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An issue that I've noticed coming up repeatedly is the "realism" question of you and your empire lasting from 4000 BC to AD 2020. I was thinking of something that would introduce a different element of play into the game, without drastically altering the way the game is played.
Mortality of the Ruler.
Every so often the King will die. This interval would be randomly determined each time and might be somewhere between, say, 20 and 60 turns (I know, not realistic in early phase of the game, but hear me out). Each time this happened, assume one turn of turmoil during the interregnum, at the end of which the player could select among several options:
1. Same government with linear succession, as in Caesar to Caesar II to Caesar III
2. Same government with new line -- Caesar is succeeed by Naughtius Maximus
3. Entirely different government. Like revolution but perhaps with a shorter period of unrest.
At the end of the game, you could lookback on the line of rulers, of all the diffferent government phases your civilization phase took.
To reflect the tendency for governments to stagnate and revolt if too long under one type, introduce another random element. If too many successions without changing government type, the unrest period will be longer to reflect the people's dissatisfaction. To foster change, the three options listed above are listed in order of "tension".
Factors influencing death of the ruler:
1. Difficulty level. Not necessarily more frequently, but a broader range, like every 5-60 years at Deity, every 50-60 years at Chieftain.
2. Wartime. The longer you're at war, especially in pre-industrial times, the likelier your heroic king might die in battle. In addition to the "troops-away" unrest, democracies will be more likely to revolt if there's an interregnum during a prolonged conflict.
There were some other things relating to this as I thought of it last night, but they slip my mind at present. What say the general population?
Mortality of the Ruler.
Every so often the King will die. This interval would be randomly determined each time and might be somewhere between, say, 20 and 60 turns (I know, not realistic in early phase of the game, but hear me out). Each time this happened, assume one turn of turmoil during the interregnum, at the end of which the player could select among several options:
1. Same government with linear succession, as in Caesar to Caesar II to Caesar III
2. Same government with new line -- Caesar is succeeed by Naughtius Maximus
3. Entirely different government. Like revolution but perhaps with a shorter period of unrest.
At the end of the game, you could lookback on the line of rulers, of all the diffferent government phases your civilization phase took.
To reflect the tendency for governments to stagnate and revolt if too long under one type, introduce another random element. If too many successions without changing government type, the unrest period will be longer to reflect the people's dissatisfaction. To foster change, the three options listed above are listed in order of "tension".
Factors influencing death of the ruler:
1. Difficulty level. Not necessarily more frequently, but a broader range, like every 5-60 years at Deity, every 50-60 years at Chieftain.
2. Wartime. The longer you're at war, especially in pre-industrial times, the likelier your heroic king might die in battle. In addition to the "troops-away" unrest, democracies will be more likely to revolt if there's an interregnum during a prolonged conflict.
There were some other things relating to this as I thought of it last night, but they slip my mind at present. What say the general population?
) making elements complicated just adds restrictions on the game.
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