Originally posted by sourboy
I would just like to know if there is an input email or thread or something that the designers will look at before making the initial/final gameplay decisions, since they are essentially in phase one.
Here are some thoughts:
Tiles
Landmark Forests: 1 forest tile per city can be designated as a park reserve/national forest. This would only produce commerce & give culture points, but would not produce food or shields, and could not have a railroad or mine built on it.
Nice option to have tiles producing culture & gold; instead of food, shields & gold.
But i will also like to see have 3 basic types of laborers (those who produce produce resources by working a tile), instead of the generic one, for more varying tile production:
a) the food laborers produce a large amount of food & a small amount of shields, obviously based on tile potential.
b) the shield laborers produce a large amount of shields & a small amount of gold.
c) the gold laborers produce a large amount of gold & a small amount of food.
The bring on basic specialists (those who produce resources by themselves), of one kind of a basic resource (food, shield or gold) only or one of the advanced resources (happy faces, research flasks or culture). So we will get:
food specialists(currently none), shield specialists (currently civil engineers, i guess... i still don't play conquests), gold specialists (currently tax collectors), happy faces specialists(currently entertainers), research specialists(currently scientists) and culture specialists(currently none).
Advanced specialists will produce more than one resource (be it basic or advanced) and should be available by an specific advance.
Each tile modification or some specific advances will help laborers to increase their productivity and specific advances only will help specialists to increase their productivity. Specifics advances may, in addition, change the laborer or specialist name.
We could then create advanced laborers with specific advances required, let's have culture laborers to work a tile with a "national park" feature who will give a large amount of culture and a small amount of gold.
Forest Planting: Planting forests can help slow global warming. Also see United Nations. This would keep forest chopping for shields in the early ages, but promote forests in later ages.
Good idea, but...
How will be forest impact in global warming? by which amount it will be decreased or increased by planting or cutting forest?
Bonus Tiles: can be depleted like other resource tiles.
If it's a mineral resource then it can naturally deplete. If it's a non-mineral one it depends on how it's used: if you plant as many new trees as the ones you're cutting the forest will prevail, if you only cut... they'll deplate. This will need adding to each goverment resource-using level, some may be more devastating while others may be more preservating.
Coastal Waters: Can now contain and be mined for oil by dispatching a new naval unit to it (designers choice) and having it work like a colony does now.
Pretty good on having water colonies... but let's have it for any water resource, after the appropiate advance, of course.
Rivers: Workers can 'dam' a river for many turns. This can only be done once per river & once per city, but would create a 1 tile freshwater source on the tile that was dammed. Workers would be moved to an adjacent square upon completion.
I don't understand this... what's the difference from just irrigating the tile?
Canal/Bridge: A 1 tile only bridge may be used to connect locations such as the modern day Panama Canal & Bering Straight. The canal can not be adjacent to a city or other canal & must connect 2 water tiles that are opposite of each other in respect to the canaled tile. The bridge would do the same for land, but must take place on a coastal water tile. The bridge could be built by the same new ship that constructs an oil colony (see Coastal Waters)
It's fine, after the appropiate advance, of course.
City tiles: 1 turn delay when moving population from a mined tile to an irrigated tile, and vice versa, in terms of productive gain.
Good for more depth in economical model, representing that changing land use it's not as easy as it may seems.
Delay must be based on the difference betwen the tiles production. If it's producing a large amount of any resource and it's changed to produce a large amount of another resource the delay will be long. The opposite for small amounts.
Leaders
Cultural: A Cultural Leader with the ability to rush a Great Wonder (or smaller building), or create a National Monument in a city (one per city max) that gives culture points and adds tourism. This would be tactical in a border city if trying to culture flip a city, raise culture in a newly conquered city, or promote a cultural victory. These leaders would have a chance to spawn from (non-capitol/forbidden capitol cities with an extended 'we love the king' day, winning a war, 'x' turns without corruption, or positive UN action).
Pretty good... what are the chances?
Air/Naval: see Air/Naval Elites
Units
Elites: Elite winning units can spawn Great Leaders or can be promoted into 'Special Forces.' These Spec Ops work like Privateers, but on land (ie - no nationality revealed).
Air/Naval Elites: Can become Squadron Leader/Flagship and be treated as Military Great Leaders (ie - build army), with maybe 1 less unit per army then ground troops allow (to keep things reasonable).
Refugees: A city may release a refugee (1 population point) that will migrate to a high cultured neighboring Civ. This would replace or maybe preceed the current Cultural Flip.
Conquered Civ's: Remaining units become Refugees, Barbarians, or neither.
Barbarians/Terrorists: Barbarians can evolve with the times. They will contain units that are '1 step' below that of the average Civ's best unit for their elite spawn, and lesser units for secondary spawn. Their camps can spawn in any land tile not used by a city, even if it's within a country's borders (ie - a culturally gained square). Camps are more likely to spawn next to cities with high corruption, or which were recently conquered.
Land Transports: Helicopter (treated like a land unit traveling a road) that can travel any land square other then mountains & can hold up to 3 units.
Attack Chopper: Apache style chopper (treated like a land unit traveling a road) that can travel any land square other then mountains & coastal waters, and is a Modern combat unit.
Excellent additions... except for terrorists camps in culturally influenced squares. They should be hidden, except for a specialized unit available with an appropiate advance. Also remaining units may chose to join your army, if they admired your culture.
Game Features
Civil War: If corruption is too high and there is room for another Civ, a Culturally-Linked Civ will spawn in the corrupt cities. This Civ will take control of those cities. The units inside will be demoted, or left the same but at smaller numbers, or altered to guerillas/other offset units. Since this new Civ will have relations with the other Civs, the relations will be reversed from the Original Civs relations with those Civs (ie - Civ A's allies become enemies to Civ B, and vice versa).
