Arioch's Analyst Thread

[Louis XXIV]

1UPT warfare is about maneuvers and smart unit movement. Instant air transporting would just remove all marine transporting fun.

Well, it's so late in the game and troops are limited by having one per city. To me, it seems like a nice addition without unbalancing everything else too much. Plus, airports would also be useful as offering bonuses to trade routes, one would assume.

Overall, it seems like a good addition to the game and worth considering for the future.

 

[KrikkitTwo]

It could be they just haven't mentioned it. (since given the importance of a unit in Civ V, it probably is limited to
1. Sending city must have an airport-type building, and can only send 1 unit per turn
2. Receiving city must have an airport-type building, and can only receive 1 unit per turn

 

[Louis XXIV]

I think that, with such a good look at the tech tree, we would know if it was in the game. Odds are it's not.

However, I would implement it exactly how you described it if I were to add it.

 

[Ahriman]

I thought we had seen the civilopedia building list, and that there was no airport building.

 

[Aussie_Lurker]

If so, then that's just plain *lazy*. I mean, seriously, how hard would it have been to include an Airport Building-with a trade effect, an XP effect for air units & an airlift ability?

Aussie.

 

[KrikkitTwo]

Perhaps a Military base gains the Ability with Flight /Radar

 

[Tomice]

If so, then that's just plain *lazy*. I mean, seriously, how hard would it have been to include an Airport Building-with a trade effect, an XP effect for air units & an airlift ability?

Aussie.

I doubt it's lazyness. They probably really thought airlifting is a bad concept. Can't agree on this, however

 

[warpstorm]

I know Shafer IRL and LAZY is about the last word I would use in describing him.

 

[GoodSarmatian]

Don't forget that the cost-per-policy increases with each policy you adopt.

I don't think it should be worded that way. I think it works like great people in CIv 4. There are threshholds after which you can unlock a policy and the culture cost for the next threshold increases. The GP cost didn't increase with rfee GP from rseaching some techs first, so I don't think policy cost increases with free policies from the Oracle or Free Religion.

 

[KrikkitTwo]

Note: Observatories need a civ to be near a Mountain (in the poly Cast Episode)

 

[AriochIV]

In the new paradigm, the only reason to move a unit into a city is to garrison it, and you can't even move another unit in until you move the garrisoned unit out. So moving a unit into a city for airlift would mean having to move the garrison out first, which is just a pain. It doesn't fit in the new system.

 

[AriochIV]

There are always workarounds, but the point is a city-to-city transport mechanism doesn't fit in the new paradigm where they're trying to get the units out of the cities. Airports weren't a "lazy" omission, but a clear design choice.

It's not like airlifts were an important part of the game... I would forget to use them most turns. (In the few games that actually lasted to the modern era...)

 

[Tomice]

Well, maybe I artificially created a need for them by playing on extrahuge PerfectWorld2 terra maps and a preference for peaceful lategame victories

But Arioch is right, as he is so often: Every workaround I could think of now would either be complicated or would need a totally new approach to the topic, mostly both



Cities don't work a s starting point. Starting next to cities would work, or an airport tile improvement (which would need additional benefits to be ever built, but shouldn't be OP compared to e.g. trading posts - or we get a weird airport spam ).

The end point is the real problem: Cities are probably occupied, every tile would be way OP. Using Airport tile improvements would mean that you have to care a lot to keep it empty. This would end up so complicated that the AI probably won't use it.

 

[Ahriman]

Completely agree, the airlift mechanic gets annoying complicated in a world without units in cities, particularly for the AI.
Whereas one of the points of airlift in Civ4 was to help the AI in moving units between continents, which is no longer so important now that we have an easy-for-AI-to-use embarkation method.

 

[Tomice]

On another topic, browsing through your site, Arioch, I checked our knowledge about SPs.

First of all, you do not yet mention that switching was confirmed by Jon Shafer.

Secondly, I really believe now that the SP system is great. I can't decide what to take Cultural victory seemed boring to me in civ4, Now it might become a standard strategy for me.

I also like that each policy is powerful (+33% wonder production! 2 free techs!) but they don't give you something you would always want to have, like the ability to rush units.

Also, did the AI EVER manage to achieve a cultural victory in Civ4? Wonder if this happens more often in Civ5.

 

[thwump]

Also, did the AI EVER manage to achieve a cultural victory in Civ4? Wonder if this happens more often in Civ5.

On higher difficulty levels (I think even on monarch you would see it) they did. You had to watch out for it and be ready to take out one of their culture cities.

 

[Pugman]

On higher difficulty levels (I think even on monarch you would see it) they did. You had to watch out for it and be ready to take out one of their culture cities.

I've seen them win cultural several times even on Prince. The Americans would often take a cultural strategy. Granted, I played roughly 1 million Civ 4 games and I can't really remember how often this happened but I remember it happening a few times.

 

[iop]

The end point is the real problem: Cities are probably occupied, every tile would be way OP. Using Airport tile improvements would mean that you have to care a lot to keep it empty. This would end up so complicated that the AI probably won't use it.

Yes, a lot of the changes that are supposedly dumbing down the game or are "lazy" might also have been motivated by AI design. Check out the GoogleTalk about Civ-AI, if you haven't already.

 

[marekb]

War Elephant:

 

[Jaybe]

Well, maybe I artificially created a need for them by playing on extrahuge PerfectWorld2 terra maps ...

Huge PerfectWorld2 maps were the best!
Other than middle-continent deserts which were too large. More of the deserts should have been plains, and I never investigated the script enough (well, I didn't investigate them at ALL) to alter them.