n00b Questions

[Barinthus]

Originally posted by Shogun Gunner

Why would Egypt still be willing to give me 36/gpt for Saltpeter in 1999? I have made this deal over and over again (for varying amounts) -- and I don't understand why they feel compelled to trade for a resource they obviously don't need.

I had a similar experience, in my recent epic game, after steam power has been discovered, Mayans offered like 15 gpt for horses!

[Xorbon]

Originally posted by Barinthus


I had a similar experience, in my recent epic game, after steam power has been discovered, Mayans offered like 15 gpt for horses!

I don't find that case to be too weird. Cavalry don't become fully obsolete until tanks roll around. Even then, they're still handy as scouting units until modern armor arrives.

All that being said, I'm working on a mod where cavalry upgrades to an armored scout car (8/5/3 needs oil) at the same time that tanks come. That way you don't have the odd case of AI wanting horses right through the modern age.

[Grandpa Troll]

sounds good!

I am a U S Army Vet..and agree there are medium options between Horses and Tanks

Yours is a very believable & acceptable medium....

The M551-Sheridan is a or should i say was a viable option..it was a light tank/reconnisance vehicle

[Xorbon]

My idea for an armored scout is more of a WWII car (with armor-plating and a mounted machine gun, etc.). A LAV (light-armored vehicle) would be the modern upgrade. So the upgrade chain could look like this:

Cavalry (6/3/3, needs saltpeter/horses, w/ military tradition) -->

Armored Scout (8/5/3, needs oil, w/motorized transport) -->

Light-Armored Vehicle (or LAV) (14/8/3 or 4, needs oil/aluminum, w/ either computers or synthetic fibers)
I was thinking I'd either give it a move rate of 4, or a move rate of 3 + radar (to abstractly represent its scouting ability).

Anyway, that's what I had in mind.

There are two reasons to have this chain. First, it takes cavalry off of the build list without having it upgrade to tanks. Second, it provides a cheaper unit for modern armies. I found a (6 or 8) wheeled LAV unit on CFC that looks pretty good. The reason I chose wheeled over tracked was so that it didn't look too much like modern armor or mech. infantry.

[Grandpa Troll]

This is an L A V (Light Armored Vehicle) offloading from an L-Cat (with a HUMVEE behind it)

Peace

Gramps

For the record, I love the thought process..keep at it!

[Kuciwalker]

Re: n00b Questions

Originally posted by Twelve Motion
What is saltpeter for?

Saltpeter is yummy candy.

[Grandpa Troll]

in this game it is a resource..lets just leave "other applications" for another thread

Gramps

[Dis]

"other applications"

this thread and something someone said at my work caused me to look it up.

The guy at work said they used saltpeter to keep sexual desire down during boot camp.

The guys at work asked if my boot camp used it. I had no idea about this urban legend until a few months ago.

And yes, it is indeed an urban legend. The military does not add saltpeter to inhibit sexual desire.

[Grandpa Troll]

Originally posted by Dissident
"other applications"

this thread and something someone said at my work caused me to look it up.

The guy at work said they used saltpeter to keep sexual desire down during boot camp.

The guys at work asked if my boot camp used it. I had no idea about this urban legend until a few months ago.

And yes, it is indeed an urban legend. The military does not add saltpeter to inhibit sexual desire.

well, I will say as a veteran and went through boot camp at Fort McClellan Alabama USAMPS,TC & FM that we also heard the "rumor"..but one thing is for sure..categorically denying it doesnt mean it didnt happen...

ya gotta wonder though..17-20 year olds..no physical contact with another human being allowed for about 12 weeks...

twelve weeks..thats hard

Maybe so maybe not..

Gramps

[Dis]

but specifically saltpeter is KNO3. Potassium Nitrate. Used to make gunpowder.

It is said it is formed in warm climates by bacterial reactions of animal/human waste and plant waste in the soil.

[Xorbon]

As well as being used to make gunpowder, saltpeter has also been used as a food preservative and in the making of incense. I heard somewhere it was used in mummification too.

In the game, saltpeter is needed to build musketmen, cannons, cavalry, frigates, and coastal fortresses.

[dmd175]

Originally posted by Dissident
but specifically saltpeter is KNO3. Potassium Nitrate. Used to make gunpowder.

It is said it is formed in warm climates by bacterial reactions of animal/human waste and plant waste in the soil.

All true (but IIRC I think NaNO3 is also a form of saltpetre). But to make gunpowder, you also need sulfur. Why saltpetre for the limiting resource - or are there plentiful deposits of elemental sulfur everywhere?

Also, shouldn't nationalism allow cavalry without saltpetre? If you look at nationalism/rifleman in the pedia, it says (last time I looked) that saltpetre is now so plentiful and traded widely that you don't need the resource yourself for rifleman. What if someone is a resource hoarder in the game?

[joncnunn]

Saltpeter was the most difficult to find between Saltpeter, Sulfur and charcoal in the high middle ages.

[joncnunn]

In game terms, letting people build Calvary without the Saltpeter resource would almost competely make it pointless.

(Musket Men are very unpopular due to how much more they cost compared to Pike Men)

[dmd175]

Originally posted by joncnunn
In game terms, letting people build Calvary without the Saltpeter resource would almost competely make it pointless.

(Musket Men are very unpopular due to how much more they cost compared to Pike Men)

I think my problem is is that I'm always trying to extrapolate too much of the real world into civ, and sometimes forget that I should be interested in game play and balance.