Civ 4 - the list of ideas for Firaxis

[gnome]

Two big, general suggestions:

More rewards for the gamer
Especially in SP mode, but optionally in MP... give more multimedia rewards to the person playing. Animated councils, wonder movies, riot scenes, city views, newspaper headlines... any items of interest that give the player a chance to sit back for a moment and ENJOY that they just spent 80 turns trying to accomplish something. This is the biggest flaw of Civ3 over Civ2.

Make them all optional of course for the gamer that just wants to get to the next turn.

More balancers
Include more methods by which a skilled player that is falling behind can catch up to a player in a superior position. Cheaper espionage is one possibility, but in general a good player should be able to catch up from a bad starting position or a generally losing position, by playing EXTREMELY well.

[Fosse]

Gnome, both of your points are very good ones.

More rewards make a huge difference, even though they seem like the wouldn't. The first month of SMAC and Civ 2 I watched every movie. Now, I play without them 9 out of 10 games... but that 10th game does so much to revitalize the game.

And balancers are a huge deal.

[Kuciwalker]

Originally posted by Merp
I think the sooner that multiple threads or a dedicated forum for Civ 4 ideas is implemented the better. I know that the original idea was to start on a single thread, but this thread is already pretty chaotic, with a lot of repeated ideas.

EDIT- OK, I'm a tool who should have checked the rest of the forum first

we've basically made a really big forumjack.

[Bonaparte]

I have another idea...and no this hasn't been mentioned. I really like the fact that I can automate some of my workers to clean pollution, but there are two things I don't like and wish were fixed/changed....

I hate when they waist time cleaning volcanoes...it waists a turn when they land on it and one when they get off it plus all the time needed to clean it...in the meantime the rest of my civ gets all polluted. If I could build a road on the volcano I wouldn't b***h....Is there a way to put roads on volcanoes?

The second thing is that I wish workers that have been set to automatically clean pollution would go back to doing so after turns in which there wasn't polluted squares in my civilization.

[ImpossibleDream]

Couple things I'd like to see ...

1. When exploring territory, the first Civ to encounter a feature get to name it. The name appears on the map for all to see for the rest of the game. Mountain ranges, rivers, seas, etc.

2. Better city graphics, or none at all. Those shabby Civ3 in-city graphics were better left undone. How bizarre did it look to have a couple of skyscrapers, some giant Wonders, a cluster of houses, and various odds and ends make up the largest city in the world?

3. More realism! Actual numbers for population, ability to move food from city to city, public works expendatures as opposed to micro-managing workers, STACKED COMBAT, more trade and spying.

4. Take a cue from Europa Universalis, which a friend introduced me to as "Civilization for thinking people." I took offense to that -- becuase I've played a thousand Civ games over the years -- but in a way he was right. From graphics to statistics to trade to millitary matters, Civ games have been great, but they tend to gloss over a lot of the realism that is fascinating and challenging in a real-world sim.

[Bonaparte]

I am so sick and tired of having my civ start on the same stinking, little island as another civ especially when you concider that I am playing on a huge, island filled (80% water) map with only 4 other AI civs. The whole point of me using fewer civs on a huge map is so that every civ gets some room to grow before an encounter, but NO, my civ always gets a little company immediately!!!! ... so then I have to start all over and over and over again until finally I get the chance for my civ to grow before running into another civ, but I'll never know if the AI civs are getting that "room" (which I want them to) when I finally do.

Now I said this before and I'll say it again, because I am so sick and tired of having my civ start on the same stinking, little island as another civ (Hey, I repeated that to), but there should be a button that you can click when setting up the game that will (if clicked) give each civ there own starting island ... this way people like me can relax a little and can actually create a civ without being crowded and without having to go to war soon after the game starts.

I was planning on playing a new game today, but I had to restart 10 times already because of what I wrote above, so I am here writing this AGAIN!!!!

[Bonaparte]

Originally posted by Bonaparte
I hate when they waist time cleaning volcanoes...it waists a turn when they land on it and one when they get off it plus all the time needed to clean it...in the meantime the rest of my civ gets all polluted. If I could build a road on the volcano I wouldn't b***h....Is there a way to put roads on volcanoes?

While I'm at it I might as well quote myself. This was dumb to say, I must have been half asleep when I said it!

[Filippo]

Redo all the tech research system. It has been the same from Civ2 and in all CtP versions too, and I never liked it.

Why ? Too little strategy (com'on you almost always research the same), finding techs for free sucks big time because it screwes up the game, the tech research is too fast in the beginning.

