Coastal cliffs vs beach - your thoughts?

[EthelredFTL]

I'm willing to wager that you cannot embark / disembark on coastal cliffs but you can on beaches. What do you think?

 

[Lord Zakarias]

im also guessing it has something to do with tourism like beautiful beaches more tourism but im not sure

 

[rastak]

I'm willing to wager that you cannot embark / disembark on coastal cliffs but you can on beaches. What do you think?

That would be very very cool.

 

[stealth_nsk]

If embarkation on cliffs isn't possible and with ability to have harbors in cities 2-3 tiles away from coast it looks like naval warfare significance will be reduced. Hope they get other things to boost it.

Speaking about tourism - cliffs seem to increase it for nearby hills too. At least in the footage we've seen.

 

[Zaarin]

im also guessing it has something to do with tourism like beautiful beaches more tourism but im not sure

I'd expect it to be the other way around, especially given that otherwise cliffs have no use whatsoever--especially since cliffs are generally regarded as more beautiful than beaches, if not as useful.

 

[ehecatzin]

I like the addition of coastal cliffs, the coast needed more variety, and yes, I agree in that they will probably shield against embarkation, making city placement more important, perhaps they will make for good placement for military districts.

As for the tourism generation, I imagine that an archeological site on tropical beach surrounded by cliffs would make great tourism later in the game.

Spoiler :

 

[Callonia]

I just hope white sandy beaches is still in. But yeah, cliff heavy shores with limited amount of beaches will be hostile towards amphibious invasions. If its too hard to invade one place because of cliffs, then one can always invade somewhere else and work its way towards the desired target across the land.

 

[qwerty25]

If embarkation on cliffs isn't possible and with ability to have harbors in cities 2-3 tiles away from coast it looks like naval warfare significance will be reduced. Hope they get other things to boost it.

Speaking about tourism - cliffs seem to increase it for nearby hills too. At least in the footage we've seen.

Naval warfare will still be able to block the harbors, which i'd assume would block naval trading and sea resources. Though I agree it does make naval warfare less significant now that you're less likely to be able to siege cities.

Perhaps a new type of military unit for quick sea raiding would alleviate this?
Like a horseman that has zero movement penalty for embarking and disembarking, so it can quickly hit an improvement/district and pillage it.

 

[darko82]

I think it's a good feature that will give us more depth to city placement and naval balance. Though, we know little yet how the ports actually work with the new district concept etc.

 

[bite]

I can't wait to build a wonder on a 3 sided cliff, for no other reason than I think it will look awesome

 

[Eagle Pursuit]

I'm thinking that you might not be able to put harbors on cliff coasts either.

And another thing, do you think there might be possible for a 1 tile island occasionally that is totally surrounded by cliffs and unable to ever be accessed?

 

[CoolLizy]

Considering that the series has pretty much always kept track of landmasses for AI purposes (moreso now that continents are actually named), it's possible that the map generator simply makes sure every landmass has at least one embarking point.

Alternatively, it may be possible to land "through" cliffs, only more difficult / slower / requires a special unit / only possible with a later tech.

(Speaking of landmasses, I *really* hope they finally add late-game canals for connecting bodies of water.)

 

[Ryika]

Well, I'm relatively certain that we'll not be able to enter land through cliffs. It doesn't fit the "look" of the cliffs (which look like a barrier), and from a gameplay perspective having cliffs just be "slower" to get through would also not be as interesting as actual blockers.

And preventing land masses from being covered in cliffs entirely will indeed be very easy. Just count the coasts and make sure to have a percentage not covered in Cliffs for example. Given that the only impassable terrain on land are mountains and mountains can easily be forbidden from spawning on the coast that potential problem can also be solved very easily.

 

[Eagle Pursuit]

I wouldn't mind a Special Forces type unit that can disembark on cliff shores.

 

[Ryika]

Good idea actually. That would for example perfectly fit the Marine and strengthen their role as Amphibious units.

 

[ehecatzin]

Hills on coast (by the looks of it) will create cliffs, do you think other terrain combination will create other coastal terrain or effects?

I'm thinking tropical beaches would have a boost to tourism, maybe even make them look like caribbean beaches, you know, white sand, light blue water.

In general I'd like to see more variety on coastal terrain, coral reefs, mangroves. I guess natural wonders could fill this spot, but its always so weird that there's only 1 coral reef for example, or that volcanoes are all natural wonders.

 

[CoolLizy]

Hills on coast (by the looks of it) will create cliffs, do you think other terrain combination will create other coastal terrain or effects?

I'm guessing no, based on what we have seen at the moment. Thus far, it looks like marshes/swamps are gone. :/

 

[ehecatzin]

I'm guessing no, based on what we have seen at the moment. Thus far, it looks like marshes/swamps are gone. :/

I remember seeing one marsh on the gameplay footage.

 

[shaglio]

I like the addition of coastal cliffs, the coast needed more variety, and yes, I agree in that they will probably shield against embarkation, making city placement more important, perhaps they will make for good placement for military districts.

As for the tourism generation, I imagine that an archeological site on tropical beach surrounded by cliffs would make great tourism later in the game.

Spoiler :

Tulum!!! I loved that place! Another place I mentioned in a different thread (and that I also visited) was the Cliffs of Moher in Ireland as a possible Natural Wonder.

 

[Stilgar08]

Considering that the series has pretty much always kept track of landmasses for AI purposes (moreso now that continents are actually named), it's possible that the map generator simply makes sure every landmass has at least one embarking point.

Alternatively, it may be possible to land "through" cliffs, only more difficult / slower / requires a special unit / only possible with a later tech.

There was a german article (posted it in the articles sticky-thread) confirming that it won't be possible to land on cliff-tiles. Special units might be a cool thing but not very powerful ability after all...

What about the river deltas? Possible entrypoint for ships? I would love that, but I doubt it...