SUMMARY OF MISCELLANEOUS V. 2.1
CONTENTS:
1. Random Natural Disasters
2. Disease & Plagues
3. Era-Based Games
4. Endgame Variants
5. Structure Damage
6. Nomadic Civs
7. Miscellaneous Miscellaneous
1. Random Natural Disasters
1.1) Specific disasters should target specific land types, i.e.: Tornadoes hit grasslands & plains, Tsunamis hit coastal squares, Landslides hit hills & Volcanoes hit mountains. Earthquakes would be either truly random or fall along predetermined fault lines.
1.2) Certain disasters attack specific city improvements, i.e.: Tsunamis take out ports & harbors, floods wreak havoc on aqueducts & sewer systems.
1.3) Two levels of disasters, Major & Minor, one of which is somehow preventable.
1.4) Present disasters as Wrath of the Gods?
1.5) Tech & improvements that would either prevent or lessen the effects of disasters, i.e.: Seismology tech could reveal the predetermined faultlines, if used, or allow a Seismology Center improvement to warn of coming Earthquakes.
1.6) Disasters could kill off a varying number of population points.
1.7) An evacuation order that allows a city to be spared loss of pop. points (but not city improvements) at the cost of stopping the city's production (trade, shields, everything) as long as the evacuation is in effect. This order would become available when and only when a disaster warning has become available.
1.8) Have it so that RND and some Random Events require player intervention: i.e. a flood requires the player to build improvements to end problem; a disease that needs to be tracked to it's source, have a research base set up, and devote a % of research to stop it?
2. Diseases & Plagues
2.1) Cities generate disease pts. based on heat & wetness as described in TILES & TILE IMPROVEMENTS. Hot & wet generates lots of disease while cold & dry generates low. It reduces growth, and at a certain level plague TI's start to appear (like pollution). The higher the total the greater chance and frequency plague TI's will develop.
2.2) The formula is B+(A-D)/2-N=T
B= Base value of the land tiles
A= Adds to disease
D= Subtracted from disease
N= Given # that represents your people's natural resistance & efforts to reduce disease.
T= Total amount. This amount is added to A at the beginning of next turn.
2.3) Things that increase disease levels:
Working high disease value tiles
"Adjacent" cities & trade routes
Larger cities
Warfare, conquest, riots, rebellion
Germ warfare & spy missions
Destroying buildings that reduce disease
Pollution, constructing buildings that increase pollution
Contact with new civs, re-establishing contact w/ a civ
Plague TI's
Units wandering through tiles that cause "damage" to them
A lack of food
Random events
2.3.1) Worked tiles add their total value to B. This includes tiles outside the city area but are having its resources shipped to the city via "supply crawler". Unworked tiles only add 50% of their value.
2.3.2) Disease can "travel" outside of its origin, with a "movement" of about 2 per turn; roads, RR's, etc., affect this. When a disease value encounters a city it compares it's B & A values to that of the city. If the city's combined values are higher then nothing happens, if the city's are lower then the difference is added it's A. Trade routes increase the "movement" speed of the disease along its route. Cities of nations that you haven't met aren't included in the 1st case but are included if there is a trade route going through it. Eventually all cities that are connected in some manner will have approx. the same disease value. (should it have a decrease due to distance; is this programmable?)
2.3.3) Cities add a # to A per pop point. Obviously, larger cities add more.
2.3.4) Each turn a city is attacked & riots reduce the city's ability to prevent disease, as seen by a loss of D. Conquest & rebellion completely prevent D from functioning for the turn the city is conquered or in rebellion. However, an enemy civ may spend money during warfare or conquest to reduce disease in the Target City (see below).
2.3.5) Germ warfare & spy missions simply add a given # to A. Tech can create even higher sums for germ warfare, missions. Siege equipment (catapults, etc.) have an option to use germ warfare when attacking.
2.3.6) Self-explanatory
2.3.7) Polluted tiles add a set # of pts. to A per turn they are in existence. Also, 1 pollution pt. adds 1(?) pt. to A.
2.3.8) Contact new civs: Units have the disease total of their city if the SE choice is uncentralized, or of the nearest home/allied city in it's supply path if centralized. This amount would be listed in the City View & with the unit as well (not available to enemy view unless allied or modern medicine available). When a unit encounters a new civ, it adds it's city's combined B & A to the A of the city it encountered. This usually results in a outbreak of some kind. The unit will transmit it's new total back to it's home city or the nearest one, depending on the above, as long as it is in it's civ's supply grid. If not, it doesn't transmit until re-connected and the unit "holds onto" the B & A values of the new civ. If contact is lost and later re-established, the cities are only considered to be "adjacent".
