Suggestion to supplant existing workers (+others) to supplement scenarios (+others

[Tricit]

As it is now, we have a maintain feature option to empires which we use in FFH. The notable use here is for Ljosalfar and Svartalfar who allow forests to remain while building improvements. Those of us who completed The Splintered Court and at least tried The Black Tower put on our thinking caps when we realized we could not build cottages (and other improvements) with elf workers while maintaining forests.

I am sure someone has already done something similar to what I am about to suggest. It is even possible that there is a modmod available which incorporates a similar idea. I was just thinking of what we could present to Kael so that something could easily be patched into FFH2 to maintain features no matter who the elf workers work for.

Probably the least complicated and most work comes from duplicating every ability, creating an entirely seperate worker, and simply allowing cottages and everything else that an elf worker builds to innately maintain forests, like roads and lumbermills already do for everyone.

If there are any other suggestions, let's hear them.

 

[Emptiness]

Allowing elven workers to build improvement over forests for any civ would be fairly easy to do, if that was the way it was meant to be. This ability is limited to elven civs for balance reasons, and is one of the great strengths of the elven civs. If any civ could capture elven workers and then build improvements over forests then elven civs would become inferior choices, because every other civ would be given potential access to this very powerful elven advantage. Having access to Philosophical or Financial in combination with building improvements on forests would be too powerful to pass up. There would also be too much incentive to follow Fellowship of Leaves. Civs that couldn't get elven workers or that chose not to follow FoL would quickly be eclipsed economically. In order to restore balance, some other factors would have to be introduced (strengthen the elven civs or weaken the non-elven ones, weaken FoL or strengthen the other faiths) - which amounts to a lot of rebalancing and testing. With CiV approaching and a stand-alone FfH game in development I don't think this sort of redesign of FfH2 is going to happen.

 

[hbar]

In fact, it used to be this way (many versions ago) and was changed for exactly the reasons Emptiness outlined.

The way I see it is this: Any yahoo can build a cottage in a forest. It takes a civilization that is dedicated to the preservation of the forest to live in harmony with it.

 

[Gaga1111]

Yeah I noticed it too and I agree with emptiness but when the loading screen comes it says that they(elven workers/slaves) CAN build improvements on forests though that's not true.

 

[Morlark]

That's not strictly accurate. The problem is that the term "elven worker" is not adequately defined. Does it mean a worker with the elven racial promotion, or a worker belonging to an elven civ? Both are possible interpretations of the term. Given the way it actually works, we're obviously supposed to accept the latter definition as the correct one. So strictly speaking, the loading screen is entirely true. It's just enormously ambiguous.

 

[hbar]

Elvish worker = worker with Elf race
Elven worker = worker working for the elves
Eleven workers = smallest useful elvish worker stack
Elephant workers = Jotnar worker UU
Elvis worker = has just left the building

 

[Emptiness]

Well done.