I think the current system Firaxis developed is a bit too simplistic, especially for such an ambitious project like this. I think we should expand the policy card system so that there are different categories of policy cards rather than different specializations. "God king" isn't an economic policy, it is a model of government. It's a cultural feature that represents how your government derives power: by claiming to be a deity or claiming divine heritage. The current model gives a set of cookie-cutter governments and then allows players to fill in the slots of those governments. I think we should change it so that additional slots can be unlocked through civics or political technologies (increases in archiving, record keeping, communication etc. like writing) would be able to unlock additional "economic" policy cards. The type of government itself should be customizable with its own set of cards however. In an autocratic type government (which could be a Monarchy, Empire, Dictatorship, Chiefdom, etc.) you could have God-King because that is how an autocratic ruler or despot could legitimize themselves. If you were a republic, you wouldn't have access to God King, but you might have access to cards related to voting. Through this method, you define the flavour and structure of your government through policy cards in a way that is both more structured and more dynamic than the current system. The type of government you choose should have a greater impact than simply "land units get +4 combat strength". If I have an oligarchic republic the way Rome did, that would give power to the upper class citizens in my nation. Such a system might be strong because of the ease with which you upper class citizens can become educated and wealthy, making them stronger leaders and better decision makers or diplomats. Republics or other Democracies should come inherently with less control: in an oligarchy, I might have a tough time doing things that hurt my upper class citizens (giving freedom to slaves for example, although historically it would include giving greater rights to other classes, taking land or money from the upper class or decreasing their power). An Autocratic government with a monarchy may give much more freedom, but includes its own risks. We know that monarchies are a bit of a gamble with leaders (since merit usually plays no part in picking a new leader) so the stability of the nation is in jeopardy.

 

[heinous_hat]

I would love to see policies limited by government choice, but is there an easy way to impose that restriction?

There's an unused column in policies: RequiresGovernmentUnlock (all null values). It would be awfully convenient if that was functional, and not a one-way flag (i.e. switching governments both activates and deactivates policy choices).

 

[Gedemon]

@dunkleosteus : Governement-specific policies would be nice, yes. Not sure if it's possible with the current modding tools, but something to look at in the future.

@heinous_hat : it's a boolean, no idea what it does

 

[washy]

In the military cards, you can have one that make the supply lines longer or more efective
Slaver: make the soldier better at making slaves and getting more weapons back
Forced march: +1 movement to all the units -10%morale and more consumption of food