The Moon

[Pizza]

How about extending the game a little bit and adding a moon(s). There could be few resources on the moon like iron and gems.

There could be a great wonder "Lunar Observatory" buildable only on the moon.


Of course, the game would need to be able to handle multiple maps...

[Apocalypse]

Nah, the game would probably have to go a little too far into the future for that to be in the regular game.

[Pizza]

It's already happening IRL.

[Apocalypse]

It's being talked about IRL. Big difference compared to stuff actually happening.

[Cmonkey]

And launching a space ship to AC is much more plausible....brilliant.

Moron.

[Apocalypse]

Well, the spaceship is more of a placehold for a method of industrial victory and anything else. You can't compare the two.

[Cmonkey]

Couldn't moon colonies/research labs then be that same placeholder? I mean if it's just a placeholder, the actual "thing" that it is, then is meaningless, correct?

[Apocalypse]

Yeah, but I'd think a lot of veterans would agree that they like Alpha Centauri better. And it probably means less needless micromangagement than with moon colonies.

[Nikolai]

A space layer? I think not.

[Dauphin]

You don't actually have an Alpha Centauri map, and so if you wanted you could consider it a trip to Mars without any difficulty. Manned Mars missions seem the most plausible mixed with novel - that is, we've got the Apollo missions to the Moon as wonders already.

Adding the extra map layer, whatever it may be representing, is the major point of contention as it is that which will effect gameplay.

[Epistax]

I have no problem with Civ going further into the future-- just you'll have to disable UN victory, alpha centauri race victory, or other victories that are likely to occur much sooner. That is, the normal game should not be affected at all, just append another age to the game as for as tech/improvements/units are concerned. And for Pete's sake, push the Cure for Cancer into the next age. Geeze.

[jomateix]

Sputnik and achiving the Moon could be easily resumed in:

1 small wonder (Sputnik) : Allows pay an amount each year for satellite maintaining. These payments reduced by time when technology advances. Satellites allows to see the terrain (cities and units when technology advances) and reduce the cost of spy actions, this cost enlarges when other's technology is similar.

1 big wonder (Moon) : Gives XXX extra stuff, i.e.: a 10% science ratio and all the cultural-like cuontries now love you (not always, just put the hate counter to 0).

[alva]

Yeah, that's what this game needs..more MM when you already have 50+ cities, sounds like fun.

[realpolitic]

NASA thinks ice may be in the crater in the South Pole, this would provide chemical propellant. It's also possible it has Helium-3, useful for fusion. Either one could make for interesting play.

[Spiffor]

I support the idea of Civ4 supporting several maps, for scenario purposes. It could be used in a variety of settings involving a difficulty to travel from one map to another (age of discovery, interplanetary wars, fantasy scenarios opposing several planes of existence etc.)

I think it would be better to turn the Alpha Centauri mission into a manned mission to Mars (more cohesive with the realistic/historical theme of Civ), but I don't see it coming. The journey to AC is the kind of Civ-tradition that is likely to exist as long as the franchise is alive

Wrt a "Moon observatory": why not? It could be a late-game wonder, just like Cure for Cancer or SDI systems. It would be more thrilling than SETI I think