Improvements

[bkmail]

I'm looking for some ideas on improvements to add using the editor on c3c. Any ideas on buildings that any of you have made that improves production, commerce, or lowers corruption would be great.

Here are some of the ones I've come up with:

1) Representative Assembly-lowers corruption, just like a courthouse but a little cheaper
2) Senate- works like a forbidden palace
3) FBI HQ- works like a forbidden palace or secret police
4) Theater- provides entertainment and culture, makes citizens happy in city
5) Corporation- works like a bank or stock exchange, except the city needs to be a metropolis to build
6) Lumber Yard- increases production
7) Naval Academy- spits out a battleship or destroyer every 5 turns. Haven't decided yet.

Well that's it so far. I would like to know if there is a way to add icons so I don't have to keep using the same icon for each different improvement and wonder that I add. For example, I was thinking of adding a TV Station that would be a Small Wonder that would make people in every city happy because of entertainment, but there is no icon that I could use that looks remotely like a TV Station. Is there a way to add icons or pictures so that I can create things like that and not have to use the same pictures for everything. One more thing, I wanted to create something like a Fallout Shelter that would decrease the number of people that die when a city is nuked, is there any way to create new things that improvements can do, or are we stuck with what the editor gives us?

Thanks
BK

 

[Pfeffersack]

There are several tutorials for adding improvements in the creation/customization references, tutorials and guides section, for example here:
http://forums.civfanatics.com/showthread.php?t=94312

The graphics for the new buildings can be found in the creation and customization graphic modpack section.

For the abilities of the new buildings, you can only use what the editor allows (beside a hacked version, which enables also teleporters).For example it is not possible to make metropolis size a prequesite for a wonder or improvment (however, you can set the building which allows metropolis size - under stock rules, the hospital - as prequesite) and also not to influence effect of a an atomar strike (casualties always about 50%) .

BTW, have you ever tried the Rise and Rule mod? There a lot of new improvements...you can use it as source of inspiration or to see how those buildings work.Or can just have fun playing the mod, of course

 

[Willem]

One good idea is to create some improvements that require strategic/luxury resources to be within a city limits. That adds some uniqueness to some of your cities.

Another thing you can do is split up some of the multi function improvements, like Marketplace, Harbour and Airport. You can have Marketplace only increase the tax revenue by 50%, then add another building that increases Luxury Trade for happiness effects. Harbours have three distinct functions you can play around with.

As for your Naval Academy idea, I think every 5 turns would be a bit much. And your first couple of ideas would work nicely as government specific buildings. As soon as you switch, they would disappear from your city list and no longer have any effect.

 

[Goldflash]

I'd make the neavl academy a small wonder.

 

[Sir Donald III]

A little note here. One of the things that isn't used in the Standard game is the +50% Happiness on Improvements flag. In the Mod I'm developing on the side, I'm going to have that flag checked for my Theater (1 Happy otherwise) as well as the Shakespeare's Great Wonder. It offers an interesting dynamic, i.e. has the Lux Slider actually mean something.

For Lumber Yard, I would think that that should require a Lumber (Strategic) Resource as well as possibly the "Resource within City Radius" Flag (though if you aren't using Conquests, that would make the Yard a Small Wonder).

 

[Plotinus]

The +50% Happiness is used in the standard game - the Marketplace has it.

As for Lumber Yard, you mean of course Timber. "Lumber" means bric-a-brac, such as you would find in an old attic; Americans habitually misuse it to mean wood, apparently misled by its similarity to the word "timber". Otherwise, it's a good idea for an improvement.

 

[Bjornlo]

The +50% Happiness is used in the standard game - the Marketplace has it.

As for Lumber Yard, you mean of course Timber. "Lumber" means bric-a-brac, such as you would find in an old attic; Americans habitually misuse it to mean wood, apparently misled by its similarity to the word "timber". Otherwise, it's a good idea for an improvement.

