Telegraph and telephone?

[AdamNott]

Telegraph is a good idea. This is very simple:

1)You discover Telecomunications (Technology, Industrial ages)

2)You put a Telegraph Station (city improvement) in any two cities.

3)Build cable(Worker action) to join the two cities.

4)All is ready, you can transfer shields in cities (Unless passing by enemy territory)

In Telephone is a bit diferent:

1)Technology, also in Industrial ages is Advanced Telecomunications.

2)You improve "Telegraph Station to "Telephone Station"

3)The cable still in use (Unless Satelites discovered, then the cable becomes obsolete)

4)You can transfer shields and gold (If you use cable, you can't transfer it passing by enemy territory. If you discover Satelites you CAN transfer it.)

Good idea, isn't?

 

[Yuri2356]

How would a telegraph/phone let you transport shileds?

I think a slightly better system would be to have roads/railways be able to transport shields/food with a limit on how much each City can send & recive (the limit for roads would be lower than rail.) Certain improvements would be required to allow a city to recive these resorces (granary for food, and something new for shields.) Then later in the game you could impliment a Telegraph/Telephone system like the one you've described, but purley for transfer of gold, and with limits similar to that of roads as I've mentioned here.

 

[Stid]

adding onto the points above, some terrain already looks too crowded without the telegraph/telephone wires.maybe the stations would be good enough.either way its a new idea

 

[MeatWad]

I think an improved tech tree would be incomplete without telegraph-telephone--radio---television----satelites-----internet. It is a historically accurate portrayal of communications tech (they should have NEVER patched 'Radio' out of the picture, IMHO!!). Now all the designers have to do is decide how their presence would affect the game. Real time communication has always been a logistical sticking point for world leaders, right up to the advent of radio. The War of 1812 was actually OVER before the Battle of New Orleans was fought, but nobody could get the word fast enough. I would love to see similiar communication lags in the Civ series, but then we'd have 'messenger units'. Pony Express, anybody? I have to agree with Yuri2356 re. food/shield tranfer using road and rail. That's a pretty cool idea.

 

[Mgoering]

I'm totaly ok with the fact that telecommunication should be more represented that just the Internet Wonder. There actually are 3 technologies directly related to it : Radio, Computers and Satellite. There should be at least 1 improvement to show that information are delivered faster. This one could a COMMUNICATION CENTER building.

Constructing this building will add a few to a lot of things. First thing is to add 3-5-8% to science; 5-8-12% to trade; 1-2-2 hunhappy citizen to satisfied or 0-1-1 satisfied to happy; 1-2-2 cultural points. The first number is when you only discovered Radio, the second one when you discovered Computers and the 3rd one when discovered Satellites.

Satellite only improves trade and science, because I don't see how it does for happyness and culture and easily see for the 2 before.

 

[K.F. Huszár]

I agree with this basic idea.
Communication has to be much more properly represented in the game.
But it seems at the same time that we have to reduce the micromanagement. For example, if you want to build telephone system among five cities, then you could appoint a comissioner for the task and allocate some workers, shields and money for the purpose.

 

[AdamNott]

Yes, but the wires MUST build in a road or RR. Also, the idea is logic with diference telephone/telegraph (What was the last time that you see a man repaying a bond using a telegraph) so the space isn't crowded.

 

[Albow]

I like the idea of transfering food/ shields / gold, but it would become WAY too messy! esp in modern era (too much micro management as it is) ...

but I very much agree with the need to make a bigger fuss about communication techs ... I also think com techs have a HUGE impact on culture and society in general. Has not the news pictures of Vietnam changed the outcome of that war for the US? perhaps comm techs give added military bonus, but also more war weariness, also more culture per city (if you build TV stations) ... or should that be less culture?

 

[Mgoering]

I forgot one thing in my reply yesterday : military. Albow spoke about a bonus; I would more speak about a unit. That one unit would be a "Communication Marine", which still have fighting abilities, but less that a regular Marine. A regular one has 8/6/1; that Comm one should have 6/4/1 for example. But the effect of it is to give a bonus to fighting units from the same square. If you have Marine for example, they attack with 9 points and defend with 7.

 

[jabancho]

How about power lines? this can actually follow a realistic pattern in increasing productivity when you are able to provide power to certain areas of your empire. It is a realistic fact that if you are at war with other civ and you are able to cut the power to its cities, it will definitely undermine their capacity of defense and force the citizens to survive under harsh conditions (at least it has been seen on modern times)

 

[Paradigne]

The way I think it should work is quite simple... upon researching any of those techs, each city gains one content, and loses one corruption. This (IMHO) makes a lot of since. People were happier with more instant communication, and corruption is more controlable with it also.