What's everyone's thoughts on this? (about the culture bombs still there with the new influence setup)
Myself culture bombs never been a problem in rtw games I played, mainly Europe 39, a bit Europe 36, a bit Pacific 41, very few Global 36. In global map countries are smaller so a bomb effect is more important. In Europe map it seems fine.
About the new system, there are positive points but also negative points and if I had to choose I would prefer something more like the old system.
In the new system I don't bother prepare anymore cultural bombs and I feel they could be removed. Eventually the artists specialist could be raised a little like +1 culture and +3 gold and bomb lower even more to 10 then AI will probably won't use culture bomb anymore.
About the new influence system :
The positive:
- After first tries, once you learn better how it works, it's fun to develop tactics to use it at your advantage.
- Even if it is complex, it is linked to micro management and more easy to understand and even roughly predict than the old system that was more a management at strategy level.
- It allows fight with less army against a powerful opponent, can be good for the thrill.
- Town management related to culture now seems a little useless but it's just an apparency, the numbers are tiny but still have some global effects as the old system.
- Sometimes it let you apply some new different tactics to take and keep a town.
The negative:
- Lost an attack is even more negative, it's not cool because it's one more plus to cautious and over preparation.
- There's no more Culture cursor, not cool because that removes a possibility to manage happiness and eventually influence level.
- In general the AI seems not well adapted to the new system. For example I quote the AI going next to a town at culture border, I bet to have the strong pack of troops in the town attack and lost the +25%. Interesting tactical choice except that with the new system it was stupid. The AI just give you a culture protection by giving you the opportunity to destroy those troops.
- Defending a square becomes a doubtful choice, the AI do this error very often, that makes it weaker.
- Sometimes your action during a turn can have a weird effect on your troops during the same turn, unpleasant, always linked to a neutral country near to the fight area. Beside troops push back during the turn I also saw a pack of troop just stuck inside a town just take.
- Some actions of your allies on your territory or near to it can have weird effects when they lost a fight, rare but weird.
- Town traps was already an interesting tactic (use a town at border with few or no defense, let AI comes, crush it and retreat), now it's just too powerful by using empty towns.
- It's a little weird that if you move on an enemy square you gain no influence but if there was an army to beat here, you gain some.
- I feel it less realistic than the previous system if you consider that culture was influence and knowledge instead of Madona and Spielberg tricks. Beat an army is one thing, take control through order restore, police system, relationship with locals, terrain knowledge acquiring and so on, is totally different and requires time and more general actions.