Americans no more misuse lumber to mean finished wood then the english misuse bangers and mash to mean sausages and potatoes.
The american definition for the word is that timber is rough wood, like logs. And lumber is finished wood like beams and planks. Being that it is the largest (by far) english speaking country not to mention the sociologically most dominent nation on earth, it is not fair to say that their(and Canada's) definition is any less valid then the smaller nations.
Just because in the UK bangers is sausages and in America it means gangsters doesn't mean that either definition is misused. Only that local defintions for some words vary.

 

[GRM7584]

As for Lumber Yard, you mean of course Timber. "Lumber" means bric-a-brac, such as you would find in an old attic; Americans habitually misuse it to mean wood, apparently misled by its similarity to the word "timber". Otherwise, it's a good idea for an improvement.

In all of North America, the term "Lumber" is used chiefly to refer to Timber (this can be quickly referenced in any English dictionary, particularly Amer. or Canad, although I imagine some British ones also acknowledge the widespread use in NA...in the dictionaries I scooted off to check, it specified seperate definitions for NA and GB), so while it would not be appropriate for a scenario taking place explicitly in Britain, theres no reason not to call it a lumber mill for a generic scenario, unless of course it explicitly offends you.

It would be comparable to saying its utterly impossible to have an "Aluminum" resource, although thats a bad example as I personally think that...

 

[Bjornlo]

BkMail,
graphics for most of those items probably already exist.
If you follow the links in my signature you will see my take on a couple of them. Search the graphics mod forum carefully and you will find alot of just really cool stuff.
My files come with installation instructions. The tutorials section here is better and more detailed. Might want to look at both and see which suits you best.
Take care.
-Bjørn

 

[Rob (R8XFT)]

The +50% Happiness is used in the standard game - the Marketplace has it.

As for Lumber Yard, you mean of course Timber. "Lumber" means bric-a-brac, such as you would find in an old attic; Americans habitually misuse it to mean wood, apparently misled by its similarity to the word "timber". Otherwise, it's a good idea for an improvement.

Does that make a lumberjack someone who sorts out bric-a-brac? Perhaps a car-boot salesperson?

Some ideas:
Mill - increases production by 25%, but needs to be near water.
Henry Ford Factory (great wonder) - adds manufacturing plant to every city on the continent?
Slave market (small wonder?) - produces slave (worker with no upkeep costs) every X turns.

 

[Plotinus]

Sorry to accidentally cause controversy! Although I *would* point out that it is not true that the US is the largest English-speaking country - there is, for example, India, which has over three times the population of the US and many languages but uses English officially. There are plenty of other large English-speaking countries, such as Nigeria, which has half the population of the US. They all use standard English (as opposed to US English) or minor variations thereon so I'd say that using the standard definitions of words such as "lumber" would make more sense - that is, be less limiting - than using the US definitions, unless you want to make an American scenario. Of course, that's just my view. It doesn't really matter, ultimately, I suppose.

I didn't know that "banger" meant "gangster" in America. I thought it was an old car!

 

[Bjornlo]

Plontinus, that is quite an imagination you have there. Those other countries are all quite interesting, but are for the most part not native english speakers.
I work with quite a few "english" speakers from India. Bright, educated, the cream of the crop... but all of them speak english as a 2nd language, and this is evident from the first few words they speak. India uses english as a common language to bridge the gap between parts of the country where the local language is not easily understood (if at all) by those from other parts of the country. Also, india was once ruled by England but like those in North America they no longer speak UK english, but their own quite different dialect.
I'm not as familiar with Nigeria, but I'm sure it is the same. Lots of local dialects, etc. and some form of localized english (not UK english) spoken between different groups. Also Nigeria is around 1/3rd of the USA in total population.

But all this is just silly. You can love it or hate it, but it is the USA that steers the world pop-culture now. I'm not sure if this is a good thing, since I'm no fan of hollywood myself.

How many Indian tunes have you sung along to in the car? How many Nigerian movies you take in this year?

Banger is short for gang-banger, which means gang member & street thug.
[/offtopic]

BkMail,
If after going through the forums here (and possibly at the more slightly smaller but more searchable database at civ3files) you can't find any of the buildings you mentioned, let me know and I'll try and find the time to help you.
But first, please try it on your own.

