Can we have Great People back?

[Serenum]

I'm starting to realize how I miss them.
In Civ5, they helped break the monotony of the game with a one-off huge bonus or they helped you specialize your cities with a smaller but constant bonus. They also provided some sense of accomplishment when you finally managed to get one in a reasonable amount of time.
Surely there is something that can be done with them in BE as well?

 

[Roxlimn]

Specialist Tiles were taken over by buildable maintenance-consuming tiles. Free Techs are now situated in very specific places. Insta-Wonder-building has been taken over by concentrating hammers via Trade Routes.

I'm not sure if GPs were ever a good idea, to be honest. They were novel in Civ IV and CiV did interesting things with them, but the tech slingshots they allowed tended to be broken even in a linear tech tree, and highly promoted only very specific plays, reducing play complexity.

I'm kind of ambivalent. I sort of like having the ability to build Academies and Manufactories on my own time.

 

[MistroPain]

But whats to say they have to follow the same mechanics?
I really agree with the OP in that they do break monotony.
However, maybe instead of great people it could be something else that happens to be great (considering the changes in recent eras where 'great people' are probably no longer as important).

I know most will disagree with me here but I personally think Wonders should be swapped out for 'Great Achievements' and would essentially become rewards for achieving certain feats in the game. Earn Great Achievement points with your Specialist and then build a wonder of relevance towards that type of great achievement.

In the current game Wonders feel a little out of place, whereas this sort of model could bring them back as a key component for a thriving civ. Plus it gives the devs an excuse to allow wonders to become more powerful again (some of them just outright suck, like no thought went into them whatsoever!).

 

[Lord Tirian]

I don't so much miss Great People as much as the "flavour" they brought. They were little historical snippets, little "hero" characters that gave the numbers some atmosphere. Civ:BE needs a that "face" in form of characters or other atmosphere-conveying little touches.

 

[Roxlimn]

I think they could better do that with more video and more voice acting. I played Alpha Centauri with neither video nor sound. The only way I could see a Secret Project was as a quote and some abstract symbol. CivBE right now is more flavorful than how I experienced SMAC.

 

[MistroPain]

I never played smac, but just reading the descriptions of the Secret Project make them sound a ton better than the current wonders in this game! I dunno, maybe I am being overly critical but this game is very fun yet such a let down all at once.

Probably the worst place to put this since its a Strategy Game forum but its kinda like Destiny if you think about the past being Halo. Such a sucky game by comparison, like they really didnt bother to make it into something incredible!

They got rid of too many mechanics without trying to give alternatives and that includes the Great People.

 

[Roxlimn]

Secret Project: The Citizen Defense Force

"As the writhing, teeming mass of Mind Worms swarmed over the outer perimeter, we saw the defenders recoil in horror. "Stay calm! Use your flame guns!" shouted the commander, but to no avail. It is well known that the Mind Worm Boil uses psychic terror to paralyze its prey, and then carefully implants ravenous larvae in the brains of its still-conscious victims. Even with the best weapons, only the most disciplined troops can resist this horrific attack.

-- Lady Deirdre Skye, "Our Secret War"

Basically, it's a wall for every city. It's about as sucky as you expect.

Ectogenesis Pod:

"For centuries, the defining limit to population growth was that organic hosts were needed to incubate developing offspring. The Ectogenesis Pod removed that limit, allowing the creation of organisms without requiring developmental hosts.

The technology was long in development. Pre-Mistake civilizations of Earth were familiar with technologies for creating embryos (references exist as early as the 20th century), but could not bring those embryos to term without biological hosts. Much empirical and theoretical work in the area of geno-bio-ontologistics was required before the first ectogenetic banks could be brought online.

The Ectogenesis Pods are truly a wonder of their era, combining sophisticated genetic storehouses and recombinators with the first true Lotaxl tanks, all housed in a structure designed to insulate the developing creatures within from errant radiation, planetary contaminants, and marauding armies. From within the Ectogenesis Pods came forth new herds of animals for planetary Colonists, cures for microorganism-based diseases, and not infrequently, workers for the planetary colonies themselves."

I found the Ectogenesis Pod entry a LOT more engaging than the entry for Citizen's Defense Force, and this is one of the shorter Wonder entries.

SMAC didn't have Great People, and it didn't have as interesting a palette of Civilopedia text entries. That's why I think that CivBE would be best served by having a great writer create some scripts and memorable quotes and have it put to video and audio. Moreso than recasting Great People into roles already done by other things in the game.

 

[MistroPain]

Hmmm... I guess I didnt read into them that much.
That being said you mention recasting great people into a role already filled. I'm curious what you think that replacement is?
I personally see Affinities as a replacement to religion, and thats about the only truly new mechanic.

I still think the game has space for an alternative to great people, ideally not actually being Great People. That being said I definately agree that more video/audio aids to polish a few things here and there would be fantastic.

 

[Roxlimn]

The high-tech tile improvements require energy, technology, and Virtues to make the most out of them. These can truly be considered latter game improvements. The Academy takes the place of the, er Academy. Manufactory, and so forth. Dome creates culture, improved Generators create lots of energy, Nodes create defensive strong points... The megatiles are covered fairly well.

Free Virtues and Free Technology slingshots are liberally strewn across the game. Getting flat yields from GSs and GMs always seemed like kind of a throwaway ability to me. The game is not worse for not having those. Stations don't have like statuses, so that's not necessary. No religion. Quests handle off-tech affinity gain.

That seems fairly everything I could think a GP might serve in the game.

GPs were a novel and interesting mechanic when introduced in Civ IV, and given the prevalent idea (that I do not share) that Great People drive history, there's a strong thematic element to having them in a historical game. However, CivBE is scifi, and the presence of protagonists in scifi themed stories is more personal than as great movers and shakers.

 

[MistroPain]

Very good points, had not considered any of that to be honest.