Governor

[ConjurerDragon]

I just had the event that gave me a governor for a nice sum of gold (option b was to get 1500 gold and -1 relations with the King).

That governor now sits in the largest of my 3 colonies and would outproduce every other unit, even Elder Statesmen or Nobles, in the production of Liberty Bells - only that I have none of those early in the game.

All that while the event in which I got him insinuates that he is actually loyal to the King /"his spy" and not to the colony and then going to further the spirit of independace in the colony with every liberty bell produced...?

Would it be possible that the Governor as a pro in politics would produce "political points" but not "liberty bells"?
Just like the carpenter can produce "politcal points" that count to buy Founding Fathers but not count for indepenace and liberty desire?

 

[raystuttgart]

Would it be possible that the Governor as a pro in politics would produce "political points" but not "liberty bells"?

A lot is possible but this sounds like a lot of effort for very little benefit.
(It would basically be coding DLL and modifying XML schema for just a single Unit.)

And from my point of view it works perfectly now.
Why should this new governor e.g. not have his "own agenda" (e.g. becoming the leader of an independent nation) and thus try to get the colonies rebellious against the King?

I would rather leave it as it is.

 

[Guynemer]

I was thinking of this earlier as well; the event heavily implies that this is going to cause problems for the player. I think just changing the text of the event would be helpful.

 

[raystuttgart]

I think just changing the text of the event would be helpful.

Personally I never felt like anything with the event text was wrong - it is actually quite flavourful.
(It is one of the events Schmiddie had created.)

I also do not like changing things other people created if there is no issue.
But ok, we are open to suggestions.

 

[raystuttgart]

Actually this discussion gave me the idea for a follow up event - that might spice up things a bit.
(Just a small Python event.)

If players indeed do expect that the "Governor" is a spy for the King - why not give them something like that.
(Do not worry, there will be positive choices as well. And no, you will not loose your Governor.)

 

[Tugboatspotter]

The governor event is nice but I think it should be tweaked.

Currently the event seems to trigger as soon as you reach 5000 gold, and since accepting costs 5000 gold, you are left broke albeit with a governor. I realize this may be by design, but the problem is it is too predictable, and a player will have to factor this into every game.

I would suggest adding a random element, so it 'could' trigger at any point when you have 5000 gold.

 

[Schmiddie]

There are further requirements, not only the 5000 gold (if I remember correctly at least 5 colonies with townhall or something like that). What is the problem with this event? The player can decide if he wants the governor or not - if yes, he can pay and get him.

 

[raystuttgart]

What is the problem with this event?

Nothing is wrong with it from my perspective.
This discussion is mainly about personal taste.

But what about creating a small follow up event to it?
(Maybe when the player has 10 cities or so.)

Nothing serious, just adding a little flavour to continue telling the story of the "Governor" in the Colonies.
(Again there should be positive and negative choices. And the player should definitely not loose this valuable Unit.)

 

[Tugboatspotter]

What is the problem with this event? The player can decide if he wants the governor or not - if yes, he can pay and get him.

I wasn't aware of the other requirements. The event always seems to trigger for me when I hit 5000 gold, so I guess I have an expansionist play style and was fulfilling the other criteria without realizing.

As I said, I like the event but I don't like how I have the knowledge that it will trigger immediately when I cross the 5000 gold threshold. It becomes gamey in that I have to make a decision to 'not' exceed 5000 gold.

All I am suggesting is that when the criteria are satisfied there is a %chance per turn (as opposed to 100%) that the event triggers.

 

[raystuttgart]

Actually there are several other events like that as well.

e.g.
- Everybody (who played RaR / WTP a couple of times) knows that he will be rewared when he founds his 2nd colony.
- Everybody (who played RaR / WTP a couple of times) knows that he wil be rewared when he builds 5 markets.
- Everybody (who played RaR / WTP a couple of times) knows that he will be rewared when he founds 5 inland cities.
...

It is absoultely the same with this event.
And the conditions for this event are not that easy to achieve either.

Once you know the triggering conditions you can easily have them triggered if you adjust your game play - but for me that is ok as well.
So they are basically "strategic" decisions.

I really do not see a general problem with this event.
It is ok that some events are a bit predictable if they are not easily exploitable / overpowered.

 

[Tugboatspotter]

I would disagree that it is exactly the same with this event.

The difference is that this event triggers at 5000 gold (leaving aside other requirements) and costs all of that 5000 gold, thus leaving you broke (otherwise no governor). It is not a simple reward.

With regard to strategic decisions: trying to avoid having 5000 gold does not seem like good game design.

 

[ConjurerDragon]

There are further requirements, not only the 5000 gold (if I remember correctly at least 5 colonies with townhall or something like that).