 

[Bjornlo]

Some ideas:
Mill - increases production by 25%, but needs to be near water.
Henry Ford Factory (great wonder) - adds manufacturing plant to every city on the continent?
Slave market (small wonder?) - produces slave (worker with no upkeep costs) every X turns.

Good ideas, I would also suggest that slaves can not join a city, so they can not be used as a quick way to grow cities. And that their worker strength be 1/2 normal (at most).
I use a water mill to increase production in my game. Windmills are another option, but I haven't figured out anyway to limit those so I just skip them. While with water mills, I require they be near water (like you suggest).
I'd say the free MFG plant is way too powerful. And Henry Fords contribution was more along the lines of factory work then huge scale stuff.
As an added twist, I have certain buildings make the population unhappy. For example, universities have long been hotbeds of discontent and social disorder. Military installations, anything nuclear, anything that pollutes... and then have a few extra buildings happy buildings (sports facilities, museum, parks and so on). This adds an interesting wrinkle. It means it is more of a pain to have large mega production cities, and to have one causes you to have to invest in more infrastructure. Just adding production, happiness, etc without a counterbalance can throw things out of wack (IMHO).

 

[Willem]

The +50% Happiness is used in the standard game - the Marketplace has it.

No, the Marketplace has Increases Luxury Trade. There's another flag that increases Luxury levels by 50%, which isn't used by any improvement in the game. Probably because the AI doesn't use the Luxury slider, giving the human an advantage.

 

[Willem]

I didn't know that "banger" meant "gangster" in America. I thought it was an old car!

Here in Canada it can also mean drug addict, or prostitute. And Lumber means finished wood.

 

[Willem]

As an added twist, I have certain buildings make the population unhappy.

I've done that as well, it adds an interesting twist. But I've countered it by adding a few more buildings that increase happiness as well.

 

[GRM7584]

No, the Marketplace has Increases Luxury Trade. There's another flag that increases Luxury levels by 50%, which isn't used by any improvement in the game. Probably because the AI doesn't use the Luxury slider, giving the human an advantage.

He's right, actually; you might have been thinking of Civ 2, Plotinus, but I've just checked and the marketplace doesn't have that flag after all. Odd, because I thought the same thing.

 

[Plotinus]

I didn't know that about the Marketplace. My intervention here evidently failed completely!

It's true though - the Marketplace increases luxury resources. I didn't realise there's another function related to the luxury slider. That's an interesting turn-up. I certainly wasn't thinking of Civ2 though - never played it! Just Civ1.

 

[bkmail]

Thanks for all your suggestions. Bjornlo, I've started to download some of the buildings and units you've made. They are really good. I can't wait to use them.

 

[FinnMcCool]

Does that make a lumberjack someone who sorts out bric-a-brac? Perhaps a car-boot salesperson?

Some ideas:
Mill - increases production by 25%, but needs to be near water.
Henry Ford Factory (great wonder) - adds manufacturing plant to every city on the continent?
Slave market (small wonder?) - produces slave (worker with no upkeep costs) every X turns.

I've used the NEGATIVE smiley-faces feature in edit to include the seemier side of despotism.

Practice Of Slavery: a small wonder that requires DESPOTISM, 1 unhappy face in all cities, produces the Slavemaster unit every 11 turns. The Slavemaster is a 1-1 unit with a +2 HP Bonus. Very very expensive to create without the small wonder.

Dungeon: civic improvement that reduces corruption and waste, but incurs the 1 UNHAPPY face. Requires you be a Despot. This is a prerequisite for...

Torturer's Guild: requires a Dungeon, but can be used in any government. If you need to reduce corruption, you can build dungeons while a Despot, then build Torturer's Guilds in your cities, and change your gov. Torturer's Guild has only a -1 Culture penalty.

I've had a lot of fun using Kinboat's Bond unit; he has attack 1, defense 8, -1 HP and can transport tactical missiles. Invisible, Detect Invisible, Stealth, Amphibious, and my mod includes ordinance (mines) of increasing effectiveness with tech advances (Plastique, C4, Nuclear Coke Machine...)


The editor is pretty useful, if you can mix up all its options. Have fun!