I've already got it covered, thanks for the offer, though! 
G

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I've already got it covered, thanks for the offer, though!
G
Roger that. But poke me if you find yourself needing a custom asset. =) Civ is a different style than normal, but it looks easy enough to replicate.
I don't want to be picky, but the building in the new art for Doge's Palace is not Doge's Palace, but St Mark's Basilica. It's still a huge improvement over the previous one![]()
I was actually wondering if the early yields from Doge's Palace are really necessary. I have played with Venice a lot and the early game isn't really a problem for Venice. Early MoVs (you can get 2 by building Pyramids and researching Sailing) net you a ton of gold and give you pseudo-permanent city state allys, which in turn net you substantial amounts of food, faith, culture etc. Buying city-states in the newest version of the CBP at the beginning of the game is pretty useless, as they do not produce anything of use (namely science).
My point is that Venice's early game is in a good spot even without the extra yields from Doge's Palace. In fact, I find Doge's Palace to be a bit too strong right now, especially on the science front. And yes, Doge's Palace is as boring as a UB can be. Venice is known for crusades and the sacking of Constantinople, so the picture of St. Mark's Basilica got me thinking of a different UB for Venice:
St. Mark's Basilica (Replaces Grand Temple)
- +6 faith
- starts a golden age
- religious need modifier -25%
- a great work of music slot
- +15% great person rate
- enemy spies cannot perform advanced spy actions in this city
- your religion spreads 50% faster along trade routes (has great synergy with the UA)
- capturing a holy city starts a golden age and gives +10 tourism to St. Mark's Basilica (the number was just thrown there, holy cities are rare and usually capitals and thus hard to capture, so the reward needs to be quite substantial)
The potential problem here is that the AI can't really use this effectively. I'm also unsure if this is too "high risk, high reward"-type of ability for a UB. I wanted to share it anyway. The idea maybe of some use somewhere else as wellIf we want something more simple, giving coastal raider I promotion and/or faith from kills to all (melee) ships built in the city, could be one thing.
I was actually wondering if the early yields from Doge's Palace are really necessary. I have played with Venice a lot and the early game isn't really a problem for Venice. Early MoVs (you can get 2 by building Pyramids and researching Sailing) net you a ton of gold and give you pseudo-permanent city state allys, which in turn net you substantial amounts of food, faith, culture etc. Buying city-states in the newest version of the CBP at the beginning of the game is pretty useless, as they do not produce anything of use (namely science).
My point is that Venice's early game is in a good spot even without the extra yields from Doge's Palace. In fact, I find Doge's Palace to be a bit too strong right now, especially on the science front. And yes, Doge's Palace is as boring as a UB can be. Venice is known for crusades and the sacking of Constantinople, so the picture of St. Mark's Basilica got me thinking of a different UB for Venice:
St. Mark's Basilica (Replaces Grand Temple)
- +6 faith
- starts a golden age
- religious need modifier -25%
- a great work of music slot
- +15% great person rate
- enemy spies cannot perform advanced spy actions in this city
- your religion spreads 50% faster along trade routes (has great synergy with the UA)
- capturing a holy city starts a golden age and gives +10 tourism to St. Mark's Basilica (the number was just thrown there, holy cities are rare and usually capitals and thus hard to capture, so the reward needs to be quite substantial)
The potential problem here is that the AI can't really use this effectively. I'm also unsure if this is too "high risk, high reward"-type of ability for a UB. I wanted to share it anyway. The idea maybe of some use somewhere else as wellIf we want something more simple, giving coastal raider I promotion and/or faith from kills to all (melee) ships built in the city, could be one thing.
Personally, I think Venice does need the buffed up early game. Not being able to build settlers makes it tough to remedy a poor Capital. And despite the Doge's Palace being a bit boring I think it's well designed because it makes Venice more consistent.
If we do want to remove the Palace, I think they should get more Great Merchants (like Babylon for Merchants) so that they aren't completely screwed with a poor Capital. As for replacement UB's maybe something that gives bonuses if it's built in a puppeted city?
I would rather have a UB that makes playing more difficult but interesting, rather than one that makes it easy and boring. The idea of getting a UB that gives bonuses for puppets is an interesting one as well, but I would like to have something that encourages the player to actively do something else than just buy city-states and manage trade routes.
Your UB promotes one-dimensional play in the most one-dimensional civ in the game. That's usually a warning-bell.
How does encouraging conquering promote one-dimensional play for Venice? Right now it's best if you don't fight a single war in the whole game.
The palace doesn't add anything to Venice, in terms of playing. It just makes the capital a bit stronger. It's the most boring UB in the game by far. It does make Venice more consistent for sure, but the gains from early MoV:s are really really powerful as well (1600 gold, 200 influence in classical era). The gold is enough to buy an army or buy-rush all your buildings for a while. Allying for example a maritime city-state gives you a strong and steady food input to your capital, so you'll get by even if you otherwise don't have a lot of food nearby. And it's not hard to get two of these at the very beginning of the game. I have to admit that losing the merchant specialist from the market hurts quite a bit, as it delays the following MoVs.
I would rather have a UB that makes playing more difficult but interesting, rather than one that makes it easy and boring. The idea of getting a UB that gives bonuses for puppets is an interesting one as well, but I would like to have something that encourages the player to actively do something else than just buy city-states and manage trade routes.
How does conquering holy-cities every game result in one-dimensional gameplay? Good question, the keyword is every game.
I would also highly oppose to your suggestion that they are currently best of not being in a single war, they are the civ that by far benefits the most from conquest as it gets them the thing they can not gather on their own, cities.
EDIT: And Funak's right about war, they're kick-ass conqueror's. I almost always go Authority Venice
As for the unique building I know someone has suggested a unique courthouse, something Venice doesn't actually ever get to make use out of, and I still like my idea of buffing puppets. Like isn't having super-puppets what they're all about?