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As I've posted here in the past, I think it is good for a Civ game to unlock features as the game progresses, or rather that the player unlocks features himself by discovering them. It allows the game to get renewed even as it nears its end, and it gives new forms of aims to the player. For example, in Civ3, the tech "Nationalism" unlocks many diplomatic features that give some fresh air to the diplomacy of industrial era.
Nationalism is what I call a "Direct Effect Tech", i.e a tech that has immediate effects from which you profit, even though you haven't built anything.
I think it would be good in Civ-games to have many such direct-effect techs. Some could unlock new features, but some could simply give you a boost:
For example, I think it would be sound if the discovery of "scientific method" slightly raised scientific production everywhere, even where there aren't any universities. I think it would be sound if the discovery of "Constitution" reduced the corruption across your empire immediately. Or if the discovery of "Tactics" gave your military units an edge.
Since these direct-effect technologies could be quite potent, I think they should only give the bonus and nothing else. I mean, I think "Scientific Method" should be researched with the sole intent to get the bonus: the tech otherwise doesn't contribute to anything, it is no requirement for later techs, and doesn't allow new city-improvements or wonders.
I am in that inspired with Civ3's techs that are only useful for one thing: Chivalry's only use is to allow you to build knights; Genetic Engineering's only use is to allow you to build 2 wonders. Such techs bring nothing else and aren't needed at all later in the game.
I'm also thinking of "wonder techs": techs which give you a real big bonus as soon as you have discovered them. These techs could only be known by the Civ that has discovered it first. Such techs would be exactly the same as wonders. For example, "Cure for Cancer" could be a wonder-tech. "Sun Tzu's Art of War" could be too.
Here's a short and not-exhaustive list of possible direct-effect techs (I am no expert in all these fields, so the names I'm spouting can be historically wholly inaccurate):
- Political techs (reduce corruption):
Empire, Constitution, Bureaucracy, Electronic Government.
- Scientific techs (raise sci output):
Literacy, Invention, Scientific Method, Ethics
- Commercial techs (raise taxes):
Currency, Economics, Corporation, Globalization
- Work-organization techs (raise shield production):
Slavery, Feudalism, Division of Labour, Flexibility
- Agricultural techs (raise food production):
Crop rotation, Fertilizers
The effects of these direct-effect techs should not stack, but should rather be independent from the previous related direct-effect tech. For example, "Division of Labour" can give you exactly the same production boost, whether you researched Feudalism or not. If you researched Feudalism, your loss now.
What do you think?
Nationalism is what I call a "Direct Effect Tech", i.e a tech that has immediate effects from which you profit, even though you haven't built anything.
I think it would be good in Civ-games to have many such direct-effect techs. Some could unlock new features, but some could simply give you a boost:
For example, I think it would be sound if the discovery of "scientific method" slightly raised scientific production everywhere, even where there aren't any universities. I think it would be sound if the discovery of "Constitution" reduced the corruption across your empire immediately. Or if the discovery of "Tactics" gave your military units an edge.
Since these direct-effect technologies could be quite potent, I think they should only give the bonus and nothing else. I mean, I think "Scientific Method" should be researched with the sole intent to get the bonus: the tech otherwise doesn't contribute to anything, it is no requirement for later techs, and doesn't allow new city-improvements or wonders.
I am in that inspired with Civ3's techs that are only useful for one thing: Chivalry's only use is to allow you to build knights; Genetic Engineering's only use is to allow you to build 2 wonders. Such techs bring nothing else and aren't needed at all later in the game.
I'm also thinking of "wonder techs": techs which give you a real big bonus as soon as you have discovered them. These techs could only be known by the Civ that has discovered it first. Such techs would be exactly the same as wonders. For example, "Cure for Cancer" could be a wonder-tech. "Sun Tzu's Art of War" could be too.
Here's a short and not-exhaustive list of possible direct-effect techs (I am no expert in all these fields, so the names I'm spouting can be historically wholly inaccurate):
- Political techs (reduce corruption):
Empire, Constitution, Bureaucracy, Electronic Government.
- Scientific techs (raise sci output):
Literacy, Invention, Scientific Method, Ethics
- Commercial techs (raise taxes):
Currency, Economics, Corporation, Globalization
- Work-organization techs (raise shield production):
Slavery, Feudalism, Division of Labour, Flexibility
- Agricultural techs (raise food production):
Crop rotation, Fertilizers
The effects of these direct-effect techs should not stack, but should rather be independent from the previous related direct-effect tech. For example, "Division of Labour" can give you exactly the same production boost, whether you researched Feudalism or not. If you researched Feudalism, your loss now.
What do you think?
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