Civ IV: The List v.2.0

[Mongoloid Cow]

Been doin' more thinking (Still on a roll)

REPLY TO POST:

Rasbelin, losts of people have had that idea!!! No one knows the first ever to suggest it!!!!!!!!!!!!



SCENARIO EDITOR:

With regards to this, there definately needs to be more options with it! It should be in Civ 3!!! You can't even place a city, or say where a civ starts. That's pretty bad.


RELIGION:

Religion could also play an integral part in diplomacy - two civs of the same state religion would like each other more than two civs with different state religions.


RESOURCES:

Got this one from a TV show (can't remember which!!!)
Roses = used to make dyes, perfumes, for decorations, flags in wars (War of the Roses), incense, chemistry, pH testing, art, sculpture, smbolises love; anyway they made Persia, Media and Elam extremely rich in ancient times, and were an expensive luxury well into the 17th Century.

[DarkCloud]

Updated all thru page 2- all is up except, page 3 ideas

Good work Spiffor
Thank you for the explanation, Narmox, I added the ideas.

I believe I'll submit this Dec 10th or the 20th... Any objections?

[DarkCloud]

XIV. Religion
I think different
religions could be implemented like any governmental
forms. It could have some kind of effect on the
cultural expansion and support certain governmental
forms. They would also replace the lack of fundamentalism
in the game.
-Rasbelin


General information

Every civ would have a state religion that would be practiced in all cities of that civ. The ruler of the civ could implement different religions that he would have the prequisites for. Each religion/ideology would have different effects and features. The ruler could also decide that there wouldn't be any state religion at all. The religions would also affect certain city improvements. The ruler wouldn't be able to adopt any religions/ideologies before inventing Ceremonial Burial. Before that there wouldn't be any common worship of higher powers. There wouldn't be any common religious city improvemnets like the Temple and Cathedral. Instead all religions would have their own ones. The Wonders of the World would still be the same as usual. Every religion/ideology would also have a specified attitude towards other religions/ideologies. That would give some benefits in decrease or increase of war weariness when having war against a civ with a certain religion. Example: If the Aztecs have Islam as their state religion, the war weariness would be slightly increased when fighting against the Islamistic Germans.

What new would be added?

- A new advisor, the Cleric Advisor. He would work as the spiritual matters and theology advisor of the player. Implementing state religions would be done in his screen, where you could also monitor the status of your empire's spiritual life.

- Different religions and ideologies reflecting the different eras. Each of them would have their own prequisites, features and city improvements.

- New RCIs (RCI=religious city improvement).

Example religion

Indigenious religion

Prequisites: Ceremonial Burial.
RCI: --
Effects: Additional luxuries in the capital city. Boosts any Despotic goverment by paying 1 unit's support in the capital. Decreases the overall science production per turn.
Attitude to other religions: Cautious.

Comments: Indigenious religions doesn't usually have any temples, so therefore they don't have any RCI. The effects in the capital reflects that the leader is often seen as a person comparable to the gods. Indigenious religions doesn't support science, so that's reflected in the drop of science production.
-Rasbelin

With regards to Rasbelin's idea of religion, maybe after certain technological achievements, different types of religion pops up with each better than the last.

For example: (needs work)

All citizens start of Animistic. With Ceremonial Burial, they can build a shrine/idolia/deific building
After researching Polytheism, Polytheic priests pop up. The shrines are upgraded to temples are more effective.
After researching Monotheism, larger and better forms of happiness/cultural are available, and a HOLY WAR can be declared where all nations with that religion as the state religion are invited to join in without reputation damage.
-Mongoloid Cow

Indigenous Religions- no temples; auto=temple effects.
Drop in Science rates.
-DarkCloud

religion should be like culture, in fact in abstract religion could be seen as part of civ3's culture simulation.
Religion can also influence and allow taking over of people like culture does.
Perhaps you need enough religious points (or culture) before you can install a State Religion. Religions could be banned, like roman catholicisism was in early protestant england(15-17th century at least).
-Admiral PJ

religion,like shogun, can make you friends and enemies.
like government changing.
it can cause revolts, immigration, new civs.
each religion has a rating that is how many citizens are that religion.
each citizen has its religion, like nationality
etc.
-tishco

