The Louisiana Purchase (or its potential Civ counterpart)

[Dis]

thinking about it though, it seems like it only comes into play on terra maps.

Of course, putting cities on terra maps is dangerous business. Basically it puts a bullseye on it, and all the barbs head straight for that city. In that respect, staking the land is actually a better idea. As it would give you time to slowly increase defenses and infrastructure (as what happened in the americas). But as I said, it really only comes into play on terra maps. Not sure if it's worth a major game overhaul just for that.

[Hobie819]

I would assume that a city built by a stack of explorers would follow the same rules as a normal city, including high maintenance costs. Also, the cost of five explorer units is quite a bit more expensive than one settler.

Sorry about that MasterDave. I was referring to the original idea of explorers claiming land, not the stack of explorers making a city.

I dont mind your idea actually. There is a sufficient penalty for it, but it makes explorers useful because settlers can't travel on caravels. It wouldn't work on Pangea no, but on continents, terra, achapelegio, etc... it would work fine, allowing you to claim land and make a city before you would otherwise get a settler over there.

[Dis]

and it seems to me this thread is about the Lousiana french territories not the Lousiana purchase. .

I orginally thought it would be about buying land.

I wonder though, why is there an option to buy AI cities when they are always redded out? Has anyone been able to buy an AI city?

[Tattila the Hun]

I'd imagine, if an AI has taken a small border city, with no present, or future, resource, it might be available. Though, I'd imagine it depends on their mood, too.

Maybe recently taken by culture would be more likely.

Originally posted by LordShiva
Size 1 cities would suffice in those cases.

Yah, but that one city might cost you 20 gold per turn... Sure, if you want that oil, you might be willing to pay, still, seems rather steep for otherwise useles city.

[Will9]

I have a queston, how would culture in territories work.

[Blaupanzer]

Originally posted by Kuciwalker
Here's how you claim otherwise unused land: build praets, and conquer anyone who goes into that land.

And everyone else, for that matter.

You need to try playing some of the other civs, especially in SP.

[LordShiva]

Originally posted by Blaupanzer
You need to try playing some of the other civs, especially in SP.

There are other civs?

[Thedrin]

I believe you know them as the vanquished.

[Will9]

I call them "Move, You Whimp!"

[MasterDave]

Originally posted by LordShiva
Then what's the point? Better to send a settler and a defender over instead.

The point is that there is often a long gap in many games between optics and astronomy, and explorers being able to build a city before you learn how to build Galleons may make explorers worth building. Right now they are worthless.

[Virdrago]

Technically the settlers didn't show up until after the explorers found the best areas to settle. So they could be used to scout the best city-site before you plop down your overseas city. Still, I agree, unless you start at a later tech age, an original game of Civ will never see an explorer. Even the AI doesn't use them.

[Common Sensei]

Originally posted by MasterDave


The point is that there is often a long gap in many games between optics and astronomy, and explorers being able to build a city before you learn how to build Galleons may make explorers worth building. Right now they are worthless.

The flipside of the coin is that it gives the AI another tool. It seems as though the AI prioritizes building caravels, revealing the map, and circumnavigating the globe. If they were able to put explorers in those caravels and start claiming land, while you've been waiting for Astronomy to build galleons and settlers, you might be too late to put those to use.

It might give the player incentive to get out there and start exploring more quickly if the AI was able to claim good land (and strategic resources) before you could. It could also be another way to provoke a war, say if claimed land was automatically treated as right of passage and you do go ahead and plunk a city down in there anyway.

[Cort Haus]

Originally posted by MasterDave
Explorers as they are now are quite useless

Barracks + Theocracy = Explorer-Medic. A very nice unit.

[MasterDave]

Originally posted by Cort Haus


Barracks + Theocracy = Explorer-Medic. A very nice unit.

No different than a Horse-archer or Chariot medic (maybe a little cheaper than the horse archer, I am not sure what explorers cost). Only the horses can also attack things.