Real 'Near Future': "Mechs","Super Tanks","Super Soldiers","Space Elevator",Etcetera

[Grimz101]

bleh, i demand modern technolodgy to follow stargate sg-1, and have those glowing orange drones that are fun !

 

[Stratofortress]

BTW, in regard to the space race victory: the most ridiculous thing about it is that there are no planets orbiting Alpha Centauri. Where are they going to live when they get there? A Mars colony would be much better.

There's a real potential for Alpha Centauri having Earth sized planets, which aren't detectable yet with current technology.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alpha_Centauri#Possibility_of_planet_formation

 

[Gaius Octavius]

That's very interesting. Everything I'd always heard indicated that planets capable of supporting life as we know it would be improbable in a star configuration like the Alpha Centauri system (a trinary system). To think there might actually be planets there--and that NASA is looking for them--is very enticing....

Having said that, at present there is no evidence that planets are around Proxima Centauri, so the space race remains a bit far-fetched.

 

[NYHunter]

A bear bot unit would actually be interesting, if they can incorporate it the right way, and have my seal of approval. As we can see this is something that is actually in the works and very likely we will see sometime in the next 10 years.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/6729745.stm
thats the future !
bear bots!
first they start out introducing them by, them being used to take out injured soldiers out of combat, then they use them for counter terrorism, then soon they become the fighting force of the army yada yada yada, no1 knows what will happen in future really .
Intresting to note that more money this year was spent on fusion power research then all other renewable researches combined, and yet fusion power is still not making net energy gain! Makes you think what if they waited another 30 years for fusion attempts, and if they just spent all that current money of researching wave power or some crap like that

 

[Stratofortress]

That's very interesting. Everything I'd always heard indicated that planets capable of supporting life as we know it would be improbable in a star configuration like the Alpha Centauri system (a trinary system). To think there might actually be planets there--and that NASA is looking for them--is very enticing....

Having said that, at present there is no evidence that planets are around Proxima Centauri, so the space race remains a bit far-fetched.

Alpha Centauri in Context

For now I think it's a great homage to Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri to have a mission to AC in Civ4, even if the actual mission to AC is far-fetched.
Furthermore the mission to AC has been in every Civ game I have played (though I don't remember Civ1 so clearly) so it's a long standing Civilization tradition and there's no need to change that.

 

[diablodelmar]

Exoskeletons are the future of the Infantry soldier.

 

[Verenti]

As much as a I love Gundam, walking mechs truly are unpractical. Even in Gundam they realized that when they started making Mobile Armors...

Phhhht, They started making Mobile Armours because Zeon were R&D Nuts. If you remember, Mobile Armours are incredibly ineffective in Gundam. Variable Form Mobile Suits, which became the Future of Warfare in Gundam, only really used their MA mode for transportation.

Anyhow, Bipedial Mecha in Gundam was practical, because it's hard to make a Tank that can effectively fight on land, Underwater, in Space, on the moon and in a (O'Neil Cylander) Colony, and it's hard to make a plane (which "could" be made to operate in most theatres) to hold territory like armours.

Bipedial Mecha strength is its versatility. Easy to change armaments and can fight on many terrain.


Anyhow. I think someone should make a mod to incorperate the tech from the 2050 game into Grand Campaign. I was making a mod for warlords, which incorperated power armour, alternatives to aluminum, "Wanderpanzers", Lasers, Ultrapressure Machinery, Next Next Gen Fighters, Flying Aircraft Carriers, Genetic Engineering and the lot (I was also working on a Tiberium terrain. Incredibly unhealthy to live by, damages units moving through, profitable to harvest).

This was effectively put on hold when I heard about BTS, hoping they'd do my job for me. Alas.

 

[Gaius Octavius]

Alpha Centauri in Context
Furthermore the mission to AC has been in every Civ game I have played (though I don't remember Civ1 so clearly) so it's a long standing Civilization tradition and there's no need to change that.

Oh, just like Leonardo's Workshop, Hoover Dam, J.S. Bach's Cathedral, Newton's University, Sun Tzu's Art of War, SETI Program, Copernicus' Observatory, and other "missing" wonders?

Note that I agree with you 100%. I just wish they'd put back those other things, too.

 

[NYHunter]

Very likely, but once upon a time everyone was suppose to be flying their cars to work by now. I am not sure if you realize how difficult it has been developing the exoskeleton. Most of what has been developed is very conceptual.

Exoskeletons are the future of the Infantry soldier.

 

[El Koeno]

As Yogi Berra said:

"It's very dangerous to make predictions, especially about the future."