XV. City Improvements
Superhighways
Stock exchanges
-EnochF

More improvements and worker abilities to boost demographic growth : modern farmland (which positive effect is cumulative with railroad), industrial fishing harbours, which produce three food per water tile instead of two. Agro-industrial complex as a city improvement which raises the food output by 25% or 50% in the city. A very modern agriculture feeds more than 200 people for one peasant after all.
-Spiffor

Some projects would need not only industrial production to be built, but also money and science. I think about wonders particularly : to build the SETI program, you would use the normal shield production (say, it needs 200 shields), but also the scientific output (600) and and some money directly (200, these figures are just examples), since SETI programs dosn't need ultra big buildings but ultra big research
-Spiffor

XVI. The Map

3D landscape ala SMAC or even better
-John Paul Jones

Railroad tycoon's elevated landscape w/transparent oceans.
-John Paul Jones

A 'Spinnable' Spherical view of the globe.
-John Paul Jones

I would like to play on a world which is actually shaped like a sphere. This would mean abandoning the square grid, as a square grid can't fit on a sphere. This would affect how cities fit on the grid and would affect the game at every level.
-Wombat

XVII. Civilizations

Growth oriented civs, with following bonuses : Extra food in town / city / metropolis. Growth oriented improvements twice cheaper.
-Spiffor

Every civ could have two different rulers available for being chosen as the civ's leader. Example: Americans - George Washington and Woodrow Wilson.
-Rasbelin

Barbarians, through capturing cities, could become civilizations themselves, over time. Thus we start with 8-10 civs on the map at the beginning and can end with 16 simultaneous civilizations.
In addition, some civilizations (ex: USSR) can split apart, through a peaceful coup, or a civil war.
-narmox

Close allies should be able to join each others civilization if the civs are much alike (examples: USSR)
-DarkCloud

[Powerslave]

Great ideas and here is another one...

[QUOTE] Originally posted by narmox
oh yeah, something else.. "Dynamic Civilizations"

currently, all Civs are static. 4000 BC, you've got a bunch of nations, and provided none of them get conquered, you'll have the same 6000 years later. Totally unlike history.


Why couldn't the player/ai just represant a culture and at some points he could form nations. I would like to see the globe litered with cultures from start. First you only can form tribes but later on full fledge empires.

[cassembler]

the SMAC 3d terrain... That would look SOOO good with earth-like graphics.

[rid102]

Have you guys noticed anything odd about this thread:

a) There were similar threads about "What We Want in Civ3" and basically most (nearly all AFAIK) ideas were ignored by Firaxis (who just did their own thing).

b) Why do people sit down and write a load of really useful and imaginative suggestions even though they know that their ideas are highly unlikely to even be paid attention to by Firaxis let alone become part of a release product?

c) If you really have a desire to further the genre then why don't you join one of the (many) freeware Civilization clone projects that are going on around the 'net (see "Alternative Civilizations") and be part of turning your ideas into a game?

Anyone who doesn't realise nor can provide sensible answers for the points above, should realise that any ideas posted here - no matter how good - are just a waste of fantasists' time.

[DarkCloud]

rid- Firaxis posts here and has posted here before; they look at the dieas and consider them...

anyways, alt.civs do come here and raid ideas periodically.

I have all the new ideas added but did not update because It would only have been about 3 new ones.

Thank you for the submissions.

Powerslave- I already believe that IS the system.

[Mongoloid Cow]

Hmmm.... Interesting...


Firaxis doe pay attention to what the fans have to say; it's just that the fans' ideas go through one ear easily, and out the other even easier. But they know whats best for a game - they have "experience".

[Adagio]

rid: I don't know about the others, but I like to talk about ideas for games even knowing the chances for them to get into the game is small, it's still somehow fun to talk about them

[tishco]

we cant code more than game maker

[Icewine]

If we are really talking about a new Civilization game, let’s start at the beginning.

I have always found it odd that the world in the beginning is essentially empty. My warriors and scouts can roam for many centuries and encounter nothing (huge map). Sure it’s easy and safe but it is not as fun and unpredictable and dangerous as it could be. I think that the world should be fully inhabited, right at the beginning. The world should be full of proto-civilisations just teetering on the edge of becoming sedentary and civilised. Very few of them have the capacity to collect a food surplus, or engage in trade and research. A few will be able to produce military units, perhaps one in 20. A select few (the players and the computer opponents) will be able to collect food, to trade, to research, and to grow empires. Maybe in time, more of the proto-civilisations will be able to become more civilised.

