Preferred Government: what does that mean?

MyOlde · November 24, 2003, 09:50

Someone here was doing detailed analyses of the different Civilisations in Conquests but it's no longer on the board and searching with "Civilizations" turns up nothing.

So on to my question. In the Conquests manual, each new Civ is described briefly. One of the items is Preferred Government. In the case of the Mayans, it is Feudalism. Am I correct, then, in thinking that you should get the Mayans into Feudalism and leave them there?

If this information is of any value, where can we find it for all the other Civs -- pre-PTW, that is.

statusperfect · November 24, 2003, 10:16

The AI chooses that governmanet when playing the Civ

I think they also like you better when you're in that government.

Think of it as a flavor setting for the AI

MyOlde · November 24, 2003, 11:09

Thanks, statusperfect. But that doesn't necessarily make that government the right one for me, the human player, does it? Or does it?

statusperfect · November 24, 2003, 11:46

It doesn't affect the game mechanics.

Catt · November 24, 2003, 14:45

It doesn't have any known effect on AI government choices -- a civ that shuns democracy will still switch to democracy during peacetime without a second thought.

It has a small effect on AI attitudes towards other civs -- if the Mayans preferred government is Feudalism, then the Mayans will have a slightly better attitude towards civs in Feudalism.

Catt

donZappo · November 24, 2003, 15:23

While I think it would be interesting to have civs actually go to their preferred government choice and stick in that for a while, I can't imagine how this would be incorporated and have the AI still be competitive. There would be nothing quite like having the Celts be the whipping boy of any post-Ancient era game. I do wish that preferred governments did have a more noticeable effect on the game as it always seemed to me like this was one of the more pointless "features" incorporated into civ diversity.

statusperfect · November 24, 2003, 16:15

It would be really cool if civs had reduced corruption under their preferred government

pvzh · November 24, 2003, 18:04

Quote:

It would be really cool if civs had reduced corruption under their preferred government

Or GA bonus

vmxa1 · November 24, 2003, 18:22

I would like to see some muscle added to the shunned/fav gov aspects as well. I like the reduced corruption idea.

Lucilla · November 24, 2003, 18:28

How about changing the number of turns it takes to switch from one government to another? If you are in your preferred government it'll take you longer to change, if you are in your shunned government, arnachy will only last one turn.
Wouldn't be applicable to for religous civs, though.

statusperfect · November 24, 2003, 19:02

Quote:

Originally posted by Lucilla
How about changing the number of turns it takes to switch from one government to another? If you are in your preferred government it'll take you longer to change, if you are in your shunned government, arnachy will only last one turn.
Wouldn't be applicable to for religous civs, though.

GREAT IDEA!!

Snotty · November 25, 2003, 04:27

Yes, that would be a perfect way to implement it.

Bleyn · November 25, 2003, 15:10

Reduced corruption and/or increased happiness in the preferred gov. would also be nice. Would make for an actual tangible reason for human players to even pay attention to PG.

Lucilla · November 25, 2003, 16:56

Also good ideas. I'd prefer reduced corruption, because I think increased happiness would be to powerful. Imagine having one more happy face per city. Mayby one extra content face per city instead.

joncnunn · November 25, 2003, 20:44

Yes, a one level CN corruption in prefered govts make the most sense to me. (Equivlent to an extra Court House or Police Station in every city.)

Maybe a one level CN INCREASE in corruption for the shunned govt as well?

donZappo · November 25, 2003, 21:15

Well, if you really start messing with the corruption/happiness model for preferred and shunned governments then you really run into a major balance issue. You would make civs like the Celts very powerful early game while the Arabs might be hopelessly left behind. I think that a change to this, no matter how minor, would have pretty pronounced effects during the game. Plus, giving a bonus to civs that prefer republic would make a powerful position even more pronounced during the middle ages. You could always make each civ have only mid to late game governments be their preferred/shunned governments, but I don't think this is a great solution. I like the idea of incorperating anarchy length into this model. It would definitely be a step in the right direction. I almost wish that you could choose your next government as soon as anarchy started just so the game could determine if you were going to a preferred or shunned government as this would really allow a lot of flexibility with changing anarchy length.

That being said, I think it might be interesting in a mod, or even in the AU Mod itself, to use "flavors" to try to steer governments towards their preferred government and away from their shunned government. Now each civ would definitely get each government eventually, but this would make it more likely for them to switch to their preferred government (at least for a little while).

Alexander's Horse · November 25, 2003, 21:16

thanks