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The Creation of Differences between Civs.
Civ2 was a fabulous game, but one thing struck me: all the civs were the same! There was usually nothing to distinguish civs excepts on their technology level. This was strange, especially after reading about Britain's mastery of the seas in the 1900s, and at the same time, the Prussian's great armies.
So, I though, how can we make differences, without throwing the whole system out of wack. I thought that civ specific techs were wrong. Because why would the Brits need great seamanship if they were a landlocked civ? It wouldn't make much sence, would it?
So, I began to think of ways to make civs different, where the player would have the choice on what path to follow. What did I come up with? "Traits".
Now what are traits? Well, first of all, we must divide the tech tree into 4 (or 5) eras, like the Wonders of the World were in Civ2. Then insert these "traits" into the tree. "Traits" are a dead end on the Civ tree, but they are specializations. For example, a trait during modern times might be -Advanced Armor-, which would increase movement and power of armored units. Now, the main part of this arguement, is that Civs can ONLY CHOOSE ONE TRAIT PER ERA! So they must make a choice between that -Advanced Seamanship- or -Advanced Infantry- depending on what the player sees as the better choice for his civ, based on where he is and where he wants to go.
This idea of "traits", dead end specializations that a civ can only chose one of per era, would add this differentiation between civs. You could have your great naval powers and great army powers by specialized picks. While an island nations choses -Advanced Seamanship-, a landlocked nation can pick -Advanced Infantry-.
However, it isn't just relegated to military. Traits can also be under political or cultural. You could have -Improved Fascism- or -True Socialism-, which could improve the benefits of a particular government. Or You could pick -Greater Playwrights- to improve happiness inside your empire. But remember only ONE Trait per era. You'd have to pick between military or political or cultural traits, and of course you could only get traits when you get the neccessary techs that the prereqs for the traits. This adds another element. A civ could pick a trait early in the era to get a boost through the era, or wait until the end of the era to get a more powerful trait, but be rendered weaker in the era as the result.
This addition of "Traits" adds more strategy and creates interesting differentiations. You could have civs that spend all 4 traits (one per each era) on naval upgrades, while others spread their traits in different area (like creating the Perfect Fascism, while having the best Infantry).
I'm open to suggestions on how to improve this concept, but I believe that this is, at its base, a good concept.
So, I though, how can we make differences, without throwing the whole system out of wack. I thought that civ specific techs were wrong. Because why would the Brits need great seamanship if they were a landlocked civ? It wouldn't make much sence, would it?
So, I began to think of ways to make civs different, where the player would have the choice on what path to follow. What did I come up with? "Traits".
Now what are traits? Well, first of all, we must divide the tech tree into 4 (or 5) eras, like the Wonders of the World were in Civ2. Then insert these "traits" into the tree. "Traits" are a dead end on the Civ tree, but they are specializations. For example, a trait during modern times might be -Advanced Armor-, which would increase movement and power of armored units. Now, the main part of this arguement, is that Civs can ONLY CHOOSE ONE TRAIT PER ERA! So they must make a choice between that -Advanced Seamanship- or -Advanced Infantry- depending on what the player sees as the better choice for his civ, based on where he is and where he wants to go.
This idea of "traits", dead end specializations that a civ can only chose one of per era, would add this differentiation between civs. You could have your great naval powers and great army powers by specialized picks. While an island nations choses -Advanced Seamanship-, a landlocked nation can pick -Advanced Infantry-.
However, it isn't just relegated to military. Traits can also be under political or cultural. You could have -Improved Fascism- or -True Socialism-, which could improve the benefits of a particular government. Or You could pick -Greater Playwrights- to improve happiness inside your empire. But remember only ONE Trait per era. You'd have to pick between military or political or cultural traits, and of course you could only get traits when you get the neccessary techs that the prereqs for the traits. This adds another element. A civ could pick a trait early in the era to get a boost through the era, or wait until the end of the era to get a more powerful trait, but be rendered weaker in the era as the result.
This addition of "Traits" adds more strategy and creates interesting differentiations. You could have civs that spend all 4 traits (one per each era) on naval upgrades, while others spread their traits in different area (like creating the Perfect Fascism, while having the best Infantry).
I'm open to suggestions on how to improve this concept, but I believe that this is, at its base, a good concept.
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