Critical, but still missing resource

[Kamamura]

Salt! Why there is no salt as a resource? I ancient and medieval world, it was immensely valuable. Much more important than banana, for example.

 

[RedRalph]

Damn right. Along with coffee, opium etc

 

[ShannonCT]

Salt, while not technically a spice, serves the same purpose as a spice: flavoring and preserving food. So I'd say salt is covered in the game.

 

[Diamondeye]

Salt, while not technically a spice, serves the same purpose as a spice: flavoring and preserving food. So I'd say salt is covered in the game.

Salt was used way before plantations...

 

[ShannonCT]

Salt was used way before plantations...

So were spices.

 

[bonafide11]

I agree that Salt needs to be included, but what about Cotton? I'd say that is even more important.

 

[ShannonCT]

Cotton shows up in several of the Warlords and BTS scenarios, but only as an alternative luxury resource. If resources like salt and cotton are going to be added as resources, I'd like to see them have some strategic value other than providing an extra or point. Maybe salt could reduce unit supply costs and cotton could provide a defense boost to certain units (cotton armor).

 

[Merkinball]

The thing about salt though, is that it had way more importance than spices and was even used as currency. It should be in the game, along with opium, tea, coffee, and tobacco.

 

[TheLastOne36]

The thing about salt though, is that it had way more importance than spices and was even used as currency. It should be in the game, along with opium, tea, coffee, and tobacco.

Umm yah, i'll trade you this grain of salt for those sheep over there....

 

[suspendinlight]

I agree, salt is the most critical missing resource.

 

[Ace of Gold]

there should be no more resources added. if you add salt, cotten,chickens etc it would mess up the game. since there are so many resources it would be rare to get the important ones (horses, iron,copper,oil,uranium) the chances of getting those resources would be so small if you add all of these new resouces. (its already hard enough to get aluminum and uranium)

 

[lutzj]

First of all, I will use the same argument that defeated saltpeter: salt is very common and evenly distributed around the world relative to other resources, so it would defeat the whole point of having resources, which is to replicate how certain civilizations benefited from having an abundance (or monopoly) of those resources.

Also, we have plenty of mineral resources, so we would have to take one out, which gives us an issue: Iron, Copper, Aluminum, and Uranium can't really be taken out until Civ V (still unlikely even then) due to game mechanics, so you would have to a) make salt a luxury resource (even though it fits much better as a general or food resource) and b) get rid of gold, gems, or silver, which had more importance historically and better reflect how certain regions got lucky with resources (Malinese gold, S. African gems, Spanish silver), which is the whole (aforementioned) point of having resources in the first place.

 

[Colossian]

Firaxis doesnt want to add new resources. Why? They dont want to fix map script and AI Engine.

 

[Airefuego]

Problem is, simply adding new resources would unbalance the game.

Any suggestion for new ones just for historical accuracy should be approached with caution! We could add dozens – cotton, salt, tobacco, coffee, quetzlcoatl feathers, maple syrup… these would be fun, but any given map would have too many different resources. Simply adding more health and happiness resources would make it too easy to deal with those problems.

Perhaps one solution would be to have more resources in Civ 5, but ensure that each game map still only has a certain number of different ones (I think it is about 30 different types currently). You could choose at startup (or randomize) what the mix is. Default would be the Standard Mix. Or try a “no-marble no-stone” world to slow down the Wonder building rate, but compensate by adding Saltpeter and Timber (make timber a pre-req for Cats, Trebs, big boats, and certain small buildings like Harbor). Some resources could be unique to certain worlds, eg a wet tropical world gains coffee, tobacco and cotton, but loses sheep and silver. Or an option where different continents have very different things – a “New World” mix has corn, potatoes, turkeys, and buffalo, but no horses, pigs cows or sheep. Or something…

But the key point must be to maintain balance and keep the game “hard but fun.” Just adding more resources for kicks can be left to the modders.

