Natural Wonders Brainstorming List

[Fabio1701]

The steaming sea: three or four tile tiles with geothermal under the water. Geothermal cannot be harvested but each tile provid 3 energy if worked.

 

[T Glenhaber]

Great Miasma Fields
Concentrated miasma which is much like the "pea soup" fog of london. Aliens insta-heal upon moving in and it can not be cleared by workers or satellites. If a unit moves into the tile, they lose 50 health but they gain immunity to miasma. This tile is always surrounded by (normal) miasma which will come back in 10 turns after clearing.

 

[T Glenhaber]

Ancient Siege Worm Skeleton
Like any other expedition, except when it is excavated, the player gains a free siege worm under their control. To all other players, however, the siege worm looks as if it is an alien unit, so it can move into enemy lands. The siege worm must listen to ultrasonic fences.

 

[Fabio1701]

Great Miasma Fields
Concentrated miasma which is much like the "pea soup" fog of london. Aliens insta-heal upon moving in and it can not be cleared by workers or satellites. If a unit moves into the tile, they lose 50 health but they gain immunity to miasma. This tile is always surrounded by (normal) miasma which will come back in 10 turns after clearing.

This is an awesome idea! In guves a haven fir the late game aliens and a place to grind your alien hunters if you wish. Imagine a harminy player putting a city in this.

 

[Ikael]

The flying waterfall

A jungle and a lake have formed at the top of a humongous floatstone, giving birth to a waterfall that falls from heavens, quite literally, and a complex local ecosystem formed due to the interaction of the upper, sunny jungle at the top, and the shadowy yet humid land below it.

You can have 3 possible courses of action once you put it under your control in your territory:

- Leave it as it is. The tile yields 2 food and health, will yield one extra culture for each 30 turns that passes inside your lands, as a result of a growing local myth

- Build a quarry: You recieve a whooping amount of 10 floatstones resources (!) albeit the yields of the tile will be downgraded to the ones of a regular floatstone quarry

- Build a unique improvement, "natural park" in the top of it. It has a costly manteinance (10 energy) but it will have incredible yields: 4 food 4 health and 4 culture points

 

[silvertuerk]

I suggest that unique items do not appear in every game. Some of the items could be fairly major, and could have some prerequisites as techs, affinity levels or alien guardians but also yield something moderately game-altering that would make a good story.

WONDER EXCAVATION SITE
WONDER POD
WONDER ALIEN NEST
WONDER FOREST
WONDER BONUS RESOURCE
WONDER SITE FOR NAVAL COLONY*
WONDER RIVER**
WONDER MOUNTAIN (why not once for the sake of beauty?)

* - floatstone on the ocean, anyone? It was already suggested that colonizable natural wonder in the middle of ocean should be named New Atlantis. I must disagree, it should be named New Centauri, instead
** - perhaps it spreads miasma. perhaps it is an impassable permanent lava river.

However, would floatstone in the middle of ocean conflict with game graphics engine in the sense that terrain is so high above usual level? Would players feel that it is unfair that there is no firaxite-associated natural wonder or xenomass-associated natural wonder?

I also suggest that an unique WONDER MONSTER and an WONDER BASE would be also interesting.

 

[MistroPain]

Here are some Progenitor-type natural wonders:

The Fatalist Gardens - Natural gardens of exotic plants inhabited by glowing feline-like aliens. Upon further examination, however, it is apparent that this was once the site of a battle and lies atop the corpses of an unknown race. (Provides +6 Science and +4 Health if worked).

The Ascendance Pillar - Slab after slab of exotic stones make up this pillar, yet between each slab is nothing but air. Energy clearly holds this structure apart, yet also together. When the seven moons aline once each decade, a red glyph of unknown meaning appears on its north facing side. (Provides +8 Culture and +3 Science if worked).

The Speakers Tomb - A cavern littered with glyphs of unknown origin go on forever and ever. A library of sorts it seems? (Provides +10 Science if worked and recharges for further excavation every 30 turns).

