Question about Unit upkeep

[MattPilot]

I found this line in the Civ4Unitinfos.xml

<iExtraCost>0</iExtraCost> 

What exactly does that do? Does that mean i can make a Tank have 2x upkeep as an infantry. Or perhaps have a Battleship have 3x the upkeep as a Destroyer?

**edit

Apperently it uses numbers as 2 or 3. The only place i found it in was the WW2 scenario and its only the special people that have a "2" value.

[MattPilot]

Since i got so much useful info from you guys, i went ahead and did some testing of my own. I was really hoping that someone else could of provided that info. ANyhow, my results follow.



Editing "iextracost" does indeed make the upkeep of certain units more expensive. If i put 4 into the BB's slot, it will cost 4 GPT more.

When going into the finance screen (F2) it lists this expense as "Extra cost".

ALso, when you build the unit, it will tell you how much EXTRA it will cost.

Downside is, it is not retroactive. It will only work with newly built units. Wierd, but whatever.....


So, would anyone be interested in a mod that changed the support costs?

I'm thinking something along the these lines:

Regular "standard" troops.. (not uber)... leave them as they are.


siege weapons +1
Mounted units +1
Tanks +2
Bombers +1
Stealth bombers +2
ICBMs +5
BB +3
CV +2

Those are some initial numbers running through my head. I'd be looking to refine those numbers though. Feel free to add your thoughts.

[Junuxx]

Good idea. Do you want to increase strength for the higher support units too?

[MattPilot]

I don't think i would increase strength. Lets take the DD vs BB example. WHy should i built a DD instead of a BB, when both units take the same number of turns to complete, but a BB will kick a DD's arse since it has a 25% strength increase. So building BB's only is a no brainer, no? But if you increase the miantence cost, players will only build a few and stack them up with DD's as escort. Perhaps give BB's the blitz promotion to make things more interesting.

In another example, i'd increase the Stealth bomber's cost, because it is the only unit without a counter unit. So increasing its support cost will reduce its dominance on the battlefield.

Here's the list of propsed changes. Comment welcomed, especially about balance.


Axeman +1
Mechanized Infantry +1
War Elephant +1

Catapult 0
Cannon +1
Artillery +1

Fighter 0
Bomber +2
Jet Fighter +1
Stealth bomber +3

Carrier +3
Submarine +1
BB +4

Panzer +2
Tank +2
Modern Armor +2

ICBM +5