In game terms, this would be reflected by having proto-cities spaced every 2 to 5 tiles apart (depending on terrain, few in deserts and mountains, lots of flood plains). In other words, the world is full of people and minor cities. To survive, you must convince them to join your civilisation. When one of your units enters the proto-city, instead of the automatic and random results of Civs 1 to 3, a diplomacy screen should open. The results of the diplomatic action would range from open hostility (combat) to fear (giving tribute) to cultural acceptance (founding a new city). But the results of your diplomatic action would not be random. Rather they would be based primarily on your civilisation’s cultural rating and the distance to your capital and your nearest city. If you say the right things and your civilisation’s culture is high enough then the proto-city will join your empire. If you are too far away from your capital, then the proto-city has never heard of you, and will reject your overtures. If you have a reputation for destroying other proto-cities, you may find a hostile reception.

You may also send out settlers, but some of the same conditions apply. If they are too far away from the capital, they will revert to a proto-city state, as they are too far away from your control. (This provides an easy and logical control for ICS.) So your empire can only grow as your culture grows. Remember Alexander? He established a vast empire. And (in game terms) it reverted quite quickly.

As a result, the most important thing that a new civilisation must do is to establish a strong culture. With a strong culture, its citizens have purpose, the cities thrive and the empire will grow. Probably spontaneously. With a weak culture, your citizens don’t feel a part of anything worthwhile and you lose control of your own cities.

I have few more similar ideas, and I should reread this, but I am at work

[Marko Polo]

I'd like "Domestic Advisor" screen tweaked as follows:

- the advisor should start her reports from the most serious ones:

1. "city is revolting"
2. "city is unhappy" (will revolt next turn)
3. "city is not growing"
4. The city is content/happy

Right now these reports comes in random order.

- when advisor says "Rheims is unhappy", the city name should be underlined and if I click on it I should get the city screen.

- I can sort the cities by various columns (food, production etc.) but the effect only lasts a few seconds and then the city list reverts to the default order. The effect of sorting should stay until I sort it otherways.

- the revolting/unhappy cities should be red in the list

Another nice thing would be see the total of rebelling/unhappy cities in the lower right status box. I wouldn't end my turn knowing that my cities will revolt next turn.

[DarkCloud]

Originally posted by Icewine
If we are really talking about a new Civilization game, let’s start at the beginning.

I have always found it odd that the world in the beginning is essentially empty. My warriors and scouts can roam for many centuries and encounter nothing (huge map). Sure it’s easy and safe but it is not as fun and unpredictable and dangerous as it could be. I think that the world should be fully inhabited, right at the beginning. The world should be full of proto-civilisations just teetering on the edge of becoming sedentary and civilised. Very few of them have the capacity to collect a food surplus, or engage in trade and research. A few will be able to produce military units, perhaps one in 20. A select few (the players and the computer opponents) will be able to collect food, to trade, to research, and to grow empires. Maybe in time, more of the proto-civilisations will be able to become more civilised.

But Icewine- the game starts from 2000-5000 BC... In that time there were few empires and almost no civilizations and few tribes.

The ideas seem good for a different game from Civilization, except for this one: which I will gladly add to the list:

You may also send out settlers, but some of the same conditions apply. If they are too far away from the capital, they will revert to a proto-city state, as they are too far away from your control. (This provides an easy and logical control for ICS.) So your empire can only grow as your culture grows. Remember Alexander? He established a vast empire. And (in game terms) it reverted quite quickly.

As a result, the most important thing that a new civilisation must do is to establish a strong culture. With a strong culture, its citizens have purpose, the cities thrive and the empire will grow. Probably spontaneously. With a weak culture, your citizens don’t feel a part of anything worthwhile and you lose control of your own cities.

Marko- thank you!

[DarkCloud]

Next week I will most likely not be able to post at all- however, the week following, I will put up the final list- and if someone wishes to, (s)he can go through the list and look for spelling errors, etc... what ever they wish to fix, then they can tell me what to correct and I shall-

Thank you all.

[HolyWarrior]

One thing I would like to see is that if a sea square is explored, it is considered a link, and your civ could move along them like a railroad. 20 years to circumnavigate the world is too unrealistic. Even Magellan only took 3!

Social engineering a la SMAC.

