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Ahhhhh, my first full-fledged attempt at redesigning an aspect of Civ 3 (but not other games 
) to hopefully get myself heard, and have my topic debated.
As I'm sure most people here know, one of the concerns of many people regarding Civ 3 is its inability to deal with resources in (what they feel is) an effective and realistic manner. Through my idea, I hope that people can agree on some way to better represent resources and how the game deals with them.
The Problem: Currently in Civ, resources are kind of like a computer 'on' or 'off'. You either have a resource or you don't. If you have it, then you can reap the rewards of possessing it as many times and for as long as you wish. If you don't, you're out in the cold until you get possession of a source of that particular resource. This is obviously a problem, because this is now how things work in the real world.
Case Study I: The USA has large oil reserves in Alaska and the South in areas such as Texas and Louisiana, but these sources are by no means enough to cover the entire country's need for oil. However, these sources do provide quite a benefit for our country, saving us millions (or even billions) due to the fact that we aren't forced to import other sources of oil from overseas. How do you represent this in Civ? Well, the answer is, you can't really. There's no way to show how that work. In addition to that, creation of units is dealt with in a somewhat unrealistic fashion as well. If you want to build a Battleship, for instance, if you have iron and oil at that point, then poof, you have a Battleship. Resources could be better managed in this manner as well.
Case Study II: Say you're playing Russia on a world map. You discover a nice source of iron near your capital in the Ural Mountains. Hooray you say, now I can build Swordsmen. Eventually as time goes on, your empire spreads from Europe to Asia, and you found Vladivostok (a city near Manchuria on the far edge of the Pacific Ocean). You are building Swordsmen in Vladivostok to help avert war with the Chinese. The mystery is, how did the Ural iron make it to Vladivostok? Civ assumes that the road network in your country is sufficient to assume that that particular resource is being moved between the source, and all areas connected to that network. The problem is, that this is not how things work in real life, and could be dealt with in a more appropriate manner.
My Solution: My solution for this problem is simply to eliminate the Civ 3 'switch' system of "you have it or you don't", and introduce a simple quantity system. While I realize this may seem to go against what is Civ, I will offer simpler alternatives should people disagree with my initial proposal. The advantage will be a more realistic portrayal of resource usage, as well as adding layers of depth that can carry over into other areas of the game. Resources would be measured in a numeric quantity. They could be traded in a quantity as well ("trade 5000 gold for 500 units of oil). Resources would be consumed in that quantity. For example, a "Swordsman" unit would require 10 iron to produce, as well as the 1 gold support cost, and the shields necessary to produce it in the first place. This eliminates the problem of "I have a source of iron, here comes my massive 100 Battleship Navy", because what you can produce is limited to the quantity you possess. In addition to that, support costs could be changed as well. For example, a Battleship unit could require 50 oil per turn in order to be able to move. If you don't have at least 50 oil, then that Battleship is immobile. Production costs could be changed in this manner as well. Instead of it costing 1 oil to produce the Battleship, it may not cost any oil at all, due to the fact that it uses oil to run, not to manufacture the ship. Then again, a small oil cost may be associated with it, due to the usage of machinery to build the ship. The system I propose isn't very complicated, adds much realism, and would offer much more game play value for the amount of effort it would take to change the coding within the game. I believe this system is a very viable alternative to what's currently in place.
Case Study I Revisited: A quantity-based system dealing with resources would easily and simply solve this problem. There could be two parameters for each source of a resource. 1) Source Quantity: This would be a measure of how much of a particular resource is present in a particular source. This number could be small or huge. For example, oil sources in the Middle East would have massive quantities, while sources in the American South would have much less. 2: Source Extraction Rate: This would be a measure of how MUCH of a particular resource could be obtained from the source each turn. Sources in the Middle East would have HUGE extraction rates, while those in the American South would have much smaller rates. The extraction rate could be increased up to a certain point by an upgraded colony of a certain type (colony type I, type II, type III, etc.).
