Where's My Airport / Airlift Feature?

[GeneralMayhem]

Finally played a game where I got to 1991 and a Giant Death Robot / stealth fighters. I planned to move them from 1 continent to the other only to find, I had to path them to the other continent across the ocean. A total of 24 turns. each turn seemed to be 1 year. so at this rate it will take 24 years to move a future tech!!!

Not to whine, but who's idea was it to have city defense determine if a city is taken over? scenario: Bismark decided to declare war on me when I settled a small area of his continent after he razed a city. My GDR and mass of army swim units were still many moves away (18), so I decided to pony up the gold for a another GDR in the city w/ 1 rocket arty unit outside. The GDR is built, but Bismark takes my city with 1 infantry unit because my city defense was low allowing me to lose my vast technological GDR lol.

Did I miss anything in the manual that has airlift? re read it and nothing.

 

[shadowplay]

What is a "giant death robot" ?

 

[Tomice]

I discussed it with some guys pre-release.

It's very hard to implement with only one unit being allowed in cities. If you have a defender, you have to move him out first. We didn't come up with a better solution. Airlifting from everywhere to everywhere is just insanely OP. Airlifting from the inner circle of the city is the only solution I can think of. But where should we be allowed to land?

 

[Atwork]

Airports should be built on a tile adjacent to a city. Whether the tile can be worked is another issue. But, units could be airlifted from one city's airport tile to another city's airport tile -- one unit at a time.....what'cha think?

 

[Dermo]

This would also allow workers to build airstrips at border points to move troops into defensive positions if required

 

[Triplanetary]

I agree, I think airports should be tile improvements in Civ5. It makes sense to me - given how much space airports take up in the real world, and as a result of this, the fact that they're almost never built in downtown areas, but right outside them instead.

But I really miss airlifting, so... expansion pack? Please? Firaxis?

 

[duxup]

I also don't see a problem with adding airlifting features. Sure make the airport expensive and a tile improvement on the tile that maybe just provides some gold but kills food and production. It would be a tactical choice like a fort (but useful).

 

[shadowplay]

Oh my god, I didn't realize the giant death robot is an actual unit in the game until now. What is this, Call to Power? Why not just give me Optimus Prime or R2D2? I really wish they'd do without the cutesy stuff.

Oh, airlifting. Yeah, I enjoyed building airstrips in previous Civs that had it. I'd like it brought back.

 

[RedMad]

I don't see why airlifting had to be taken out. Couldn't it be possible to airlift one unit per turn from city to city?

 

[sgrig]

Airports should be built on a tile adjacent to a city. Whether the tile can be worked is another issue. But, units could be airlifted from one city's airport tile to another city's airport tile -- one unit at a time.....what'cha think?

Great idea! I hope it gets implemented. Currently lack of airports and airlifts is a major omission.

 

[KrikkitTwo]

Actually, they should make it the Military Base... allow it to airlift from any tile adjacent to the Military base to any tile adjacent to a freindly Military Base.

 

[Revoran]

Airports should be built on a tile adjacent to a city. Whether the tile can be worked is another issue. But, units could be airlifted from one city's airport tile to another city's airport tile -- one unit at a time.....what'cha think?

That is an extremely good idea. 10 golden cookies to you good sir. It would also allow armies to pillage/capture (as obviously you can't use airports when the enemy has a unit on them) airports before taking a city just as they would in real life to prevent reinforcements being flown in.

However it would also have to be balanced with aircraft re-basing. Aircraft can currently re-base in cities or carriers within 8 hexes i think. It would be silly if a plane carrying troops could fly cross continent in one turn and a jet fighter couldn't. To be honest though aircraft can run missions up to 8 hexes away which is a total of 16 hexes there and back. Because re-basing is only one way they should be able to re-base at least 16 hexes away.

 

[Phoenix Blue]

Airports should be built on a tile adjacent to a city. Whether the tile can be worked is another issue. But, units could be airlifted from one city's airport tile to another city's airport tile -- one unit at a time.....what'cha think?

Alternately, let forts and citadels do this once you've researched flight.

 

[Triplanetary]

To be honest though aircraft can run missions up to 8 hexes away which is a total of 16 hexes there and back. Because re-basing is only one way they should be able to re-base at least 16 hexes away.

They can.

 

[Abremms]

there is an airlift tag in the buildings xml, i haven't played around with it yet, but it looks like it could be possible to mod it in.

 

[Ironmonger69]

I love the idea of the airstrip or military base as a tile improvement, or the suggestion of adding the ability to forts. Pleasepleaseplease pick this idea up!

 

[PibbZ]

Alternately, let forts and citadels do this once you've researched flight.

I love the original idea of an airfield / airport / millitary base improvement, but I dont like this one. I mean, forts and airfields have very different purposes

If an airfield could support as many air units as a city, it would be worthwhile trying to grab one or two of the small useless islands and start using it as a forward base for future wars, and It would be equally important to stop the other players from using it, thus creating a high value target which is not a city.

Win win situation imo. Great idea!

 

[Namaspamus]

Maybe they removed it because it gave large empires a huge advantage. It was almost impossible for a small or middle-sized empire to take one of your isolated cities cause you could bring so much defense in one turn (and the AI was unable to do the same).

So I miss them too but I'm not sure I want them back, at least not as they were in Civ IV. In a tile sounds good, you could build airports in military bases outside the cities, and airlift capacity would be limited by the maintenance cost of bases.Or build military aiports in some cities, at a high maintenance cost so we can't build them everywhere.

 

[timtofly]

I don't see why airlifting had to be taken out. Couldn't it be possible to airlift one unit per turn from city to city?

and

there is an airlift tag in the buildings xml, i haven't played around with it yet, but it looks like it could be possible to mod it in.

Who keeps a unit in a city anyways? What is the tag of a great person that it pops up next to a city? Airlift a unit from a city, but it lands in the "next" available spot. And one drop per turn.


The problem with the OP is: do not settle a city next to Germany without enough back up. It would still take a couple of turns to build an airport and transport troops via air. The settler should have had a bigger defence from the beginning.

 

[black_feather]

there is a airlift in the code, I added a airport to my mod and it seems to work fine, if you airlift a unit into a city with a unit already in it the game just moves the original unit outside the city when you end your turn.