2.3.9) See Effects (below)
2.3.10) I've suggested elsewhere that units take damage when moving through certain terrain (chariots in mountains, swamp). This damage is different than the above but is partially due to disease so I mention it here.
2.3.11) A lack of food =1(?) disease pt. per "bushel" shortfall. However, these disease pts. don't apply towards reduced growth, as this should be already accounted for in the growth rate.
2.3.12) Random plagues add to A. They can add a few to many pts., and can include instantly generated plague TI's.
2.4) Things that decrease disease levels:
Preventing the above
Working low disease tiles
Change tiles to less disease-bearing ones
Increasing N
Spend cash
Diplomatic missions
Constructing certain buildings-granary, aqueduct, sewers, city walls, water treatment plant?, mass transit, etc.
Wonders
Population reduction
Quarantine
Certain tech
Random events
2.4.1) N normally = the value of 1a. above. N also increases naturally: each turn that there's a positive amount in T, N increases by 1 point. In the event T is a negative number, N decreases by 1 point. The max number N can increase should have a cap; based on the city size?
2.4.2) Cash is paid to increase D. Some tech-medicine, sanitation, public health, etc.-decrease the cost of buying off a disease point. You could set up a given amount to be paid each turn in high disease cities in the city screen. This should not be cheap.
2.4.3) This is done in the diplomacy screen. You send another civ aid, by 'buying' some pts. in their city's D (as in 2.4.2), or give/lend a disease-preventing tech. This can also be done in a city you're attacking or to any city under attack. You may also suggest to an ally how to set up it’s city to lower disease (see DIPLOMACY).
2.4.4.) Buildings add to D, but only affect certain types of disease modifiers. Granaries reduce disease due to lack of food & famine random events; aqueducts greatly reduce disease in large cities; city walls allow the city to "refuse contact" (below) prior to Medicine (keeps out the diseased), mass transit by reducing pollution, etc. Again, tech may increase the reduction.
2.4.5) Cure for Cancer & Human Genome Project come to mind. They could affect D &/or act as tech (below).
2.4.6) See Effects
2.4.7) Cities under quarantine have all routes to or through them shut down. No units may enter or leave the city area. Units under quarantine outside their home city area are disbanded. This takes the city off the "adjacent city" lists & trade routes. Other cities can "refuse contact" with them; no units from that city or receiving support from that city may enter the city radius, trade to/through it is shut down. This has a % chance of avoiding contact with the diseased city. Quarantining isn't available until the discovery of Medicine.
2.4.8) Tech are subtracted directly from T, after the formula is calculated. This allows N to balance the formula to=0, and then tech can give a negative result. If a civ's technology or a declining N makes B+(A-D)/2-N= a negative number, then that number is added to the growth rate next turn.
2.4.9) Random events can add to D, cause plague TI's to vanish, etc.
2.5) Effects:
2.5.1) Cities: Each city has the same amount of "free" disease resistance (again, similar to the amount of pollution pts. cities can absorb). Once cities go beyond this point, each disease point lowers city growth, and creates a % chance of a
plague TI appearing on the landscape. These cause unhappiness in the city, as well as reducing pop growth even more by adding additional pts. to A. Each disease point beyond the "free" level increases the chance of the TI appearing, up to 50%. Once disease pts. go beyond this stage, there is a 50% chance of a plague TI appearing and a smaller % chance of another plague TI appearing! There is no limit to the # of chances of a plague TI generating in the city radius in one turn. These can only be removed by settlers/engineers &/or public works, military units (depending on SE choices), or by a loss of a pop unit. Settlers/engineers must be funded and also cost extra food & support. The loss of a pop point causes one plague TI to disappear. Military units can remove a TI by killing a population point. The unit must be in the city or plague TI. This act is frowned upon by certain societies.
2.5.2) Units: Units have the same disease value as their supply point (as above). They make checks for outbreaks as cities; the difference being that a successful plague TI generation causes the unit to take 1 point of damage*it's "reactor level" (i.e., the 1,2,3, or 4 hp's of units found in civ2 and SMAC) instead. In the event that a unit encounters another civ (1h. above), unit, or populated TI- anything that increases its disease value above its supply point, it will transfer the value to the supplying city, based on distance. If unsupplied, it will "hold" onto the new disease level until reconnecting to its supply route (as above). Any unit in a plagued tile automatically takes 1* reactor damage, except for settlers/engineers that are receiving the extra support to cleanse the tile (they are still subject to normal disease damage). Units that receive support from a city that has plague TI's cannot switch support to other cities. Units receiving support from a plagued city also have their morale reduced.
