Carry forward on shields to next unit

[Rubruk]

I have a very simple idea to the carry over. It should only apply if the production queue is used. Then the town already "knows" what to build with the remaining shields. In that case it should be possible to build 4 warriors in one turn in a 40 shield city. Of course, upgrade costs should be adjusted.

@ainwood: no carry over is artificial IMHO. There should be a penalty for a switch of the build order before a building or unit is completed. This would be more natural.

 

[Moonsinger]

Instead of the carry over, just simply convert any extra shield into weath (gold). For example, if we build a warrior in a city with a production of 15 shields per turn, 10 shields will go toward producing the warrior (assuming that the total cost of a warrior is 10 shields) and 5 shields will automatically go toward weath.

 

[Zild]

Moonsinger's simple strategy would be better than it stands at present (in my opinion), but I don't think it would have the kind of impact on reduction of micro-management that I would like to see... I would be in favour of almost any system that alowed shields to carry over.

But I think Rubruk has hit on a particularly sound idea, in that it should be allowed if the units are queued. I also believe that being able to build four warriors in one turn with a 40-shield city is perfectly acceptable.

In Civ2, I recall there was a 50% penalty when changing between the three main types, but only on harder difficulty levels. I personally am glad this is gone, although I admit it might be more realistic (and more challenging) to keep it... All I would say is that I emphatically argue to keep it (mostly through laziness, so that I can decide a few turns later what to actually build), and my reasoning would be that many improvements use the same base resources. In the earlier eras in particular, imagine the 500 years it takes to build a barracks (assuming the very beginning, so 50-year turns, collecting 4 shields per turn). The first 450-odd years of that would probably be collecting raw materials, such as wood and stone. The final 50 years (the last turn) would be the period where those materials are turned into parts of the barracks. If, after 300 years, it was decided that a temple should be built instead, then much of the raw materials collected would still be of use, they would just be made into different things. This probably holds true for converting to wonders as well, although I admit things become a bit harder to argue when converting a barracks to an archer...

I also agree that science should be carried over. I thought this wasn't the case back in Civ2, so I always used to do the science-slider technique back then too! What a waste!

 

[Ivan the Kulak]

I would disagree with allowing total carryover of shields, this would make production of units way too easy. Keep in mind that as a turn based game, you are not allowing for the time factor per turn, when you get those carryover shields you are essentially getting a time cheat as well. While everyone has experienced the frustration of being 5 shields short in a city of being able to finish a unit in 1 or 2 turns, I think there would be ways for the player to exploit this in a way that the AI cannot.

What I would suggest is that after the discovery of say Mass Production, you have the opportunity to build a new building, say a Warehouse or Parts Storage Facility, that lets you store 1/2 of the shield overrun, and a maximum of say 20 shields could be stored in it. These could be applied to the production queue for the next turn, if necessary. You would have the choice to apply them whenever needed, they would not expire, except when they become obsolete (see below). This would make building in cities where you are close to the max shields for a given unit per turn a bit more efficient, thus reflecting the increased efficiency of your civ at applying modular techniques to tool lines, designs, etc.

I would also have the shields in these storehouses go obsolete every so often, and empty out of storage, perhaps when certain new techs are discovered, certainly when you hit the Modern era.

 

[rhialto]

I reckon if you have anything in the build queue, shields should automatically carry over to the next item. If the last item being built was a unit, shields get pumped into building another one of that unit once it is finished. That way, if you have a 60 shield city building spearmen, you could build 3 a turn. This avoids the warrior->wonder switch exploit.

 

[Zild]

I don't think Ivan's suggestion is the most realistic - but I do think it could have very good implications on gameplay, and that's what counts!

Besides, new techs and new buildings - always good, in my view!

 

[rupertslander]

My alternative is multiple building queues, especially for large cities.