World War (varying on map size/Civ opponents): When multiple Civs are in a large war, there is a chance for it to become a 'World War.'
Example- Let's assume there are 12 Civs in a game. Civ Z invades Civ A, and is therefore noted as the 'aggressor.' Another Civ joins the fight via an Alliance, which team doesn't matter. The other Civ calls forth it's own Alliance, and this continues to a set number. Let's say the number is 6. Once there are 6 Civs involved (assuming there are at least 2 Civs on each side & no same side Civ's are at War), there is a chance for it to become a 'World War.'
(A + B) vs Z
(B + C) vs Z
(A + D) vs Y
A vs (Z + Y)
A, B, C, D are aligned on one side & Z, Y on the other. Since Z was the aggressor, that side is dubbed the 'Axis' & the defending side (based on A) becomes the 'Allies.'
Now say Civ's E, M, N are neutral. Civ E decides to ally with D against Y. Since Y is part of the Axis, and D the Allies - this makes E part of the 'Allies' and are now allied with A, B, C, D against Y, Z. On the other hand, if Civ D allies with M against N, since M/N are not part of the World War, this becomes a separate affair.
Winning Civs gain Culture Leaders (or high chance of).
I know it's a lot to think about, but it's easy in terms of programming - all just IF/THEN scenarios.
What'll be the effect on reputations of each civ?
Diplomacy
United Nations: Small Wonder or Modern Advancement leads to committee vote. Must contribute 10% of military units to UN (your choice, but in a given time), or lose vote/seat in UN.
UN votes on stopping wars, preventing Civil Wars, Becomes Allies in World Wars, can demand all Civs to set aside x% of land to forests to fight global warming (see above), demand Civ to destroy Nukes, make peace with other Civs or face UN troops (UN works as AI Civ who always forces peace), etc.
Civs: Can trade military units, not just workers. These units are demoted if infantry, armored units trade as is.
Can also demand peace be made by warring Civs (with or without UN).
Nice additions, giving UN importance to the game... but only later on. There should be earlier versions for earlier eras
Techs
Space Victory: Moon base, not spaceship - more realistic.
Satellite: updates 'x'% of map over 'y' time. Small Wonder?
Space Capsule: Small Wonder that works with other Civs capsules. Example- First Capsule is Space Station. Each additional capsule (1 per Civ) connects to International Space Station. This improves relations with those Civs. Each capsule itself also gives a tech bonus (say 5%), plus (say 1%) more per additional Civ capsules added to it (no more then 8% total). Must have a capsule in ISS to make a Moon Base for Space Victory?
Historical Relations: If 2 Civs have been at peace for the extent of at least one full Age, past wars become 'forgotten' - improving relations. Example- Civ A & Z war in Medieval Age, but declare Peace before the end. As soon as one completes the Industrial Age (assuming they remain at peace), the old war memories are gone, and relations improve (other Civs no longer say "we remember how you treated [Civ A]").
Traits: Each Civ has one neutral trait, but also one trait that is exclusive to another. This means certain Civs will always be at some odds (a vegetarian society would look down on a carniverous one, etc).
As i posted many times, when talking about games, "realism" doesn't take any part on them. I prefer to refer as "deeper modelling system"
The conditions for "Space victory" are getting something in the "space" be it a moon base or an alpha centauri trip. It doesn't affect the game play, unless they are reached in different ways. Building spaceship parts or having a module in ISS plus building moon base parts are almost the same.
I don't agree with specific traits... they'll give nothing more that flavor.
Other
Combat: Troops over-run forces that are more then an Age old (or even 2). Example- Spearmen are from the Ancient Age, Armor from the Modern Age. Since there are 2 full Ages between them, the spearman is over-run.
Workers: When set to auto, you can toggle which options are okay (ie - auto: road-on, irrigate-on, plant forest-off, etc).
Cities: Abundant supplies can be shared with another city, if a trade route is established?
Just some suggestions...
Overruning may make sense. But tech lead will be a crusher...
Actually some modders are giving units with "shooting weapons" a bombard option. Why not going deeper and make a complete new type of units: shooting units?
This shooting units get an advantage over close combat units, because they may fire at them while they come to melee. Each combat round the close combat units make a check to reach shooting units ground, at that round shooting units lose their advantage and must use they close combat weapons (if they have any) till the end of the battle.
If both units are shooting... the combat will be managed as if both were close combat units, except in the case of different ranges. The larger range unit gets the advantage, because the shorter range unit has to make a check to close in to be effective.
This will lead to have two attack numbers: one for range and one for close and two movement numbers: one for walking around the map and one for checking the close combat.
More of my own suggestions are:
1. Numerical distribution of gold into treasury, research and happiness instead of currently based on percentage.
2. National granary to ensure food distribution between cities connected to trade network and to feed military units. This will lead to change city growth concept based on tiles potential rather than food accumulation.
Military units may have other options on feeding: sacking enemy tiles or hunting in the wilderness (non-city tiles). If both are unattainable they receive the ration from national granary. Leaders may choose to starve military units or citizens if hunger arises.
3. If a civ has a special unit with the ability to move on forests and jungles as roads... then it must be located somewhere it could take advantage of it. The mongol keshik became excellent mountain and hills soldiers... because they grew up there. Same on civ traits, agricultural civs should start on grasslands... as currently seafaring units start on coast.
4. Blind researching... Ancient leaders didn't know they could someday in the future build tanks. As a player i may choose not to build ancient units and wait to build tanks, because i know i'll get them. This will lead to division of advances by traits, so instead of choosing an advance to search you choose a trait to search... increasing the chances on making a discovery on that trait. You may choose no to do so and leaving it entirely random.
Keep civilized
David