Simplification: This may be a little too complicated for Civ, so I pose simpler alternatives. 1) Eliminate one of the resource's source parameters. There is only quantity, or amount that can be extracted from a particular source of it. 2) Eliminate colony upgrades.
Case Study II Revisited: Again, the quantity system of keeping track of a particular resource provides for an easier and more realistic system. This problem leads into my idea for the re-working of the trade system, which is very intertwined in with resources:
I propose the idea for "fat roads", or something to that effect to be reintroduced to Civ 3. Having to build a 'trade route road' between cities would be a better way to keep track of what resources are going where. After all, a trade network isn't just the road... it's the carts/wagons/trucks/trains/ships that take the resource between cities on the roads, and it takes more effort to move goods than it does to simply create a network for them to move on.
In addition to the reintroduction of 'fat roads' I (and many others, though Mike may disagree) believe that a better way of managing overseas trade must be addressed. If I understand things correctly, the only way to blockade an enemy's coastal trade is to put a ship next to each and every tile adjacent to every one of their ports with a harbor. This system falls to pieces when you consider that if you are connected to a neighbor with a harbor that isn't at war with your enemy, then your trade goes through his ports at no expense to you... thereby making blockades (and maybe even naval vessels themselves) useless. The solution is to establish either 1) Transports or traders going between cities that hold a certain quantity of a particular resource that is being traded (and that can be pirated, as was true in real life). 2) A simple 'trade route' like that present on land with 'fat roads' could be created. In the first manner, blockades would be effective in the manner that if you find a ship with a resource, you can either A: capture the cargo and sink the ship, or B: sink the ship with the cargo (in case your ship gets captured soon after, you don't want them to regain the cargo). In the second manner, the trade route would be visible in a 'trade map overlay', or maybe in some sort of on-map visual, and a ship could be on or adjacent to this route which would prevent the trade of that resource. Either one of these proposals is much more realistic than what is currently in place, and would make naval issues much more pressing and interesting.
These ideas are the basic premise of my proposal. I may add on later, should I feel the urge. Feel free to comment on my proposal. If I find a problem that a majority of people agrees with, then I may change my proposition.
) to hopefully get myself heard, and have my topic debated.As I'm sure most people here know, one of the concerns of many people regarding Civ 3 is its inability to deal with resources in (what they feel is) an effective and realistic manner. Through my idea, I hope that people can agree on some way to better represent resources and how the game deals with them.
The Problem: Currently in Civ, resources are kind of like a computer 'on' or 'off'. You either have a resource or you don't. If you have it, then you can reap the rewards of possessing it as many times and for as long as you wish. If you don't, you're out in the cold until you get possession of a source of that particular resource. This is obviously a problem, because this is now how things work in the real world.
Case Study I: The USA has large oil reserves in Alaska and the South in areas such as Texas and Louisiana, but these sources are by no means enough to cover the entire country's need for oil. However, these sources do provide quite a benefit for our country, saving us millions (or even billions) due to the fact that we aren't forced to import other sources of oil from overseas. How do you represent this in Civ? Well, the answer is, you can't really. There's no way to show how that work. In addition to that, creation of units is dealt with in a somewhat unrealistic fashion as well. If you want to build a Battleship, for instance, if you have iron and oil at that point, then poof, you have a Battleship. Resources could be better managed in this manner as well.
Case Study II: Say you're playing Russia on a world map. You discover a nice source of iron near your capital in the Ural Mountains. Hooray you say, now I can build Swordsmen. Eventually as time goes on, your empire spreads from Europe to Asia, and you found Vladivostok (a city near Manchuria on the far edge of the Pacific Ocean). You are building Swordsmen in Vladivostok to help avert war with the Chinese. The mystery is, how did the Ural iron make it to Vladivostok? Civ assumes that the road network in your country is sufficient to assume that that particular resource is being moved between the source, and all areas connected to that network. The problem is, that this is not how things work in real life, and could be dealt with in a more appropriate manner.
