natural wonders a bust?

[Sonereal]

Well, I think it was a feature to a lot of peaceful players.

Not everyone plays Civilization for the wargame experience, so providing us something to do -- like perhaps special natural wonder buildings or some sort of new tile improvement to leverage them -- would go a long way to the peaceful builders who feel like they've been left behind.

But even if you're going for the building game, that's what, only a few new improvements? It doesn't add enough and natural wonders never provide any significant advantage unless GP improvements could be built on them.

Why? because this thread is about natural wonders not diplomacy. If you want to rightfully complain about the poor diplomacy AI then post to a diplo AI thread. The idea behind my suggestions was to add a little flavor and also to allow players to choose actions that have consequences. Since all the AI's also get the happiness bonus for the wonders, if the owner of the wonder destroys, develops or preserves a wonder it should have effects on gameplay. It seems that something along these lines would be modable. Maybe one of the modders will pick this up and do something with it.

The problem is that the stuff you suggested was very small in scale.. You can't "destroy" Yellowstone (which thankfully won't explode in-game). Instead of making "Natural" Park stuff, why not simply just allow the Great Artist to build Landmarks on it for a boost in culture? Isn't a Natural Park pretty much the same thing as a giant landmark?

 

[zonk]

But even if you're going for the building game, that's what, only a few new improvements? It doesn't add enough and natural wonders never provide any significant advantage unless GP improvements could be built on them.

I guess I'd say we'll take what we can get, at this point...

There are a lot of next turn wastelands for the builder, so even a few sprinkled options here and there would be welcome. In fact, if anyone from Firaxis happened across this thread --- something like that would at least show us you cared about us!

 

[KHSOLO]

they are a great reason to explore.

Indeed !

 

[joyous_gard]

I built Machu Pichu on my Old Faithful which was next to mountain. That was awesome looking, but I haven't learned how to screen cap.

I like natural wonders and so I go for them, but the payoff is a bit of a letdown.

Random events for them would be good. Someone could die at one and you lose money, or tourists could start going to them so you gain money, or an artist is inspired by one so you get culture... etc. Ahh random events.

 

[sosueme]

They're a nice surprise when exploring early-game. Not sure whey you would need to make this game easier by turning them into super-tiles, but you could probably create a mod to do this if you felt strongly about it.

 

[greggbert]

Natural wonders are just another way to get happiness. It's a carrot to keep you exploring, and I for one sure like the extra

 

[dexters]

I think tying them to real world wonders kind of break immersion.

I think the wonders should be unnamed and named by whoever discovered it.

 

[Maniacal]

I would prefer if this thread was titled:

Natural busts a wonder.

Oddly enough thats what I read too.

 

[Mad Hab]

Yep, I also think they could be more explored...

By the way, I was playing a game on a small Earth map and there wasn't one single Natural Wonder to be found. They were left out of Earth maps?

(Not that it matters too much, since they are so unimportant, anyway)

Cheers!

Mad Hab

 

[Sonereal]

Yep, I also think they could be more explored...

By the way, I was playing a game on a small Earth map and there wasn't one single Natural Wonder to be found. They were left out of Earth maps?

(Not that it matters too much, since they are so unimportant, anyway)

Cheers!

Mad Hab

They're usually in earth maps.

 

[Peepers]

I suggest that they come with their own bit of culture yield, independent of any "landmark" improvement, say 5 points. That way, they would be sought after and worked by cities. The yield is pretty good as it stands, but the culture would really make them worth it. Or maybe a small, one-time culture bonus upon discovery (a la some ruins.)

 

[DaveGold]

Natural wonders are typical of the game. They sort of happen to you. You explore and happen to find some or not. You can't do anything with them or about them. Is that the sort of feature that gamers like?

 

[stormerne]

I think we need a mod that incorporates some more adventurous natural wonders. How about, for example, the San Andreas fault? At some point in the game it could grow a fault line of extra hexes along the map, breaking road links as it goes...

