Dont you think there should be a great explorer?

[Xanikk999]

Explorers were influental people throughout history. They had explorers from the earliest days to modern times.

Think of the european age of discovery and the astronauts who went to the moon. I think it would be fitting to have a new type of great person called a great explorer to represent this human endeavor.

I was thinking the great explorers special ability could be to found a "colony" in a land far from any of your other cities.

The colony would have no maintenence costs and would automatically fit you up with any resources in a small area around the colony and give you a gold per turn bonus.

Anyone else think this is a good idea?

 

[Mewtarthio]

Good luck finding any uninhabited land for your colony. Scouting new land is still important, so exploration gets its due.

 

[Meffy]

I'd rather like a Great Explorer unit that could increase the speed of a ship by one, maybe two tiles per turn. What should it do as a super-specialist?

 

[TomOC]

Explorers were influental people throughout history. They had explorers from the earliest days to modern times.

Think of the european age of discovery and the astronauts who went to the moon. I think it would be fitting to have a new type of great person called a great explorer to represent this human endeavor.

I was thinking the great explorers special ability could be to found a "colony" in a land far from any of your other cities.

The colony would have no maintenence costs and would automatically fit you up with any resources in a small area around the colony and give you a gold per turn bonus.

Anyone else think this is a good idea?

How about a super scout that is immune to attack from barbs/animals, and +2movement. Maybe can also scout AI territory without an OB. Not too overpowered. The AI would use it with (close to) equal effectiveness.

 

[TomOC]

I'd rather like a Great Explorer unit that could increase the speed of a ship by one, maybe two tiles per turn. What should it do as a super-specialist?

Maybe culture boost (because it's the early explorers that introduced different cultural influences), and science boost (learn different sciences from exploring).

 

[sand]

great explorers are good but i can't see them doing anything in the asign to city task. a great warrior would be better.

 

[Palantir30]

Great Explorer builds a building, one per city, that counts as his Base of Operations. Magellan or Marco Polo's Harbor or whatever.

That building has some % chance every turn to supply some number of beakers toward a tech that you dont have, but somebody in the world does.

The thinking being that when you finish the tech you're working on, you have a head start on another one. Keep it random though, so that you'll be unlikely to get a whole free tech from these infusions of beakers, and some beakers will attride away if you choose a different tech.

Multiple buildings in multiple cities of course each give another throw of the dice towards this head start, or a higher chance each turn, or whatever.

 

[TomOC]

Got an idea. Like a great merchant, you send the great explorer to another civ, and you get one free tech (of your choosing) from that civ, provided that civ has a tech you need.

 

[Meffy]

Hm, I could grow to like that little guy.

 

[Jmaz]

I would like to see explorers be something like spies. They can't do any damage as spies can but open boarders mean nothing. Scouts, just by being your citizens spread religion, so an explorer should be able to do the same behind closed borders.

 

[scooter]

It's not a bad idea, just too many other better ones.

 

[Meffy]

There can't be too many good ideas. Just a matter of finding people and time to implement 'em.

 

[Undertaker798]

Maybe they have a command: Get maps, like the tribes. But not spottier than a teenager working at McDonalds.

 

[Heero Blaze]

Great Explorer eh? Sounds like a good idea. I'd do it like this:

Great Exploration (reveals large portion of map and allows for a city to be built somewhere in new region, if in Modern Age then a coloy is established on the Moon which generates science and commerce for capital).
Great Specialist (+science and culture).
Can discover technology.
Can start Golden Age.

Buildings that would help produce Great Explorer would include: Trading Post, Harbor, Airport. Wonders that would help could include: Magellan's Voyage.

Obviously a couple of things would have to be added to make it work, but I think Great Explorers are a good idea.

 

[Meffy]

I do hope the devs are thinking along the lines of "exploration and discovery" for a second expansion. I'll probably buy the first expansion, but war's not my forte. It would be nice if the second pack took advantage of other strengths of the game.

 

[Older than Dirt]

The OP's suggestion is much too good to ever be adopted. Also, it would add way too much fun and excitement.

 

[Mad Professor]

They'd have to change current GP a little - one of them is Christopher Columbus. Don't know what he is - Great Merchant???? I just saw him pop up in a recent game "Christopher Columbus is born in a far away land".

Some good ideas here, though we'd have to work on balance to make a Great Explorer similar in power to other GP - like now it takes two to start a golden age, so we couldn't have a great explorer doing it on his own, but I think something along the commerce lines would work well. But how to differentiate from a Great Merchant? Something to do with new territory - after all what do explorers do?