Beyond Earth Ideas & Suggestions Not-Worth-Their-Own-Thread

[Camikaze]

If you have a relatively small idea, post it here! This thread exists for ideas that probably wouldn't get much attention in separate threads, whether it be a suggestion for new content or a balance change. Posting your small ideas here will both make the forum easier to browse and ensure your thoughts don't get buried under the weight of bigger threads.

So, what are some cool ideas or suggestions you have for Beyond Earth?

 

[mathefff]

I apologize if that subject was already mentioned, I am new to this forum. My suggestion would be to make the game take advantage of four core [or more] processor much more than the previous generations. Such processors are really not so rare anymore and you could also [possibly?] avoid all the hate related with long turns in the late game stage.

I realise it might actually be too late already. I am not a programmer but I think this might need a large overhaul of the code.

Anyhow, can't wait for the release.
Keep up the great work!

M.

 

[joncnunn]

I apologize if that subject was already mentioned, I am new to this forum. My suggestion would be to make the game take advantage of four core [or more] processor much more than the previous generations. Such processors are really not so rare anymore and you could also [possibly?] avoid all the hate related with long turns in the late game stage.

I realise it might actually be too late already. I am not a programmer but I think this might need a large overhaul of the code.

Anyhow, can't wait for the release.
Keep up the great work!

M.

I'm a programmer by trade, code is either written to be single threaded or multi threaded. It's the job of the OS to balance threads across how ever many processors the computer has (including the old days when there was only one processor.) Its the job of the developer to spawn a new thread every time a new independent calculation starts and also place the logic to wait when a thread needs another one to have completed.

Yes, going from single threaded to multi threaded does involve a large overhaul, they either already switched more to be multi threaded early during the design (well before it being announced) or else they didn't.

What's known is that parts of Civ V were multi threaded while most of it was single threaded. We'll have to wait for the C++ source code of the DLL gets released to know for sure what's different. In case of Civ IV, that took about 1 year after release. In case of Civ V, that took about 2 1/2 years after release.

 

[mathefff]

I'm a programmer by trade, code is either written to be single threaded or multi threaded. It's the job of the OS to balance threads across how ever many processors the computer has (including the old days when there was only one processor.) Its the job of the developer to spawn a new thread every time a new independent calculation starts and also place the logic to wait when a thread needs another one to have completed.

Yes, going from single threaded to multi threaded does involve a large overhaul, they either already switched more to be multi threaded early during the design (well before it being announced) or else they didn't.

What's known is that parts of Civ V were multi threaded while most of it was single threaded. We'll have to wait for the C++ source code of the DLL gets released to know for sure what's different. In case of Civ IV, that took about 1 year after release. In case of Civ V, that took about 2 1/2 years after release.

Thank you for the great clarification joncnunn!
Seems like a lot of work. Then it is good idea to start working on it early.

Other ideas:
I have heard there will be no 'demographic screen'! Please bring it back [if the gossips are true at all...]. This should not be too much work.

 

[Louis XXIV]

Small idea, but anyone else agree with me that Stations could use a way to defend themselves (maybe some kind of bombard against units that have attacked them)?

 

[jaldaen]

I'd actually like to see attacking stations result in no XP after the first veterancy for each unit. That way they can't be farmed for a ton of XP.

 

[joncnunn]

I actually liked the part of a (very early) press release where you could punish an AI (or anybody else) that founded a far flung output right next to your home land by killing it without declaring war as long as you did it before it became a full city. (Sadly, that was an unintentional oversight on their part and so it's now not the case.)

 

[jaldaen]

Reposted from another thread:

I wouldn't mind someone putting together a map mod where you could choose the affinity you wanted to play and the map would ensure you started near the appropriate resources.

 

[joncnunn]

How about adding a difficulty level or two tougher than Apollo where the human is NOT first to land?

On the toughest the human would be LAST to land and on the second toughest about in the middle of the pack arriving.

 

[m15a]

How about adding a difficulty level or two tougher than Apollo where the human is NOT first to land?

On the toughest the human would be LAST to land and on the second toughest about in the middle of the pack arriving.

If possible, I'd rather this was a check box than built into a difficulty level. Might just be fun for variety like raging barbs or OCC in Civ V.

But I wonder if the difficulty with implementing this is having to process multiple AI turns while the player just sits and waits. That has been done in mods, but I could see that as a pretty unappealing vanilla option, especially if tied to difficulty level.

 

[joncnunn]

If possible, I'd rather this was a check box than built into a difficulty level. Might just be fun for variety like raging barbs or OCC in Civ V.

