Betting and Speculation - The "Entirely Separate Hypercube" Civ!

[headcase]

It'll be a relief when they tell us. Chances are it will be something that didn't take a whole lot of time to implement and balance (since they've chosen not to market this civ's ability until less than a month before release), and yet the game changes almost entirely with them (since they've hyped it as going beyond merely outside-the-box).

My stab in the dark is that something core to the game will be automated in some way when using this civ. For example, there are no tech buildings or beaker acquisition, and instead the civ gets a tech 10 turns after it is first discovered. Except I'd hope they could do better than that particular example

Another cool idea (though I do not think this is the civ they're talking about and it probably wouldn't work in practice) would be to have no buildings at all, and acquire everything (units, techs, SPs, wonders) though gold purchases. Even cities could be taken out in favor of starting with a worker that can build a special improvement that puts a tile in the civ's territory and adds gold yields to it (workers would need to escalate in price to prevent the civ from expanding too quickly later on). In that case, purchasing a wonder would simply put it somewhere in the civ's borders. Actually, so few wonders would be useful to this civ that it would probably be better if they couldn't buy 'em after all.

 

[codepoet]

8 cubes, actually.

Well the reason I said 6 is because of the thought experiment. Unfold a cube and you get 6 flat squares in the shape of a cross. So an unfolded hypercube would be 6 cubes aligned in the shape of a cross. Then you would some how fold those 6 cubes into an extra dimension to make the hypercube :]

 

[awesome]

I sincerely hope that canals are not put in as a unique element for any civ. I've been wanting canals in this series for twenty years, but it should be something any civ can build once they get to a certain technology. I don't want any civ to have a monopoly on canal building.

What exactly do you want canals to do? Cities built on coasts, and by extension isthmuses, allow ships to pass through them, and so did civ 4 forts. That sounds like canals to me.

 

[Loaf Warden]

What exactly do you want canals to do? Cities built on coasts, and by extension isthmuses, allow ships to pass through them, and so did civ 4 forts. That sounds like canals to me.

It's not always possible, or desirable, to place cities that way. A canal wouldn't be restricted by the placement of other cities or affect happiness or Social Policy acquisition by being built.

 

[Calouste]

I think this whole "Entirely Separate Hypercube" civ is going to turn out a lot more "Hype" than "Hyper". The first thought going through most people's minds when Firaxis reveals this civ is going to be "Is that it?" rather than "Wow!".

 

[Eagle Pursuit]

I think this whole "Entirely Separate Hypercube" civ is going to turn out a lot more "Hype" than "Hyper". The first thought going through most people's minds when Firaxis reveals this civ is going to be "Is that it?" rather than "Wow!".

I suspect so as well.

 

[headcase]

"Hype" than "Hyper".

From now on I'm calling it the hype-cube civ

 

[codepoet]

From now on I'm calling it the hype-cube civ

Hah perfect!

You guys are probably right

 

[Seek]

I've been thinking of it as the "Hyperbole Civ" the whole time.

 

[Louis XXIV]

I think this whole "Entirely Separate Hypercube" civ is going to turn out a lot more "Hype" than "Hyper". The first thought going through most people's minds when Firaxis reveals this civ is going to be "Is that it?" rather than "Wow!".

I suspect you're correct. That being said, I like the idea of thinking about these things so we can later see if it's possible to implement through modding.

 

[awesome]

It's not always possible, or desirable, to place cities that way. A canal wouldn't be restricted by the placement of other cities or affect happiness or Social Policy acquisition by being built.

I'd still consider those cities canals, but it's kind of a matter of semantics, so it's not worth arguing. I'd say that civ 4 forts fit your criteria, though. I'm not sure if civ 5 ones do, because I haven't played in awhile.

 

[Monthar]

If we do end up with the Shoshone and Sacagawea with some sort of exploration related UA - what could it be? Starting with some of the map revealed? Starting with a scout? I'm not sure if these are hypercubie enough, but it's interesting to think about what an exploration related UA would be (other than likely underpowered).

