thoughts on PTW and the culture off switch

[cracker]

I know it has been announced that PTW will have an option to "turn-off" culture flipping but It keeps ocuring to me that this is probably going to be implemented in a way that really provides the fewest possible game play options.

Having the switch totally off will make some new scenarios more possible and it will make some people blissfully happy so they can play warmonger without having to use the other 9/10ths of the their thinking capacity.

What would be wishful thinking would be if the Firaxis crew has seized upon this opportunity to add excitement and depth into the game while addressing the scream and whines from the peanut gallery.

If the off/on switch was really a slider or a spinner that had a hierarchy of choices. Then you could have it off (no flipping at all) or you could have its set at other levels that would produce some interesting play events.

The first on level would have the city drop into disorder or rioting before having a chance to flip. The player would have a chance to rush in troops or abandon the city. This woud be sort of like Culture flipping training wheels to show players how far off from the mainline culture game that they may be playing.

The second on level would be the same as the first but the disorder and unhappiness would transfer to adjacent cities if your were always a weenie and just moved your troops out of the city so you could abandon it and run away. Again this would be sort of like a set of elbow or shin guards to help keep you from getting "scraped up" in you battles with the culture demons from under your bed.

The third on level would be the same as the current Civ3 game.

The fourth on level would be tougher than the current game in that a city that flips will cause disorder in a nearby city because of the "why can't we go to the other country too" factor.

I doubt any of this will be the way things go because the implementation that already is in the box is probably just an on/off switch.

Just some musings.

 

[SirJethro]

Personally, I like the idea of an on-off switch...mostly because it allows people to play the way they want (and silence the critics) and make MODs more flexible.

I see where you are going with the levels, but personally I would be happier with a simple on-off switch and have the time it would take implementing a "culture slider" spent developing different functionality.

 

[slothman]

Will the "switch" affect both user created cities and captured cities flipping? It doesn't seem fair to capture a city and then keep it forever or at least it seems better than a citiy you founded with only 1 foreign tile or citizen flipping.

 

[cracker]

Slothman,

You are reinforcing my point that there is a great deal of room between the two extreme points of the culture flipping processes.

The current system is really tough on those players that cannot grasp the concepts of cutural power, proximity, overlap, and susceptibility plus it has no warning and can have catastropihic consequences when it carries away the whole military.

The totally off option will probably eliminate the risk of culture flipping in any city, native or captured, and will reinforce extreme behaviors in the opposite direction.

With no middle ground, we will end up with two segments of the gaming community, The non-culture players who progressively become incapable of playing in other game formats and then the mainstream players who can adapt to a variety of non-warmonger challenges.

Some sort of mid-range settings that allow the non-culture players to progressively expand their game play skills will help to facilitate growth and transition without drwaing a permanent line in the sand.

 

[Gen]

What I would like to see is the possibility of customizing in editor the number of garrison units preventing the flip, if possible all factors (number per enemy tiles, per resistor, per foreigner etc.). Default settings could be even government dependent (eg. democracy should need less units to prevent flip to communist or anarchy civ). I like flipping idea much but it forces me to maintain ridiculously numerous garrisons even in my native cities, less alone captured ones...
And the switch should be there also, although I personally would let it on.

 

[Lt. 'Killer' M.]

cracker: as always, some very smart thinking from you.... I was one of the most vocal shouters for a switch and I'm glad we get it (scenarios! Tiny maps!) though I'd have liked a map-size factor in the flip formula a lot better......

and oh how would I like a slider!!!

 

[Panda]

Some pretty good ideas cracker

However, I'm afraid all we're going to get is an on/off switch - something like the options we currently have at the start-up.

Have you ever tried to get a job at Firaxis?

 

[ainwood]

Conversely, it may make the "peaceful-builders" think a bit more too. You can't rely on playing as a religious civ and culturing the opponents to death through flipping. Not as much of an impact on them though.

I'm not really sure that I'd want it switched off for the GOTM.

 

[Reboot]

Er... flipping at its current state cannot allow a flip-to-death. Most of the time one gets a select few flips in an entire game, and flips become extremely rare when one reaches the later part of the game (late industrial, modern).

 

[Chieftess]

I've had games where dozens of cities have flipped to me. Then again, I normally don't play monarch and above.

 

[Exsanguination]

I like CF the way it is now. It's work perfectly.

 

[kin3]

It would be nice to have. Then I could play what ever the mood I happen to be in at the time.

I had a game where I took a city moved loads of troops in to quell the disorder and to heal before moving on. Well you guessed it. It reverted back. I couldn't beleive it so I decided to reload and see what it would take to keep it from flipping. I tried everything but it always filled the next turn. So I moved all the troops out of the city...guess what it didn't flip. Weired.

 

[dannyevilcat]

I'm all in favor of being able to turn it off, but I'd prefer if they replaced it with another option. I have to admit that as much as I don't really like CF, I do like having that added element of having to maintaining your control over your conquered territory, so I'll probably keep using it anyway.

The idea of rolling in with tanks, etc, take city, move on to the next city, repeat, is kinda boring, IMHO, unless there is an added level of complexity.