It did fire for me when I only had 3 colonies.

Edit:
I found the event in E:\User1\My Games\Sid Meier's Civilization IV Colonization\MODS\WethePeople\Assets\XML\Events\CIV4EventTriggerInfos.xml

- <EventTriggerInfo>
  <Type>EVENTTRIGGER_GOVERNOR</Type>
- <WorldNewsTexts>
  <Text>TXT_KEY_EVENTTRIGGER_GOVERNOR</Text>
  </WorldNewsTexts>
- <TriggerTexts>
- <TriggerText>
  <Text>TXT_KEY_EVENT_TRIGGER_GOVERNOR</Text>
  <Era>NONE</Era>
  </TriggerText>
  </TriggerTexts>
  <bTutorial>0</bTutorial>
  <bSinglePlayer>0</bSinglePlayer>
  <EventArt>,Art/EventImages/Governor.dds</EventArt>
  <iPercentGamesActive>100</iPercentGamesActive>
  <iWeight>-1</iWeight>
  <bProbabilityUnitMultiply>0</bProbabilityUnitMultiply>
  <bProbabilityBuildingMultiply>0</bProbabilityBuildingMultiply>
  <Civic>NONE</Civic>
  <iMinTreasury>5000</iMinTreasury>
  <iMinPopulation>5</iMinPopulation>
  <iMaxPopulation>0</iMaxPopulation>
  <iMinMapLandmass>0</iMinMapLandmass>
  <iMinOurLandmass>0</iMinOurLandmass>
  <iMaxOurLandmass>-1</iMaxOurLandmass>
  <MinDifficulty>NONE</MinDifficulty>
  <UnitsRequired />
  <iNumUnits>0</iNumUnits>
  <iNumUnitsGlobal>0</iNumUnitsGlobal>
  <iUnitDamagedWeight>0</iUnitDamagedWeight>
  <iUnitDistanceWeight>0</iUnitDistanceWeight>
  <iUnitExperienceWeight>0</iUnitExperienceWeight>
  <bUnitsOnPlot>0</bUnitsOnPlot>
- <BuildingsRequired>
  <BuildingClass>BUILDINGCLASS_BASECAMP</BuildingClass>
  <BuildingClass>BUILDINGCLASS_VILLAGEHALL</BuildingClass>
  <BuildingClass>BUILDINGCLASS_TOWNHALL</BuildingClass>
  <BuildingClass>BUILDINGCLASS_CITYHALL</BuildingClass>
  <BuildingClass>BUILDINGCLASS_PALACE</BuildingClass>
  </BuildingsRequired>
  <iNumBuildings>6</iNumBuildings>
  <iNumBuildingsGlobal>0</iNumBuildingsGlobal>
  <iNumPlotsRequired>0</iNumPlotsRequired>
  <bOwnPlot>0</bOwnPlot>
  <iPlotType>-1</iPlotType>
  <FeaturesRequired />
  <TerrainsRequired />
  <ImprovementsRequired />
  <RoutesRequired />
- <Events>
  <Event>EVENT_GOVERNOR_1</Event>
  <Event>EVENT_GOVERNOR_2</Event>
  </Events>
  <PrereqEvents />
  <bPrereqEventPlot>0</bPrereqEventPlot>
  <bRecurring>0</bRecurring>
  <bTeam>0</bTeam>
  <bGlobal>0</bGlobal>
  <bPickPlayer>0</bPickPlayer>
  <bOtherPlayerWar>0</bOtherPlayerWar>
  <bOtherPlayerAI>0</bOtherPlayerAI>
  <bOtherPlayerNative>0</bOtherPlayerNative>
  <bOtherPlayerPlayable>0</bOtherPlayerPlayable>
  <iOtherPlayerShareBorders>0</iOtherPlayerShareBorders>
  <bPickCity>1</bPickCity>
  <bPickOtherPlayerCity>0</bPickOtherPlayerCity>
  <bShowPlot>1</bShowPlot>
  <bFrontPopup>0</bFrontPopup>
  <iCityFoodWeight>0</iCityFoodWeight>
  <PythonCanDo>isPlayable</PythonCanDo>
  <PythonCanDoCity />
  <PythonCanDoUnit />
  <PythonCallback />

So it requires 5000 gold and a population of 5.However I did not have a palace - do i read the building requirements wrong? I would understand that as requiring a palace...?

What is the problem with this event? The player can decide if he wants the governor or not - if yes, he can pay and get him.

One problem is that the event seems to check if you have the needed money at the start of the turn. If something else happened between the check and the firing of the event you (at least it happened to me) may have the event with less money than needed, in which case you are only able to select option b and anger the King (and receiving 1500 gold).
Would it be possible that the event fires only, if the player has enough cash at the moment the event fires?

