Design: Technologies

[Kael]

Just a suggestion : make Sorcery and Summonning require each not one particular "node building tech", effectively making the two other ones technological dead-ends but either one of two "node building techs". (I'm not sure I made mayself clear there... and I'm not even sure of the actual tech names, I'm at work and have no Civ4 copy on this computer)

For example:

Summonning currently requires Elementalism, meaning that I HAVE to research Elementalism even if I only want to use it to raise an undead army. I suggest making Summonning require either Elementalism OR Necromancy, and Sorcery require Alteration OR Divination : that would make the actual decision path a little more interesting, without introducing shortcuts into the tree.

The team agreed, this will be checked into 0.14.

 

[H.GrenadeFrenzy]

Idea for Animal Mastery:Building: Kennel(to produce War Dog Pack) I suppose it could require wolves in cages too but not necessarily and it would be nice if lions and tigers and bears were it too........but War Dogs fit for sure I am surprised vanilla civ didn't incorporrate it for the Mongols in the very least not that they were the only ones to use them the Welch loved them too........and many other civilizations....however just a tech idea for your net.

 

[ChaoticWanderer]

Idea for Animal Mastery:Building: Kennel(to produce War Dog Pack) I suppose it could require wolves in cages too but not necessarily and it would be nice if lions and tigers and bears were it too........but War Dogs fit for sure I am surprised vanilla civ didn't incorporrate it for the Mongols in the very least not that they were the only ones to use them the Welch loved them too........and many other civilizations....however just a tech idea for your net.

Yeah i always thought that wolfs should be able to be domesticated and produce some sort of wonder or building that can add happiness like kennel

 

[Kael]

Idea for Animal Mastery:Building: Kennel(to produce War Dog Pack) I suppose it could require wolves in cages too but not necessarily and it would be nice if lions and tigers and bears were it too........but War Dogs fit for sure I am surprised vanilla civ didn't incorporrate it for the Mongols in the very least not that they were the only ones to use them the Welch loved them too........and many other civilizations....however just a tech idea for your net.

I didnt think we will do this with normal animals but we do have plans in "Shadow" to allow players to capture monster encampments and bring them to their cities to prudce new units like you are suggesting.

 

[H.GrenadeFrenzy]

Cool, I still desire War Dogs. They bring a dark understanding smile to my face. But monsters that is another story........nope still desire the war dogs.........the monsters do create anice dark churning though that bubbles and pops with shadow........I like.

 

[Chandrasekhar]

Would it be possible to have the AI give greater weight to Infernal Pact after the Order has been founded and vice versa? Seems to me that the Order tends to be around for awhile before the Ashen Veil (or the other way around, depending on the Civs involved). This leads to one becoming way more dominant, which is no fun.

 

[Sureshot]

Has there been any thought about conquest giving tech?

It was always fun in older civs to take over an enemies cities to get their technologies. It might need some restrictions (like maybe you need to raze the city, and/or the city has to be size 10 or bigger, or maybe it has to be their capital) but it would add a certain interest in taking over cities (most times it just seems like a waste, since if i don't outright destroy them, they'll just build new cities and i don't want their cities because they'd cost me too much maintenance lol).

 

[SchpailsMan]

Technically speaking, switching to the Conquest civic gives more gold when taking cities. It indirectly helps teching faster.

 

[Sureshot]

Well so would taking over the city and using its commerce to help research, but i like the more direct approach.

 

[SchpailsMan]

I understand that... I missed this feature too during my first CivIV games, and was even more disappointed when I realized that even spies could not steal techs from rivals yet again, now that I've got more experience of the game I feel that overall game balance only gets better for it. At any rate, getting a full tech favors military playing too much in my opinion (FfH already favors going for military quite a bit ), but I guess getting a set amount of beakers for a tech might be ok if balanced well.

 

[Sureshot]

The problem with the lack of tech through conquest is that AI's trade techs with each other like mad, and if you don't have any techs they don't have, they can just continue to out tech you by trading with each other leaving you with nothing to trade.

I found the tech by conquest in the other civs to be balancer, as it allowed a player who was way behind on techs to have a chance to get back into the game by a good military strategy.

 

[vorshlumpf]

There is a mod for Vanilla that gives you a portion of a tech when you capture/raze an enemy city that knows a tech you don't. I like that idea.

I also like the idea of techs being easier to research when you have an open borders agreement with someone who already has that tech.

I'm not a fan of straight-across tech trading.

- Niilo

 

[QES]

There is a mod for Vanilla that gives you a portion of a tech when you capture/raze an enemy city that knows a tech you don't. I like that idea.

I also like the idea of techs being easier to research when you have an open borders agreement with someone who already has that tech.

I'm not a fan of straight-across tech trading.

- Niilo

In SMAC (god only knows if this is possible) One could choose the option "blind-research" I LOVED THIS. I didnt intend on getting anywhere, i simply plod along and had values for my research teams. I need weapons, or better infastructure, or more exploration, etc.