Political--Monarchy, Republic, Democratic
Economic--Capitalist, Communist, Fascist
Religious--Polytheism, Monotheism, Existentialism
Scientific--Philosophy, Scientific Method, another to be named

[Jer8m8]

this may be a "duh" post, but check the creation forum. Many people come up with ideas, and some ideas in mods could be used on the list. Also, check the civ3 list-see what got left out

[Midway]

Originally posted by HolyWarrior
One thing I would like to see is that if a sea square is explored, it is considered a link, and your civ could move along them like a railroad. 20 years to circumnavigate the world is too unrealistic. Even Magellan only took 3!

Social engineering a la SMAC.

Political--Monarchy, Republic, Democratic
Economic--Capitalist, Communist, Fascist
Religious--Polytheism, Monotheism, Existentialism
Scientific--Philosophy, Scientific Method, another to be named

How about the idea of Wind? Where certain paths in the water provided quicker route cause of the winds are stronger in that area? or something along those lines.

Also "Economic--Capitalist, Communist, Fascist" How about something between Capitalist and Communist thats to extreme to just be next to each other. Controled Capitalism or soemthing...

[Jer8m8]

I have another idea about colonies: have them count as air bases. You own them, they're outside of your territory and they are semi cities...so why can't you land planes there?

[DarkCloud]

Originally posted by Jer8m8
this may be a "duh" post, but check the creation forum. Many people come up with ideas, and some ideas in mods could be used on the list. Also, check the civ3 list-see what got left out

Hmmm... Checking the list would be too complicated and a lot of truble- but I believe I will check the creation forum- thank you

[Cozy_22303]

My two cents on what I'd like to see in CIV4...

- Immigration/ Emigration. I once sent a post on another pre-CIV3 forum somewhere where I wanted this issue debated. CIV3 already has parts of it: if you conquer an enemy city, e.g the Greeks its inhabitants will still be greek for some while, happy or not. Now what would happen if the greeks could actually send people into your cities as workers whenever you're not at war, for example if your city is close to the greek borders. What if any civilization could do that? The city status window could show a diagram of the city population demographics, saying "90% Romans, 5% Greek, 2% Babylonians" or so. Those cities with more than, say, 20% foreign inhabitants could likely fall into disorder when a war erputs, or anytime on higher difficulty levels... restrictive/repressive governments (Communism? Despotism?) might throw out "unwanted" foreigners, thus decreasing city sizes... of course, YOU (the player) could send your own people to foreign cities... they would leave anyway if they don't like the way you govern the country, adding up to your competitor's city sizes... spies could only plant propaganda in cities holding inhabitants of your civilization (they can barely hide with people which language they don't speak or so)...

-Cultural influence zones do not determine actual borders (this might fix the problem that enemy civs can, and do build their cities everywhere, even inside your homeland). In history, borders were defined in war, in Civ4 they might be defined around any unit, adding to the cultural border. A unit placed, say, 10 fields off the actual cultural border might, if fortified, generate its own border, growing slowly but finally merging with your country border. Trespassers will be prosecuted.

- Please, give the AI a target to follow. Everyone wants to win, but some civilization prefers to win by domination, others by diplomatic achievements. They should be intelligent enough to determine if their starting position makes this way of winning possible at all - starting in a huge swamp will not actually give you a huge bonus. I would have expected the Zulu, for example, to be a very aggresive people, giving you with one hand and threatening you with the other, regardless of their current strategic and financial situation.

(Copied this post from the thread I mistakenly opened last week. Ming, I got frustrated when I saw it closed first, but believe me, I now know much better. Sorry for opening it)

- Cozy

[Cozy_22303]

Another thing I'd like to ask: Why is pollution (since CIV1) still simulated by making a tile outside of a city unusable? Let me explain what I am trying to say.

- Since the first documented signs of pollution in the early 12th century, the people who had to suffer most because of it lived within city borders. Their general health curve took a deep dive (and in many so-called civilized areas, it still does). To me, pollution in a Civilization game should mean population decrease, or at least decreasing its growth.

- It's true that certain resources have simply gone because of pollution, but this does not necessarily mean resources close to the cities that actually produced pollution. It could happen anywhere else on the planet, depending on wind and water currents etc. In the game, imagine the Aztecs (deliberately?) polluting America's beaches or plains - couldn't that lead to war?

