little_cyclone
Loyal Civ4 & C2C mod player
First off Zap, once again, love the mod. 
Its pretty much the only way I play civ at the moment. Had a suggestion I was hoping you and the other posters/lurkers/modders could look at. If nothing else if you decided not to use it I might try and pull it off myself simply for shits and grins 
I really liked the way you included a system of education and health care in the civics for the mod. Education has always been an important part of civilizations march and I was glad to see a direct way to reflect that in the game. Its always interesting to me to tinker with the different civic options depending on how I feel like playing that day But as I was remarking on this masterful bit of programming of yours, several trains of thought came together all at once into what I believe, and hope you will agree, is a great idea along the same flavor.
Firstly, someone (Im not sure whom to give proper credit to at this point) suggested reintroducing the game play feature of mobilization from an older civ game (either Test of Time or Call to Power, I forget which). If memory serves me correct, basically mobilization boiled down to Peacetime which meant reduced maintenance cost of units, but all units are at a permanently reduced level of strength during peacetime, and the polar opposite of Wartime which after war was declared, your units (after several turns) brought themselves back to full readiness and combat levels. Seemed like an interesting element to bring into Civ4, but I just thought it was a bit lacking, that it needed more to make it truly great.
Secondly, I was thinking about Civilization the game/series as a whole. Undeniably, a large part of the game is devoted to combat and war. Whether you seek to win via Diplomatic, Scientific, or Combat means you the player (in the course of a relatively normal game)at some point in the game will have to raise an army, and you will have to fight.
So after seeing what wonders others could do with XML files, it led me to the natural conclusion of, why not have a military civic? I suggest to devise a set of five or six civics spread throughout the tech tree (much like your Education or Health Care sets) to reflect changing or differing values and ideologies civilizations place in their militaries. I had a few listed below I just came up with off the top of my head.
*Warrior
-Pick up a stick. Hit someone with it. Congratulations, youre now a warrior. People killing other people is one of the oldest professions known to man.
-Available: Start of game
-Pros/Cons:None
*Vassals
-During peacetime youre a farmer. Or a carpenter. Or the village idiot. But during wartime you pick up whatever weapon/object happens to be available and handy and march off to do your lords dirty work.
-Available: Medieval period
-Pros/Cons: Basically no standing army.
Increase in gold production.
Increased unit maintenance cost.
Able to draft some units per turn.
Small increase in overall production.
*Warrior Caste/Class/Order
-Something based on the Meso-American empires of the Aztecs or the Incas, and/or the Japanese Samurai.
-Available:Somewhere around medieval
-Pros/Cons:An early example of a standing army.
Small increases in unit production.
Extra XP points for units produced.
Small to modest maintenance cost per unit.
*Modern Volunteer Army
-Something based on the American system of using an all-volunteer force
-Available:Modern or slightly sooner
-Pros/Cons: An increase in happiness due to using an all volunteer force.
Extra XP for units produced.
Slight increase in overall production.
A small/modest increase in research (a modern standing army always wants the best toys)?
Perhaps a small/modest increase in culture (history, tradition of the nations standing army)?
Increased level of unit maintenance (providing troops with the best equipment/training being far from cheap
)
*Modern Conscript Army
-Something based on the Israeli system of a total conscript force
-Available:Modern or slightly sooner
-Pros/Cons: A decrease in happiness and all other qualities (as everybody is serving in the military at some point).
Able to draft a modest to sizable amount of units per turn (the entire population has served at some point is now able to form a large reserve force).
Sizable increase in military production in each city.
Reduced/Low unit maintenance (You dont want the best guns, just lots of them ) 
These are just some rough draft ideas, but Im sure if we all put our heads together we could come up with some great ideas. How about the Roman Empire? Historically (with a grain of salt for gameplay limitations) what would they want in a military civic? The modern behemoth of the Chinese army? The massed attack strategies of the Soviet Army during World War 2? Atilla the Hun or Genghis Khan? The Native Americans during the different conflicts with European settlers? What would they suggest? And since the mod delves in the future, what would the future bring for combat, and societies support of it?
If we only just try a bit, Im confident we can bring a valuable and interesting bit of gameplay to the mod, and the community at large. Anyone else with me?