But I wonder if the difficulty with implementing this is having to process multiple AI turns while the player just sits and waits. That has been done in mods, but I could see that as a pretty unappealing vanilla option, especially if tied to difficulty level.

As long as it doesn't bring up a display view in background before it's done progressing thru all the AI turns the wait won't be that bad. (AI processing isn't that bad, moving their units on the main display is as can be observed by in late game Civ V comparing between hitting end turn in normal view compared to strategic view.) Or it could do something like SMAC advanced start (but not the human).

It's still better to tie to difficulty level because it greatly increases the challenge when the human isn't first to land due to snowball effect.

 

[Svetkavitsa]

After seeing Aeson's amazing tech web tool, it occured to me that while planning my techs in the tech web, I'd really like to be able to see the building quest bonuses in the tooltips, so I can determine where I really want to go.
Granted, this information may be in the Civopedia, and eventually I'll learn what they all do well enough to remember by looking at the building in the tech, but it would be nice to have that info readily available.

 

[Svetkavitsa]

It seems the station quest turns out to be one of the most worthless quests, as it almost always places it somewhere you want to expand to.
I would like to see the ability to place your approved station where you want it (i.e. on the shore 4 hexes from your cap and not interfering with your expansion).

 

[KungFuCharlie]

I'm a programmer by trade, code is either written to be single threaded or multi threaded. It's the job of the OS to balance threads across how ever many processors the computer has (including the old days when there was only one processor.) Its the job of the developer to spawn a new thread every time a new independent calculation starts and also place the logic to wait when a thread needs another one to have completed.

Yes, going from single threaded to multi threaded does involve a large overhaul, they either already switched more to be multi threaded early during the design (well before it being announced) or else they didn't.

What's known is that parts of Civ V were multi threaded while most of it was single threaded. We'll have to wait for the C++ source code of the DLL gets released to know for sure what's different. In case of Civ IV, that took about 1 year after release. In case of Civ V, that took about 2 1/2 years after release.

I think your answer is a great summary except for not mentioning that multi-threaded doesn't necessarily mean multi-core operation. The OS does provide a level of abstraction for applications but it doesn't guarantee true parallelization as it is quite common (or at least it was just a few years ago) to run multiple threads within multiple processes all on a single core.

Almost all of the code that would need to be multi-core for performance issues will be found in the game engine and not within the upper layer game rules itself. Its pretty obvious that they used the same game engine for BE as previous Civ versions (all developers do since game engines are huge investments to create). Typically there are only small changes to a game engine once it is mature and these changes are usually to support new graphics technologies. On that note, I expect much of the parallelization support is already in the game engine from previous versions of the game (as you mentioned).

I monitored my system usage stats while running BE this morning and see activity in 4 of the 8 cores (I have a quad core so 4 physical cores each with 2 virtual cores for a total of 8). The most activity is in Core 0 with balanced activity in Cores 2, 4, and 6 (each of the physical cores). This supports my belief that they have already parallelized the game engine - most likely as much as they are going to be able to.

 

[jesperben]

I think it should be easier to see the wonders in the tech web.

The web is itself a bit confusing - everything is new. The wonders described in the tech web has the same colour and graphic as normal buildings. When you are new to the game, it's hard to guess which is a wonder and which is a builidng. This makes it hard to plan your research.

I suggest wonders get their own visual effect.

 

[jesperben]

I don´t see any confirmation when a production in a city has finished. I think there should be one.

When a city has build a building I get no information. I just tells me, that it needs a new production. After 20 turns or so I don't always remember, what I started. It would be nice to have some kind of information "A marine is finished in Freetown" - like in earlier civs.

(And I fondly remember the first civs when a little movie shoved some of the buildings being completed. Never understood why they removed that)

 

[Borgcube]

Here's a simple suggestion:

Do away with the random nature of the building decisions quests, make them pop-up instantly after finishing that building for the first time, and update the techweb / civilopedia with information about these quests.

I'm *still* unsure whether the wonders really suck so much, or there are simply some decisions tied to them that I just never saw.

 

[drumheller101]

I would like to see notification for newly acquired tiles and Population growth over level 5.

 

[Riso]

I would like playerperks extended to affect individual units by type/class. Like, say, granting explorers the zone of control perk or a custom promotion.

Edit: Being able to treat Miasma like roads in a trait/promotion/perk would be great.

 

[GeoModder]

I noticed units couldn'd be renamed anymore when they earned enough xp's for an upgrade, while the demo still had this feature.

Any chance for putting this feature back in C:BE?