To refine my earlier plans:
- Building attributes that produce science based on x city yield (production/faith/gold/etc.)
- 'Finisher wonders' for each policy branch (moving some existing wonders into these roles), so that players who focus on culture in lieu of science will have earlier access to some valuable wonders. Tradition, for example, may 'open' with the Pyramids, and then Finish with the Hanging Gardens. These wonders may actually be removed from the tech tree (so that unlocking the policy is all that is needed to start on them).
- The reduction of yields from specialists early on, but a slightly more rapid increase by the mid-game (to reduce snowball from getting too many early scientist specialists)
- The reduction in yield-inflation across the board by removing per-population yields from a few buildings in each category (and replacing them with flat bonuses)
- The removal of the free science per citizen
- Slight reduction of the research cost penalty from the # of cities
- Modification of happiness system to make larger cities harder to keep happy
I think this is a fair list. If anyone has thoughts on which wonders might best belong as openers/finishers for each branch, feel free to brainstorm.
G
I worry there are not enough small ways to increase science production, but it might be fine. Have to test it!
I like the idea of removing some wonders from tech and making them policy-only. However, how will someone look up the Wonder yields? Do they have to go into the Civilopedia? Gross, but not terrible.
For the Policy wonders, are we trying to have them be era-appropriate?
Tradition: Opener - Mausoleum of Halicarnassus (GP bonus and early production but Construction might need a buff), Finisher - Hanging Gardens (lets you work all the specialists you now have and free gardens, makes more sense at the end, after you have built some other cities. Don't want that food to just go to waste while you build settlers)
Progress: Opener - Pyramids (lets you expand while expanding, seems like a Progress thing), Finisher - Angkor Wat (lets you get tiles to improve since you have such quick infrastructure improvement)
Authority: Opener - Statue of Zeus (gives you Forge for lots of production and city attack), Finisher - Terracotta Army (gives you extra army now that you've had time to build some without losing tons of infrastructure)
Piety: Opener - Hagia Sophia (gives people a chance to jump in on the religion race if they really want Piety but have no religion yet), Finisher - Borobodor (separates the Piety completers from each other)
Statecraft: Opener - Forbidden Palace (lets anyone get a chance to participate in the World Congress), Finisher - Summer Palace (lets the true diplomats differentiate from each other by letting their emissaries travel without open borders)
Aesthetics: Opener - Leaning Tower of Pisa (lets anyone dip for GP production but helps Great Work GPs more), Finisher - Sistine Chapel (extra culture boost for lategame policies if you want them)
Industry: Opener - Big Ben (lets anyone dip for extra gold spending bonus but helps more if you have tons of gold which more Industry will provide)
, Finisher - Empire State Building (huge lategame gold boost, though it might need a small buff to be worth a finisher)
Imperialism: Opener - Brandenburg Gate (lets anyone dip for some combat stats), Finisher - Pentagon (yes I know this is very modern but 1) civs that invest fully into Imperialism probably don't have much culture so they won't unlock this for awhile, 2) they'll unlock Ideologies first, so they need an incentive to finish the tree, and 3) this is the only appropriate effect remaining that isn't an Ideology wonder)
Rationalism: Opener - Porcelain Tower (lets any diplomatic civ dip for research agreement boost), Finisher - CN Tower (yes I know this is very modern but 1) if you have good tech (like you would with this tree) you'll have unlocked and been investing in Ideologies instead of this tree, so it needs to be a big bonus, 2) this wonder used to provide Broadcast Towers after any civ built them, but now that helps you fill in Ideologies if you want to finish Rationalism first and risk building the wonder, and 3) its also the only growth bonus left...)
Ideology Wonders should stay as-is.
Note I didn't touch Great Library (everyone wants access to a free tech), Oracle (everyone wants access to a free policy), Cathedral of St. Basil (its very powerful so it would be a finisher, but the whole point is to let even religious duds get a chance to enhance, so gating it behind the whole Piety tree seems bad), Stonehenge (the point of Stonehenge is to give people a chance to be in the religious race no matter what), any wonders with terrain requirements (dont want a policy wonder to ever be a dud), any of the wonders that affect golden ages (everyone needs golden ages), or any of the tourism wonders (the whole point of the tourism rework is that everybody wants tourism). I also didn't use any Wonders from Eras earlier than the policy tree, though I did use some from later eras.
Opinions?