EC3 Fixes - Final Drafts

[korn469]

This is the final drafts section of the EC3 List. This is a read only thread! please do not post in here

[korn469]

Fix #1 - Trade


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</font>New Trade Model
Trade routes are automatically set up with cities that supply a comodity and cities that demand a comodity within the explored territory of that caravan's home civilization (similar to Alpha Centauri's system, but with commodities) using autopathfinding (pathfinding in Alpha Centauri was superb and up to this task) these routes are displayed as lines on the map, and with blocking such lines with a military unit you could either pirate or block all together. There is still a maximum number of trade routes your city can support, but as technology progresses and/or your city size increases you can support more and more routes. Also as in Alpha Centauri, your amount of trade is proportional to the relationship with that civilization. The screen could get messy with this idea, but by default these trade routes would be off and viewed only in the city view. You could toggle them on and off with a hotkey or in preferences (much like city support lines in SMAC/CivII), or perhaps just show a city's routes one city at a time.

There is a downside to this that I believe can be solved easily. Implementing this in the game could take up a lot of memory if one stores every map location that every trade route goes through. However, simply invoking the auto pathfinding function each time someone wants to view a route (calculating the path of the caravans instead of loading the positions from memory) not only solves this memory problem, but provides more realism. Auto pathfinding should only work on explored territory, so as you explore more and more, your civ will find ways to shorten the travelling distance between two trading cities.

With this model, trade and diplomacy would be interelated. First of all, the more trade routes one has with a civ, the better each's attitudes towards each other. And vice versa, better diplomatic relations would provide for more lucrative trade. It doesnt matter really which one starts first (economic or diplomatic relations). Perhaps the option to allow players to establish trade routes "the old way" could be included, but by default 'auto trading' is on. Also if autopathfiding fails, or if a civilization wants to define its own path to take, a waypoint trade route path defining system would be included.


Argument
This model is prefered because it requires little to no micromanagement and gives trade importance within your economy without having to deal with cumbersome caravans. International trade also becomes more important as time goes along with this model as more technology and more population allows citys to expand into new trading ventures. The so called ICS (infinite city sprawl) problem can also be averted if trade is linked to city size. Large citys become meccas of trade, their income and attitudes with other civs growing exponentially as there population increases. Many small cities become unpreffered since they would not provide these great benefits. Also, since these larger citys become dependant on lucrative trade, pirating and tarrifing trade routes (by putting a unit over the route) becomes a viable options for poorer civs and barbarians. To sum up, this model provides a way for intercity commodity based trade to highly effect diplomacy, warfare and the 'royal coffers' without the cumbersome usage of caravan units and without the unwanted micromanagement of a game like colonization.
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[korn469]

Fix #2 - Comprehensive Scenario Editor

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</font>The Ability to customise everything through a powerful editor is one of the chief agents of replayability and immersiveness, and perhaps the best way to keep a large and active Internet community going. Therefore Civilization III™ should contain an easy-to-use yet powerful Game/Scenario Editor.

The editor should be a separate program from the game itself to make editing easier. Conversely the rather convulted interface of previous incarnations should be replaced by a simple drag-and-drop interface, with advanced editing available through a standard, windows-style front-end. To make it easier to use for the first-time user (and indeed all users), all functions that are available in text and graphics files should be editable through parsers. An improved in-game graphics-editing utility is another good addition. It is also essential for there to bee good documentation, both in the Manual and in a separate Help File.

On the other hand, the advanced users should also be catered for. Everything in the game should be customisable: wonders, improvements, rules, units, technologies, maps, victory conditions, civilisations and preferably the AI, as well as the fundamentals of the game itself through scripting commands. Also, everything should be in non-proprietary formats (both graphics, animations and rules) for easy outside editing. Text Files should be created using Include parameters to allow infinite or at least very large numbers of units, techs and so on. Maybe each one can receive it’s own file? A Scripting Language similar to QuakeC or UnrealScript should be included, maybe on several levels to allow all users to benefit through a Macro Language or Prompt System. 3D models if at all included should be editable for all users.

The Map and Scenario editing capabilities should also be enhanced to allow for complete modifications as well as normal game scenarios. The map editor should be made simpler, with a simple drag-and-drop or drag-and-paint interface and the ability to generate good, realistic-looking random maps. The waypoint system should be overhauled, and the task of placing natural-looking settlement needs to be greatly improved.

