Apolyton CS: Civilization III: The List v1: Wonders

WONDERS
-Summarized by Thread Master: EnochF-
a-kevsn@microsoft.com

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Wonders of the World have become a part of the Civilization experience. Every player has his favorite, and there are entire strategies based upon them. They're not just about strategy, though. They're about imbuing the game with a sense of grandeur. And long-time Civilization players have quite a lot to say on the subject.

1. NEW FORMS OF WONDERS TOP

Many players have suggested Wonder-like constructions which behave according to a different set of rules than the conventional Wonders of Civilization II, Call to Power and Alpha Centauri.

1.1) World's Greatest: By paying double the shield cost, a civilization can build a World's Greatest city improvement, which grants a small bonus for that city (double effect, as in +100% gold for marketplaces, 4 citizens happy for temples, etc.) Another civilization can pay double that to outdo the current World's Greatest. A temple = 20 shields, the first World's Greatest = 40, someone else spends 80 to outdo them, etc. (Ecce Homo)

1.1a) Pythagoras: Suggests limited timespan for world's greatest.
1.1b) kmj: Suggests "bidding" for world's greatest. Suggests world's greatest can go obsolete, i.e. World's Greatest Marketplace loses all bonuses upon discovery of Banking.
1.1c) Glacier: World's tallest building or longest bridge/tunnel could provide extra gold or happiness.
1.1d) Ecce Homo: World's Greatest Palace would be buildable throughout the game, would give diplomatic bonus and kill corruption.
1.1e) Q Cubed: Every World's Greatest would be effective until trumped by the new World's Greatest. Cost is not doubled but graded at 10% increases. 100, 110, 121, etc. Suggestions:

1.1e1) Tallest Building [+trade]
1.1e2) Longest Bridge [+trade] /must be built between cities across channel, river
1.1e3) Longest Tunnel [+trade] /must be built between cities across channel (~Chunnel), river, mountain, hill\
1.1e4) Greatest Places of Worship (temple, cathedral) [+happiness +trade]
1.1e5) Greatest Places of Trade (marketplace, bank, stock ex., supermarket)) [+trade]
1.1e6) Best (Places of Education (university, library, academy)) [+science]
1.1e7) Best Superhighways [+production *easier travel between cities]
1.1e8) Largest Harbor [+production +food +trade] /must be built in cities with access to inland seas or oceans\
1.1e9) Busiest Airport [+food +production +trade *easier travel between cities such as multiple flights from airports to this city]
1.1e10) Busiest Seaport [+food +production +trade] /must be built in cities with access to ocean
1.1e11) Best Hospital [+science +happiness]
1.1e12) Best (Factories) [+production +trade +science]
1.1e13) Best Arcologies [+trade +science +food +production] /must be built in cities with all city radii squares filled, or cities larger than 21 people\
1.1e14) Best (Entertainment Complexes (Stadium, Holotheaters, Movie Palaces)) [+trade +happiness]
1.1e15) Largest Corporation [+trade +science +production +energy]
1.1e16) Greatest Clock Tower [+trade +production]

1.1f) Flavor Dave: World's Greatests could either be useless or dominant. Balance is important.
1.1g) Theben: Disapproves of World's Greatest because it will end up a lot of wasted production for a minor effect.

1.2) Land Engineering Wonders: The Great Canal, for example, requiring explosives, modern engineers, allows trade routes. The Polders may reclaim land from the sea. A Great Wall which actually acts as a physical wall along the civilization's borders. (Diodorus)

1.2a) Ecce Homo: Canals, bridges, walls could be city improvements. The World's Greatest Canal could have effects resembling Great Canal.
1.2b) kmj: Land engineering Wonders limited by terrain: no Great Canal by water
1.2c) ml_4da3: Engineers should be able to modify rivers; perhaps a Wonder facilitates this.