 

[MistroPain]

Some more to do with the world itself:

The Moon Shards Fields - Fields are littered with glowing white gems and shards impaled into the grounds below, almost like they had fallen from the skies. Maybe there was once another moon orbiting this planet? (Composed of 7 hexes; each hex provides +2 Culture and +2 Energy yields; when all hexes are worked there is also a +0.5 Harmony/Purity/Supremacy yield depending on which one is highest, and +8 Culture).

The Green Spring Boulders - Just of the coast seems to lie a great phenomena. Boulders covered in green algae are lifted and suspended into the air by furious springs! (Composed of 7 hexes; each hex provides +3 Food and +1 Science; if all are worked you also recieve +5 Culture and +5 Science).

The Twin Giants Causeway - Much like that seen on Earth there seems to be a region made up of columns of Basalt, yet here they ooze out an unclearable miasma, and hiss as though it was the world telling you to F*ck Off! (Composed of 7 hexes; each hex provides +1 Science and +4 Energy; Each tile worked has a 6% chance each turn of killing the citizen working it; if all are worked you also recieve +7 Energy, +7 Culture and +7 Titanium).

 

[silvertuerk]

These wonders give a sort of non-organic sci-fi mystery feel.

Those ⑦-hex wonders could look very well, special and unique but if impassaböle, then there is one more obstacle to battle.

Unclearable miasma object sounds cool. It would make an excellent battlefield-modifying object.

 

[T Glenhaber]

Here are some Progenitor-type natural wonders:
The Ascendance Pillar - Slab after slab of exotic stones make up this pillar, yet between each slab is nothing but air. Energy clearly holds this structure apart, yet also together. When the seven moons aline once each decade, a red glyph of unknown meaning appears on its north facing side. (Provides +12 Science if worked).

Wouldnt this work better as + instead of +?

 

[MistroPain]

Edited according to your suggestion. In one sense the Pillar would attract scientific minds to it; in another crowds would flock to it as a tourist attraction.

Some alien based natural wonders:

The 90 Tonne Beast - A sight to behold, this beast must have gobbled up whole cities when it was still living! Let's just hope there are none of these still left on this world. (Composed of 4 hexes in one straight line; each hex provides +4 Food and +1 Culture; if all four hexes are worked you gain +0.5 Harmony points each turn and gain +25% Strength against Worms, and +75 Science for killing each worm.)

The World Eater - A permanent whirlpool. Some theorize it leads straight to the center of the world, others say this thing is growing... possibly eating the world. The Sea Dragons and Krakens seem to worship the thing. Something important must be at the bottom? (Composed of four hexes; each hex worked provides +6 Food; if all hexes are worked tamed Sea Dragons (for 600 Energy) and tamed Krakens (for 1800 Energy) can be purchased from the nearest Coastal City).

 

[Gaian Jen]

As a long-time fan of SMAC, I really would love to see unique natural wonders implemented in BE.

Being that at least with the games I've played so far where I've sometimes gone the entire length without once being involved in a war, coveting a certain landmark possessed by another faction just might be the right impetus to pick a fight...

 

[purplecow]

Settlement Danger Zones: These areas offer substantial tile yield improvements, but each is associated with a unique periodic danger.

Flood Zone: Collection of tiles along a river. +1 food to all tiles, 20% chance every 10 turns of a flood that will pillage improvements and destroy buildings in the zone.

Volcanic Crater: Collection of tiles around a volcanic mountain. +1 production to all tiles. 15% chance every 10 turns to erupt and kill 3 population from nearby cities. (cities under 3 population are wiped out)

Crystalline Desert: Collection of tiles in a vast desert. +1 research to all tiles. 30% chance every 10 turns for a sandstorm to reduce visibility and attack range to a maximum of 1 for all units and cities in the desert.

Storm Valley: Collection of hills near a mountain range. +1 energy to all tiles. 25% chance every 10 turns for a storm cell to spawn, destroying random buildings and losing all current production for any nearby cities.

Ancient Labyrinth: Collection of hills near a canyon system. +1 culture to all hills. 10% chance every 10 turns for an electromagnetic surge, de-orbiting all satelites within 5 tiles and destroying 200 energy for every city nearby.

