Escape from Dune

[suchomimus]

Once you own some Spice you can start to build some nifty units. Fremen can always build Thumpers. The Wind-Thumper needs no Spice to build, it comes with discovery of Stillsuits (level 3 on the Fremen branch, free to them).
Other civ's can build the Spice-Thumper (level 1 in branch for Houses, with 'warrior') once they have a source of Spice. In the novels the Worm ate the thumper. For the mod I think we should have the Thumper(s) last for 10 to 20 turns, with the possibility of attacting six to eight Worms. Why? So you can work unmolested as close as three squares away. Be smart, place the thumper further from where you want to be. The Thumper will be a 'Built' item, like a fortification or Radar Tower. Fremen warriors (and their upgrades) can build them, then move away unseen by Worms. Other warriors can build them, too, at their own risk. They would not be safe until the following move. Light Ornithopters can bulid them even in mid-flight, in effect "dropping" the thumper, then still having a space or two to move during that turn. "Flight" should not be a new concept to a space-faring civ, so all civ's other than Fremen have the L-O as a level-1 tech, along with the thumper and warrior. Each civ will start with one L-O in their starting group. Atreides' L-O is a special unit with a longer range and move-rate. To build more, you need the Spice. Let's not dwell too much of the logic behind that, other than that Spice is all that Arrakis is about, and no faction would be more than homebodies without it.
With Spice and (oh, let's say) Iron you can make the Carrier, which can also build the thumper, but at the end of its turn. So the big, expensive Carrier (2,2,3) is at risk until the next turn if there are no active thumpers nearby. It can see four spaces, so you can make a thumper safely if you move right. Carriers can also (guess what?) carry four small units. Load a settler, a worker, and two 'guards', and your next city is as good as built. Just need a new source of Spice? Load a collector and some guards.

 

[suchomimus]

The Collector is an essential unit in the novel. It needs a little adaptation to work it into the mod. It's a huge tractor sort of thing that sifts the Spice out of the sand. It can move on its own and drive to the Spice Warehouse with its load, or a Carrier can air-lift it, which is good if there's a Worm nearby. That's not going to work in Civ3, I don't think.
Our collector will have to be a stationary fixture which stays at the Spice-blow until it's depleted. The Collector might be done as a unit which can move (slowly) to a Spice-blow then 'Fix' itself until the Spice is used up. It can also be carried by air for faster deployment. The problem comes up of resource availability in Civ3. Even a "Colony" for a resource must be connected by roads to a city for that resource to be usable. With all those nasty Worms out there, and all the trouble you've gone to in obtaining your first Spice-blow, I don't want you putting a bunch of workers at risk building a road to that resource which is going to expire in less than twenty turns.

Spice on Arrakis is more than a resource, it is the foundation of the economy. This might be a challenging concept to incorporate into the mod. It is another point on which I Need Help. Spice should be the crucial factor distinctor between a vassal and an Emperor.

Beside providing a resource essential to construct many units, it also provides an immense income bonus. Lots of Gold will flow into the city which controls a Spice-blow. Of course, in Civ3 while a resource may flow into a single city which connects to that resource but not to other cities, Gold flows right into the coffers of the Capitol. Maybe this will work like a mountain square with s gold icon and a mine and a road. I will await input from an Expert on this point -- Can a resource (Spice/melange) in a square provide both that resource's input to the 'strategic resouces' of a city as well as a bonus of gold to the Capitol?
Find more Spice-blows and you get more Gold (woo-hoo!) plus an extra resource which you can now trade to another House or Guild for High-Value techs, alliances, &/or more Gold. The civ which is getting Spice as a trade only will not get the Gold bonus that goes to the civ which is Collecting the Spice.

Well, that's enough for one day. My brain is busted and now all my hard-thunk-up thoughts are out there any old to come and pilfer or ridicule as they please. If any of these ideas inspire you, the Expert Modder, please just mention "Suchomimus@hotmail.com" in documenting your creation. That would be the decent thing to do, and it will cause deep consternation to many paleontologists. Now, who doesn't want that?