Strategic and Luxury Resorces in SMAC?

[Blake]

Heres my thoughts on an implementation of special resources...

A resource (say Uranium) appears on the map, when worked (or crawled) it allows the city working it to build and use a 'unique' facility (say Nuclear Reactor). These facilities would be much like the ordinary ones, like +50% production, +50% energy etc. The other thing working a special resource could do is just give you a bonus outright. (in cash, research, production, happiness etc)
Note that a 'unique' terraform which can only be built on the resource tile would often make as much sense as a facility...

The main use of special resources would be building 'super cities'.

They wouldn't *reduce* strategic options like strategic resources in Civ3, because not having the resource would only deprive you of one +50% facility, rather than an entire class of military hardware.

Thoughts on which special resources would make sense (effect applies *only* to base working/crawling resource):

Uranium: Nuclear Powerplant - +50% production
Oil: Refinery - units 1 row cheaper
Xenospices: +2 Talents
Geothermal: Geothermal Pipeline - Halve all facility upkeep costs, rounded down.
Alien Ruins: Alien Research Lab - +50% labs.

[Patashu]

Originally posted by Blake
Oil: Refinery - units 1 row cheaper

Does that mean Scout Patrols are free?
I think +1 industry at the base instead would balance it.

[Blake]

Does that mean Scout Patrols are free?

Heh. Ofcourse not, the bonus would only apply to mobile units, ie those which require fuel.

[RedFred]

Just a brief note to those talking so blithely about oil and oil refineries: according to the storyline the initial survey was optimistic of many discoveries of various hydrocarbons. These did not materialise. Planet is carbon deficient compared to Earth. As a result the native life forms are highly efficient at recycling carbon long before it before it forms oil or coal deposits.

The one exception is the fossil ridge landmark in SMACX, presumably because it is too deep for native life to grow and utilize any free hydrocarbons.

Also note various game references such as the importance of synthetic fossil fuels. The huge focus on energy in SMAC is because of the lack of easy energy such as oil deposits.

[Blake]

Which is why oil would be a special resource giving considerable bonuses (just to be anal, I'll point out that I didn't specify that the resource had to appear on land.)

Btw, I also wasn't reffering to chiron specifically, rather the broader topic of "if men were to colonise other planets, what resources might be of extraordinary value to them", or another way of putting it, in the future, what 'unique' resources will still hold special value.

You'll also note that 3 out of 5 special resources I proposed are energy based, Uranium, Geothermal and Oil. Easily harnassable energy would be highly valuable.

Because of the "substitue" effect mentioned (earlier) by redfred the scope of the benefit of any bonus resource would be quite limited (ie to one base), while it's true that one material can generally be subsituted for another, it's also true that some materials are just better or cheaper to use, especially when these materials are in an easily accessable form.

This is why special resources should give an economy/industry bonus rather than a military bonus, you don't need iron for a tank but it might be cheaper to build tanks if you have a ready source of usable iron. If you dont have the exceptional source of iron, you'll either need to utilise a source of less pure iron (which costs more to refine) or synthesise an alternative to steel.

For the record I hated the Civ3 strategic resources, while they did give a need for war I found on the whole they more limited strategy (by reducing your arsenal). Besides, there shouldn't be any good reasons to go to war. War should be declared on the whim of a crazy leader

[Ogie Oglethorpe]

First off let me go on record that I think strat resources in SMAC is generally a questionable idea. Matter of fact i'm generally not for inclusion of any of the CIV so called improvements as they now stand for inclusion into any current or future version of SMAC.

Thing I have 'gainst strat resources is the all or nothing implementation (making the game more dependient on good luck thanit needs to be. Resource x say coal is located only on continent C and you won't be able to mass aninvasion for at least 100 years putting the game out of reach as a consequence) Strat resources are not all or nothing if you won them it should make builds of facs or units easier and/or allow maintenance costs easier (the better approach). If you don't all costs should be something like 2X. Trade always happens even if on the black market so a 2X approach would simulate the balck market approach to gaining the appropriate resource (in the event you couldn't arrange an conventional market trade).

[Blake]

I also think that the Civ3 resource model, particullary with iron, neglects that often it is the know-how, or industrial infrastructure that is much more valuable in the construction of tanks (or nukes) than access to the raw materials (ie the materials are much easier to come across than the specialist knowledge and equipment). While the Civ3 model may be semi-accurate in the ancient ages it is pretty much bollucks in the modern age.

Another example is horses, while in ancient times only tribes with access and know how of dealing with the wild horses might have been able to use horses in military, by nearly-modern times the horses would all be bred in captivity, totally eliminating the need for the *original* source of horses.

Really, the Civ3 strategic resources model fails on both counts of realism and adding gameplay value.
The luxury resources are slightly more tolerable, but again market forces are much more likely to distribute the luxuries than the goverment (atleast, since international market forces have been around, which hasn't nessecarly been that long).

In sum, the resource model works okay in the ancient age, but is somewhat contrived, unrealistic and frustrating in the modern age. (which is why serious consideration would have to be given to it's implementation in a futuretech game)

[Sandman]

Why not give each faction a luxury item based on their ideology, which they and only they could make?

Gaians: Ornamental complete biospheres

Morgans: Designer Drugs

PKs: Traditional paper books

Spartans: Violent video games

Miriam: Religious music, books etc

University: Mathmatical puzzles...maybe.

Hive: Umm...

The luxuries are a way to either cement an alliance, or aggressively attack the enemy leaders support by his own people. They can try to ban the luxuries, but their people may rebel or smuggle them in under their nose.

You can either churn out cheap trash, or go for extreme quality. Quality costs more, but has a greater effect.

So the luxuries would work as both propaganda and happiness-makers.

[Gregurabi]

Gaians: Xenofungus brandy. Also herbal medicines.

Morgans: High-budget movies (some of them with very attractive actors and actresses) "It's only porn if you're in Godwinson's faction. Everywhere else, it's art!".

Peacekeepers: mail-order brides. Slav^H^H^H^H Servants.

Spartans: antique and custom weaponry. Firearms, swords and knives, etc.

Believers: have to go with the religious paraphernalia.

University: software.

Hive: um... martial arts courses. Yoga and Tai Chi video tapes (or whatever technology they use).