Mysterious Obelisk: Ancient machinery that utilizes technology so advanced it appears magical. Strange wonders and terrible dangers await civilizations desperate enough to activate the devices ...

Effect: +3 research, +3 culture, +3 energy, +3 production on Mysterious Obelisk. When the Obelisk is first worked by a city, a random timer will begin counting down. The Obelisk will create severe destabilizing effects when the timer expires.

Spoiler :

Electrostatic Anomaly: All players' satellites within 15 tiles are de-orbited.
Hyperspatial Paradox: The Obelisk permanently becomes a two-way gateway linking to another Obelisk elsewhere on the map.
Kraken Trigger: Aliens become much more hostile to all players and 20 Kraken spawn around the world.
Guardian: A slumbering colossus is awakened to the defense of its world. Spawns a 200-strength hovering unit that will beeline towards cities, gaining 10% combat strength for each city it destroys.
Deep Hive: A malevolent brood of alien monsters are loosened upon the world. Spawns ten hostile siege worms around the Obelisk.
Magma Control: All volcanoes across the planet erupt simultaneously, reducing food yields on all tiles by 1 (to a minimum of 0) for 30 turns and reducing the population in every city by 3 (razing cities of size 3 or smaller).
Soul Furnace: Your society is irrevocably twisted by the dark whispers of an Eldritch device, abandoning previous goals in order to obtain sacrifices for the Soul Furnace (replaces the Obelisk, functions like a Wonder). Normal victory conditions are disabled and war is immediately declared against all players, stations and nests. You raze cities to obtain Captives (1 per population), who you feed into the Soul Furnace. When it reaches 100 souls, you win. Each sacrificed captive gives a 1% boost to combat strength and healing, but also permanently increases unhealth by 1.
Entropy Hammer: A random civilization has all of their victory conditions disabled except for Domination (everyone is notified but no one knows which civilization). This civilization gains double production and culture.

 

[T Glenhaber]

Farsight Mountain: Controlling this hex grants all units in adjacent hexes +3 to their range of sight in tiles. Grants +1 Culture.

My new idea is an adaption on this one.
Any ranged unit on this tile gains +1 range as long as they are on this tile. If a city is on this tile, It begins with the second circle of tiles already in the boundaries. +2 orbital range. However, any unit moving on or off of the tile must sacrifice their remaining moves.

Also, big fan of the Mysterious Obelisk, I like the specific victory types!

 

[gyrobot]

Antimatter Power plant: A mysterious energy plant that has significant energy stores. Immediate exactration of the of the condensors provides the first colony to find it with 500 energy. It produces 7 culture when worked.

 

[iam2509]

Now to have Spain on Beyond Earth along with all the Natural Wonders and I would be in heaven

Seriously, Spain is my number 1 civ in CIV - to the point where I almost exclusively play Isabella with every game.

I admit I am an addict for Spain so when I heard there were not even Natural Wonders in BE I decided not to buy the game. (Besides I STILL cannot get the BE Demo to work on my computer so no great loss I guess.)

 

[megabearsfan]

Primeval Nest = an ancient nest full of pristinely-preserved fossilized alien skeletons that seems to be venerated by the aliens.
Yield:
2 culture
2 gold
2 science

An expedition gives 3 options:
1.) Excavate : bring the skeletons to a research lab to be studied.
Gives affinity points towards Supremacy, and generates additional 3 science when worked, and provides a permanent 10% combat bonus against all aliens. Aliens become hostile for an extended duration.

2.) Create tourist site : preserve the site as a tourist attraction.
Gives affinity points towards Purity, and generates an additional 1 culture, 1 gold, 1 science, and 1 health when worked.

3.) Seal off : after cursory examinations, seal off the site so that it cannot be disturbed, and the dead creatures can rest in peace.
Gives affinity points towards Harmony, and generates lump sum of science. Tile becomes impassible for the rest of the game, and aliens become less aggressive against you for an extended duration.