Having had a couple of goes with the new spy system i do like it much better overall apart from spy defense seems way too weak and the production distruption option seems particularly unblanaced. It is a training mission for level 1 spies, takes almost no time at all to complete and even with maximum defenses possible in my capital i can only get a 10% to counter it and the irony is even if i do capture an enemy spy that only means the AI get s another new one and i will likely be targeted again so it is just delaying the inevitable.
Current example. I am playing an epic speed huge map with 12 civs and it seems any time we cross an era my capital is effectively blocked from producing anything for a significant period as i get "production distruption" spam in my capital. Latest example is we are transitioning into the industrial era so all getting new spies. It took me over 50 turns to build a gattling gun in my capital which should only take 14 turns and after that i have been trying to build a public school for over 50 turns now with no success and i have even rushed it with gold so it only takes half the time to build with no success. I assume it will eventually be built when the others run out of new spies to train up. I am not even one of the current leaders in my game.
This scenario repeats every time we transisition into a new era where we gain additional spies.
The system as it is has focused my attention away from my capital where i have now started to look at making other cities production centres and trying to focus more on building wonders in those cities but ths doesn't seem right as for many aspects of the game the capital get all the nice bonuses and you need to concentrate multipliers in particular so it is kind of a double nerf to the player.
In the very least there needs to be some sort of cooldown mechanic where if a mission is successful it adds a stacking amount to spy resistance for a period of time. This seems reasonable as if your factory get sabotaged you increase protection even if for a short period of time.
The production distruption would be less unfun if it scaled better. Every distruption is big enough that it resets whatever you are building back to zero. It would be better if it was based on a percentage of the cities production.e.g. disruption amount = city production at start of mission X 0.5 X number of turns to complete mission.
From what i have been able to understand a larger and more prosperous a city is the weaker its spy defense is which is another nerf to capital cities as whatever route your taking your capital is almost always the largest and most properous and thus have the weakest defense against spies. It would be better if it was based more on happiness in a city which again seems more logical as you are more likely to be able to successfully operate as a spy if you have disgruntled population to manipulate and assist you.
Current example. I am playing an epic speed huge map with 12 civs and it seems any time we cross an era my capital is effectively blocked from producing anything for a significant period as i get "production distruption" spam in my capital. Latest example is we are transitioning into the industrial era so all getting new spies. It took me over 50 turns to build a gattling gun in my capital which should only take 14 turns and after that i have been trying to build a public school for over 50 turns now with no success and i have even rushed it with gold so it only takes half the time to build with no success. I assume it will eventually be built when the others run out of new spies to train up. I am not even one of the current leaders in my game.
This scenario repeats every time we transisition into a new era where we gain additional spies.
The system as it is has focused my attention away from my capital where i have now started to look at making other cities production centres and trying to focus more on building wonders in those cities but ths doesn't seem right as for many aspects of the game the capital get all the nice bonuses and you need to concentrate multipliers in particular so it is kind of a double nerf to the player.
In the very least there needs to be some sort of cooldown mechanic where if a mission is successful it adds a stacking amount to spy resistance for a period of time. This seems reasonable as if your factory get sabotaged you increase protection even if for a short period of time.
The production distruption would be less unfun if it scaled better. Every distruption is big enough that it resets whatever you are building back to zero. It would be better if it was based on a percentage of the cities production.e.g. disruption amount = city production at start of mission X 0.5 X number of turns to complete mission.
From what i have been able to understand a larger and more prosperous a city is the weaker its spy defense is which is another nerf to capital cities as whatever route your taking your capital is almost always the largest and most properous and thus have the weakest defense against spies. It would be better if it was based more on happiness in a city which again seems more logical as you are more likely to be able to successfully operate as a spy if you have disgruntled population to manipulate and assist you.
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