2.5.3) Populated TI's: Military bases, naval bases, supply depots, farms, garrisoned forts, etc. have a disease pt. level = to the nearest city or the city they receive support from. For game purposes they are immune to disease and all it's effects, with the exception of village TI's. Villages are the only squares that can get a 'disease' icon. Villages with disease icons on them have reduced production and % chance of being destroyed per turn.
2.6) 4 options (for Firaxis, not players) for multiple workers on same tile:
A given tile ,FE, creates 10 disease pts. for the city each turn one worker is on it. If two workers are on it, the city will receive:[list=1][*]10 disease points (as if only one person was on the tile)[*]15 disease points (150% of the norm, which would be diminishing returns on the disease points given to the city)[*]20 disease points (additive, each worker contributes his 10 disease points)[*]25 disease points (the villagers are packed together tighter, and as a result they're going to get sicker)[/list=a]
2.7) Disease cannot be transmitted by diplomats or by diplomatic wonders (United Nations).
2.8) There are 2 examples of how this works in the regular MISCELLANEOUS thread. Several players liked this disease model, while another group thought it was too much work for a minor effect.
3. Era-Based Games
3.1) In Civ 3, you should be able to define an age where all technological development stops, and then play the game to win in that age. Reasoning:
- Players base decisions on technology that they know they will have, rather than working with what they currently have. That is not historically accurate.
- Players would appreciate the earlier units more if they actually had to use them, instead of just waiting for something better to come along.
3.2) Incorporate different conditions for winning the game? Based on what age you have defined as the final one; FE, you want the game to end in the Roman era. That wouldn't necessarily mean that you would play a short game, only that after a certain level of technology was reached, no further development would occur. The game could still go on for many turns. A win condition for such a game could be to build a certain wonder, etc. Of course, conquering the world would always count as winning the game.
3.3) For players who love researching opponents to death:
- Future tech. As civ2, the player only gets points. This one is a requirement at minimum. Or,
- Further advancement in a current tech. See TECHNOLOGY.
This idea allows for compromise between the futurists, who can have their future tech, and the traditionalists who can have their strictly modern tech.
3.4) Have new starting/stopping points for civ3. Play can be designated to stop at the end of a given era, or start at the beginning of that era. Technology would not progress past the last era (as above); all new tech would be considered "future tech". Especially useful for multiplayer.
3.5) Divide the ages into roughly:
Stone/Neolithic Age
Bronze
Iron/Roman
Medieval
Renaissance
Industrial
Modern
Near future (space stations, fusion power, etc.)
Far Future
4. Endgame variants
4.1) There should be much more variation in the endgame. This could be accomplished be introducing much more drastic Random Events. Depending on how the world looked at the beginning of the endgame, the game could throw in a random event that totally changed the way the player tried to win.
4.1.1) FE, one of the AI players would suddenly start to Nuke it's enemies and other civilizations would counter-nuke, ending in one huge nuclear war. Then if the player survived the war and the following nuclear winter the goal for the player would be to either clean up the planet or surviving by moving to space.
4.2.2) In a very polluted world global warming could set in, with drastic effects to the climate/terrain. As under the nuclear winter scenario, the player must decide how he'll survive.
4.2.3) In a peaceful world or one with the SETI wonder, the game could trigger an alien invasion and the player would have to kick the aliens off the planet, maybe co-operating with the other civs. I don't want to see alien invasions in every single game that I play, maybe just ~5% of the games depending on the various endgames.
4.2.4) The game shouldn't necessarily end when you have survived/kicked out/colonized other planets, and it should be possible to have multiple events in one game (e.g. aliens arriving during a nuclear war).
4.2.5) Other ideas:
Meteor heading for earth (build a “Bruce Willis wonder” )
Minor nations rising, increased minor nation/barbarian and terrorist activity (in worlds with few big and several very small nations)
Apocalypse, obtain salvation for your entire civilization by converting to the right fate (if the religious identity idea is implemented)
4.2.6) Colonizing and terraforming Mars. A second map will be needed.