Its pretty much the only way I play civ at the moment. Had a suggestion I was hoping you and the other posters/lurkers/modders could look at. If nothing else if you decided not to use it I might try and pull it off myself simply for shits and grins I really liked the way you included a system of education and health care in the civics for the mod. Education has always been an important part of civilizations march and I was glad to see a direct way to reflect that in the game. Its always interesting to me to tinker with the different civic options depending on how I feel like playing that day
But as I was remarking on this masterful bit of programming of yours, several trains of thought came together all at once into what I believe, and hope you will agree, is a great idea along the same flavor. Firstly, someone (Im not sure whom to give proper credit to at this point) suggested reintroducing the game play feature of mobilization from an older civ game (either Test of Time or Call to Power, I forget which). If memory serves me correct, basically mobilization boiled down to Peacetime which meant reduced maintenance cost of units, but all units are at a permanently reduced level of strength during peacetime, and the polar opposite of Wartime which after war was declared, your units (after several turns) brought themselves back to full readiness and combat levels. Seemed like an interesting element to bring into Civ4, but I just thought it was a bit lacking, that it needed more to make it truly great.
Secondly, I was thinking about Civilization the game/series as a whole. Undeniably, a large part of the game is devoted to combat and war. Whether you seek to win via Diplomatic, Scientific, or Combat means you the player (in the course of a relatively normal game)at some point in the game will have to raise an army, and you will have to fight.
So after seeing what wonders others could do with XML files, it led me to the natural conclusion of, why not have a military civic? I suggest to devise a set of five or six civics spread throughout the tech tree (much like your Education or Health Care sets) to reflect changing or differing values and ideologies civilizations place in their militaries. I had a few listed below I just came up with off the top of my head.
*Warrior
-Pick up a stick. Hit someone with it. Congratulations, youre now a warrior. People killing other people is one of the oldest professions known to man.
-Available: Start of game
-Pros/Cons:None
*Vassals
-During peacetime youre a farmer. Or a carpenter. Or the village idiot. But during wartime you pick up whatever weapon/object happens to be available and handy and march off to do your lords dirty work.
-Available: Medieval period
-Pros/Cons: Basically no standing army.
Increase in gold production.
Increased unit maintenance cost.
Able to draft some units per turn.
Small increase in overall production.
*Warrior Caste/Class/Order
-Something based on the Meso-American empires of the Aztecs or the Incas, and/or the Japanese Samurai.
-Available:Somewhere around medieval
-Pros/Cons:An early example of a standing army.
Small increases in unit production.
Extra XP points for units produced.
Small to modest maintenance cost per unit.
*Modern Volunteer Army
-Something based on the American system of using an all-volunteer force
-Available:Modern or slightly sooner
-Pros/Cons: An increase in happiness due to using an all volunteer force.
Extra XP for units produced.
Slight increase in overall production.
A small/modest increase in research (a modern standing army always wants the best toys)?
Perhaps a small/modest increase in culture (history, tradition of the nations standing army)?
Increased level of unit maintenance (providing troops with the best equipment/training being far from cheap
)*Modern Conscript Army
-Something based on the Israeli system of a total conscript force
-Available:Modern or slightly sooner
-Pros/Cons: A decrease in happiness and all other qualities (as everybody is serving in the military at some point).
Able to draft a modest to sizable amount of units per turn (the entire population has served at some point is now able to form a large reserve force).
Sizable increase in military production in each city.
Reduced/Low unit maintenance (You dont want the best guns, just lots of them
) These are just some rough draft ideas, but Im sure if we all put our heads together we could come up with some great ideas. How about the Roman Empire? Historically (with a grain of salt for gameplay limitations) what would they want in a military civic?
The modern behemoth of the Chinese army? The massed attack strategies of the Soviet Army during World War 2? Atilla the Hun or Genghis Khan? The Native Americans during the different conflicts with European settlers? What would they suggest? And since the mod delves in the future, what would the future bring for combat, and societies support of it?If we only just try a bit, Im confident we can bring a valuable and interesting bit of gameplay to the mod, and the community at large. Anyone else with me?