1.3) Natural Wonders: Effects are conferred upon a civilization simply by having the wonder in its territory. (CyberShy)

1.3a) Taedott: Natural wonders are a resource, no benefits unless "improved."
1.3b) meowser: Natural wonders appear on map, or random on map (SMAC geographical features). Size: 1 tile, offer resource bonus, can be "improved" to provide tourism.
1.3c) J.DeMobray: Building Natural Wonders is ludicrous. What would Mt. Fuji do?
1.3d) Q Cubed: Suggestions:

1.3d1) Landmarks, randomly seeded by the fractal map generator; confers bonuses to all tiles within a city radius
1.3d2) Big Waterfalls {goes by Niagara, Angel, etc.} [+energy +trade +production]
1.3d3) Big Mountains {Kilimanjaro, McKinley, K2, etc.} [+energy +trade -population]
1.3d4) Big Canyons, Trenches {Grand Canyon, Great Rift Valley, etc.} [+energy +trade]
1.3d5) Big Volcanos {Krakatoa, Pinatubo, etc.} [+energy +production -population]
1.3d6) Big Reefs {Great Barrier Reef, etc.} [+trade +science +food]
1.3d7) Big Forests {Schwarzwald, etc.} [+trade +science +production]
1.3d8) Big Jungles {Amazon Rain Forest, etc.} [+trade +science +food +production]
1.3d9) Big Deserts {Sahara, etc.} [+trade +science -population]
1.3d10) Big Inland Freshwater Seas {Lake Victoria, etc.} [+trade +science +food]
1.3d11) Big Inland Saltwater Seas {Caspian Sea, etc.} [+trade +science]

1.3e) Flavor Dave: 2 trade arrows for a Natural Wonder square; looks impressive on the city screen (city view screen). Would make Explorer units more useful. Cities can't be built on Natural Wonder squares.

1.4) Alternatives to Shield Production: Certain Wonders are not dependent upon shields (resources) to be built. Scientific Wonders built by beakers, Economic Wonders built by gold. (Ecce Homo)

1.4a) NotLikeTea: How about the first civilization to send a ship around the world automatically gains the "Magellan's Voyage" Wonder. Manhattan Project is accomplished using Research Beakers instead of Shields.
1.4b) Jimmy: agrees with Magellan's Voyage
1.4c) NotLikeTea: Luxuries could be used to build happiness Wonders.
1.4d) NotLikeTea: Rethinking his position because it will end up the rich getting richer. (more gold = more production for economic wonders)

1.5) Mini-Wonders: Suggests a huge number of wonders (rather than Wonders) with small effects, usually increased trade. Examples: Space Needle, Leaning Tower, etc. Rather than huge Wonders with sweeping effects like Pyramids, have countless small wonders with tiny, localized effects. (willko)

1.5a) Russell: suggests "mini-wonders" with small build costs.
1.5b) Theben: suggested mini-wonders a while back, a city improvement buildable once per city, double the normal cost; upon building, the player could choose a special bonus/effect for the mini-wonder (something small and reasonable)

1.6) National Special Projects: "National Special Projects" is the general category, of which Wonders are a subset. Wonders are unique NSP's, but certain NSP's would be rebuildable. Certain Wonders could enable the construction of other NSP's. (Darkstarr)

1.6a) Q Cubed: As opposed to Wonders, National Projects can be built by more than one civilization, though the costs are roughly equivalent. High maintenance and weaker effects than Wonders, typically.
1.6b) EnochF: Tends to think that early Wonders should remain Wonders, and NSP's would be more appropriate in the mid- to late game.

Many people seem to like the concept of the World's Greatest and have contributed their own set or subset of rules to govern their use. I tend to think that World's Greatests would be most useful, and least realistic, in the early game, such as with the World's Greatest Palace and Marketplace. Many people have made the suggestion that the computer should allow the player to name the World's Greatest upon completion. (Of course, the computer will have a number of appropriate suggestions, names which the AI will use.) As Eggman remarked, "Yes, every city has a temple, but there is (or was) only one Temple of Artemis at Ephesus. There are plenty of clock towers, but only one Big Ben. Everyone has a museum, but there is only one Louvre."

The concept of National Special Projects probably stems from Wonders such as Women's Suffrage, Contraception, and other such things that would not ordinarily be limited to one nation. Thus, these Projects follow most of the rules that currently govern Wonders, i.e. their construction is "announced" to all players, they provide Wonder-like effects; however, they can be built once by each civilization upon reaching the necessary advance. Certain Projects and Wonders may require an advance and an NSP to be built. (However, no NSP would require a Wonder to be built, only an NSP; thus, no NSP would be limited to one nation.)

Natural Wonders is, to me, in a category separate from all the other Wonders. Essentially, it is a slightly altered form of the "landmarks" in Alpha Centauri. The "Earth map" of Civilization III would include a number of Natural Wonders in the correct spot, and the square(s) containing the Wonders would provide a bonus to trade or production (which might be amplified by certain advances later on).

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