First of all, I am new to NiGHTS and want to say excellent work! Very much appreciate all the effort that went into this mod.
After my first 2 games (prince level, both wins but competitive), I do agree with many postings here that ICS strategy is still a little too dominant of a strategy, particular the aspect that many small cities >> moderate # larger cites. Personally I think that realistically/historically that 1 size 10 city should in most cases be "better" than 2 size 5 cities, 5 size 2 cities, etc.
I suggest 2 "easy" adjustments to help ameliorate this "issue":
#1: population happiness: +1 happiness for every 2 citizens up to 20 citizens/city.
consequence: encourage growth past pop 10, slows early city spread somewhat due to delayed population happiness... overall slightly discourages city spamming. one small downside: roman trait needs to be changed to something different.
#2 population science: weighted slightly differently due to city size in the following way. Citizen 1-5 = 0.5 science/citizen, citizen 6-10 = 1 science/citizen, citizen 11+ = 1.5 science/citizen.
Example: size 5 city has 0.5 x 5 = 2.5 base science from population.
Example: size 10 city has 0.5 x 5 (1-5) + 1.0 x 5 (6-10) = 7.5 base science from population.
Example: size 15 city has 0.5 x 5 (1-5) + 1.0 x 5 (6-10) + 1.5 x 5 (11-15) = 15 base science from population.
consequence: at first glace this appears to flip the balance to overpower large cities in regards to science production... as shown above 1 size 15 city has as much population science as 6 size 5 cities ... however once science from buildings (i.e. apothecary) is taken into account, it really makes it so that 3 size 5 cities ~= 1 size 15 city, 2 size 5 cities ~= 1 size 10 city in terms of science; This is opposed to the current balance, as has been pointed out by many on this forum, that many smaller cities >> moderate # larger cities given a fixed total population in terms of science production.
I believe that with the above changes that an expansionist/growth strategy would still be needed to win, however it would make upward growth closer in importance to outward growth (I still think "wide" would be more powerful than "tall", though) and would allow for increased variety in win strategy (example: 3 large cities on an isolated small continent might stay competitive longer with expansionist AIs on a neighboring larger continent, giving you more time to mount a trans-continental offensive for the eventually necessary expansion).
Just some early thoughts on the mod overall. Thanks again for creating this excellent mod!!
After my first 2 games (prince level, both wins but competitive), I do agree with many postings here that ICS strategy is still a little too dominant of a strategy, particular the aspect that many small cities >> moderate # larger cites. Personally I think that realistically/historically that 1 size 10 city should in most cases be "better" than 2 size 5 cities, 5 size 2 cities, etc.
I suggest 2 "easy" adjustments to help ameliorate this "issue":
#1: population happiness: +1 happiness for every 2 citizens up to 20 citizens/city.
consequence: encourage growth past pop 10, slows early city spread somewhat due to delayed population happiness... overall slightly discourages city spamming. one small downside: roman trait needs to be changed to something different.
#2 population science: weighted slightly differently due to city size in the following way. Citizen 1-5 = 0.5 science/citizen, citizen 6-10 = 1 science/citizen, citizen 11+ = 1.5 science/citizen.
Example: size 5 city has 0.5 x 5 = 2.5 base science from population.
Example: size 10 city has 0.5 x 5 (1-5) + 1.0 x 5 (6-10) = 7.5 base science from population.
Example: size 15 city has 0.5 x 5 (1-5) + 1.0 x 5 (6-10) + 1.5 x 5 (11-15) = 15 base science from population.
consequence: at first glace this appears to flip the balance to overpower large cities in regards to science production... as shown above 1 size 15 city has as much population science as 6 size 5 cities ... however once science from buildings (i.e. apothecary) is taken into account, it really makes it so that 3 size 5 cities ~= 1 size 15 city, 2 size 5 cities ~= 1 size 10 city in terms of science; This is opposed to the current balance, as has been pointed out by many on this forum, that many smaller cities >> moderate # larger cities given a fixed total population in terms of science production.
I believe that with the above changes that an expansionist/growth strategy would still be needed to win, however it would make upward growth closer in importance to outward growth (I still think "wide" would be more powerful than "tall", though) and would allow for increased variety in win strategy (example: 3 large cities on an isolated small continent might stay competitive longer with expansionist AIs on a neighboring larger continent, giving you more time to mount a trans-continental offensive for the eventually necessary expansion).
Just some early thoughts on the mod overall. Thanks again for creating this excellent mod!!
