Cannals

[Pook]

Originally posted by Bilko
Suez was built by the British to connect the Mediteranean to the Indian Ocean, quite a long time ago, though I'm not sure when. I think it was during or just after the industrial revolution.
The Panama Canal was built by the US before WWII

IIRC, the Panama canal was completed in 1903. The modern Suez Canal was completed in 1875. There was an ancient Suez Canal, but I don't know in which period of Egyptian history it was built. I just know it's mentioned on my Suez Canal certificate (I've been through the modern Suez Canal three times). If anyone is really interested, I could search for a source.

I submitted a "Chunnel" wonder idea in the new wonders thread. It would link two land tiles separated by one coastal tile.

 

[Ebonite]

well, in my idea, I proposed that all canal squares would act as a conduit for naval vessels, but they couldn't stop in such a square. I have no idea how someone could program an AI to work within such limits.

 

[hoplite505]

Originally posted by Flexmaster
would be cool if you could charge other civs for use of your canal. This would make it quite a strategic assetto have.

but make them cost alot and you get to inspect the cargo

see the units insideand tran oceanic bridges would be awesome with like a tree tile limit

 

[MattII]

Canals could also be upgradeable since an 1850's rural canal couldn't take an aircraft carrier. Something like canal -> grand canal, with canals only accessible to units with a new ability (riverboat). Rivers, moved back to central squares would also count as canals. Canals could be used to extent irrigation.

 

[Pook]

Originally posted by MattII
Canals could also be upgradeable since an 1850's rural canal couldn't take an aircraft carrier. Something like canal -> grand canal, with canals only accessible to units with a new ability (riverboat). Rivers, moved back to central squares would also count as canals. Canals could be used to extent irrigation.

Great idea. For many years, the width of the Panama Canal (110 feet, about 33.8 meters) determined the maximum beam of an American battleship (108 feet). Don't ask me how you fit a 108 foot wide battleship through a 110 foot canal, that's got to be painful. With the advent of the post- WW II supercarrier, that requirement was dropped as impractical. Fortunately, a modern aircraft carrier can fit through Suez.

 

[Jason The King]

They've had to widen the Suez I believe half a dozen times.

 

[Quasar1011]

Originally posted by Pook
Don't ask me how you fit a 108 foot wide battleship through a 110 foot canal, that's got to be painful.

Any woman that's ever given birth, can tell you how. After all, she has a birth canal.

 

[Pook]

I should've seen that one coming....

 

[Turner]

That was baaad, Quasar....

I would love to see canals in, no matter how they're worked.

 

[Adler17]

The panama canal is nearly impassable for the bigger BBs and CVs. One Iowa managed to get through the canal! Once and undamaged. I suppose the Captain was glad to see the open sea. Because that´s why there are suggestions to build a bigger canal. Suez on the other hand does not make any problems to modern ships. Nevertheless the canal with the most ships on it is the North- Baltic sea Canal in Schleswig- Holstein. Also this canal is big enough for modern ships.
In the game a canal would be a very good thing.

Adler

 

[Ballazic]

Ya i agree but cities that have ocean on both sides should not be ship passable.

 

[thebrose]

And I agree with stefanskantine sugestion, bridges for land units to cross the bridge andthe canal would have to be built simultainously.

Bridges would be key to keep one from breaking their empire in two if the canal were to cover the only connection between two land masses. However, I think bridges should be a separate worker function. Think, you can't build roads and rail roads at the same time.

 

[The Buccaneer]

I think you should be able to dig cannals for ships to pass along. It would be great. Then you could build things like the Seuz Cannal and also allow shortcuts (very handy.)

I think too that workers should be able to change rivers, may be for twice the time it takes to build a railroad, and build canals, -three or four times longer than railroad? however how it's done, it should also enable the cities to build nuclear power plants, if the river/canal is within the cities radius.

And how is about the railroad tunnel connecting the UK to the mainland, -may be 2 or 3 tiles long at max?

 

[kulgan]

It already takes the worker 4 - 6 turns to build a road or 12 turns to clear the trees would building a canel take 18 turns? So in order to build a canel 5 tiles long using one worker it would take 95turns. or as the years in the games go depending on when you started it it could take centuries... and for what? I think its a clever idea, but I can't see it being a great advantage to any player, except maybe to define a border or dig a moat around the capital.

 

[xo303]

I've read this somewhere else before, but I think it didn't get mentioned here on civfanatics yet. Also, I have extended it a bit:

Tunnels! How about building tunnels and canals? This could be useful in 2 situations:

- Sometimes if you play archipelago, and the islands are just one square away, divided by water, you still have to use a ship as a bridge to get your units from one island to another. Here the concept of a tunnel would be good, such as the one connecting Britain and France in RL. Tunnels shouldn't be longer then 2 squares (not sure how "long" a square translates into RL, but more then 2 seems to much). Tunnels could be bombarded and destroyed. A tunnel tile can be irrigated but not mined. They can also have a RR inside and any unit using RR can use them. Maybe with the invention of "Construction" this could be possible.

- Sometimes you are on a large continent that has one tile that seperates the oceans from each other. Usually you build a city there so that your ships can pass through instead of travelling the whole land mass. But sometimes it's not possible to settle down there as the surrounding terrain might be useless. So there you could build a canal now for ships to pass through. As above, you will need "Construction" and maybe also "Gunpowder" to blow up the terrain, and canals could als be bombarded. A canal would automatically include a drawbridge so that land units can still cross it, but not at the same time - if a ship is inside the canal, land units must wait until it moved, and vice versa.

Of course a simple city that just functions as a pass-through point will do the job, but let me have my moment of ideas please

This could be taken further into building an underground network using tunnels to infiltrate other civs from below, literally planting bombs under their cities (or maybe only going for their colony). This may only be done by special groups such as Guerillas, and only after "Espionage". Other civs may detect your tunnels by accident (e.g. building a mine over your tunnel) and you will loose rep points. Tunnels could be started anywhere and also be used as underground trading routes, in case your civ is divided by another nation in the middle.

The tunnels especially would give the game a whole new face concerning sneak attacks and trading. Tunnels could break down, killing everyone inside the specified tile (canals could be flooded in case Fireaxix decides to implement natural disaster, otherwise they would be stable).

Sounds too complicated? Just my rambling, sorry, I really want tunnels (at least to connect nearby islands). Carry on guys

 

[Turner]

Actually, it's been done before....

Moderator Action: Thread merged with existing thread

 

[xo303]

Ack! Sorry and thanks for moving!

 

[Commander Bello]

Suez was built by the British to connect the Mediteranean to the Indian Ocean, quite a long time ago, though I'm not sure when. I think it was during or just after the industrial revolution.
The Panama Canal was built by the US before WWII

Actually, the Suez canal as we know it today was built by the French

Anyway, more information may be found here:

I strongly second the idea to have the chance to build canals, and I strongly second the idea to have the first one to become some kind of wonder. And for sure, they should get the tourist bonus, since you make quite some money with canals (if not directly, then by saving money due to shorter routes)

 

[Archer 007]

No wonder to start it. Otherwise, its a great idea.

 

[Ryth]

Could the canals also give you access to the sea? How often has you capital started so that its one square from the coast, so that it can't build water stuff (harbour, boats etc), but has water tiles within it's radius? I do think something needs to be done about the pinch-points of land- and water-necks.