I've started a Marathon game because I wanted more time to play with the toys of each era before they become obsolete.
However, that doesn't happen. If anything, from the medieval era onwards the tech outpaces the building even faster, so I'm essentially using the toys of the previous age way through the next one even more than before because of the long build times and high upgrade costs. That I have artillery but are still waiting to upgrade some of my trebuchets to cannon for lack of cash never happened before, even when I played a science-oriented civ, and if I need to build an extra army, this takes so long that the first units are obsolete when I'm finished. Also, the tile acquisition is way too slow.
So...I guess I'm asking how to mod the game to make it facilitate the playstyle I want, but without becoming unbalanced in the process. I'm thinking of these elements:
(1) Increase the progression curve of technology, i.e make it so that nothing much changes around the start of the game, because things take long enough there, but the curve should be steeper than before and result in significantly increased costs especially from Industrial onwards.
(2) Reduce the production cost of units and buildings. I take it 300% is normal for Marathon games. Reducing it to 250 or 200 might make sense. Reduce the upgrade cost to 66% of the normal Marathon rate.
(3) Increase tile acquisition rate by....hmm....I'd say 10%. Hard to judge the long-term effects. Also, is there any way to change the ridiculous terrain preferences? Who acquires an empty ocean hex without any coastline before a hill where you could build a mine?
If the changed numbers also affect the AI, this should be doable in such a way that the game doesn't become unbalanced. Are there any recommendations? Have people tried something like this yet? How could I do it?
However, that doesn't happen. If anything, from the medieval era onwards the tech outpaces the building even faster, so I'm essentially using the toys of the previous age way through the next one even more than before because of the long build times and high upgrade costs. That I have artillery but are still waiting to upgrade some of my trebuchets to cannon for lack of cash never happened before, even when I played a science-oriented civ, and if I need to build an extra army, this takes so long that the first units are obsolete when I'm finished. Also, the tile acquisition is way too slow.
So...I guess I'm asking how to mod the game to make it facilitate the playstyle I want, but without becoming unbalanced in the process. I'm thinking of these elements:
(1) Increase the progression curve of technology, i.e make it so that nothing much changes around the start of the game, because things take long enough there, but the curve should be steeper than before and result in significantly increased costs especially from Industrial onwards.
(2) Reduce the production cost of units and buildings. I take it 300% is normal for Marathon games. Reducing it to 250 or 200 might make sense. Reduce the upgrade cost to 66% of the normal Marathon rate.
(3) Increase tile acquisition rate by....hmm....I'd say 10%. Hard to judge the long-term effects. Also, is there any way to change the ridiculous terrain preferences? Who acquires an empty ocean hex without any coastline before a hill where you could build a mine?
If the changed numbers also affect the AI, this should be doable in such a way that the game doesn't become unbalanced. Are there any recommendations? Have people tried something like this yet? How could I do it?