I'll bite.

UA +1 movement for all Ancient & Classical units. Two effects from every ancient ruin. Doubled City States meeting bonuses. ie. twice the gold, faith, etc.

UU - Galleas replacement - Same stats as normal galleas, but can enter ocean tiles.

UB - Harbor replacement - +1 trade route.

 

[Loaf Warden]

I'd still consider those cities canals, but it's kind of a matter of semantics, so it's not worth arguing. I'd say that civ 4 forts fit your criteria, though. I'm not sure if civ 5 ones do, because I haven't played in awhile.

I didn't say the cities don't function as canals. I said it's not always feasible to put a city in a place you'd want a canal. Giving Workers the ability to build actual canals, possibly even of more than one tile in length (though there would need to be a limit) would make it possible to have canal functionality without having to place a city in a spot where you might not want, or be able, to put one.

 

[SamBC]

Well the reason I said 6 is because of the thought experiment. Unfold a cube and you get 6 flat squares in the shape of a cross. So an unfolded hypercube would be 6 cubes aligned in the shape of a cross. Then you would some how fold those 6 cubes into an extra dimension to make the hypercube :]

No, really, it's 8 cubes in a hypercube. Image the net of a cube, drawn the usual way. Now make each of those squares a cube. Then put two more cubes on, making a row of three that crosses the existing row of three. That's the 3D net of a hypercube (aka tesseract, though there are other ways to draw it)

Think of it like this - there are 4 lines to a square, 6 squares to a cube, and 8 cubes to a hypercube.

 

[codepoet]

No, really, it's 8 cubes in a hypercube. Image the net of a cube, drawn the usual way. Now make each of those squares a cube. Then put two more cubes on, making a row of three that crosses the existing row of three. That's the 3D net of a hypercube (aka tesseract, though there are other ways to draw it)

Think of it like this - there are 4 lines to a square, 6 squares to a cube, and 8 cubes to a hypercube.

Oh cool - I get it - kind of a cross, but it needs to be a cross also in depth, not just length/width. Perfect. Thanks! :]

 

[Biologist]

From now on I'm calling it the hype-cube civ

Clearly it's the Borg. Nobody would suspect Firaxis of breaking the Alphabet Theory.

 

[Buccaneer]

No reason to call it hype-cube. Just call it a cube and most of you would get all hyper about that and fall for whatever hype they throw your way.

 

[Monthar]

Maybe it's really a cube that goes into hyperspace. Such as...

Spoiler :

I edited in the square (cube) glitch.

Alternately, they could just be trying to make us jump to hyperactive.

Link to video.

 

[Sloud]

It could be that this Hypercube civ brings a new dimension to the game, deep sea settling,

Rapture
Andrew Ryan

UA: Cities may be settled in coastal tiles immediately, and in ocean tiles when astronomy is discovered. All tourism is converted to culture. All faith is converted to science (and multiplied by 1.2 for each new era you enter).

UB: Atlantic Express. Replaces Harbor and Seaport, available at Astronomy, must be built in coastal/ocean city. Provides additional trade routes, chance of population from opposing, connected cities to migrate to Rapture.

UI: Adam Refractory. Available at Industrialization. Can only be built in ocean tiles, provides +1 Gold, Food, Production and +2 Science. When pillaged, damages unit instead of healing it. May still be worked even with presence of enemies.

On a serious note, if this mysterious civ is indeed bring something new and hyper to the game, it may be the NA civ providing a different perspective to religion (such as enhanced pantheon beliefs but restrictions with spreading to foreign cities), but I believe it will be dwarfed by the serene coming of Venice, or San Marino.

As for Rapture, we already got X-Com, not far of a jump in terms of historical divergence and publishers rights (2K).

 

[EulerMcE]

Hypercubes are not necessarily 4+ dimensional. Squares and lines are also hypercubes. Clearly the civ must settle cities along a straight line.