4.2.6a) The player must have a certain amount of people on Mars. Wonders like the Space Elevator, buildings like Aerospace Complex, or units like Space Transport could increase emigration to Mars.
4.2.6b) The civ must bring oxygen into the Mars atmosphere. This could be simulated by collecting x # of “oxygen points”.
4.2.6c) It would be necessary to decrease the amount of CO2 in the atmosphere. Forests could decrease the CO2 and then increase the oxygen levels at the same time.
4.2.6d) Warm Mars by 50 degrees. This is necessary to make Mars warm enough for life and also to make ice fluid. This could be simulated by collecting x # of “warmth points”. Every population unit produces 1 warmth point per turn.
4.2.6e) There should be several city improvements speeding up the terraformation. That means Mars should have different unit and building types from earth.
4.2.6f) Even if it isn't your intention to win by colonizing and terraforming Mars, you have a reason to go to Mars. Mars should be full of Minerals and Resources that can be transported to Earth.
4.3) It should be possible to win by other ways than world conquest or a science-based win that really depends on manufacturing resources. What about victory conditions based on demographic factors, such as the eradication of disease, pollution, inequality and unhappiness? It would be great to win just occasionally by building an ideal rural society or a scientific, egalitarian utopia.
5. Structure Damage
5.1) Structures have hit points = to the cost of building them. There would be many methods of damaging structures (below). You would pay gold or you may allocate a portion of your city's shield production for repairs. Any number of structures can be repaired per turn. Effects would be:
0-49% damage =no effect on structure, 1 gold repairs 2 damage or 1 shield repairs 4
50-99% damage =structure disabled. Gives no benefits to city, x2 repair as above
100%=structure destroyed. Must be rebuilt.
A disabled structure will start functioning again once it has been repaired to the 0-49% range, but cost of repair will stay as 50-99% until completely repaired.
5.2) A number next to each built structure in the city screen would represent the total damage, color-coded like units. Green=0 damage, yellow=1-49%, red=50-99%. You would click on the number and a pop-up window would let you repair the items, w/o limit of how many and how often you can repair. Gold is subtracted from your treasury; shields are counted similar to supported units for that turn.
5.3) Game functions:
5.3.1) Spies/saboteurs/sappers: These would inflict little damage to one structure at a time, based on the total hp's of the particular building. Sappers would be limited to city walls. However the successful act of sabotage would prevent the structure from working for, say, 1-3 turns, or 1 turn after the minor damage is repaired.
5.3.2) Catapults/cannons/artillery/howitzer + bombers: Inflict minor amounts of damage to a few structures during bombardment. They may specifically target city walls to do medium amounts of damage, to that structure only. Bombers may specifically target any city building, but may be repulsed by AA fire, fighters, bad weather, etc. Prior to laser-targeting their chances of success will be low.
5.3.3) Floods, fires, riots: Cause low/medium/high damage to some/many structures depending on the city's preparedness. Fires would be limited by aqueducts, wells, etc.; riots by police station &/or barracks, etc. This would also be based on each building's total hp's.
5.3.4) Nukes: Depends on power of nuke. All structures take damage, most in the high range, some will be destroyed. The rest would take medium.
5.3.5) Conquest: Inflicts low/medium damage on most/all structures when the city fell, but rarely will a structure be destroyed when the city is conquered.
low =about 10% damage or 4-7 hp's
medium =about 20-25% damage or 12-17 hp's
high=50-60% damage. Only happens to cities hit with random disaster's that are unprepared, or nuked.
5.4) Other Suggestions:
5.4.1) A "free repair" rate, something like 1 shield × city size each turn.
5.4.2) Add 1 or more to "free repair" for: Con, Bri, Exp, RR, & Aut (Each effects construction technology).
5.4.3) Repairing w/o interrupting current construction by setting % rate.
5.4.4) Pop-up menu (click on improvement) for selling, setting priority for "free" and shield repairs, and buying repairs (set rate in $/turn).
5.4.5) Allow settlers & engineers in city to repair improvements, 2 & 4 shields/turn added to "free repair" rate.
5.4.6) Add another special citizen type: construction crew, adds 2 shields to "free repair," 4 after Exp, like a temporary settler or engineer.
5.4.7) Since most improvements are structures easily damaged by fire perhaps they should not be made too resistant to destruction. Have aqueducts improve the resistance, representing better fire fighting capability. Also improvements with sewers representing an incremental advance in water control structures. Modern water infrastructure would follow.
5.4.8) Why not have % reductions per point of damage?