For those who want simple customisation, everything should be easy to turn on and off with a simple mouse click, from gaming fundamentals (like governments, population effects, internal politics, diplomacy and so on) through units and technologies to aspects of the AI and the Random Map Generator. These should be available both in Scenarios and for standard games. The game would also benefit from a “Stock” library of extra units, graphics, and so on that can easily be included in Scenarios and Custom Games. Firaxis could also keep the community going by releasing extra units and graphics continously through the web site, and by hosting scenario-making competitions.
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[korn469]

Fix #3 - Bring Back News Reports

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</font>Civ I's original news reports added to the immersiveness of the game, as well as kept you up to date on important events. They also gave the player a built-in pause in the game to reflect on the bigger picture.

The absence of any such news report in Civ 2 is itself a problem, and I propose in Civ 3 the news reports be brought back, in an updated form -- such as an optional News Ticker (it could run constantly or be turned off and on during the game). Key events should be hyperlinked to the appropriate response screen or place on the map, demographic information could be included, and the all the information could be refreshed on a continuous basis.

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[korn469]

Fix #4 - Improved Road & Rail Rules

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</font>Almost every CIV player agrees on the fact that the road & rail rules must be improved. But because of the variety of opinions, this proposal has 2 sections: General Rules (supported by everyone) and Other Improvements (different ideas)

GENERAL RULES

For a better reflection of reality, Civ3 should use 3 ways of transportation: roads, highways and railroads.

Prerequisite technologies:
1. Road – none or Masonry
2. Highway – Automobile
3. Railroad – Railroad

Movement rates:
TM = terrain modifier (just for ex. plains TM = 1; hills TM = 0,6; mountains TM = 0,3)
US = unit speed (ex. Armor US = 3)
RS = railroad speed (the speed of the train transporting the units)

1. Road – 3 x TM x US
2. Highways – 4 x (motorized US), 3 x (non-motorized US)
3. Railroad – flat movement rate (rail speed), the same for all units, which can gradually increase over the time, as new technologies are developed (travelling on RR, the units are assumed to be travelling by train)
(example: steam – 6, diesel – 8, electric – 10, monorail – 12).
After moving on railroad, the unit would still have all of its movement (US) left.
Important: A unit could use only one railroad once per turn.

Trade (money) bonus
Only roads and highways, and only in squares that already generate trade or have tile improvements that generate trade
(ex. One trade bonus for roads, and two for highways)

Shield (mineral, energy) bonus
Only railroads, and only in squares that generate minerals or energy (forest, iron, coal) or already have tile improvements such as coal mines, oil wells, wind mills, solar collectors, etc.

Movement cost
1. For transportation on railroad for all units
For stacked units, the cost will be the same, no matter how many units are being transported. The cost is coming from the train type (diesel, electric, etc)
2. Moving on roads or highways for motorized units only;
The cost will depend only on the type of the unit. For stacked units, the cost should be the sum of all units' cost.

Clarifications
The cost for transportation won’t depend on the terrain type, because this is already included trough the movement rate formula.
The cost should be energy (or something equivalent)

OTHER IMPROVEMENTS

1. Road (highway later) and RR on the same tile.
a) Yes, because it's realistic
b) No, because the map could easily become overcrowded. The players need no more to strategically choose between them (based on movement rate, cost, and so on), and will build them both. Some problems may occur when a unit enters on a tile with both road and railroad on it (how many moves he has?)
2. Modern military units being capable of road (but not RR or highways) and fortress building, at the speed of a settler.
3. Railroads could generate trade bonus through a "Train Station" city improvement.
4. Construction cost
Railroad: 1 shield (the construction of the RR includes the construction of the train, too)
The city where the engineer belongs to allocates 1 shield for RR construction as long the engineer is working on that RR.
5. Movement and borders
a) Moving inside your borders: +1 movement bonus during war (priority for military vehicles) if there are enemy troops on your territory
b) Moving outside your borders: Cost you nothing if you have a "Use railroads " agreement. If you have not such an agreement, you must pay money for the right to use the RR.
Possible problem: makes the game too complicated
c) Moving on enemy’s railroad: You could use an enemy’s RR only after you capture it. A RR is captured if you move a unit (X) on the RR, there are no enemy vehicles between the RR controlled already by you and X, and don’t move X until the next turn. You can not use the RR until the next turn. If X survives, the RR is yours.
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[korn469]

Fix #5 - Make It Harder For Civs To Last

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</font>MAKE THE GAME A REAL CHALLENGE!!!

