To give a little background, there's basically two types of civs in the game: peaceful and warlike. I like to keep these evenly matched. Peaceful civs research more advanced units to counter the more experienced units of warlike leaders. One side has more science, while the other has more promotions. This is why I introduced peaceful science bonuses (like RAs stronger with an alliance), and warmonger science penalties (like less science from puppets). The goal is to balance these two factions.
I agree this runs into problems with Venice. Ideally Firaxis would set Venician puppets to have no penalties. We can't do this directly without core modding. I think a workaround might be to make puppets never build science buildings on their own, and reduce the basic puppet science penalty. This should keep science from puppets mostly unchanged for most leaders, while reducing the effect on Venice, since Venice can simply purchase their science buildings.
@EricB
Here are some ideas for changes based on your suggestions:
- Aztecs: +1
+2
to Chinampa. (Artifical islands that don't need water might feel odd)
- Brazil: 50% longer Golden Ages
- Inca: starts with Mining, stronger Slingers.
- Indonesia: Civilians start with Amphibious promotion (embarkation and bonus embarked strength).
- Iroquois: +2
Longhouses
- Morocco: Berber Cavalry move faster in deserts.
- Russia: +1
+1
Krepost.
- Shoshone: +10% stronger Comanche Cavalry.
- Sweden: fix a bug giving them their old farm bonus.
High rankings on the
favorite leaders poll show these leaders probably do not need significant buffs:
These civs have average rankings, and probably do not need nerfs:
I want leaders to feel very unique, and avoid duplicating their bonuses. I'd prefer to find different approaches to these suggestions:
- Copy Denmark's naval movement theme to England.
- Copy Arabia's desert movement to Morocco.
- Copy Songhai Mandekalu siege bonus to Spanish Conquistadors.
I occasionally see requests to move Denmark's water movement bonus to England, but if we do that, we need some new theme for Denmark. I don't think I've seen suggestions for a new Danish ability. We could swap Denmark and England, but would that make sense? England was known for highly experienced sailors and powerful ships, which fits the experience bonus.
Steles should give 1 faith plus 1 faith per population. This seems very powerful, and I'm not sure adding another +1 faith will change much. I think the other bonuses of Ethiopia might be the weak points.
I try to avoid giving free buildings in cities, like a longhouse for the Iroquois, as it reduces our choices of what to build.
Indonesia's Candi building seems out of place. It comes late for religion, with a weak effect, so it's unlikely to influence the game. It doesn't synergize with their other bonuses either. If we buff Indonesia I'd like to change that unique building.
You feel giving gold to Siamese Farms fits their historical background? I don't know much about Siamese history.
@jwerano
Missionaries cost 300

in the first three eras (ancient-medieval) when most religious spread occurs. This is 50% higher than the unmodded game. Missionary costs remain 300 in late eras when missionaries are less useful. The unmodded game raises missionary costs up to 800-1000 in late eras.
@Ahriman
Faster embarked speed can only be applied at a nationwide level through UAs, technologies, or policies. I don't think we can speed up individual
embarked units like civilians. However, we can make English
military ships move faster.
Steam Mills unlocks Ideologies like the factories they replace. Steam Mills only need 23 techs to research at Steam Power, compared to the 45 techs required for Factories at Industrialization (technically just one tech later, but with strong prerequisites).
@EricB, ExpiredReign
Assyrian Royal Libraries also give an experience bonus to units trained in the city, if the great work slot is filled. This rarely has a significant influence on the game in practice. The civ mostly focuses on the unique unit and ability. I agree the library's weak.
@EricB
We should buff a civ for humans only if they are weak in human hands. I use the
favorite leader polls to determine this. If the AI plays a leader poorly, we can give them buffs that only apply to the AI, instead of humans.
AIs tend to be better playing leaders with simple bonuses like the Mayan science building. It's more difficult for the AI to play a leader with a complex strategy like Venice. This doesn't necessarily mean the Mayans are stronger than Venice in
human hands... just that we need to give these AIs specific bonuses to compensate.