Not serious? Perhaps not. But is there really much excitement from the wonders that are already included? For example, where are the great waterfalls? (That would be a good excuse for a nice animation.) I know my population is credulous - because they want me as their leader - but folk that can get a permanent happy from such anodyne features might need a hospital building for them pretty quick.

 

[alancsilver]

Why do I fear that firaxis/2k will develop more natural wonders as paid DLC! Doh!!

 

[clearbeard]

Yep, I also think they could be more explored...

By the way, I was playing a game on a small Earth map and there wasn't one single Natural Wonder to be found. They were left out of Earth maps?

(Not that it matters too much, since they are so unimportant, anyway)

Cheers!

Mad Hab

They seem a little buggy on Earth maps, yes. I've played 2 Earth games so far, the first (small size) had 5, and the second (standard size) only had 1. If the RNG could give me only one on a standard, it doesn't surprise me that a small could randomly get 0. No clue how the map scripts work, but all the other map types I've played, even on duel and tiny sizes, have more than on Earth (all 7 on everything except the duel, I think).

 

[Detroitdregs]

I agree completely and will be adding to them in my mod: Words of War and Wonder; from my mod proposal post:

"Natural Wonders: Don't feel like Wonders at all, only workable mountains. Planning to change them to give "Wonder Like" bonuses when worked (and only when worked). For example:

The Grand Canyon (Three in line Hexes): +15% Bonus to Fortified Troops within your borders as long as all three Hexes are worked.

The Great Barrier Reef: +3% Science output for the city working as long as you control a University, +3% Science output for the city as long as it has a Public School -bonus is Per Hex, not "must work all".

Angel Falls (mountain hex, must be at river base): As long as Angel Falls is worked, all River Hexes in this city's borders get +1 commerce.

As it is now, I just don't care about natural wonders, and they were one of the coolest ideas for the game imho. "

I remember reading "If you see one, makes sure you settle by it before someone else does!" before the game came out and was psyched for them -now, I don't even notice them. My first few games I rushed to settle by them, then realized I would have been better off by those four tiles by the stunted river. . .

Natural wonders have been very important throughout history, often being of religious and spiritual significance to the people who lived by them. Niagara Falls helped usher in the electric age, Uluru (ayer's rock) was of great spiritual significance, Mt. Fuji is central in Japanese culture and legend, the Himalaya's (which can be rep'd by Mt.Everest) sheltered India from the mongols and limited their exposure to the rest of Asia, producing a more distinct and less blended culture.

The great barrier reef can be seen from space and is the single largest structure made by living organisms. It's far bigger than anything humankind has built, it can be seen from space, unlike the great wall, and is one of the most bio diverse locations on earth - to me that's a lot more "wonderful" than, say, The Brandenburg Gate.

 

[pi-r8]

They already give the best tile yield in the game: 2 production and 3 gold. What more do you want?

 

[clearbeard]

They already give the best tile yield in the game: 2 production and 3 gold. What more do you want?

Pretty sure my minted gold mines give more like 3 7. Early on when 2 3 would be a good yield, I can seldom afford to go without any food in a tile. Later on, they're never as good as the improved base tiles. If they're right near an otherwise good settling spot, they're not totally useless, just mostly so. Certainly not worth seeking out to settle near.

 

[pi-r8]

Pretty sure my minted gold mines give more like 3 7. Early on when 2 3 would be a good yield, I can seldom afford to go without any food in a tile. Later on, they're never as good as the improved base tiles. If they're right near an otherwise good settling spot, they're not totally useless, just mostly so. Certainly not worth seeking out to settle near.

I just meant that it's better than any normal tile. Of course the special resource tiles are the best. But a natural wonder is equal to a river side hill trading post, which is a great tile. Especially good during golden ages. Food is unnecessary thanks to maritime city states.

 

[AriochIV]

Natural wonders are an incentive to explore the world, period.