High Level Improvements

[Meester]

It occurred to me that improvements could be all manner of things.
Adepts and other magical units can build mana nodes but imagine if through promotions and technological advances, you could go further.

Obsidian gates can only be built in cities but imagine is a worker could build two linked obsidian gates on the map. Naturally it would take some time (50 turns?) and they could be pillaged but it would add something to strategic goals. Maybe limit the number that can be produced?

Magical minefields that explode when an enemy unit steps on them?
Malakim have Citadels of Light but maybe you could produce them in the field.
Build apothecaries near your forts in foreign lands to heal troops?
Magical structures that create rage/burning blood in any unit (friend or foe) that approach?

Im sure people have thought of these things before but are they possible?

 

[Alzara]

OMG sounds like a great idea!

Al

 

[Kael]

Yeah, this is the strategic improvements idea. At one point they were supposed to the the mainstay of the Bannor which was supposed to have an empire of walls and defensive towers.

Unfortunatly gettign the AI to plan these appropriatly was to much for what we gained by doing it so it was cut.

Though I have always thought it would be cool to see a multiplayer only version of civ that really got in depth with defensive structures, fortified cannons on hills, trebuchets that aren't easily moved around, walls, trenches, jungles full of lethal traps, etc, etc.

 

[Candidus]

maybe you can just give the fort an alternate use, the ai seem to have no problem spamming those all willy nilly

 

[MagisterCultuum]

Not strategically though...


Eh, who cares about the AI. Put them in anyway.

 

[El_Duderino]

since the AI doesnt know how to use them perhaps it could be a selectable option in games that also gave the AI cheaper units or something like that to balance it out

 

[Grand Seeker]

This sounds like a very good ide for Bannor. If the ai dont know how to play Bannor, why let the ai play Bannor???

 

[TheJopa]

AI could be worked around so that his workers build those structures in 1 turn, so if he does put something in crappy place at least he wouldn't suffer.

 

[Psychic_Llamas]

or make it so that only human bannor players can build the defences?

 

[Alzara]

Why not just put in an option on the game setup (where you select raging barbarians).

You could check the option "Allow extra tile imrpovements." It would make the game oh so exciting

Al

 

[xienwolf]

Actually I believe that the ideal work-around would be to place the unique improvements as buildable by NON-worker units only. Then the workers shouldn't be upset in their normal routines by the new information. There would still be the issue of the AI knowing where to build it, but you could possible set it up to not be allowed within the fat-cross of the city or restricted in range between any 2 super-improvements like the Pirate Coves are. Depending on how precisely the AI messes up in using them.

 

[Tarquelne]

...buildable by NON-worker units only. ... set it up to not be allowed within the fat-cross of the city or restricted in range between any 2 super-improvements

I was thinking something similar. It'd make things even easier for the AI if the special workers were simply rationed out to the Bannor player (Events, techs, with each GP, with each city wall, with each new city, whatever) rather than built, and were used up after the special improvement's creation. No deciding when and how many to build, and the Bannor territory doesn't end up with towers absolutely everywhere outside the cities. Though maybe that's what's desired.

I say "towers" because I doubt walls could be done satisfactorily without some major AI work. But if the special towers ("Keeps?") could be made to slow/stop enemy nearby enemy movement that'd be almost as good. Perhaps they also generate some units in response to a nearby enemy presence.

So, not a series of fortifications from which the Bannor - at least the AI - are likely to throw back an invasion. But get things right (number, placement rules) and they'll significantly slow/attrit the enemy.

 

[Alzara]

Thats an even better idea. Would be cool to see normal units building fortifications. Why just the bannor though? They surely don't deserve to be the only civ capable of building fortifications and other interesting improvements?

Al

 

[Meester]

Thats an even better idea. Would be cool to see normal units building fortifications. Why just the bannor though? They surely don't deserve to be the only civ capable of building fortifications and other interesting improvements?

Al

I agree with that statement. Every civ deserves a go at building.

 

[MagisterCultuum]

What if some improvements could only be constructed by Great Engineers?


One thing that I would like to see possible is for builds to be made available through promotions. The ability of promotions to change the work rate would be good too.

Several spells might also be better if they worked through this mechanism instead, so they wouldn't be instant.

Oh, I alsoreally want is a way to make "temporary improvements," which would revert back to whatever they were before, like the way the End of Winter mechanic makes terrain revert back. (A way to make both revert back under circumstances other than a time limit, like having a unit no longer be on a tile, would also be great. Ideally there would be such functions for terrain, features, improvements, and resources.) Currently I could remove improvements in python or make them upgrade to one specific improvement over time, but returning them to their earlier state could be tricky. I really want to add some spells that create temporary improvements but don't destroy what is there already (at least permanently), especially if there is a unique feature on the tile.

 

[xienwolf]

Well, you can pretty easily make an improvement degrade by just placing the lower level improvement in the list as what it "upgrades to." In fact, you could make the downgraded version then upgrade back to it for a cyclic effect (50 turns as a Fireball Launching Fortress, 25 Turns as a Reloading Fortress, which does nothing and is worth three times the gold if pillaged).

And of course the buildable version would be the Reloading fortress

 

[MagisterCultuum]

Yeah, but that is not what I want. I want to make spells that create temporary improvements without permanently destroying what was there before. Since the spell could be cast on top of any tile, improved or not, having it revert to a single type of improvement just doesn't do it.

(What would be better would be if you could have multiple improvements, features, resources, etc, on the same tile. That will probably have to wait for Civ V though...)