- On the other hand, I still miss the fact that cities grow out of their original borders anyway (which is why I have problems imagining that the wheat fields outside a city could pollute). Where are the suburbs developing outside the city, something you (the player) cannot actively control? These areas could very well pollute...

- Cozy

[Jer8m8]

These are some selections from the civ3 list:

"1.4) BORDERS AS A NEGOTIABLE COMMODITY: “I think borders should be another bargaining tool. In the diplomat screen you should be able to move the boards around and offer the new arrangement to the other civilization. (i.e. you move the border) so you have more land (maybe including a city or two) in exchange for something” (Blue Waldo).

1.4a) Land, therefore, a commodity: “Allow buying, selling, and trading individual pieces of land. This would allow simulation of: The Louisiana Purchase, The Gadsden Purchase, The Polish Corridor, The Alaska Purchase, etc.” (HolyWarrior)."

"3.1c) Are borders possible before Map-Making?: “It would make it a lot easier to discuss borders in diplomatic relations...” (NotLikeTea)."


"1.1) GEOGRAPHICAL REGIONALISATION -- Every civilization is divided up into different regions, based on a capital surrounded by a radius 8 area of land (or square, etc). Cities that are properly linked to the capital within this radius (i.e. by road) can exchange resources, and the player can access any city from any other city with that region from the regional map, a popup feature within the city menu. Regions can be named, have their own internal borders, can be set to identical production queues, and make city management a simpler process. As well, some social engineering factors (values) and the tax rate can be altered for each region (done either through options in the capital of the region or the social settings screen)."

"2.1) TERRAFORMING -- Terraforming can be handled by citizens from inside the city menu as well as by settlers from the main map, or, when the appropriate technology is discovered, possibly from the regional menu. Each city gets a terraforming build queue, and a 'hurry' button to rush improvements for money (possibly even add an ability to use minerals for 'forming). A certain number of citizens are allocated jobs as Masons, Yeomen or Engineers (each of which builds faster than before), while the end of the technology tree should include the SMAC former unit (the only terraforming unit not composed of huge numbers of citizens). Terraforming outside a city is handled the normal way, using settlers, or by workers from the regional map, as mentioned above."

"2.6) UNIT PRODUCTION -- A suggestion that many units, particularly offensive fighters, should require their own structure to be produced before they can be constructed was generally well received. A system that allowed any city to build that era's basic infantry (i.e. civilian militia type mobilization), but required more complex units, especially offensive forces, to have facilities in place is what is currently proposed. In addition, upgrades to these facilities make more workshop items available. Feedback for this is positive."

"2.12) SPECIALISTS

· Serf - unhappy worker, suffers -1/3 production (see below)
· Worker - works in city radius square
· Farmer* - improves food output by 1 in square
· Trader* - improves arrows output by 1 in square
· Miner* - improves shields output by 1 in square.
· Mason - beginning terraforming unit (later Yeoman, engineer, terraformer).
· Settler - special unit, can work or terraform, but cannot be a specialist. Can move from town to town. Must be constructed first, as per Civilization II rules. Never becomes unhappy.
· Scientist - + science
· Tax collector - + tax (limit 1 per 5 citizens)
· Entertainer**- produces luxuries (make normal citizen happy).
· Priest** - makes unhappy citizen happy (limit 1 per 5 citizens)
· Governor -available only in regional centers, or cities outside of a region. Improves efficiency for region or city (by +3, assuming a 0-10 scale for each social engineering value). Only one allowed, and only at capital/regional centers and cities outside of a regional radius (represents the regional bureaucracy - a significant investment in human resources in any culture to date).

2.12a) * Farmers and traders appear automatically when in the right square, and require certain technologies to be discovered first. They can also be manually selected. However, they limit mineral output to a maximum of 2. A Miner gets +1 minerals, but destroys ALL food output in their square (they should also appear much later in the game).

2.12b) ** Entertainers and priests both improve city happiness, but in different ways. Entertainers affect both normal and unhappy citizens, in the normal Civilization II way. Priests affect ONLY unhappy citizens, making them normal. Thus, priests are usually first required, but are limited, both by the number allowed and in that they do not generate happy citizens.

2.12c) Happy citizens make better specialists, adding +1 to tax, science, or efficiency. This does not improve priests and Entertainers, however.

