What high-tech features should be in Civ 4?

[Lord God Jinnai]

We need giant fighting robot, uber powered modified humans and magically changing school girls so i can pretend i'm in an anime/manga future.

[conmcb25]

Very good ideas all of them

[Lord God Jinnai]

Even mine?

Not that mines bad...hell i could then make a good Xenogears civ game (Xenosaga series would be more difficul, although a gnosis invasion idea could work).

[Camber]

I feel that the space techs come too abruptly in Civ3. Before we reach Alpha Centauri, there should be space stations constructed, outposts built on other planets/moons in the solar system, and so forth.

I would very much like to see the colonization of the Moon, Mars, Io, Titan, the asteroid belt, and Alpha Centauri in the game as a real estate land-grab phase, similar to the opening of the regular game, where settlers vie for the best sites and resources. Having these worlds viewable on a separate screen would not be hard to do, with toggles to switch between the different worlds.

Rather than have the space between planets/moons be a playable surface (3D space would be too vast for workable gameplay), perhaps just the immediate layer of space around a planet, including moons, would be playable.

I would also like to see a full implementation of the greenhouse effect. In the current Civ3, you cannot advance far enough in global warming to see desertification, and the seas never rise nor dry up.

[portuguese7]

Yeah, space is currently tooo empty...

[Solver]

Colonizing planets and seeing them playable would be quite a deviation from standard Civ formula, which does remain on historically known stuff. Not that I'm against it, though.

I guess also, the Alpha Centauri colony could be replaced by a Mars colony to win, as with the current tech we still have a long way to go till we can send ships to AC, but AC is a Civ tradition by now.

[Straybow]

AC, Alien Life, and Gaia are goofy pie-in-the-sky stuff. So are Doomsday weapons. "Let's jump straight from current (laughable) space/genetics tech to near-light-speed interstellar transport!" We need a real space race (almost straight from my comments in the Civ3 List):

1. Getting to orbit (small WoW)
2. Building satellites
3. Exploring the moon (WoW)
4. Remote planetary exploration
5. Better satellites
6. Exploitation of lunar resources
7. Gradual development of interplanetary transport technology
8. Orbital industry of scale worth including
9. Manned exploration of inner system
10. Orbital colonization
11. Way in the future, planetary colonization

No "space layer," everything in space is either abstracted or separately mapped.

Apollo is preceded by a small WoW, Manned Space Program. After any country builds MSP the Space Flight advance allows a new improvement (Launch Facility: 200 shields, 12 upkeep). Launch Facility allows building a single-use Satellite unit (Satellite: 60 shields, 0/0/1). Activating the unit launches the Satellite. A Satellite sees all cities, thus enabling continuous updating of your map. MSP and Apollo each counts as a Launch Facility for that city, and as a Satellite launch.

Heavy Lift advance allows Spy Satellite unit (60 shields, 0/0/5). Spy Sat spends 1 mp to investigate one city of player's choice as per Spy ability, plus revealing all units in that city's radius. A tile other than a city may be chosen for viewing, revealing all units in an area equivalent to a city radius centered on that tile. Each attempt has a chance of failure (25%?) that would represent poor viewing conditions. Apollo adds 1 to movement allowance of Spy Sats. Spy Sat disappears after all mp are used up.

Another advance (or perhaps HL) allows Interplanetary Probe unit (60, 0/0/1) to be built in cities with Launch Facility. Sending a probe to a planet generates a science boost (diminishing for repeat visits). Travel time to outer planets would be more than one turn.

An advance with HL preq (Life Support?) allows building a Lunar Base small WoW in a city with Launch Facility. Lunar Base becomes a choice as destination for Interplanetary Probe (representing a science mission and related support costs). Lunar Base missions will yield consistent science bonus somewhat lower than early probes to planets.

etc

[Mart]

Originally posted by Solver
Colonizing planets and seeing them playable would be quite a deviation from standard Civ formula, which does remain on historically known stuff.

Just to pointing some historical facts then:
- Moon has been already visited by Apollo 8, 10, 13 on orbit (13 flew over moon actually) and 11,12, 14-17 with landings, total 12 people were walking on the moon. It would be awesome to have a small map of the moon in the game, where a lander could land (for some additional victory points?)
- All planets in our solar system apart from Pluto have been visited by unmanned probe vessels. Venus had 3 "Venera" russian landers - they kinda rusted within hours there actually - just harsh planet Mars already has infestation of earth vessels and other "race cars", not counting that one bounced from the atmosphere and another having hard landing on the martian northern pole. Also the biggest moon of Saturn, Titan, will have a landing very soon. If I am not mistaken something is flying to Pluto now?

I think exploration ofspace is cool and already historical.

[Solver]

And those historical facts show why other solar bodies in Civ4 aren't that much of a good idea. So people have landed on the Moon. Right. That could be done in Civ, I suppose, as a wonder or something else. But realistically, those people did nothing there. We have done nothing in space so far. There is no human-made construction (other than those landing rovers and such) on any other planet, let alone colonies. While to have a separate playable solar body in Civ4, IMO, it would require at least a colony there. Or what's the point of landing someone there? Victory points aren't what Civ is about.

[Mart]

I also think, that exploration of the solar system is a good topic for a separate game. However, it has already started, so how it might be represented? Maybe as you say by small or great wonders, combined with some excellent and pleasing eye graphics that should work very well.

I wouldn't be afraid though to go to the nearest future just a bit. While some people do not need it really or even avoid it, others may lack it. I find interesting all earth's history and very much enjoy both playing historic games and science fiction games. On the other hand, as it has been already proposed, I would also replace a colony ship to Alpha Centauri with a colony ship to Moon or Mars. I would prefer to see colonization of solar system as a separate game. Maybe Firaxis might do something like that one day.

[Modo44]

All nice and good, but the benefits it gives to a civ are minor at best. If you want to consider it a small wonder, you would need to show a good, reasonable bonus it should give. Frankly, I don't see one. Remember, it's CIV we're talking a bout. It's on Earth.

[Mad Bomber]

What I would love to see is to have Atari update Alpha Centari and include it with CIV IV. These could be played as seperate playable games or as an uber-epic game in which ACII is played after a space race victory in CIV IV.

I know it will never happen, but what a great addition that would be....

The next best thing is the ideas that have been discussed, a logical thought out exploration of the solar system.

The only problem I see with Straybow's list is not including space stations in his list. Some addition of Space tourism could also be included.

[Urban Ranger]

There was the Sweep of Time idea... too bad the dino thing failed.

[realpolitic]

A LARGE Martian colony - more the size of a Martian nation. Having an eariler technology for a moon colony would be nice, then the lunar residents go to Mars.

[Kuciwalker]

Originally posted by Mad Bomber
What I would love to see is to have Atari update Alpha Centari and include it with CIV IV. These could be played as seperate playable games or as an uber-epic game in which ACII is played after a space race victory in CIV IV.

Simple... play cIV, win with spaceship victory, eject CD, insert SMAC CD, voila.