Anyone notice that your starts in BtS (maybe its cause im playing Hemispheres all the time) start you in a giant forest where almost EVERY square is covered with forest? Does anyone else think "ok... I guess the game wants me to build 40 axemen by 2500 BC...?" I mean, sure I could chop out a wonder or something, but it seems to me that the game is almost forcing you to chop early.
So, I have an idea... A lot of people will probably jump out and say "oh, here goes hoopsnerd again with another stupid request for more realism in civ," but hold on. How bout instead of getting an unhealthy penalty from chopping trees just because the "forest" tile isnt in your borders anymore, you'd get + unhealthies from actually chopping it for 30 turns -- just like whipping gives you unhappies.
This idea would bolster game balance, as well as make it more realistic. I mean come on, what happened to any real life civilization that chopped down every forest it had access to as fast as it possibly could, without waiting for regrowth of some trees? They destroyed their environments, that's what. Erosion washed away the fertile soils which trees roots used to hold in place, not to mention a myriad of other environmental problems that it caused. Now for the game balance issue... in BtS, it's too easy to pick a civ with an early UU and totally dominate thanks to the many forests abound. When it comes time to start a game, I can barely stop myself from picking Persia or Inca or Egypt (16 civs have an early UU btw? thats historicly ridiculous) and just chopping everything in sight and annihilating my closest neighbors (even on immortal). If you don't want the maintenance costs you can just raze the cities and settle there later, clearing your continent for your own expansion later. Barbarians? please, 30 immortals are going to have no problem with that.
Making chopping cause a unhealthy penalty would make it more realistic, and also make it less "exploitable." You'd still be able to cut down all your trees, but if you didnt space it out properly it would cause you environmental problems -- just like real life, AND just like civ whipping causes unhappy problems if you whip too often.
So, I have an idea... A lot of people will probably jump out and say "oh, here goes hoopsnerd again with another stupid request for more realism in civ," but hold on. How bout instead of getting an unhealthy penalty from chopping trees just because the "forest" tile isnt in your borders anymore, you'd get + unhealthies from actually chopping it for 30 turns -- just like whipping gives you unhappies.
This idea would bolster game balance, as well as make it more realistic. I mean come on, what happened to any real life civilization that chopped down every forest it had access to as fast as it possibly could, without waiting for regrowth of some trees? They destroyed their environments, that's what. Erosion washed away the fertile soils which trees roots used to hold in place, not to mention a myriad of other environmental problems that it caused. Now for the game balance issue... in BtS, it's too easy to pick a civ with an early UU and totally dominate thanks to the many forests abound. When it comes time to start a game, I can barely stop myself from picking Persia or Inca or Egypt (16 civs have an early UU btw? thats historicly ridiculous) and just chopping everything in sight and annihilating my closest neighbors (even on immortal). If you don't want the maintenance costs you can just raze the cities and settle there later, clearing your continent for your own expansion later. Barbarians? please, 30 immortals are going to have no problem with that.
Making chopping cause a unhealthy penalty would make it more realistic, and also make it less "exploitable." You'd still be able to cut down all your trees, but if you didnt space it out properly it would cause you environmental problems -- just like real life, AND just like civ whipping causes unhappy problems if you whip too often.
I might do a test tonight along these grounds. Does anyone know if the Big and Small map will work in warlords?
