Limiting the Expansion Capacity of a Civ

[Gary Childress]

I have this idea for the mod I'm working on. What I think I will do is give each civ a specific number of "free" units based upon the civ's government (which will be locked into place using hidden techs and civ specific techs) and then impose severe penalties for exceeding that number.

So for instance Axis Fascism (it's a WW II mod) might have a limit of 300 units and then a cost of 10 gold per unit over that limit. That way you can build an army of 300 units easily but exceeding that number will be very difficult. The only exception will be militia units which are free upkeep. Unlike first rate units which can only be built in the home cities of a Civ, Militia units can be built in any city but are very weak compared to first rate units.

I'm wondering what people's thoughts on this method are? Are there any drawbacks to it which I haven't forseen? What I'm basically trying to do is make it so that the more a civ expands, the more difficult it is to maintain an army big enough to go further. So for instance the more territory a civ takes, the fewer units will be available to defend it or to take more territory.

Thoughts? Comments?

 

[BadKharma]

While on the surface it seems like a good idea I fear it will ensure the AI does even more to lose. If the victory conditions are dependent upon domination or conquest and you make the possibility of achieving those conditions so costly the AI will never do so have you gotten anywhere ahead?

 

[AncientOne]

Yeah, i tend to agree with BadKharma, that making AI even weaker than it is anyway ain't really good idea.. yet, perhaps in WW2 scenario this could work for Germany and other countries that had little funds, resources or people (especially when the war progresses)
I came to think if somebody knows.. units which need population and more than 2 of it, do these require more support cost? I guess that is not so, but would like to know sure.

 

[Gary Childress]

While on the surface it seems like a good idea I fear it will ensure the AI does even more to lose. If the victory conditions are dependent upon domination or conquest and you make the possibility of achieving those conditions so costly the AI will never do so have you gotten anywhere ahead?

Under the Difficulty Levels tab there is a set of fields for "unit support bonuses" for the AI. I'm wondering if I give the AI some additional support, maybe a really high number perhaps the AI won't be as restrained. I assume these fields work for the AI.

 

[Vuldacon]

You can certainly Strengthen the AI with the addition of the Unit Support Bonuses to help them, however, you may find that limiting the ability to support larger numbers of Units and Territory is best served by Corruption and Maintenance adjustments in the game.

 

[Ozymandias]

I assume you're covering the entire ETO? - If so, I'd recommend having every unit produced by factory or barracks. Limits can be put in place (e.g., 3 Pz4 factories required for each Pz5 factory.) Playing with the cost, frequency of production, and when factories become obsolete would probably give you a much fresher use of the AI.

Best,

Oz

 

[Gary Childress]

I assume you're covering the entire ETO? - If so, I'd recommend having every unit produced by factory or barracks. Limits can be put in place (e.g., 3 Pz4 factories required for each Pz5 factory.) Playing with the cost, frequency of production, and when factories become obsolete would probably give you a much fresher use of the AI.

Best,

Oz

I'm using Marla Singer's world map for the mod so it is world wide ETO and PTO.

The only problem with having factories auto produce units is that I have probably over 300 unique units in the mod and there's a 256 improvement limit I think.

EDIT: What if I flagged factories so that you could only have one factory producing one type of unit at a time in a city. When the factory becomes obsolete will the AI replace it with an up to date factory to produce newer units?

 

[BadKharma]

There is an actual easy answer to this, however it is an innovation that Civinator came up with for his CCM mod so I do not feel right sharing it. Try pm'ing him. Just let me say you could have one factory produce several different units.

On the difficulty tab that will not completely counteract unit support costs it is more of a "bonus" for the AI rather than coding a smarter AI.

 

[Gary Childress]

There is an actual easy answer to this, however it is an innovation that Civinator came up with for his CCM mod so I do not feel right sharing it. Try pm'ing him. Just let me say you could have one factory produce several different units.

Thanks Badkharma, I PMed Civinator. Just off the top of my head, though, does it have anything to do with having a unit auto-produced by a factory upgrade to another unit?

 

[BadKharma]

It has to do with a unit that can upgrade along a path in as many steps as you want from any improvement, small wonder or wonder you want to set it up with. For instance you could have a factory produce a generic unit that upgrades to a Panzer III ---> Panzer iV ----> Panzer V while another improvement small wonder wonder makes a generic unit that upgrades to a Tiger -----> King Tiger. And it can be done for each civilization or group of civilizations. Of course if you make them from an improvement I would limit them by either requiring a resource be within the city radius or some other means because if you do not do that then you will end up with an overabundance of units being produced depending upon the size of the Civilization. And of course you know only one small wonder can be built by each civ and one great wonder can only be built by one civilization in the game.

 

[Virote_Considon]

I have this idea for the mod I'm working on. What I think I will do is give each civ a specific number of "free" units based upon the civ's government (which will be locked into place using hidden techs and civ specific techs) and then impose severe penalties for exceeding that number.

So for instance Axis Fascism (it's a WW II mod) might have a limit of 300 units and then a cost of 10 gold per unit over that limit. That way you can build an army of 300 units easily but exceeding that number will be very difficult. The only exception will be militia units which are free upkeep. Unlike first rate units which can only be built in the home cities of a Civ, Militia units can be built in any city but are very weak compared to first rate units.

I'm wondering what people's thoughts on this method are? Are there any drawbacks to it which I haven't forseen? What I'm basically trying to do is make it so that the more a civ expands, the more difficult it is to maintain an army big enough to go further. So for instance the more territory a civ takes, the fewer units will be available to defend it or to take more territory.

Thoughts? Comments?

I use a similar system, but make it so that each town/city/metro owned actually reduces the number of units available to support, by a small amount. I haven't noticed any problems thus far (no that I've seen the AI go on any major conquests )

 

[Steph]

I assume you're covering the entire ETO? - If so, I'd recommend having every unit produced by factory or barracks. Limits can be put in place (e.g., 3 Pz4 factories required for each Pz5 factory.)
Oz

BTW, in that case, do you need 6 Pz4 Factories to build your second Pz5? Or can you do it as soon as you have 3 Pz4.?