My Solution: My solution for this problem is simply to eliminate the Civ 3 'switch' system of "you have it or you don't", and introduce a simple quantity system. While I realize this may seem to go against what is Civ, I will offer simpler alternatives should people disagree with my initial proposal. The advantage will be a more realistic portrayal of resource usage, as well as adding layers of depth that can carry over into other areas of the game. Resources would be measured in a numeric quantity. They could be traded in a quantity as well ("trade 5000 gold for 500 units of oil). Resources would be consumed in that quantity. For example, a "Swordsman" unit would require 10 iron to produce, as well as the 1 gold support cost, and the shields necessary to produce it in the first place. This eliminates the problem of "I have a source of iron, here comes my massive 100 Battleship Navy", because what you can produce is limited to the quantity you possess. In addition to that, support costs could be changed as well. For example, a Battleship unit could require 50 oil per turn in order to be able to move. If you don't have at least 50 oil, then that Battleship is immobile. Production costs could be changed in this manner as well. Instead of it costing 1 oil to produce the Battleship, it may not cost any oil at all, due to the fact that it uses oil to run, not to manufacture the ship. Then again, a small oil cost may be associated with it, due to the usage of machinery to build the ship. The system I propose isn't very complicated, adds much realism, and would offer much more game play value for the amount of effort it would take to change the coding within the game. I believe this system is a very viable alternative to what's currently in place.
Case Study I Revisited: A quantity-based system dealing with resources would easily and simply solve this problem. There could be two parameters for each source of a resource. 1) Source Quantity: This would be a measure of how much of a particular resource is present in a particular source. This number could be small or huge. For example, oil sources in the Middle East would have massive quantities, while sources in the American South would have much less. 2: Source Extraction Rate: This would be a measure of how MUCH of a particular resource could be obtained from the source each turn. Sources in the Middle East would have HUGE extraction rates, while those in the American South would have much smaller rates. The extraction rate could be increased up to a certain point by an upgraded colony of a certain type (colony type I, type II, type III, etc.).
Simplification: This may be a little too complicated for Civ, so I pose simpler alternatives. 1) Eliminate one of the resource's source parameters. There is only quantity, or amount that can be extracted from a particular source of it. 2) Eliminate colony upgrades.
Case Study II Revisited: Again, the quantity system of keeping track of a particular resource provides for an easier and more realistic system. This problem leads into my idea for the re-working of the trade system, which is very intertwined in with resources:
I propose the idea for "fat roads", or something to that effect to be reintroduced to Civ 3. Having to build a 'trade route road' between cities would be a better way to keep track of what resources are going where. After all, a trade network isn't just the road... it's the carts/wagons/trucks/trains/ships that take the resource between cities on the roads, and it takes more effort to move goods than it does to simply create a network for them to move on.
In addition to the reintroduction of 'fat roads' I (and many others, though Mike may disagree
) believe that a better way of managing overseas trade must be addressed. If I understand things correctly, the only way to blockade an enemy's coastal trade is to put a ship next to each and every tile adjacent to every one of their ports with a harbor. This system falls to pieces when you consider that if you are connected to a neighbor with a harbor that isn't at war with your enemy, then your trade goes through his ports at no expense to you... thereby making blockades (and maybe even naval vessels themselves) useless. The solution is to establish either 1) Transports or traders going between cities that hold a certain quantity of a particular resource that is being traded (and that can be pirated, as was true in real life). 2) A simple 'trade route' like that present on land with 'fat roads' could be created. In the first manner, blockades would be effective in the manner that if you find a ship with a resource, you can either A: capture the cargo and sink the ship, or B: sink the ship with the cargo (in case your ship gets captured soon after, you don't want them to regain the cargo). In the second manner, the trade route would be visible in a 'trade map overlay', or maybe in some sort of on-map visual, and a ship could be on or adjacent to this route which would prevent the trade of that resource. Either one of these proposals is much more realistic than what is currently in place, and would make naval issues much more pressing and interesting.These ideas are the basic premise of my proposal. I may add on later, should I feel the urge. Feel free to comment on my proposal. If I find a problem that a majority of people agrees with, then I may change my proposition.
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), but I can still hope someone sees it.
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