New Luxury Resources (Speculation)

[MisterBoomBoom]

Not sure where this idea goes but...

We have OIL... great. But wouldn't having to build a refinery to make diesel/gasoline make it a proper two step process. The need for refineries enable other things too such as:

a) Embargos of both oil and gas
b) the extra need for refinery builds to go to modern war as you need diesel for all your tanks, etc
c) Espionage/attacks on refinery plants would be seriously crippling (as in real life) and work as a balance of power.

 

[MisterBoomBoom]

Might I suggest "Bison" as a plains/tundra luxury.

 

[ferretbacon]

I didn't touch upon bonus resources in my OP, but some of your replies have got me thinking on that subject.

Since bonus resources are merely there to perk up a tile and don't provide a stacking bonus (like luxury resource happiness), there's a lot of room to add flavor and variety that Firaxis hasn't bothered with. Why not have a multitude of different bonus resources? Some answer that it isn't necessary, but I'm in the camp that says anything that has the potential to deepen immersion or to better emulate a real world is worth including.

I too think that rice and corn should get in. I know that CiV has different 'tile sets' for different continents each game. Why not have wheat on the European continent, rice on the Asian continent, and corn on the American continent?

Also, bison would be good as an alternative to deer, and like jungle tiles have bananas, forest tiles could have apples.

 

[andrewlt]

Natural gas sounds like a good modern resource. It's not exactly a luxury resource, though.

I am scratching my head thinking of good modern luxury resources. There really isn't much, considering our modern luxuries are mostly manufactured using pretty common goods. I suppose they can have platinum for mining, lobsters and sea urchins or something else for sailing, cocoa and coffee for calendar and a bunch of exotic pets for trapping.

 

[MisterBoomBoom]

Exotic Hardwoods found in jungle tiles.
Titanium and other rare earths (all modern) could be needed to build high end jets etc.
I also like the idea of Honey as a resource.

 

[fat_tonle]

I think modders can add the flavor. What we need are new gameplay mechanics. The resources need to differentiate themselves from one another. Not just +1 food or whatever. Civ IV had a health mechanic but that is gone by the wayside. The luxuries provide nothing unique expect some happiness multiplier, and the stacking with certain resource/building pairs. We also had corporations in Civ IV, which required you to obtain those resources pertinent to your corporation. There is just no incentive to go out there and specifically acquire this or that outside of the general +4 happiness perk. No reason whatsoever to prioritize certain luxuries over others.

 

[MisterBoomBoom]

I really liked the idea of needing citrus to ride the high seas without scurvy depleting the vessel via health hits. A good example of luxury used as a mechanic during a period of time.

 

[headcase]

Rice.

Even as a bonus resource just like wheat, it would be good for flavor to have both.

If I was modding the current game, I would take the lazier route of renaming wheat to "cereal" and leaving it at that.

 

[steveg700]

Would rubber be a luxury or strategic resource?

And what would improve it? Just plain ol' lumber mill?

 

[JanghanHong]

I really liked the idea of needing citrus to ride the high seas without scurvy depleting the vessel via health hits. A good example of luxury used as a mechanic during a period of time.

The Chinese sailors in the centuries before used Green tea leaves as a source of vitamin C. Some central Asian tribes used eat the bulb of rose-like flowers as a delicacy which had huge amount of vitamin C, citrus is only really famous due to the British Limey Navy.

Titanium and other rare earths (all modern) could be needed to build high end jets etc.

Titanium is also neither earth metal, nor rare, it's about the 10th most common metal in the crust. Also, rare earths are rare not because they are actually rare because they are so evenly distributed around the crust, so having a concentration of them appear on the map wouldn't make sense.

On the other hand, Titanium will be a fun information age metal.

 

[QuipCloud]

JanghanHong, just because Rare Earth Metals are fairly evenly distributed does not mean in any way that there are not concentrations of them. Anglo-American aren't just going to drill into a mountain in the United Kingdom, say, and expect to make a profit from Rare Earth metals. There are most certainly concentrations sufficiently large to make a profit from mining. They'll preform surveys to detect ores like Monazite and Xenotime (such awesome names!). As such, they most certainly could be a very viable resource in BNW. I'd count them more a luxury (as is suitable to the thread topic) because one of their main uses is in computer parts used in consumer technology, although of course they are used in countless other pieces of technology that are essential for modern nations (military equipment, jets, etc.).

I'd also like to see Honey, as I and others have suggested, but it is worth considering that Honey was 'special' in the sense that it certainly wasn't eaten every day but it was widely cultivated. The romans ate it frequently. On the other hand, Civ V includes 'Spices' as a luxury and they are used extensively, daily, in both the East and the West.

 

[JanghanHong]

It seems like it's the best candidate for very late luxury resource for sure.

However, even though there are concentrations of it, it doesn't make sense that because one nation has all the ores, you can't get some yourself. So it doesn't make sense as a strategy resource, it's such a nebulous description too.

I don't think the viability of a stealth bomber should be dependent on the trace elements used in it, but it does make sense for consumer electronics because the luxury factor is dependent on the consumer price.