2.12d) Unhappy citizens are less productive, slowing terraforming and work output by 1/3. They cannot become specialists (including farmers, etc), and may revolt if present in great enough numbers. They represent the discontent part of the population, the landless peasants etc."

Some of these are in and have been made in mods
"1. NEW IMPROVEMENTS

1.1) Theater
1.2) City Clock
1.3) Hospital
1.4) Cinema
1.5) Pharmacy
1.6) Television
1.7) Security Monitor
1.8) Fusion Plant [EnochF]
1.9) Medieval Fairs
1.10) Forge
1.11) Textile mill/loom
1.12) Suburbs
1.13) Highways,
1.14) Public schools
1.15) Parks
1.16) Opera House
1.17) Museum
1.18) Circus [wheathin]

1.19) Base Support Structures: This Improvement includes ALL PAST CRITICAL structures under a single name and structure, including all the benefits. The old buildings will be replaced, and the upkeep costs will be low. Auto upgrade or build upgrades when you move to a new age [Trachmyr].

1.20) Pasteurization Plant: Adds 25% to total food due to the reduction in losses to spoilage. [Sieve Too]

1.21) Pesticide Plant: Adds another 25% to total food but increases pollution. [Sieve Too]

1.22) Doctor’s House: Added to the already suggested “Pharmacy” and “Hospital”—a series of three related improvements. [Ralph]

1.23) City Park: Makes one additional citizen content. Requires: Sanitation (Maybe a new advance, something like Modern Fertilizer). Cost: 60 shields Maintenance: 1 gold.

1.24) Theme Park: Two citizens happy. One additional gold for every 4 population. Plus 5 gold for every wonder in city (tourism). Requires: Mass Media advance (if Mass Media advance not in game then Electronics). Cost: 240 shields, Maintenance: 4 gold.

1.25) Transmitter: Makes two citizens content (by distraction). With the advent of Mass Media (Electronics if Mass Media not in game), provides one additional gold for every two citizens (advertising). Requires: Radio, Cost: 120 shields, Maintenance: 2 gold.

1.26) ISP: Plus 20% science in city. Plus 2 science for every other city with an ISP, including cities in other civilizations. Requires: Computer, Cost: 160 shields, Maintenance: 3 gold [ALL above by HarryKattz].

1.27) Bomb Shelter: Protects citizens from artillery attacks, missile attacks, and bombing runs from aircraft. Prevents the city from going down in population from these attacks.] [Travathian]

1.28) Stationary Units (Possibly custom-designed) [Isle]

1.29) Security Stations: Automatic genetic and/or fingerprint identification when accessing city areas/buildings everywhere: Automatically "detects" spies within city limits and may have a chance of making them fail. Spies may later gain an ability to have a chance to be hidden from security stations and decrease their fail chances. [Freddz]

1.30) Military Academy: Would control the upgrading of units. Units must be moved to a city with an Academy and stay there for 1 turn, and they would be automatically upgraded to the most modern military unit of their strategic type. Leonardo's would still exist as a wonder, but would act as a Military Academy in every city. [AgedOne]"

I have no idea how much text you can have, so this is it for now

[Mongoloid Cow]

Some more thinking

MANUFACTURING
Maybe you can turn raw materials into new resources, that can be traded.

eg: You start near Barley. If you build a brewer, it can be turned into Beer, a luxury resource with +1 food. You could use it to supply your empire, or you could trade it off to another civ.

[Xenophon]

Like many people, I was disappointed that there weren't more additions to what you can research and build in Civ3, though I do think the small wonders are a great idea (or should that be 'great wonders are a small idea' - maybe not ).

Here are my ideas for a few more:

City Improvements

City Hall: reduces corruption, but has relatively high maintenance and reduces happiness (as opposed to increasing unhappiness).

Zoo: increases happiness, commerce and science.

Cinema: possibly a replacement to coloseum.

Small Wonders

Senate/Upper House of Parliament: Enhances all effects of City Halls , vetos some actions a la Civ2.

National Library and/or Museum: increases culture, happiness and science.

National Gallery and/or Concert Hall: increases culture and happiness.

Fleet Street (National Press): increases culture, happiness, commerce and war weariness; prerequisite - Printing Press (well it's not used for anything at the moment ).

National Radio Station (think BBC): as above but made possible by - guess what - Radio!

National TV Station (also think BBC): as above.

Written Constitution: increases happiness and reduces corruption.

