I'd love to see a reworking of the victory conditions. I've given thought to some of the changes to Culture, but my most thought out revision would be to Science victory. It's essentially revolve around making the end less linear and the Campus more diverse in its uses.
Firstly, I'd give the Library to the Theatre Square as an alternate Tier 1 building, each of which would produce +2 Culture.
The Amphitheater would generate one Great Playwright point, and have a slot for one Great Work of Drama
The Library would now produce one Great Writer point, and have a slot for one Great Work of Writing
The new Tier 1 Campus building would be the School, which progresses from looking like a Greek academy to a one room schoolhouse to a large brick high school
The School would generate +2 science and +1 Great Scientist point
The University would be removed as Tier 2 Campus building, replaced by numerous choices, all of which provide +2 Science and +1 Great Scientist points, in addition to other effects
- The A&M would provide +1 food for every Farm, Camp, or Plantation and +1 production for every Mine or Quarry in the city
- The Business School would provide +2 Gold and +1 Great Merchant point (doubled if next to a Commercial Hub)
- The Institute of Technology would offer an additional +2 Science and +1 Great Scientist point
- The Liberal Arts University would provide +1 Culture and +1 Great Writer, +1 Artist, and +1 Musician points (doubled if next to a Theatre Square)
- The Military Academy* would provide +2 production towards units and +1 Great General points (doubled if next to an Encampment); new units in the city start with a promotion
- The Vo-Tech would provide +2 production and +1 Great Engineer point (doubled if next to an Industrial Zone); new builders and military engineers in this city get +1 charge
The Tier 3 buildings would each offer a different Project, all of which are necessary to complete for the new Science victory (in addition to a Moon Landing via the Spaceport)
All would provide a base of +3 Science (+5 when powered)
- The Medical Laboratory has the "Human Genome Project"
- The Particle Accelerator has the Project "Detect the Higgs Boson"
- The Robotics Lab has the project "Develop Artificial Intelligence"
- The Satellite Array has the project "Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence"
All of these project potentially must be completed a number of times before they achieve their goals, so having multiple Campuses with the same Tier 3 building would allow the same project to be pursued multiple times simultaneously, increasing chances of success.
For example, the location of extraterrestrial radio signals will be set at the outset of the game. The S.E.T.I. project only scans a fraction of the sky each time the project is run. It may happen to be pointed at the right part of the sky the very first time, or it might take a dozen attempts.
Moreover, these projects can be run at an accelerated rate in order to obtain victory faster (potentially necessary when competing with other civilizations), but such acceleration risks catastrophic failure. These disasters include:
- Medical Laboratory - Accidental Biological Weapon Release (a plague, operating similar to the Black Death scenario)
- Particle Accelerator - Miniature Black Hole (grows one hex in radius per turn for three turns, destroying everything and leaving that section of the map impassable ever after)
- Robotics Lab - Spawns barbarian Giant Death Robots and hijacks all nuclear missiles worldwide, launching them at as many cities as possible, a la Terminator: Judgement Day
- Satellite Array - A hostile Flying Saucer appears and begins systematically destroying World Wonders and their surroundings in a one hex radius, a la Independence Day
I believe this would result in a much more dynamic endgame. It would force players to diversify their cities and offer major risks and rewards in racing to complete these projects
*Encampments would get a new Tier 3 building