I think I would like to see them appear as a rare luxury, maybe 3 or 4 in a standard map.

 

[MisterBoomBoom]

The Chinese sailors in the centuries before used Green tea leaves as a source of vitamin C. Some central Asian tribes used eat the bulb of rose-like flowers as a delicacy which had huge amount of vitamin C, citrus is only really famous due to the British Limey Navy.



Titanium is also neither earth metal, nor rare, it's about the 10th most common metal in the crust. Also, rare earths are rare not because they are actually rare because they are so evenly distributed around the crust, so having a concentration of them appear on the map wouldn't make sense.

On the other hand, Titanium will be a fun information age metal.

I do not decide what the metals are called in the real world. But Titanium is considered a "rare earth" metal in the investment world...sorry. As for distribution in the game sense why not simply have 1 unit available at each drop versus "many"?

& since we seem keen on trivia and splitting hairs....as for the great navies of the Chinese and "some central asian tribes" vs the Western/British Navy....me thinks citrus being famous and most useful might be due more to the abundance of said Navy vs others and not just the use of a derogatory slang term used by the entire western world at the time (thus making the point even more clear ...that citrus had a primary use versus scurvy)

 

[MisterBoomBoom]

It seems like it's the best candidate for very late luxury resource for sure.

However, even though there are concentrations of it, it doesn't make sense that because one nation has all the ores, you can't get some yourself. So it doesn't make sense as a strategy resource, it's such a nebulous description too.

I don't think the viability of a stealth bomber should be dependent on the trace elements used in it, but it does make sense for consumer electronics because the luxury factor is dependent on the consumer price.

I think I would like to see them appear as a rare luxury, maybe 3 or 4 in a standard map.

Stealth tech relys more on composite material...jets/ bombers with aluminum and titanium frames.

Having the game spread small amounts of titanium around the world (at hard to reach places) would be a benefitial thing in the game as it would force trading and or land seizures in order to gain resources to increase your modern forces. Just like in the real world.

 

[JanghanHong]

I do not decide what the metals are called in the real world. But Titanium is considered a "rare earth" metal in the investment world...sorry.

"Rare Earth" is a technical term, not a descriptive one. I'm not sure what sort of investment papers you are reading, but they are wrong, scientifically and by convention.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rare_earth_metal

since we seem keen on trivia and splitting hairs....as for the great navies of the Chinese and "some central asian tribes" vs the Western/British Navy....me thinks citrus being famous and most useful might be due more to the abundance of said Navy vs others and not just the use of a derogatory slang term used by the entire western world at the time (thus making the point even more clear ...that citrus had a primary use versus scurvy)

I wasn't even disagreeing with you, I was pointing out that Vitamin C comes from a lot of sources, you can even synthesize it yourself in high school labs.

Stealth tech relys more on composite material...jets/ bombers with aluminum and titanium frames.

Having the game spread small amounts of titanium around the world (at hard to reach places) would be a benefitial thing in the game as it would force trading and or land seizures in order to gain resources to increase your modern forces. Just like in the real world.

Like I said, Titanium isn't rare at all, also, I doubt any metals will be used to make frames of anything in aviation anymore, future is all about carbon fibers.

rare earth metal are still used in electronics and they wouldn't be seeing alternatives, which is why I think it's a good, logical luxury resource since so much of consumer electronics is dependent on it with no alternative in the horizon.

 

[MisterBoomBoom]

"Rare Earth" is a technical term, not a descriptive one. I'm not sure what sort of investment papers you are reading, but they are wrong, scientifically and by convention.

Just go to any site like Market Watch and type in Rare Earth...and look what pops up.
MOST rare earth companies mine for titanium, it is a fundamental element searched for and utilized along with the main "rare earth" elements.

http://www.resourceintelligence.net...-rare-earth-extraction-from-titanium-dioxide/

 

[steveg700]

Titanium is also neither earth metal, nor rare, it's about the 10th most common metal in the crust.

And of course, that's still relatively rare compared to aluminum, which is incredibly common. I don't think I'd be baking tater tots and pork chops on sheets of the stuff if it were as rare as oil or uranium.

Nobody has thoughts on rubber? That's too bad. I thought I could bounce some ideas off you guys.

 

[JanghanHong]

Just go to any site like Market Watch and type in Rare Earth...and look what pops up.
MOST rare earth companies mine for titanium, it is a fundamental element searched for and utilized along with the main "rare earth" elements.

http://www.resourceintelligence.net...-rare-earth-extraction-from-titanium-dioxide/

If you read the article yourself, it wasn't about most mining companies of rare earth mining for titanium. It was about a scientist who found out a way to look for rare earths in the byproduct of titanium mining waste.

 

[MisterBoomBoom]

If you read the article yourself, it wasn't about most mining companies of rare earth mining for titanium. It was about a scientist who found out a way to look for rare earths in the byproduct of titanium mining waste.

Yes ...back in 2009. Titanium mining has become a norm for rare earth companies.

 

[MisterBoomBoom]

It would be nice to see a Rare Earth resource.
It would be nice to see a Titanium resource.

Does this suffice thee?