Since the special session of the VP Congress will delay new proposals quite a bit, I am jumping on the bandwagon and making my (database implementable) proposed changes to base VP available.
Please find attached a single mod with neat little folders you can delete as you wish.
It includes:
Corporations Changes
Now VP is so stable, and AI bonuses less front-loaded, I find myself playing almost every game to the victory screen.
It becomes apparent that Corporations as they currently stand determine, in large part, the outcome of the game. Yet, you cannot reasonably control even which Corporation you Found.
For example, 10 Franchises of Giorgio Armeier gives you +20 Culture per Office (that is, per City) giving a double-digit percentage of your total Culture.
Meanwhile Civilized Jewelers on the same number of Franchises gives over 100% Great Person Rate AND 30% Golden Age Length.
These bonuses are unlike any other game system with the possible exception of Factory production scaling (see below)
Here I present a rework to reduce the power and increase the interactivity of the Corporations system
The Pikeman Rework
Pikemen are very weak, yet if they were stronger Knights would be useless and Longswordsmen redundant.
Azum believes Pikemen should be moved earlier, to Metal Casting. Here I present a riff on this idea that maintains the feel of Medieval combat throughout the Renaissance, until the arrival of the Fusilier.
The Pikeman is actually pushed back to Machinery (with the Xbow) and made stronger. Then, a new unit between Spearman and Pikeman is introduced -- the Halberdier -- at Metal Casting to bridge the resulting large upgrade gap. The Tercio is removed and replaced with a Promotion to all melee units on Gunpowder, and a new Longswordsman upgrade -- the Greatswordsman -- is added on that tier instead, with a speciality of killing Pikes.
If and when I propose this it will probably be modular. The Greatswordsman is a really cool addition that can stand on its own. The general principle of moving the Pikeman one tier earlier can also be done separate to the rest.
Industrial Policies Rework
We've done a huge amount of work on the Ancient and Medieval trees, but I am left disappointed in the Industrial Era where only Imperialism feels like it hits the right notes.
Here I present a reimagining of Rationalism and Industry (with some minor tweaks to Imperialism).
Rationalism is focussed on Growth and Happiness but in a general way that will allow you to use it to "thicken" your wide Empire.
Industry is audited to make sure its bonuses scale best in a wide Empire.
Together they create an interesting choice between "pure wide" and "thick wide" , while Tall has "pure tall" in Rationalism and "thick tall" in aggressive puppet expansion via Imperialism.
Early Tree Tweaks
Completing what we've started and cementing the identity of Tradition--Progress--Authority
There is a minor touch-up to Statecraft also.
This folder also includes a rewrite of the "help text" of each early policy tree to better explain, at a glance, what it does for you. Hopefully useful for the new player.
Finally there is a sub-folder containing a more thorough Authority rework: People have theorized that yields-on-kill in Authority is bad for the game overall due to its scaling with map size (barbarians), difficulty, defender-favoured nature, and other aspects. Here I have implemented a version that reorients the tree to producing units generally, and more tribute yields for the very-early game tempo. Not sure if I 100% agree but you can try it!
Misc Changes
Some tweaks to Buildings, especially Hotel and Airport, which really grind my gears.
Also a now-playable version of a world without Work Boats! Thanks @KungCheops for all his work on improvement AI
Atolls with actual map effects (though I think EnemyUnitPanel lua needs to update to show the CS change?)
There is also a change to Elephant units which significantly affects War Elephants (Ivory start)
Civ Balance
Changes to perceived problematic components
Please find attached a single mod with neat little folders you can delete as you wish.
It includes:
Corporations Changes
Spoiler :
It becomes apparent that Corporations as they currently stand determine, in large part, the outcome of the game. Yet, you cannot reasonably control even which Corporation you Found.
For example, 10 Franchises of Giorgio Armeier gives you +20 Culture per Office (that is, per City) giving a double-digit percentage of your total Culture.
Meanwhile Civilized Jewelers on the same number of Franchises gives over 100% Great Person Rate AND 30% Golden Age Length.
These bonuses are unlike any other game system with the possible exception of Factory production scaling (see below)
Here I present a rework to reduce the power and increase the interactivity of the Corporations system
Spoiler :
The Pikeman Rework
Spoiler :
Azum believes Pikemen should be moved earlier, to Metal Casting. Here I present a riff on this idea that maintains the feel of Medieval combat throughout the Renaissance, until the arrival of the Fusilier.
The Pikeman is actually pushed back to Machinery (with the Xbow) and made stronger. Then, a new unit between Spearman and Pikeman is introduced -- the Halberdier -- at Metal Casting to bridge the resulting large upgrade gap. The Tercio is removed and replaced with a Promotion to all melee units on Gunpowder, and a new Longswordsman upgrade -- the Greatswordsman -- is added on that tier instead, with a speciality of killing Pikes.
Spoiler :
Industrial Policies Rework
Spoiler :
Here I present a reimagining of Rationalism and Industry (with some minor tweaks to Imperialism).
Rationalism is focussed on Growth and Happiness but in a general way that will allow you to use it to "thicken" your wide Empire.
Industry is audited to make sure its bonuses scale best in a wide Empire.
Together they create an interesting choice between "pure wide" and "thick wide" , while Tall has "pure tall" in Rationalism and "thick tall" in aggressive puppet expansion via Imperialism.
Spoiler :
Early Tree Tweaks
Completing what we've started and cementing the identity of Tradition--Progress--Authority
There is a minor touch-up to Statecraft also.
This folder also includes a rewrite of the "help text" of each early policy tree to better explain, at a glance, what it does for you. Hopefully useful for the new player.
Spoiler :
Spoiler :
Misc Changes
Some tweaks to Buildings, especially Hotel and Airport, which really grind my gears.
Also a now-playable version of a world without Work Boats! Thanks @KungCheops for all his work on improvement AI
Atolls with actual map effects (though I think EnemyUnitPanel lua needs to update to show the CS change?)
There is also a change to Elephant units which significantly affects War Elephants (Ivory start)
Spoiler :
Civ Balance
Changes to perceived problematic components
Spoiler :
Last edited:
) but here's what I'm thinking
Spy Point system, which addresses map scaling concerns -- fewer cities mean you need fewer spies.
for Rigging City States to the Printing Press and Foreign Bureau ("tall")
for offensive Spy Missions to the Constabulary and the Police Station ("wide")
Civil Servant Slot
Science for offensive Spy Missions
Friend
Food and 
Border Growth Points when performing a Spy Mission, scaling with Era
Supply from 
, 2 
from Spy Missions, scaling with Era.
I know you had because I laughed to myself both ideas are similar...
Hot off the press. Tall Netherlands is absolutely disgusting, it turns out. Doesn't even have a science boost (unless you buy a monopoly somehow) and I smoked everyone on lvl 6 and it wasn't even close.
