Resources and new types of units/spies

[redstang423]

I haven't had a chance to read many of the ideas on this forum, so I'm sure this has been touched upon at least somewhere. For resources, instead of just finding one resource and having it work for your entire Civ's needs, have each location produce a certain amount of iron or whatever it might be. For example, (complete random numbers for the sake of description), say you have one source of iron that produces 100kg of iron every turn. This goes into storage, similiar to a bank with money, and is stockpiled like we do with resources in real life. Something like swoardsmen might use 25kg to produce (beyond shield cost, however not as many shield would be required when resources are a part of the build cost). Something like the Coal plant, which obviously requires coal to operate, would only cost shields to build, but would require a set amount of coal per turn to operate otherwise it looses its effectiveness. Similarly, railroads might require minimal iron (1g per square or something) to factor in repairs and some coal to factor in the use in the trains. It seems to me a system like this would increase realism because then one source of oil wouldn't work the same for a Civ of 5 cities and a Civ of 50 cities.

As far as new units go, I think it would be neat to add in a bounty hunter or conscription type unit with each age. It would function basically a privateer, but a land unit. I know this can be done with the editor, but I think it would be cool to add in that bounty hunters from one Civ could capture the assassins from another.

Also, spies need to be better integrated. Possibly make them a unit, like a scout, that can travel into enemy territory unseen. It can occupy the same square as an opponent, but then it has a chance (depending on experience) of being caught. It should be able to move onto the enemy city squares and investigate them without cost if they can stay on without being caught. From there they should be able to do sabotage, propoganda, or whatever other spy missions there are.

Finally, one last idea regarding food. Instead of each city having its own food supply, it should work as a "pool" for all interconnected cities, since cities do trade between each other. If one city has 10 surplus food units, it should be able to give them to another city that isn't growing. This should also be able to be adjusted, however, if you want to make one city particularly large or keep another small.

 

[Aussie_Lurker]

OK, on point one, I am in agreement with you in broad principle-but I feel that it can be done in an abstract fashion.
I have long been an advocate of giving resources a 'Size' rating, from about 1-10. So you might find one source of iron thats size 3, but another source of iron might be size 8!
The Size of a resource roughly relates to how much of your civ (or any other civ) that one source can supply, before it has an increased chance of disappearing. So, for instance, the size 8 iron resource can supply more than 2x is many units and cities as the size 3 resource before there is a significant risk of the iron 'drying up'.
As I has said elsewhere, the base % chance a single resource has of disappearing should be related to both its size, the # of 'redundant' sources of it you have, and relative scarcity. This % is then modified by how much, and to how many civs, you're trading it, the # of cities in your civ, the # of improvements/units you build with that resource/turn, and the # of improvements/units you have that require the resource on a regular basis.
On point two, I personally feel that the 'captured' unit, rather than the 'capturing' unit, should decide what the unit becomes when it is captured.
I don't want to see spies making a comeback as units, though. Like caravans, they just added WAAAAY too much micromanagement to the game!
As for your third point, I am soooo in agreement with you, as any regular to these forums can tell you !

Yours,
Aussie_Lurker.

 

[redstang423]

As far as the resource point goes, I agree that your method works just as well, if not better since it would probably be somewhat simpler. I do disagree slightly on one point, however, but it could be simply a misinterpretation. I don't think the larger sources should have a higher chance of dissapearing. They should have a larger chance of reducing in size, but it would be far more unusual in real life to see a huge iron deposit, such as a size 10 using your system, dissapear rather than a small one, such as a size 1. They should similarly be able to increase though, as different parts of the mountain (or whatever it might be) could be explored by the abstract "workers" and a greater deposit be found.

 

[Aussie_Lurker]

You did misinterpret me ! Larger resources have, on average, a lower % chance of disappearing than smaller resources.
So, to use my example from above, the size 3 resource is about 250% more likely to disappear, each turn, than the size 8 one. Of course, if the size 3 iron source belonged to a civ with only 3 cities, and the size 8 source belonged to a civ with more than 8 cities, then the chance of disappearing would become roughly equal-as the latter source is supplying a much larger empire!
To further clarify my position, if you had a size 4 iron resource and a size 4 uranium resource, then the uranium would be more likely to disappear first, as it is more scarce than iron!
Anyway, hope that clarifies things.

Yours,
Aussie_Lurker.