Where are the Natural Wonders?

[Snownova]

Natural wonders could have some really cool quests tied to them too.

"We have discovered the Garland Crater. The impact has left the craters interior rich in rare minerals which could be used to boost the industrial output of nearby bases. The unique soil conditions also lend themselves to the establishment of a self sustaining Terran biosphere.

Choose:
+2 production on crater tiles
Maintenance free terrascapes on crater tiles.

(probably terrible options, but you catch my drift)

 

[stealth_nsk]

Well, natural wonders is interesting feature, but looks quite low priority. We have variours explorer mission, plus specialized colonies.

 

[kipwheeler]

It's almost certainly too late to add this to BE at this late date, but even if we did not have full Natural Wonders providing benefits, I think it would be fun if clusters of mountains, larger craters, rivers and long lava canyons were "name-able" by players.

It would add nothing to game-play in terms of strategic benefits, but it would allow you to participate (in a sense) in the creation of the world and provide a deeper sense of exploration.

Two ways you could handle it--(1) first player to move an explorer through the fog of war gets to name it for the rest of the game, or (2) first player to encompass that area within the cultural boundaries of his or her culture gets to name the area, and the name sticks until some other culture takes over the area.

To avoid clutter, there could be a toggle that makes the text of the name visible or invisible.

I can see it now, Kavithan Protectorate players could have "Ganeesh's Reef," or "the New Gangees River." ARC could have the "New Alaskan Tundra" or "Jefferson River," Polystralia could have "Hutama's Bay," or the player could designate a lava-flow area "Hell's Canyon," "The Blasted Lands," or whatever. That might provide the feel of natural wonders without requiring a lot of game-play balancing or time on the part of the developers.

 

[chrstnsn]

I think one of the console games had the ability to name geographic features. Does anyone know why it wasn't implemented in, say, CiV?

 

[Monthar]

If they allow naming of locations, I'd hope they'd make it like it was in Civ 4, because that was simple to use.

 

[Steamwerks]

From a lore standpoint, things like craters and canyons that might be wonders on Earth are just common terrain features on the new planet. The Natural Wonder bonuses never made a ton of sense (I never particularly understood why Krakatoa would make people happier or more productive), but now that Happiness and Faith are gone, the bonuses would have to get even sillier. Should staring at the Great Volcano of Zuul make your colony Healthier?

To pick an obvious example, Olympus Mons is extraordinary even by Martian standards. Referring back to SMAC, it is entirely reasonable to suppose that a large, active volcano (Mount Planet) would afford unique energy and mineral harvesting opportunities, or that an enormous impact crater (Garland Crater) would likewise contain rich mineral deposits, or that a tall, broad mesa (Sunny Mesa) would support efficient agricultural and solar energy farms. In fact, it seems unreasonable to expect no outlying geological features on an alien planet simply because it is remarkable as a whole.

 

[Galgus]

It would be great if some of the unique map elements (like impassable calderas and canyons, which look really cool) in BE have a hidden science or culture boost or other prize making them worth finding and exploiting.

In previous Civ games, these were known as Natural Wonders. I always loved finding and settling next to those.

So far I've seen no sign of such in the BE preview videos and screen shots. Are they going to be completely absent from this game? What do you think?

If not a special tile of its own, I think it would be fun to have a cluster of resources that simulate the war-starting power of Natural Wonders.

I could see a large field of, say, Firaxite being seen as a natural wonder - though they could also just have a giant Firaxite crystal as a wonder.
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If we do get Natural Wonders, I'd kind of like them to spawn as unidentified tiles that we send Explorers out to see what they can do.

(The unidentified bit existing so that veteran players don't immediately know what the NW does.)

It would add a bit of fun suspense, in my opinion, and perhaps we could even receive options on how to use the Wonder (what it yields) that play into the quest system.

Example: We have found an unprecedented floatstone mountain, and much of it floats above the ground structure. Do we pursue full-scale mining (++ Production) or make attempts to preserve its beauty as a wonder of the world? (+ production + culture)

 

[Malachi256]

Special land features / landmarks should always be included... seems like a no-brainer.

I would tweak them so that they are slightly less powerful and slightly more common than the ones we saw in CiV, but regardless they should definitely be included.

 

[DarkestOnion]

Potential Alien Natural Wonders were discussed in this earlier thread in brief.

http://forums.civfanatics.com/showthread.php?t=532542

Fan specualtion aside, I too am a bit dismayed at the zero visibility of Alien Natural Wonders this close to the launch date of the game. If they are not going to be a feature in Civ:BE, I would like to hear from 2K/Firaxis as to why they have been dicarded at the very least.

 

[Lord of Harmony]

If not in base BE, I believe they would make an excellent part of an expansion pack/mini DLC. Failing that, there's always the modders.

 

[Thormodr]

I must concur with the Op.

There was a lot that I didn't like about Civilization 5 but Natural Wonders were a good edition to the series.

Curious that they left them out of Civilization 5: Beyond Earth but they'll likely add that in DLC for $$$.

 

[gunnergoz]

Although I will miss the NW if they are absent (as it seems they will be, at least at first) I must admit that the Quest system and liberal sprinkling of BE's equivalent of Goodie Huts and Archaeological digs will keep me entertained enough for a while. But I do want Firaxis to add the NW in at some point, even if it is DLC.

 

[Aeson]

Given all the new flavor aspects in the game they may have just allocated all of their creative energy in other aspects and not had enough left over to think up and design new natural wonders yet.

Hopefully they find a way to fit it in later, because it would definitely add to the gameplay. Since there's no historical ties to worry about breaking, it opens up wide range of options. But also takes more time to come up with.

 

[Monthar]

I still think they did add natural wonders and purposely left them out of the 100 turn demo version so they'd have something new to show us with the 250 turn demo they're going to have at Firaxicon. After all I'm sure they knew when they invited those folks to play the 100 turn demo that the invitees would try to show us as much as possible. So if they included everything in that demo, there would be nothing left to reveal in the last month before launch.

 

[gunnergoz]

Good point, Monthar, I had not thought of that.