5.4.9) Pay extra $ to lower spy success. Some buildings should have more hits based on importance, such as city walls and SDIs.
6. Nomadic Civs (a popular idea)
6.1) If you start with Domestication but not Agriculture (possible Starting Advances/Tech), or if you start with Agriculture but in terrain that isn't suitable, you can choose to form a Tribal Unit and become Nomadic instead of starting a City and becoming a Settled Civilization.
6.2) Population growth will be very low, because they produce less food from herding and hunting than farmers can from farming. Their 'user' icon (if a CtP type is used) would not be a farmer, but perhaps a shepherd with a sheep or a herdsman on foot with a cow, and food production/tile would be about 2/3 to 1/2 (just above subsistence) of the farmers'.
On the other hand, the nomadic civ receives bonuses in Military, Nationalism/Patriotism (because they tend to be a very cohesive group and suspicious/contemptuous of outsiders), and Trade. They will not have a bonus, and possibly a penalty, to research, but they can act as Middlemen diffusing or spreading advances from one civilization to another, just as they can act as middlemen trading goods between civilizations they contact.
6.3) The Tribal Unit is the nomadic 'city'. It can move but 1 tile/turn maximum. The Tribal Unit automatically generates a defending military unit when it is formed, since all members of the tribe can fight and their life style gives them some base military skill. The unit will be the basic Warrior at first, later the best Foot Unit the Nomads can build.
6.4) The Tribal Unit can be 'improved' with the following equivalents to City Improvements:
6.4.1) City Wall Wagon Burgh: Has about 1/2 the effect of the city wall, but moves with the tribe,
6.4.2) Marketplace Bazaar: Has 50% more effect than Market, because traders from all over meet and do business there.
6.4.3) Library Shaman's Hut: Has about 25% less effect than the Library
6.4.4) Barracks: Unneeded -all Nomad units are Veterans, or, if a SMAC-system is used, one or two steps higher in Morale than the usual 'green' city folk.
6.4.5) Granary Storage Pits: Same effect as Granary, but also moves with the Tribe.
6.5) Nomadic Units not only start with higher morale, they also have a Reconnaissance ability, represented by a 2-tile vision range (also see COMBAT for different Scouting ideas-Theben). Nomadic horse mounted units have more speed than regular civ mounted units. Nomadic units could be hired by regular civs. The hired units would become the hiring civ's color, retain their nomadic characteristics, and could be used by the hiring civ for any purpose EXCEPT attacking the originating nomads! After x # of turns in foreign service, the nomadic unit would lose its nomad characteristics: the vision range, the extra speed. The cost of hiring the units would be subject to negotiation between players/civs, but would normally be a per turn fee paid to the nomadic or hiring civ directly every turn. Any turn the fee is not paid the hired unit either reverts to nomad colors or possibly revolts and turns Barbarian.
6.6) In addition, there is one Advance peculiar to the Nomads: the Composite Recurved Bow. This bow has a better range than the early bows of civilizations. Only by hiring Nomad (or Barbarian) units with Composite Bows can a 'civilized' state get their benefit.
6.7) If a Nomadic civ conquers a city, it can incorporate the city into its civ. The nomads can also move a Tribal Unit into a city or a suitable city location and 'settle down', turning it into a city (or a bigger city) and becoming a regular civ. Regular Cities that are part of a Nomadic Civ are treated as regular cities in all respects: they can build city-type Improvements and lose their 'automatic' tribal defender unit. Tribal Improvements convert as follows when a Tribe settled down:
Wagon Burgh: is lost
Bazaar: becomes a Market
Shaman's Hut: is lost
Storage Pits: becomes a Granary
The civ as a whole can still form 'nomad' units with nomad characteristics in its Tribal Units, but only regular civ units in its Cities.
6.8) All of this means that the Nomadic Civ is a viable alternative play for gamers in the first 1/4 to 1/3 of the game. They get less and less viable as Gunpowder and advanced Improvements appear in other civs, but in the ancient and medieval time periods or eras they are a real contender both militarily and economically for the gamer who likes to play conquest or trading games. It also provides a chance for the gamer who's starting position sucks: if your starting terrain has a lot of desert, no rivers, no good terrain resource icons, etc, just start as a Tribe of Nomads and start moving to the good terrain, occasionally trading with or whacking other civs along the way!
<font size=1 face=Arial color=444444>[This message has been edited by Theben (edited November 12, 1999).]</font>
