Cool doo-dad that should be in Civ

[Ninot]

I think something that should be incorporated into Civ, specially in the late game, is the media.

Depending on the government type, it could either be state run, or free-press.

In the case of state-run, You can set goals for the media to achieve, like preparing the people for a war through propaganda, or inspiring people to work harder (perhaps giving a bonus of a few shields per city) or some such like that.

In the case of free-press, I think it'd be cool if the media gives you an idea of where your people want the country to head, wether it be improving a certain city, or taking care of an enemy, or building a certain wonder (i recall messages for wonders/small wonders like FP in Civ3.)

I figure the free-press kindof thing could be a very well stylized way to convey to the player the needs of their country, which if it is a democracy, would make alot of sense.

I just figure it would add some character to the game, like Sim City 2000 had with its newspapers.

[Donegeal]

I like this idea. But wouldn't it be difficult to program the AI to make it realistic?

Maybe it could be another government slider. Somehow linked to religion and freedom of speech.

[Nikolai]

If it can be implemented in a good way, I'm all for it, it sounds interesting.

[Paddy]

Yes, then the Murdochs will finally have something to good idea

[Kuciwalker]

I want the newspaper from SC2K

[TitanTim]

Ninot, if you're from Canada then please spell centre the correct way (as a Canadian).

Media is a great suggestion, especially with its influence on propaganda (and thereby influencing war and war weariness). You could choose to manipulate it yourself (state-run) or leave it alone (free speech) and even manipulate an enemy's (subterfuge).

My mind just went blank. There's a game (GalCiv?) that uses your popularity to determine certain factors in the game. If the people like you then you should have more freedom to do things.

That would lead to being able to pass certain laws (akin to the New Orion Senate in MOO3) that also influences your civilization and the powers you hold.

[Addled Platypus]

I will opt for a tabloid paper

I will be on the cover with the bat boy...my pepole will love me !!!

another supporter

[eris]

Actually, I think Media could be used for some other functions. In particular, it should make a lot of information available to other Civs. A free press is a great boon to any espionage efforts. I have always felt that getting the Printing Press technology should allow you to get notices of battles in distant regions, especially if you have embassies with one of the Civs involved. It could even have a note of approximately how many units involved. (Given the frequent variance in battle results as reported by each side.) They took out Radio, but that would have been a source of even more information. For instance, a battle report and an update on your map of the two tiles involved. Creation of TV would allow you to watch the faraway battles if you wanted. (I would love to watch the AI players wacking away at each other!) And of course, if you develop Espionage you should get inofrmation such as unit types aproximate allocation in cities, etc. This could be modified by opposing government type. Representative governments would be wide open. Non-representative government would limit that information or even falsify it.

The interaction of Media and history could be played with and add interesting elements to modern era game play. It could give advantages to representative governments in the form of culture or propaganda pressure. If Religion is such a big issue, then media evangelism could be factored in.

I have no idea what you would do with tabloids. It sounds like an opportunity for Civ style silliness and more mentions of Elvis.

I can't believe I just broke my promise to myself about not trying to out-guess Firaxis. I will have to yell at myself later and then apologize and make up. You probably don't want the details.

[TitanTim]

Excellent point. The amount of control you have over the media (or lack of it) would influence espionage, propaganda, knowledge (scientific and general), and citizen happiness.

As you discover technologies relating to the media these items that are influenced by the media become more pronounced.

The telegraph (especially underwater cable) is an excellent example of a missing technology for enabling distant communications.

[Maquiladora]

Originally posted by Kuciwalker
I want the newspaper from SC2K

Thats not a bad idea... for the CtP2 sourcecode project.

[realpolitic]

Like Radio Free Europe.... beaming American propaganda into Soviet nations..... And include in the Internet wonder a weakening of totalitarian media.... Interesting.


Of course, even in "democracy", you could create corporate oligarchy as with America's recent FCC rules.