National Health Service: increases happiness, reduces disease, but has high maintenance.

Secret Police: reduces enemy espionage and corruption, but increases unhappiness.

FBI/NCIS: reduces corruption.

As you migh have noticed, I do like the small wonders - and I particularly like the idea of double-edged improvements, the only similar things I can think of are a couple of improvements in SMAC.

Pollution

I think a lot more should be made of pollution in the game. For instance, the same things that cause war weariness should cause unhappiness about high levels of pollution. Whenever there's a spill in a city's boundaries it could go into civil disorder. You should be able to make agreements with other nations to reduce pollution and if a country doesn't live up to its obligation all the other signatories impose embargoes. Also once you get to a certain stage (approximately the era of mass media) whenever you cut down a forest/jungle, the a couple of peeps in the nearest city are made unhappy.

Resources

I think more realistic use could be made of the seas. Once you explore the oceans you should find fish, whales, oil and maybe gas as a new resource, you could then build a fishing fleet and oil/gas rigs and send them to harvest these resources. You might even have something like Age of Empires where each resource has a value on how much is left - only organic resources, ie animals and plant could regenerate, but mineral resources could have much greater starting values.

Re: Icewine ideas about the populated globe - don't forget that before the era of colonisation cities (and I'm no history expert) merely grew out of smaller established villages. In game terms you could possibly do away with settlers altogether.

There you go DarkCloud, another twopenn'orth (just under three cents, if you prefer).

[Drathx]

I posted a few ideas in the creation forum I'd like to throw into this discussion.
Explorers are currently almost useless. I think they could be used to claim land and expand your borders. Alternatively, they could simply 'claim land in the name of blah'. Claimed land might not affect the fog of war but the idea is that this land can become something you can use in negotiations, to plan future expansion of your empire, or simply keep others off this land.

There aught to be some things you can build outside your cities besides fortresses. A launch pad where the space shuttle is assembled. (currently its assembled in your capital.) Missile silos to keep ICBMs. This kind of thing probably wouldnt be revealed when you trade your world map, so you would have to have intelligence assets to find enemy silos, or simple investigation.

Getting a great leader could unlock a new small wonder like a statue that only adds culture. When a major war ends I think it could also unlock a similar monument, or memorial. Even a fortress that withstands a great conflict might become a culture booster (Remember the Alamo?)
The reason I see the need for these improvements to the game is that currently theres just a couple of buildings and the wonders that affect the culture of an entire civilization... so it is merely the result of good production and some research.

[Sze]

Hope I'm not repeating any one else's idea.

Move Sanitation to the middle ages (prereq. Engineering) and enable City Sewer improvement that allows cities to grow over size 12. Currently the hospital comes long after I have my core cities bump their heads on the 12 pop cap.

Make the Hospital city improvement buildable with with Medicene advance. It can heal friendly units (1 HP / turn) within the city's cultural boundaries, prevents population reduction during times of anarchy, and decreases casualties due to bombardment and/or nuclear attack.

[Nadexander]

I think it would be even better if people somehow, as tech advances, gravitated to the cities with the most production/commerce and food was distibuted to all cities connected to the trade network. New specialist, the laborer, would provide extra production. Other specialists should be more potent.

[Dravin]

You know if you continue with the shared food idea you can have actual seiges if you surround a city or use a naval blockade to bombard the roads/rails leading into town. (And of course themselves blocking any sea route.)

'Twould be interesting to watch your blockaded city slowly slip into civil disorder cause by unhappiness do to starvation. Now if only you’d work it that said city has a chance to surrender under such conditions, the chance of course increasing as starvation and unhappiness run rampant.

[Xenophon]

That reminds me of another idea - cities could gain the ability to surrender when presented with insurmountable odds. Ie, you surround a city with a few dozen tanks (or whatever) the citizens think 'bugger me' and fly the white flag. I think this would tie in with the fact that the AI has such high regard for your military strength.

I think it might be known as Finlandisation (or Finlandization if you're American). During the Cold War, Finland became an ally of the USSR because of its proximity to that superpower.

[Wrong_shui]

Originally posted by Xenophon

I think it might be known as Finlandisation (or Finlandization if you're American). During the Cold War, Finland became an ally of the USSR because of its proximity to that superpower.

How about cheese-eating-surrender-monkyism

or frenchism for short.