 

[raystuttgart]

It did fire for me when I only had 3 colonies.

It is possible.
(It will fire at 3 colonies if you have upgraded their Base Camps to Village Halls - see below.)

However I did not have a palace - do i read the building requirements wrong? I would understand that as requiring a palace...?

You are reading it wrong.

It requires Base Camps or any of its Upgrades. (Every Upgrade counts as well.)
But it wants to have 6 (iNumBuildings) of them in total.

You basically end up with a condition that says:

A) 6 cities with Base Camp
or
B) 3 cities with (Base Camp + 1st Upgrade) = 3 cities with Village Hall
or
any other possible combination where Base Camps + Upgrades add to 6 in total.

One problem is that the event seems to check if you have the needed money at the start of the turn.

Python Events also fire at the beginning of the same turn when the check happens.
So there should usally be little problem with it.

Would it be possible that the event fires only, if the player has enough cash at the moment the event fires?

There is little to no possibility to further improve the "firing behaviour" of Python Events.

Potentially though the price for the option to aquire the "Governor" could be less (e.g. 4000) than the current trigger condition (5000).
Since it is a one time only event (and thus really rare) that would also be ok for me. (4000 is still enough to pay for the governor) and we would have 1000 gold as safety buffer to the trigger condition.

 

[Schmiddie]

It is a long time ago that I implemented that event but if I remember correctly the event will show up again as long as you have not accepted the governor

 

[OzzyKP]

I was thinking of this earlier as well; the event heavily implies that this is going to cause problems for the player. I think just changing the text of the event would be helpful.

I agree completely with this.

When I first got it I thought I was being presented with a choice of getting a relations hit with the king (though I still have no idea what difference that makes), or spending lots of money to let the king interfere with my colonies somehow.

Now that I’ve played it a few times I realize it is just a 5,000 gp superunit, but that wasn’t at all clear from the text.

 

[raystuttgart]

... getting a relations hit with the king (though I still have no idea what difference that makes),

Relations to your king have several small impacts in all interactions with the king.
(Tax Increases height and frequency, size of REF, prices in DLL-Diplo-Events, ...)

... or spending lots of money to let the king interfere with my colonies somehow.

The text was already adjusted a tiny bit because of this bug report and maybe it is less confusing now.
(Text was too long to be displaye properly in Pop-Up. I think it is a bit less confusing now.)

Also we might implement a follow up event to continue telling the story of the "Governor" (if you accept him).

The difference is that this event triggers at 5000 gold and costs all of that 5000 gold, thus leaving you broke ...

Don't worry, we already realized that and suggested a solution.
The team still needs to discuss though to figure out the exact gold amount for "triggering condition" and "governor cost".

Potentially though the price for the option to aquire the "Governor" could be less (e.g. 4000) than the trigger condition (5000).
Since it is a one time only event (and thus really rare) that would also be ok for me. (4000 is still enough to pay for the governor) and we would have 1000 gold as safety buffer to the trigger condition.

 

[raystuttgart]

Summary:

• The text was adjusted a bit. (It should be less confusing.)
  
• Balancing for gold to pay will be ajdusted a bit. (So you are not left broke.)
  
• A follow up event might be implemented as well. (Because I feel this special Unit deserves it.)

We are basically talking about really small improvements only.
(This will not really change the feel of the event.)

Is everybody ok with that?

@Schmiddie
Would you like to design and implement the follow up event yourself? After all this is your creation.
If you want to, you can also just post your design idea for a follow up event in the internal team chat and I will do the implementation for you.

 

[rah]

I REALLY like having him cost only 4k so you're not wiped out money wise or fall beneath the threshold in turn.
Other than that, I like the event, and a little verbiage change would probably satisfy most.

 

[ConjurerDragon]

Summary:

• The text was adjusted a bit. (It should be less confusing.)
  
• Balancing for gold to pay will be ajdusted a bit. (So you are not left broke.)
  
• A follow up event might be implemented as well. (Because I feel this special Unit deserves it.)

We are basically talking about really small improvements only.
(This will not really change the feel of the event.)

Is everybody ok with that?

If that is possible I would like the Governor to have more requirements. As you explained having 5 population and 6 levels of buildings (even the lowest of the low the basecampe) suffices in addition to the money. When we look at the liberty bell production of policitians (refugees, nobles, elder statesmen, Governor) then a Governor should not come to rule one single city or a collection of 6 tiny settlements with basic buildings.
In my opinion the base camp should not suffice (regardless if there are 6 cities X basecamp) to get the Governor event.

 

[rah]

Yeah, I can't seem to remember any time where I was able to save up 5k without meeting the other requirements (since I assumed there were no other requirements based on experience)