It would be great if we could catagorise the techs. I suspect they already are for AI purposes. Each tech has X values of each concept. Would it be possible merely to chose "concepts" and set our own set of values, and let the tech tree take care of itself? Granted, tech-choice is a major part of civ, but it might be fun to "use what you get" in some games. Even if its just "an option" Tech-trading in this sense could be done through "beaker" trade instead of straight out tech trade.

If i had 4 social techs, 8 military techs, and 3 exploration techs, perhaps my trade-allies would/could get 4 social beakers, 8 military beakrs, and 3 exploration beakers. Each "catagory" being explored in by their civilization because of their contact with me.

Just a thought.
-Qes

 

[vorshlumpf]

SMAC sounds like a fun game

- Niilo

 

[Frozen-Vomit]

New tech: "Colonialism (sp? )"

Requires "feudalsim" or "astronomy" and "trade".

- First to discover gets a free great merchant

- "Port Royal" national wonder: Needs a harbor, gives +100% trade route yield, +1 happines per trade route and +2 unhealthyness (requires foreign trade civic)

- Trading ship (national unit). A ship that has moderate strenght and speed and can be saced for harbor (own cities), money (friendly cities - like great merchant but maybe only 25% of ) and can be used as a work boat (mainly so that kuriates can get work boats over oceans to their settlements.)

 

[Hypnotoad]

- Trading ship (national unit). A ship that has moderate strenght and speed and can be saced for harbor (own cities), money (friendly cities - like great merchant but maybe only 25% of ) and can be used as a work boat (mainly so that kuriates can get work boats over oceans to their settlements.)

There are merchant ships in The Ancient Med Mod and they are a unit people like a lot. However, I think that fits better with the theme of that mod that it does for this Dark Fantasy mod.

 

[Xanikk999]

New tech: "Colonialism (sp? )"

Requires "feudalsim" or "astronomy" and "trade".

- First to discover gets a free great merchant

- "Port Royal" national wonder: Needs a harbor, gives +100% trade route yield, +1 happines per trade route and +2 unhealthyness (requires foreign trade civic)

- Trading ship (national unit). A ship that has moderate strenght and speed and can be saced for harbor (own cities), money (friendly cities - like great merchant but maybe only 25% of ) and can be used as a work boat (mainly so that kuriates can get work boats over oceans to their settlements.)

I think the mercantilism tech covers that. But those ideas would fit within that tech.

 

[Endovior]

Mercantilism covers nothing. It grants a rather bad civic (unless you're hostile to everyone, yet somehow at peace) and a not-so-bad building. A rather excellent building, actually, if you're the Grigori.

I like Colonialism (yeah, you were right on the spelling), but the name seems off... Colonialism implies going around setting up cities, while this is a going around selling things. How about 'Independent Merchants'?

Also, how about instead of simply getting a one-time money bonus, the Trading Ships allow you to build a 'Trading Post' in a foreign city they visit? The 'Trading Post' gives THEM +25% Trade route revenue, and you some extra Gold per turn, perhaps 10% of the target city's income (I'd imagine it would work in a similar manner to Loki's theivery, only you're not stealing, you're creating new wealth).

 

[Sureshot]

i was thinking about how i often rush for writing, or the religions, because of the first-come-bonus, and it got me thinking that other the 3rd tier techs should have a first-come-bonus, so that it becomes a valid strategy to go anywhich way on the tech tech

so:

sailing - great merchant
drama - great bard
philosophy - great prophet
warfare - great commander
masonry - great engineer

(i picked techs that made sense for the GPs, and tried to only pick them so none of them had a similar tier 2 tech derivative with each other or writing (to make it difficult to get writing, then get a free gp tech))

(id have put horsebackriding there just to give it something, since that line is in desparate need of help, but nothing fit lol)

 

[Frozen-Vomit]

i was thinking about how i often rush for writing, or the religions, because of the first-come-bonus, and it got me thinking that other the 3rd tier techs should have a first-come-bonus, so that it becomes a valid strategy to go anywhich way on the tech tech

so:

sailing - great merchant
drama - great bard
philosophy - great prophet
warfare - great commander
masonry - great engineer

(i picked techs that made sense for the GPs, and tried to only pick them so none of them had a similar tier 2 tech derivative with each other or writing (to make it difficult to get writing, then get a free gp tech))

(id have put horsebackriding there just to give it something, since that line is in desparate need of help, but nothing fit lol)

I also like the idea of giving out great people for techs, but only techs that don't already give a first come-bonus thingy like religions or wonders. I also think that all of your suggestions come way too early - in a time were it is still easy to produce great people in cities and when they are still very powerfull (as they can get a tech all by themself).

I would rather have them as bonuses on pretty bland t4 techs:

- Merchant: Mercantilism

- Sage: Omnisience

- Prophet: Divine Right

Great Commander would even fit in the Cavalery branch but I'm not sure which tech - maybe armored cavalery.