SwedishChef
Philosopher Chef
So I'm still planning my strategy for Civ4 GotM2 and sitting around this evening reading email. Tivo is playing a "Modern Marvels" episode about the Trans-Atlantic cable (bonus points if you know the year it first really worked).
They talk about the ship that laid the first truly successful cable, "The Great Eastern." It was the only ship in the world at the time that could possibly lay the cable, due to it's weight. This ship had a crew of 500, it needed 200 people to raise the anchor. They carried a dozen oxen, 20 pigs, a cow, 120 sheep, and countless poultry. It weighed 21,000 tons. It was so expensive to operate that it was difficult to make profitable voyages and the ship bankrupted 3 companies that owned it.
It immediately made me think of "Great Units." Great units could just be single "super units" with higher a/d/m or carrying capacity, in the case of transports. But I'm not sure that having ONE super-knight with a 12, or even higher attack would mean much. Even at 15, it's like having one unit of early cavalry. And higher movement can be useless if you'd just outrun the rest of your army. So what if they had better powers:
I particularly like the idea of great units/generals/people with limited areas of effect.
I also like the idea of great units/generals/people could have two sets of characteristics that forced you to choose how to use them - just as you have to pick what to do with the great people in the game now (though I rarely find myself feeling conflicted about the options). For example, if made sufficiently rare, perhaps a great general might have the following properties:
What do you think of the idea of Great Units or Great Generals?
<Disclaimer: The forums are vast. I can't - and don't try - to read every thread. Someone may well have already suggested this possibility.>
They talk about the ship that laid the first truly successful cable, "The Great Eastern." It was the only ship in the world at the time that could possibly lay the cable, due to it's weight. This ship had a crew of 500, it needed 200 people to raise the anchor. They carried a dozen oxen, 20 pigs, a cow, 120 sheep, and countless poultry. It weighed 21,000 tons. It was so expensive to operate that it was difficult to make profitable voyages and the ship bankrupted 3 companies that owned it.
It immediately made me think of "Great Units." Great units could just be single "super units" with higher a/d/m or carrying capacity, in the case of transports. But I'm not sure that having ONE super-knight with a 12, or even higher attack would mean much. Even at 15, it's like having one unit of early cavalry. And higher movement can be useless if you'd just outrun the rest of your army. So what if they had better powers:
- A "general" which, when in a city, raised the experience of all units created there by a point or two. That would turn a 4/5 experience unit created in a city with a barracks into a 5/5 with two promotions.
- A super-unit which always withdraws perfectly from a battle it would otherwise lose.
- A super-transport that could "pick up" and "deliver" production (or food, or culture) from one city to another (lots of ways to implement this, I guess. Imagine landing a few hundred shields of production in a newly captured city.)
- A super-unit which added some bonus to units stacked with it. Kind of like the healing 2 promotion. Everybody in the stack gets the equivalent of combat 1, or city-attack 1, etc. on top of their own inherent promotions, as long as they're stacked with this unit.
- A unit which carries a culture radius with it.
- A unit which increases the likelihood of the spread of religion in a range around the unit (I thought great prophets would do this when I first heard about them.)
- I'm sure there are countless possibilities. How about a strange one - a saboteur unit which is invisible to the enemy, but doesn't work like a spy. Instead, you put it in one of your OWN cities, and if that city is captured by the enemy it destroys the city instead. "Thought you were getting a shrine, did you?" Might have more value in multi-player - I'm not sure how the AI targets cities.
- Each civ has one special unit they receive when they hit a certain tech
- A unit that survives a combat has a chance of becoming a special unit, like military leaders were produced in civ3
- They could be built like wonders
- They could be found in huts, with some sort of future condition. "Your wise men have a vision, that you will build the greatest cavalry ever seen!" When you hit military tradition you get a single super-cavalry
I particularly like the idea of great units/generals/people with limited areas of effect.
I also like the idea of great units/generals/people could have two sets of characteristics that forced you to choose how to use them - just as you have to pick what to do with the great people in the game now (though I rarely find myself feeling conflicted about the options). For example, if made sufficiently rare, perhaps a great general might have the following properties:
- When based in your capital, all units built there receive one free additional promotion.
- When anywhere in your empire, all military units are 10% cheaper to build
- When moving, units on the same tile recieve a movement bonus
- When stacked with troops on foreign soil, all units in the stack receive +15% attack and defense
What do you think of the idea of Great Units or Great Generals?
<Disclaimer: The forums are vast. I can't - and don't try - to read every thread. Someone may well have already suggested this possibility.>