I would love an engine that allows me to have a slider to use to set tech stagnation. I would put the highest :P

Currently in this game you don't have time to enjoy what you just researched because you're going to have something else very soon, or worse it will be outdated right after you built it.

Also I would make tech trade much harder. How about, you need to spend half the standard tech since points to learn it from someone else ?

[Fosse]

There doesn't seem to be an exact place for this idea yet... but I've also stuck it Diploacy if anyone wants to discuss it there.

I would like to create a new state of land owndership, occupation.

If France and England go to war, and England captures Leeds, then Leeds and all territory that the capture turns over to France, is considered English territory, occupied by France. France exploits all resources, but it is still recognized by the world as English.

If France has an MPP with the Celts, and England takes back Leeds, then the MPP isn't activated because the French are the clear aggresors. If England pushes on and attaks the English on some land that was French at the war's opening, the MPP is activated.

At the end of the war occupied territory can be put on the bargaining table. Whoever keeps it at the peace treaty official gains control. So if England is willing to give up Leeds to sign peace, it becomes a real French city.


This will make MPPs stronger and less unpredictable... so you can sign one and not worry about your pact mate waging a purely aggresive war that activates thier "protection." Perhaps England would be able to offer the occupied land to another country, on the condition that the other country can take it from France. So at the end of the war, the Romans might get Leeds if they enter an alliance with England.

[khai]

City improvment / Military

An interesting thing would be that large and strong units should be avaible to build only if a city has a certain structure build.

Like to build a catapult there should be a carpenter in a city.

To build a cannon there should be a smelter.

Things like this would in my opinion make you care more about those units.

You could also send some sabotage attacks on an enemy city to destroy such structures to gain advantage in battle.

[ThePlagueRat]

Great idea khai... Then I think those units should be more effective than those in Civ3. In combination with a CTP-like battlesystem that should be fine. A gunsmith and a smelter and a ranch or something would be neccessary to build a powerful army of five cannons behind ten musketeers with some cavalry. Just like you can gain a bit too easily in CTP without the structures. Resource demands like Civ3 could also be combined in that system... Take the best from every game!

[Kaak]

Technology

Please please please don't make it so that you have to discover all the techs of an age before moving to new techs. This is absolutely ridiculous, and whomever thought of it should be whipped and beaten. It tech path is a major part of strategy, so don't limit this.

General

Use civ2 as the base and not civ3.

[ThePlagueRat]

And the workers should dissapear, as mentioned. They are indeed very boring to move along. And it's very boring to move 100 unstacked troops from one continent to the other side. A nicer stacking system would be preferable, and a public works system... Where building some terrain improvement demanded different resouces, a certain workforce, structures built, but no silly unit.

[Kickbooti]

Corruption

A few thoughts on corruption.

I like to make empires. Big empires. Nothing is more satisfying than taking cities from my foes and showing them what a civilization SHOULD look like. Corruption in the current model makes this all but impossible.

Alright, I admit, NO corruption in democracy under Civ II was idealistic. But I don't think corruption should be as bad under ever form of government in Civ III.

Here are my ideas:

Communication - It seems to me that the easier communications are between the 'powers that be' in the capitol and hinterland the less the corruption. For example, I think corruption should be reduced the more 'connected' a city is to the capital. Roads, rails, harbors, airports, even (should Civ IV see fit) telecomunications facilities make the world 'smaller' and justice 'easier.'

Judiciary - I would like to see the effectiveness of courthouse actually inreased. They help not at all after a certain number of cities or a certain distance from the palace or FP.

I think that an appropriate Small Wonder would be The Supreme Court. I think that this should either put a courthouse in every city OR increase the effectiveness of existing courthouses.

Failing these I would like to see a 'sub-wonder' called The Circuit Court. Allow a Circuit Court to be built for every 7 - 10 (number to be determined) cities and it has the effect of the capitol for corruption purposes.

I know corruption can't be eliminated. But let's face it, in a modern democracy Civ III doesn't accurately represent the real level of corruption/production. I don't think Hawaii produces only one sheild, idea, gold piece.

And that's all I have to say about that.

[JamesPk]

Originally posted by dexters
Provinces, each a unit, like a mini Civ, each with a capital, and each made up of cities, definable by the player, but it must be geographic in nature. Can't have provinces spread all over the place.

Provinces and sub-capital cities should also vary on what type of gov. you have and the population of your civ., also provinces should be able to be shared (i.e) Kurdistan is part of Iraq, Turkey, and other nations in the Middle East. I hope that is something you were talking about.