Prisoners of War [ACCEPTED]

[raystuttgart]

Hi guys,

for me it was always a bit strange that after a battle of two Military Units when one side wins the Unit of the other side always dies.
In reality it is much more likely that when one side wins the other side at some point in battle surrenders and becomes a prisoner of war.

Especially since e.g. in many battles with Natives there is a chance to acquire Native Slaves.
It is thus a bit unimmersive for me that the Europeans would always kill survivors after battle.

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Game Concept "Prisoners of War"

Part 1: How to get "Prisoners of War"

1) We have a new Unit Prisoner of War --> balancing for gameplay similar to "Criminal"
2) In battles of two Military Units there is a chance that one side surrenders when defeated --> generating the "Prisoner of War".
3) The chance of this happening instead of killing the losing Unit about 25% --> there will be an XML balancing setting for it.
4) Of course there will be a pop-up message about it that explains that this happened as outcome of the battle. (for both sides)
5) Of course only Colonial Nations and Kings can take or become Prisoners of War - Natives or Barbarians will not use the feature.

Part 2: Gameplay with "Prisoners of War"

1) We may have new Python Events for that Unit that may tell interesting stories. (I already have ideas but they are not detailed yet.)
2) When a Prisoner of War is captured again by another Player it turns into a Free Colonist again. (It is easy to configure in XML.)
3) When a War is ending between AI and Human, there will be a DLL-Diplo Event where AI will try to buy free "Prisoner`s of War" --> Player may accept or refuse.
4) "Prisoners of War" will otherwise follow the same rules as "Criminals" --> cause Unhappiness, can run away, can revolt, can become free, same restrictions on Professions ...
5) "Revolting Prisoners of War" will be a bit stronger than "Revolting Criminals". (Unit of its own)
6) There may even be a new Promotion that increases the chances of capturing "Prisoners of War".

Further future additions possible ...

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Comments:

This concept like originally also the "Slaves" could in the future be expanded to something bigger of course.
Also like always all settings for balancing would be available to XML - thus the feature could also be completely deactivated there.

Effort to implement:

In total with all the stuff mentioned above about 12 hours of effort.
It is a medium size feature with some work to be invested, but not very difficult to implement.

Risk for AI or performance:

Almost none.

Graphics required:

- Prisoner of War
- Revolting Prisoner of War

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Well, that is it.
I will have a poll to let you vote on it.
Also looking for feedback of course.

 

[Schmiddie]

Great idea!

 

[jooe]

I like the idea as well!
Two remarks:
- The new unit should be unfree/forced laborer classified (CitizenStatusTypes == CITIZEN_STATUS_ENSLAVED) so the existing rules apply also for this type of unit
- Natives not being able to get PoW is understandable for now as the implementation would be complicated. But please make it extensible so we could simply switch that on later when natives can do more stuff
(I mean, you could create something like a helper function bool CvPlayer::canHavePoW() that for now returns true only for european colonizers, but that can be modified later)

[I am saying this because I am currently trying out some stuff regarding unfree citizens, part of the "subaltern" project ... and there could be some interactions here]

 

[raystuttgart]

The new unit should be unfree/forced laborer classified (CitizenStatusTypes == CITIZEN_STATUS_ENSLAVED) so the existing rules apply also for this type of unit

It will, since I will reuse most of the the balancing of the Criminal.

Natives not being able to get PoW is understandable for now as the implementation would be complicated.

Currently there would be no gameplay for Natives for it and I currently do not want to risk bugs in the first version.

But please make it extensible so we could simply switch that on later when natives can do more stuff ...

But yes once Natives have more gameplay we may consider to let them also take "Prisoners of War".

CvPlayer::canHavePoW()

Good idea, will do so.

... and there could be some interactions here ...

I absolutely LOVE if concepts interact with each other and integrate smoothly into one big gameplay.
But I need so start with something "manageable" that I can implement in one or two weekends.

Then in the future further gameplay (e.g. with Natives) can be built on top of it.
But let us not make the first initial version too complicated and thus too much effort.

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Summary:
I would love to see this expanded with future gameplay. Having more interesting gameplay with Natives would of course be awesome.
But I want to have a first version that is manageable so I may implement it with reasonable effort and risk for WTP 4.1 if it is accepted.

 

[modmod]

I like the concept.

Would be good if possible to add:

1. Wounded.
Which a pow most likely start as.
Also the chance to became pow can be increased based on how wounded the unit is already (prefer to surrender over die).

2. Events when the particular units does not end up as pow.
"Magua eaten the hearth of ... "

 

[cammcken]

Will the captured unit keep its XP and promotions, creating scenarios where players can buy back valuable, experienced veterans after they have fallen in battle?

 

[raystuttgart]

Graphics required:

- Prisoner of War
- Revolting Prisoner of War

@Schmiddie :
Could you create those graphics for me, please?
Then I could start to implement this feature.

 

[Schmiddie]

Is it possible in some way that units keep their unit status, i.e. that a veteran soldier still is a veteran soldier when he becomes a PoW?
I assume in this case we would need a profession "PoW"?

 

[raystuttgart]

Is it possible in some way that units keep their unit status, i.e. that a veteran soldier still is a veteran soldier when he becomes a PoW?

Sorry, but doing some hack with a Profession is not possible with any reasonable effort.

If we would try to use a Profession the Unit could also never work at all (e.g. as Field Worker like a Criminal).
As that would also require to be a Profession then - and it is not possible to assigne more than 1 Profession.

We would really be using Units only and the Unit would basically be converted to a POW Unit from whatever it was before.
Also when it will become free again, it will not become its previous Unit, but a Free Colonist.

As I wrote here:

2) When a Prisoner of War is captured again by another Player it turns into a Free Colonist again. (It is easy to configure in XML.)