Should "Oil" have a bigger role in CIV?

[Panzergrenadier]

Sometimes I wish for a more oil-dependent modern era. I am the only one that feels this way? A few exemples of oil repercution:

1 - A massive production penalty if you have no access to Oil.

2 - Movement cost increased by 50-100%, for all oil based units you already have, if you loose your oil source.

 

[Armorydave]

Making oil more valuable could be a killer at higher levels where you are no longer assured of conquering/settling enough land to insure possesion of every strategic resource. One of the few things that can halt that "inevitable win" feeling around 1700 is to find out that there is no reasonable source of oil in the world. Time to either gear up the war machine or switch over to a culture win if it is not too late. Oil, Iron/Copper and Horses are already plenty important IMO. No need to make them even more valuable.

 

[Glinka]

I personally wouldn't want to see any differences, otherwise oil could become a game breaker. If you absolutely must have oil or suffer severe penalties, I can see a lot of people killing their mid-games and cursing at Civ4. Just my perspective.

 

[BubbaYeti]

I think one of the major things making oil less important in the game is uranium. IIRC, you can build naval units like destroyers and battleships without oil as long as you have uranium, even if you haven't research fission yet!!! Very unrealistic.

 

[King Flevance]

I am against this as well, already oil is as important in late game as iron/copper is in early game. Most human players can make sure they get access to at least 1 source of oil, but adding a penalty to not having oil is like asking Firaxis to nerf the already moronic AI.

Even if this happened I would see to it I had oil, and in doing so the game would instantly become too easy. Even in multiplayer it would make whoever has oil the "God player" so to speak. Polotical negotiations would turn into a game of Oddball fom Halo. Kill the man with the oil. Even that is an unfair analogy as even in oddball the target is the one being exploited.

IMO this is asking for a severely off balance in the system to make people in power have even more power and people that are struggling struggle more.

A better way to emplement something like this would be to flip it.

1 - A slight bonus in production if you have oil. New city improvement Manufacturing Plant. (Work like a power plant only on a smaller scale **10% bonus maybe**) The plant serves no purpose without oil resource attached to trade network.

2 - If you control a source of oil, your oil units get +20% movement speed. This way if you lose it things stay as is. If you never had it then you dont even have the units.

3 - Make AI that dont have oil more likely to start war with someone that controls oil. Also make their first plans involve taking the oil.

 

[coffeeholic]

I agree that there should be no change in the current game as per OIL as a resource for the sake of the game. But I also see where this request is coming from, In todays world oil plays a huge role in economics, politics, culture ect. I think that you can take a look at some current "campains" in the real world that are directly oil related.

just my 2cents

CA

 

[thordk]

that's just an impression of those who live in our days. oil isn't that important in the world's history, it just became important in the last 100 years. and there's plenty funds spent in science to get rid of this dependency.

in 50 or 100 years oil won't be that important anymore.

 

[xonixs]

It could be fun too see oilwells being chopped like trees. So for example some can be chopped 200 turns and other 170 turns an so on.
Afcourse this does not require a worker but the oilwell just do it automatically.

Eventually the world will have no more oil and everything collaspses and one player makes it out of the dust as a winner.

 

[Zombie69]

I prefer balance over realism, therefore it's fine as it is.

 

[Artanis]

I'd say being unable to build any Armor units, Gunships, or airplanes is a big enough penalty as-is.

 

[Archbob]

Yeah, oil is plenty important already. The only thing that counters it is Uranium.

 

[A Silly Goose]

I concur. Although the Civilization series is one that tries to simulate its namesake realistically, one must remember that it is indeed a game as well, and as such gameplay must be balanced and interesting.

There's also the afore-mentioned issue of whether oil is even worthy of such a strong emphasis in the game, as its impact upon the world is arguably not as powerful; there are, in the end, other fuels that could have taken oil's place, and although we cannot possibly hope to cover all the possibilities within a computer game, it is certainly sufficient to say with confidence that it renders oil's global impact minimal enough to justify its implementation within the Civ IV.

However, revealing uranium with the discovery of fission does indeed make more sense than doing so with physics.

 

[CIVPhilzilla]

I disagree with this. The only reason oil is so widely used is because its abundently available and cheap to extract. If oil wasn't widely available or cheap we would of been off of it by now. Don't think that the only reason we are still on oil is because we can't come up with new technology. Look at the computer industry and how less than 20 years ago people paid thousands for 10 Mhz computers.

A great example of a nation overcoming a large oil shortage, Nazi Germany. They were short on oil and converted their tanks to run on coal. Civs without oil in this game would find their own alternatives to oil.

 

[Crighton]

I think oil should be available on an "open market" for civ's lacking oil resources of their own they should be able to purchase oil (at a profitable markup). By the same token you should be able to sell surplus stuff on an open market for profit rather than have specific trade deals.

Though, for the record, I have yet to see the AI trade a single strategic resource when it could be useful (never seen oil or uranium traded, rarely copper and iron, and usually available only after there usefullness has ended).

 

[Xineoph]

I think resources you don't need, should be hidden.

After all, nobody thought up looking for oil...so oil should only pop up, when your civ needs it.

First you slowly discover it in your own territories, then provided you have open borders, you can see their oil resources as well. =)

Same thing with uranium, maybe even iron and all other resources that should only be found, when you research the tech to need them.

 

[Artanis]

I think resources you don't need, should be hidden.

After all, nobody thought up looking for oil...so oil should only pop up, when your civ needs it.

First you slowly discover it in your own territories, then provided you have open borders, you can see their oil resources as well. =)

Same thing with uranium, maybe even iron and all other resources that should only be found, when you research the tech to need them.

This is already true for Copper and Iron.

I kinda agree with what they did with resources like Coal and Oil from a balance perspective though. If you can only see those the instant you can build tanks, you won't have any way of taking some for yourself. If you have some time between knowing where they are and being able to use them, you'll have a chance to forcibly conquer a source for yourself as opposed to being totally helpless.

 

[Yzman]

I think resources you don't need, should be hidden.

After all, nobody thought up looking for oil...so oil should only pop up, when your civ needs it.

First you slowly discover it in your own territories, then provided you have open borders, you can see their oil resources as well. =)

Same thing with uranium, maybe even iron and all other resources that should only be found, when you research the tech to need them.

Isn't this already true in the game? You don't find oil til combustion I believe, which is when oil first became a major roleplayer.

 

[cyrusIII85]

Don't think that the only reason we are still on oil is because we can't come up with new technology. Look at the computer industry and how less than 20 years ago people paid thousands for 10 Mhz computers.

Lol I remember that time . It's SO funny looking back, and perhaps even more funny for people in their mid twenties.

 

[ULTIMATEGP]

Isn't this already true in the game? You don't find oil til combustion I believe, which is when oil first became a major roleplayer.

You see oil before that but you can't use it until combustion.

 

[Inspector Javert]

I've always thought that oil should be slightly more important for realism ,maybe we have an option to turn "realism" on or off and if its on oil is important and many other things like in real life...