My severest criticism of CivII is that the game is too easily won. (And I NEVER ever cheat, not in any way!) Even on Deity level it becomes highly improbable that an experienced player will lose a CivII-game, which results in decrease of suspense. After about 1500AD when half of the turns haven't passed yet, its clear who is going to win.

I'm not interested in colonizing Alpha Centauri, and neither does world domination appeal to me. Let just plain SURVIVAL of your culture- not necessarily identical to political power- be the ultimate goal and an accomplishment in itself! It would be nice if at the end of the game the earth is still a habitable place.

Suspense till the end is essential to enjoyment of the game; its improbabe that I am the only player who without cheating has a winning position before the game is halfway. Often I handicap myself, building no wonders etc. All humans enjoy experiencing dangerous situations, especially in a game! The higher levels of this game should give us a continuous uncertainty about the future. Human history was no pleasant picnic in the park! The more CivIII will portray the harsh reality of the 'condition humaine' the more I'll like it. In the current CivII the computer keeps up a semblance of resistance only by massive cheating and plotting together.

Most readers will realize that some well-known problems are the cause of the easy wins: the Infinite City Sleaze and the Eternal China Syndrome, both related to the 21-square city structure and the fact that 'heads' are counted instead of people. These structures ensure that the largest civilization with the greatest number of cities will almost inevitably win. So all these problems are the result of one essential flaw in the basic structure of the game.

Apart from demolishing the 21-square city structure I would suggest the following to ensure suspense till the end: better AI, the possibility of secessions and civil wars, peasant revolts and feudal risings, more random elements like crop failures and epidemics, more influence of religion and economics making it possible to win in different ways, dangerous barbarians able to conquer large empires and to create a new civilization, the possibility to start at a later starting date for the advanced player, the introduction of 'decay' factors affecting older and conservative civilizations.

Civilizations lasting for more than two millenia are the exception, not the standard. CivIII should try to depict the rise and fall of civilizations/great powers. When a culture is succesfull it will almost inevitably grow conservative and convinced of its own superiority, causing other cultures to surpass the once dominant civilization. In this way its decline becomes inevitable!

The very linear, predictable structures of CivII should be broken
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[korn469]

Fix #6 - Faster Smoother Graphics/Interface

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</font>Make the graphics move fast. No slowdowns, none, no matter how many units or cities or whatever graphics items are on screen. FAST, get it? Please? Civilization III should also have top quality graphics and a very responsive and snappy user interface.

Sluggish graphics/interface is a major fun killer. This is a reminder that in no case should mediocre or poor solutions be accepted.

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<font size=1 face=Arial color=444444>[This message has been edited by korn469 (edited March 09, 2000).]</font>

[korn469]

Fix #7 - Multiplayer Startup Option

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</font>Randomness is a great feature of this game that we all love, but we need the options that could minumize it when needed when starting games.

1: To be able to choose that no one starts next to each other or starts with free techs or 1 vs 2 settlers. -instead of wasting time restarting or trying to make a scenario...

2: To be able to choose equal or more equal starting points, terrain, and landmass wise.
- this way no one needs to end up starting five squares from an opponant, or being in arctic while another is in river/grassland.

3: To be able to customise your titles and Civs name and save them so you don't have to type them in every time.

4: If it is a no AI game then no AI should be able to take over a human Civ if he drops from game.

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[korn469]

Fix #8 - Amazing City View

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</font>Civ and Civ2 had a City View button, which was cool. In Civ, the City View was great, in Civ2 was so-so, but Civ3 should have an amazing CITY VIEW.

The City View is useless and doesn’t add really too much to the gameplay, but it gives you a sense of satisfaction, because it let you see how your empire actually looks like; it’s fun and fascinating to see your achievements, your people every day’s life, to see how people celebrate a “I love the …” day, cheering and laughing, or to see angry citizens burning some building because of the misery in what they’re living. For some players that would be almost as fascinating as playing the game itself.

Important clarifications:
- make it awesome, through beautiful, animated, true 3D graphics, and also great music
- don’t change the city view activation method: a button in the city screen;
- make it an option. For those who do not want to see it, just turn it off in the option screen;
- city architecture should be civilization-specific;
- city architecture should depend on the era (update the appearance of buildings as time passes)
- the city “noise” should be also civilization-specific (people talking in their languages, singing their nation-specific songs)
- the city “noise” should depend on the era (update the city-sounds as time passes)
- have the ability to zoom in and zoom out
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