What high-tech features should be in Civ 4?

[Odin]

If there is an extrasolar colonization mission it shouln't be the traditional alpha Centauri. AC is a multple star system; AC b's eliptical orbit ranges from the equvilent of the orbits of Saturn and Uranus, the system would have no giant planets, so the inner planets have none of the protection against asteroids Jupiter gives us. Any life would be just microbes and impacts would happen too frequently for a stable civilization ( think of a Tunguska event every few months and dino-killing asteroids every few milennia.

Mars Colonization, or meeting ETs would be a better option.

BTW, I want an ECOTOPIA GOVERNMENT (like my avatar )!

[PresidentMarcos]

AC idea: why not make it so that there is a wormhole or something linking Alpha Centauri and the Earth system, and your task was to build a spaceship that could survive going through it? Still allows AC victory, but makes it plausible.

[Mad Bomber]

Here are my opinions:

I want to see more options to portray the importance improved communications has played in the development of civilization. In CIV III only the printing press currently incorporates the idea of increasing the speed and ease of communications (and its a throwaway tech) In CIV IV, I would like to see some wonders and improvements linked to Mass Media. Here are some examples:

Town Newspaper (city improvement, 2cp 2cf)
Hollywood (small wonder)
Mass Media (New Tech)
GPS system (Small Wonder) -eliminates fog of war, increases odds of bombardment attacks causing damage
Cable Network (Great Wonder) Reduces cost of investigating cities by 50%

[Odin]

I would like the technology go to about 2100 or 2150 and that the Space victory should be a Mars colony capable of terraforming

[Odin]

Here are some ideas for futuristic units:

Space Fighter and Space Bomber: Upgrades of Jet Fighter and Stealth Bomber

Ion Cannon: Upgrade of Modern Artillery

Futuristic warships

Plasma Tank: Upgrade of Modern Armor

Laser Infantry: Upgrade of Mech. Infantry

[Panag]

hi ,

fuel air explosives would be a nice extra , ...

have a nice day

[Krushchev]

Well, the AC system has also had time to clear plenty of asteroids out of it's space. It's nearly as old as the Solar System, I believe. But I would like to see the AC victory, and I'd like to see the 21st and possibly the 22nd Century played out. We can do this on decent modern vision...I'd like to see the diplomatic victory made a lot more complex...something like gain control of the UN, and rule with majority support for, say, fifty years or so. Something that requires more than an alliance all around. But that's another story. I do like the idea of intra-system spaceflight and combat(that is, within the Solar System) and I like the idea of colonies on Mars and the Moon. Bear in mind that the moon is a definite possibility of someone puts their mind to it for a decade or two, and Mars is a this-century possibility. Beyond that we approach the real sci-fi universe that is best left for later, although abstracted missions to the outer planets a la Voyager(the RL mission, not the Star Trek series) could be put in along the lines of wonders. But keep it to the inner Solar System as far as the on-the-map stuff.

Now, that's not to say I want the other stuff to be totally undoable...just a modpack/scenario type situation. I think it would be fun to do a 2001/2010 type scenario where the Jovian system opens up later on. But that should be, shall we say, non-standard.

As far as meeting ETs, that's excellent for a scenario but not great for an end-game. Perhaps an episode of the X-Files, too?

[lajzar]

Originally posted by Odin
Here are some ideas for futuristic units:

Space Fighter and Space Bomber: Upgrades of Jet Fighter and Stealth Bomber

Ion Cannon: Upgrade of Modern Artillery

Futuristic warships

Plasma Tank: Upgrade of Modern Armor

Laser Infantry: Upgrade of Mech. Infantry

I'm all for more units, but I'd rather they were based on solid research, rather than the usual SF copout of upgrade the stats and tack "plasma" onto the front of the name. OTOH, I am well aware that certain items, hover/grav tanks for example, are a staple of SF and have to be there in any futuristic section.

As for laser weaponry (and beam weapons in general too), there are good scientific reasons why this won't become a major Earth based weapon. We are still a few orders of magnitide from making a battery with as much energy density as conventional shaped explosives. Lasers excel at long ranged direct fire, and even that is iffy beyond 8 km or so without improbable superscience to focus the laser.

I'd expect future infantry advances to be with respect to mobility and training, not just bigger guns. Perhaps something with combined paradrop and marine functions.

Once you have grav tanks, warships become obsolete btw. SF wet navies don't really exist once you have a certain tech level.

[Panag]

hi ,

"" SF wet navies don't really exist once you have a certain tech level. ""

well thats one thing we can put in , ....

imagine land warfare blocks development , so some nations move out to sea , ....

have a nice day

[lajzar]

The reason those wet navies don't exist is because they would have become obsolete. When a hovertank does everything that cruiser did and can also fly over land as easily as sea, the cruiser wont get replaced when it gets blown up.

Just because there arent any actual ships, it wont mean the seas are any safer.

[Panag]

Originally posted by lajzar
The reason those wet navies don't exist is because they would have become obsolete. When a hovertank does everything that cruiser did and can also fly over land as easily as sea, the cruiser wont get replaced when it gets blown up.

Just because there arent any actual ships, it wont mean the seas are any safer.

hi ,

hovertanks going below the surface

imagine a hovertank flying true the water at 8 bofor , ....

even in a SF scen it would be nice to have a sb that can launch whatever special weapons it may have , ....

or hovertanks being launched by a superdestroyer , ....

have a nice day

[Odin]

Warships won't be going obsolete anytime soon. rail guns, cruise missles, and lasers may indicate the rebirth of the battleship (an aircraft carrier is meat on a stick to a warship with a rail gun that can shoot projectiles up to 50 miles or more).

[Mad Bomber]

Originally posted by Odin
Warships won't be going obsolete anytime soon. rail guns, cruise missles, and lasers may indicate the rebirth of the battleship (an aircraft carrier is meat on a stick to a warship with a rail gun that can shoot projectiles up to 50 miles or more).

Why put a rail gun on a battleship? (which btw carries the largest artillery ever to be used in combat). Granted with modern technology one could build a Battleship with a range of perhaps 50nm. Even armed with anti-ship missles the Battleship could effectively engage at no more than a 250nm range. However, aircraft which the Aircraft Carrier would deploy can engage at a range in excess of 750nm. Somehow I do not fear for any Carrier when confronted with a Battleship as an opponet, nor do I believe that the CV will become obsolete in the near future.

[lajzar]

Originally posted by Odin
Warships won't be going obsolete anytime soon. rail guns, cruise missles, and lasers may indicate the rebirth of the battleship (an aircraft carrier is meat on a stick to a warship with a rail gun that can shoot projectiles up to 50 miles or more).

If an aircraft carrier is meat on a stick to a warship with a rail gun that can shoot projectiles up to 50 miles or more, what is a battleship? Looks like victory will go to whoever sees the other first.

Anyhow, and these distances, you *WILL* be using indirect fire (think curvature of the Earth). And unless you are using missiles, this will implicitly limit the velocity of your missile, with velocity and target distance being linked.

Hitting unpowered targets so far is the only thing that the Star Wars programme has had any luck against. I suspect this kind of indirect fire will be interceptable by the time it becomes technically possible.

[:) Smiley]

Real global warming effects, such as the actual submerging of cities in CTP 1/2, or nuclear winter, etc, something that would really make people think twice before lobbing the bomb.