Apolyton University Mod (PTW version)

[alexman]

Communism

As many have observed before, the main shortcoming of Communism as compared to Monarchy as a wartime govrnment is its higher level of corruption. Even in cases where Communism should be better than Monarchy (empires with a number of cities cities close to the "optimum", but spanning large distances), it is not.

The best solution would be if Firaxis toned down the communal level of corruption, or at least if they gave us a way of doing it through the editor. But since that is unlikely to happen, our best hope for balancing that government is to try and reduce its corruption using the existing editor.

In the past, we have tried increasing free military support, but this was not effective because free military support for communism is already high, so support is already completely free in many cases. The AI has more units, but it also receivces additional free military support at higher levels. Another approach that didn't work was free building maintenance. This made communism too powerful, and the AI seemed to choose this government more often than usual.

So how about trying this now:
Add a very cheap (10 shields?) new Small Wonder (worker's union?) which is specific to Communism, and which gives enough happy faces (8?) to the entire empire to cause WLTKD celebrations everywhere. WLTKD has no effect on science and tax income, but it reduces waste. In cities with courthouses and police stations, the reduction is not dramatic, but is enough give Communism a good boost. We would probably also have to do something else like increasing worker speed.

[ducki]

sounds good, but will this make it the govt. of choice for large human empires, too?

let's try it and see.

how about AU 203 - Seeing Red, in which the human must not use Republic or Democracy and must switch to Communism as soon as it's available?

that way we could see just how good or bad the changes are in the long term.


Edit for clarification: the switch to Communism would be permanent.

[ducki]

Also, the Small Wonder - even though it's Specific to Communism, do its effects continue even if you switch out of Commie-dom?

If so, that's awfully unbalancing in favor of the human, isn't it?
Or can you make it only work while the Civ is in Communism?

[alexman]

Yes, there is no question that this solution would have been very bad if that were the case. But the Wonder has no effect when you're not in Communism. It doesn't even show in the city screen.

[player1]

What about cheap corruption reducing building?

[ducki]

Another thing - do we really need it to give Happy faces for WLT*D or will Content do the job?

If Content will do, I'd say call it something like Party Headquarters or The Kremlin. Make it give a buttload of Content faces, so the AI and the player still have to be doing something right to get actual Happy Faces and trigger WLT*D.

My interest is piqued, I wanna try this. Maybe I'm just bored with the standard Republic->Democracy path.

[delmar]

Call it The Vodka Factory.

[Catt]

Re: Communism

Originally posted by alexman
So how about trying this now:
Add a very cheap (10 shields?) new Small Wonder (worker's union?) which is specific to Communism, and which gives enough happy faces (8?) to the entire empire to cause WLTKD celebrations everywhere. WLTKD has no effect on science and tax income, but it reduces waste. In cities with courthouses and police stations, the reduction is not dramatic, but is enough give Communism a good boost. We would probably also have to do something else like increasing worker speed.

Interesting, creative idea . I'd obviously like to see how it actually plays, but I like the idea of alleviating waste probblems a bit but leaving corruption in place (with all the traditional methods of fighting it still available, of course).

Catt

[Nor Me]

Re: Communism

Originally posted by alexman

Add a very cheap (10 shields?) new Small Wonder (worker's union?) which is specific to Communism, and which gives enough happy faces (8?) to the entire empire to cause WLTKD celebrations everywhere. WLTKD has no effect on science and tax income, but it reduces waste. In cities with courthouses and police stations, the reduction is not dramatic, but is enough give Communism a good boost. We would probably also have to do something else like increasing worker speed.

I already had the Communist rubber monopoly down as an AU MOD specific strategy.

[alexman]

Rubber Monopoly? As in condoms are the reason everyone is happy?

Anyway, I thought about it a bit more and I think all these happy faces could be exploitable through pop-rushing and drafting. But maybe not. The AI routinely drafts and pop-rushes when it can. Maybe it's just a choice between using WLTKD or drafting as a means to get more shields.

BTW, anyone know exactly how Bach's works? I think it turns unhappy people content, but do you get some happy people when everyone's already content, or does the extra happiness go to waste like with a temple? Whatever the answer, that's how this new Communist Wonder would work.

[alexman]

Kremlin?

Action: Added new, Communism-Specific, Small Wonder: The Kremlin.
Costs 10 shields. Can be built only in Capital.
Converts 8 unhappy people in each city in the same continent to content.
Gives free maintenance for trade installations.
Reason: To enhance Communism as a government choice.
Comment: The main shortcoming of Communism as a wartime government compared to Monarchy was the level of corruption. Free maintenance on trade installations gives some back some extra income lost to corruption, and the extra happiness can be used to get back some production, either from drafting/pop-rushing, or from waste reduction through WLTKD. Building in capital ensures that the AI won’t build this cheap Wonder in a secondary continent where it would lose some happiness benefits.

[Dominae]

I haven't followed this whole Communism discussion because I've been away, but here's my initial reaction:

We're re-creating Fundamentalism, slowly, bit by bit.


Dominae

[alexman]

Proposed Changes for version 1.14

• Remove wheeled ability from all units where it was previously added
• Remove airlift ability from all units where it was previously added
• Radar Artillery back to original (1 move, no oil/rubber)
• All ground artillery has defense strength of 1.
• AEGIS and submarines now transport cruise missiles.
• Upkeep of Banks back to original (1).
• Movement of Frigate back to original (4).
• Reduce movement of Privateer to 4.
• Increase attack strength of Frigate and Man-O-War by 1.
• Increase cost of Ironclad to 100.
• Battleship and AEGIS ROF back to original (2).
• Increase bombard strength of Battleship and AEGIS by 2.
• Unit support for Communism and Monarchy back to original.
• Add new Small Wonder: The Kremlin.

[ducki]

alexman - is that updated in the download on the first post?
If so, I'll try it out next time I have free time.
I tried a Deity game today, less than optimal start point, but was never more than 2 techs behind in any given tree. Got a leader and nabbed the library to maintain tech parity to Middle Ages, but I'm thinking I'll try out this Commie stuff at Monarch or Emperor.

Wheee!

[alexman]

ducki, no, it's not updated yet, because it's just a proposed list.

Let's wait a little longer in case anyone has any objections or other ideas.