Hoplite - developers too lazy?

[planetfall]

It finally happened, I had Greece as a neighbor and suddenly I discover they have hoplites. Expected that unique unit as it was such a part of their history, but what I did not expect was the unit requirements. Lets see, what were the hoplites battle weapon, long stick covered in bronze. And what is bronze made of--why copper. So in requirements as other versions, expected to see copper as a necessary resource. Alas in civ6, copper is a bonus resource and NOT a strategic resource. So it can't be added to unit requirements. Also can't add a strategic requirement as they did not provide room for a necessary resource. So disappointing.

All you can change is the unit cost and unit maintenance. Just FYI.

 

[Patine]

It finally happened, I had Greece as a neighbor and suddenly I discover they have hoplites. Expected that unique unit as it was such a part of their history, but what I did not expect was the unit requirements. Lets see, what were the hoplites battle weapon, long stick covered in bronze. And what is bronze made of--why copper. So in requirements as other versions, expected to see copper as a necessary resource. Alas in civ6, copper is a bonus resource and NOT a strategic resource. So it can't be added to unit requirements. Also can't add a strategic requirement as they did not provide room for a necessary resource. So disappointing.

All you can change is the unit cost and unit maintenance. Just FYI.

Civ6, while it had some very good ideas, all-in-all, felt a bit phoned in in how it was put together as a game.

 

[Monene]

It would be absurd to be unable to build your unique unit due to a lack of a resource at such an early era. Furthermore, the reason copper isn't considered a strategic resource is that it's implied the resource exists in many areas; it's technology that limits its use. On the other hand, you could easily make it a strategic resource, making it both necessary and much more abundant.

 

[planetfall]

M*, reread. Game code will not allow adding either an existing strategic resource or and required resource. Remember they also allowed swordman to be generated without iron. You can't assume both a resource, i.e, copper, or iron, is available and then have it get bonus or required for a unit.

A better choice for Gk UU would have been an celtan archer. They were like an early crossbow unit. Give them power between an archer and crossbow and don't require much tech, say Archery and then let Greece go to town. I think they selected hoplite as more well known for their phalanx formation. They had many updates in code since first release, so I still say it's just lazy programming that did not fix the resource problem.

Copper was not always readily available. See the interesting timeline of copper availablity here:

A History Of Copper In The Ancient Era - Brian D. Colwell

Copper stands as humanity’s first metal, a revolutionary material that transformed civilization from the Stone Age into a new era of technological advancement. From its earliest discovery as native copper gleaming in riverbeds to its sophisticated smelting in the furnaces of ancient Rome, this...

briandcolwell.com

[Note he used the snotty bce/ce labels instead of bc/ad; but years are still approximate]

 

[Monene]

Just because you don't know how to do it doesn't mean it can't be done. Simply change the definition of Copper from an additional resource to a strategic resource and adjust the other data, such as its accumulation and which units require it. I even made my elephants a strategic resource myself, and it worked.

 

[planetfall]

It's not copper per se, unable to make iron a requirement for hoplite. The definitions are fine and easy to add to swordsman, other units, just not hoplite. Normally it works for the units.xml file, but not for hoplite.