City Improvment After Effects

[Alex 14]

In civ 2 marketplaces gave you +50 economy output, this amount doubles when you build a bank, stock exchange ect. I have a new proposition to put forward - what if an ancient library increases your city economy output by 12%, then a medieval library increases it again by 24%, a renaissance university increases the city science by 48%, and overall science by an extra 12%. A modern university could then increase your city science by 96%, and overall science by 24% plus give you a 8% city gold output bonus. Something like that anyway.

[Ralf]

Re: City Improvment After Effects

Originally posted by Alex 14
I have a new proposition to put forward - what if an ancient library increases your city economy output by 12%, then a medieval library increases it again by 24%, a renaissance university increases the city science by 48%, and overall science by an extra 12%. A modern university could then increase your city science by 96%, and overall science by 24% plus give you a 8% city gold output bonus. Something like that anyway.

No, I dont like it. One of the reasons I enjoyed playing the civ-series so much, was that there was always a clear and easy to understand under-the-hood connection between my gradually added city-upgrades, on one side - and the gradually increased benefits & outputs from that same city, on the other side. The only variable here was basically the size of the city.

Being able to intuitively understand and immediately overview this connection between inputs & outputs, makes the process of upgrading your city with CI:s and improved terrain-tiles, much more meaningful and worthwhile. Im instinctively against anything that destroys that vital & crucial overview.
Therefore, I always prefer integer-numbers and percentage-numbers in blocky 50-100-150% steps only - rather then fraction-numbers and incremental percentage-numbers.
I didnt even like the simultaneous benefit-outputs given by some SMAC base-upgrades. Librarys & universitys should only boost science; factories & mfg plants only boost production, Banks & stock exchanges only economy, and so on. Like in Civ-1 & 2. They should avoid, at least to a big extent, multiple benefits upgrades. Otherwise, theres a risk that the connection gets lost.

I have played many strategy-games where I added this or that improvement, but because the input first had to be mangled through some complicated fraction-numbered boolean God damn formula, before it could be presented as an output, I often lost the connection. I only knew that, in one way or the other (which I couldnt clearly overview), that upgrade somehow did a beneficial difference. It all felt rather inflationary however, and in the end a feeling of detachment from the game, started to grow...