Offshore Platform

[dreamvirus]

I think the Offshore Platform is a great improvement, giving 1 extra shield per sea square worked by a city, and for a seafaring civ or an archipelago map it is even more useful, providing a nice production boost. However, they arrive so late in the game that I have only ever found myself building them in the final stages before a space race victory/defeat, so they have never affected the game outcome.

I would like to see these appearing earlier in the game so that they actually become usable in an epic game with standard settings, rather than having to disallow certain types of victory to make use of them. It may be that, like SDI and other late techs and units (stealth bombers, anyone?) they will simply never be useful as long as Space Race is enabled.

Does anyone build Offshore Platforms, and under what circumstances - and does anyone agree that they should be available sooner? Perhaps with Mass production, although historically that is almost certainly way too early. Thoughts?

 

[Sukenis]

I build offshore platforms a lot. Att he end game, many of my powerhouse cities are building spaceship parts and I need to get military units elsewhere. By building offshore platforms, I am able to keep getting units, and still build my spaceship asap.

 

[marioh]

I build them all the time, a great addition to C3C.

 

[SesnOfWthr]

I think they come along too late. By the time they arrive, I'm usually embroiled in a world war, or halfway through the spaceship. Also, don't they arrive with a tech you don't need to launch?

 

[microbe]

Originally posted by SesnOfWthr
I think they come along too late. By the time they arrive, I'm usually embroiled in a world war, or halfway through the spaceship. Also, don't they arrive with a tech you don't need to launch?

You need the tech to launch.

I think they are fine as is. There will always be techs that come late anyway - Offshore Platform isn't later than Modern Armors. And if you get into modern wars which is often the case at high levels, they are still very useful.

 

[Halcyon]

You need Miniaturisation to get Robotics, which you need in order to build the SS Stasis Chamber, so it is a required spaceship tech.

Marioh: Addition to C3C? Offshore platforms have been in from the start. I take it you're thinking of commercial docks?

 

[Pfeffersack]

Commercial docks were added before, too-with PTW.

 

[ReZurrecti0n]

I am still working on getting past the Industerial Ages and haven't been on my game lately come to think of it... But the way I choose to play my games, it lasts until the year 2050 or until I wipe everyone out, which taking out 30 other civs wont be done all too quickly... I love long games or maybe just until I know how to play the game then I might start short games. So I guess it wouldn't really matter to me how late the tech comes because I have all the time in the world to build them

 

[rcoutme]

I usually save a lot (and I mean a lot!) of money and pop-rush many of the platforms. This is especially true for cities out on peninsulas or on small islands. This gets those cities to rock, especially combined with factory and powerstation. Also, the game seems to count ocean and coastal squares when placing pollution, so you get a chance that the pollution washes out to sea and does not affect you. Either way, the coastal squares never get blanked due to orange gue.

 

[ummmm........]

They're too powerful. I think they'd be unbalancing if they came earlier. Just my opinion.

 

[thestonesfan]

But coastal cities are almost always very important, productive cities.

Anyway, I like them where they are, but I was thinking of adding an earlier improvement which would do the same thing in an earlier time. Maybe a Foundry.