 

[Dark Sheer]

First of all, I will use the same argument that defeated saltpeter: salt is very common and evenly distributed around the world relative to other resources, so it would defeat the whole point of having resources, which is to replicate how certain civilizations benefited from having an abundance (or monopoly) of those resources.

Also, we have plenty of mineral resources, so we would have to take one out, which gives us an issue: Iron, Copper, Aluminum, and Uranium can't really be taken out until Civ V (still unlikely even then) due to game mechanics, so you would have to a) make salt a luxury resource (even though it fits much better as a general or food resource) and b) get rid of gold, gems, or silver, which had more importance historically and better reflect how certain regions got lucky with resources (Malinese gold, S. African gems, Spanish silver), which is the whole (aforementioned) point of having resources in the first place.

I have to disagree that salt is evenly distributed in the world. In ancient time many smaller nation has to either (a) pay through their nose for salt, or (b) go without salt for certain period of the year. And it was still happening in 13th/14th century, mind you. Salt was so important that it was a controlled commodity in China. Salt were being smuggled while other luxury items are not back until even Qing (清）which is 19th century!

 

[Ace of Gold]

i agree with all of you that salt is very important in the real world but like i posted before, it would mess up the game

 

[TopDog]

i agree with all of you that salt is very important in the real world but like i posted before, it would mess up the game

I disagree. Adding more resources should make the game much more fun. That way we could have clumps of resources in certain parts, rather than say 3-4 plantation resources spread round the globe. This incourages trading and in turn diplomacy and war for resources etc. I dont like it now how i can have a relatively small empire and one of each resource. You would have to make small balances to base happiness and healthiness multipliers to account for more possible health +happy from resources.

I also like the idea of resources giving different bonuses, like cotton giving small defense bonuses to melee etc. This makes the game more dynamic and allows civs to specialise, if you like, in unit types (i.e chinese with muskets+rifles if saltpeter gave +5% bonus to those units).

Of course the thing that would make the resource system best is quantative resources, but thats not till civ 5 (hopefully!).

 

[Willem]

there should be no more resources added. if you add salt, cotten,chickens etc it would mess up the game. since there are so many resources it would be rare to get the important ones (horses, iron,copper,oil,uranium) the chances of getting those resources would be so small if you add all of these new resouces. (its already hard enough to get aluminum and uranium)

That's not true. Each resource has a specific value of how many there are in a game, so just because you add more resources doesn't mean you'll have less strategic resources. The only limiting factor is the number of tiles on a map. Add enough resources to the game and eventually there'll be one on every tile.

 

[Willem]

Also, we have plenty of mineral resources, so we would have to take one out, which gives us an issue: Iron, Copper, Aluminum, and Uranium.

Not necessarily, there's other functions that strategic resources can fulfill. For instance, I added the Cotton resource found in one of the Warlords scenarios. Although I did give it a health bonus, people benefit from clothes afterall, I also allowed sail based sea units to be built faster. Just as Wonders can be built more quickly with a specific resource, so can units. So you could add a number of resources that don't become a necessary requirement for a unit like a normal strategic resource, but they still give you a certain advantage if you have them in your territory, or trade for them. They would simply supplement the primary resource.

 

[Merkinball]

I really don't see balancing as a terrible issue really. How does the game balance the existance of Fur and Ivory? It just obsoletes it when the time is right. There are numerous ways to balance these resources. I feel pretty strong that salt, tea, coffee, and tobacco should be in the game.

Tea, coffee, and tobacco won't be available until Calandar, so first address salt.

One person says, "salt was all over." So aren't lots of other resources. If it should be common, then so be it. Add to the health handicap and you balance its existance in the game. -1 health.

Salt would be dynamic. It's importance could change to help with balance throughout the game. In the very early part of the game it would provide commerce and health. Then at currency it would provide health and happiness. It would obsolete at refrigeration. Reasonable enough?

Tobacco would balance itself. Tobacco would provide a commerce bonus, a culture bonus, but give negative health.

Coffee and tea would provide commerce and happiness.

Why these resources don't exist in the game before banana and dye is beyond me.