 

[sourboy]

I've said it (and modded it in Civ3) for ages... future techs should be in the main game, but on a reasonable scale. My thoughts were "no mechs, hovercraft, etc" but rather anything that's on the design table right now (ok in testing) much like SDI is, including soldier2025, aurora, drones, etc.

 

[tulanehockey]

Just give me something other than "Futue Technology"

 

[turingmachine]

But... this was the whole point of the Next War mod which came with BTS.

They knew some people would complain if the future units/era was in by default (due to the sci-fi elements) so instead they made it optional by allowing you to play Next War as an Epic game, which, all it does is add the future era and mech unit type stuff to the normal game.

 

[oilnwater]

obvious wonder for Civ5: Large Hadron Collider

Can be built with Quantum Physics (a new Civ5 tech that replaces the Fusion slot)

-Can build SS Flight Computer
-Can build Large Hadron Collider

Cost: <insert very large # hammers here>
+2 Great Scientist
Increases science in that city by %100.


also, every turn that the LHC is in existence, there's is a %1 chance that it melts the time-space fabric and destroys the planet. in this event, a totally uber-gnarly end-of-the-planet film plays and everyone's score is tabulated from that point for the winner.

 

[bestbrian]

Yet another Necro. Two years gone and back from the dead. How do you guys find these things?

 

[phrostee]

hmm,,, interesting thread.

Considering that the game is entirely based on fantasy in spite of all the historical references, speculative future techs would not be out of line. However, I'd like to see the flaws ironed out first, or in addition to adding new tech.

The resources protocols need revamping. The idea that agricultural resources, both animal and crop, cannot be transplanted to new locations is ludicrous. That mineral resources are everlasting, the problem with the oil industry today. The combat system needs an overhaul, with such obvious flaws as spearmen defeating tanks and melee units being able to defeat gunships, (to name just a couple.) And the city-centric/cultural borders thing, while they are feasible up until nationhood, after a civ has nationhood, the BFC and cultural borders are just kind of dumb. Then there's the "once it's built, you can't get rid of it" protocol, particularly annoying when the building no longer works because the city was captured or you want to change the city's specialization. And there are so many holes in the tech tree it ain't funny. What do you mean I can only research one tech at a time? I only got one lab? Where's the tech loss feature, Greek fire, Roman cement, etc., etc., One improvement per tile? A watermill takes up that much space and destroys the forest/jungle to boot? I can't build a windmill on the coast? (The Dutch will be so disappointed.) So this water well is a "no go," huh? "Yeah, yeah, can't plant that coffee crop in the hills either, Fred." Maps that are disproportionate length to height. (If the tiles are square and you can't use the poles, the height of a map can't exceed something less than half its length.) The flaws and omissions are many.

All in all, Civ is mostly just fantasy with a smattering of history, designed along the lines of "what if?" So bring on the future tech and units, they won't be out of place.

 

[Stoney the I]

Just shoot of the leg and the mech will fall on its back and not get up!

You have no honor sir! And thats why I always put extra armor on my legs whenever I take my shadow cat out for a spin!

Ah wait, wrong game.

 

[phrostee]

That brings up a relevant point about mechs. Players of the mech simulation game, MechWarrior rapidly found out that the first things to go in combat were arms and legs. It thus became "dishonorable" to target legs as that was an "easy" killing blow. The arms are primary weapons locations giving the widest firing arcs. And players learned to reconfigure, placing most of their weapons in the torso, the arms serving mostly as shields. But alas, different game, even if it does demonstrate the short falls of mech combat.

 

[Glassfan]

phrostee mentioned MechWarrior, and I think that those of us who played it would like to see them in some scenario. I'd just like to make two points; humans walk on two spindly legs too - some of you are just not imaginitive enough to see how really advanced weapon systems would resemble nature's preditors. Also, some of us are only just now buying Civ IV and we're catching up on the old arguements, like is Canada a civ? Have a little compassion for newbees.

 

[Stoney the I]

phrostee mentioned MechWarrior, and I think that those of us who played it would like to see them in some scenario

I played it extensively for 3 years online, and i dont really want it in Civ tbh.
I LOVED the mechwarrior IV games, the tactics, the skills, heck i was in a "clan" and played with a headset on commanding troops spread all over the world. The game was awesome!
But i always thought it was a ridiculous concept to mount huge guns on a walking robot. Its hard to aim cause of all the bobbing due to walking, the distances covered are laughable ( an air-to ground missile anyone?) etc etc.

Mechwarrior and mechs come from the battletech universe, in which a lot of technology was lost and which is set to a specific scenario that enables mechs.

mechs have no place in a (realistic) game like Civ.

my 2 cents about the mechs thing that keep popping up in these threads.