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A few things about civeconomy vs reality
Today it suddenly hit me...
When your trade-routes are passing through foreign territory they can demand taxes for it even if it's just passing trough. The only representation in civ2 is that they will or won't kill your camels.
In reality goods are not always more profitable to sell far away, the further distance, the higher travel cost (and sometimes taxation for passing through certain places. Particulary in older times this kind of expences could multiply the value of the commodity.
Another thing that SMAC tried to simulate a bit is the business cycle. Good times keeps being interrupted by bad times. In modern times this has happend every 6 - 8 year (I read it in a newspaper).
Finnaly, in civ2 when everything is built you are rich beyond imagination, in reality we all know that even the most riches countries are struggeling for keeping their income higher than their expences. Things can always be improved further. Also the distribution of wealth is still, no matter of government type unjust and the corruption in every government is a problem. I doubt there has been any country in history that hasn't had atleast 5% of it's reasources wasted through dumbness or corruption.
This is the reality. (Some of the reality since reality are so complex that i could write hundreds of pages without ever come close). If firaxis could implement some of it and still have an enjoyable game it's fine, but too much reality would just be a pain. What i wanted to say is just that civ2 economic model is based on a model that is proven wrong every day. There are two assumptions that are wrong:
1. The more money the more happy people - false, it's the distribution of wealth and alot of noneconomical factors that influences the happiness of people. Of course more money 'can' benefit more people, but it's seldom the case.
2. The value of money never changes - anyone that knows anything about economy knows that the more gold the less the value of gold. Since the economy cannot be bigger than the amount of traded goods and services. It doesn't matter how much money there is, the only thing that actually matters is how much there can be purchased for all this money.
I make three easy suggestions.
1. traderoutes - furthers distance means greater need for demand to be worth it. (England don't make profit of selling silk to china). I suggest that setting up a trade route has a cost depending on distance and then the bonus is what it is, if you are lucky or smart the bonus should not be smaller than the cost for setting up the trade route. (and you still get science bonus so it could be worth it anyway)
2. instead of 2 luxury making a new citizen happy (or content if they are unhappy) every 2 luxury should every other time (or every third time) make an already happy citizen extra happy. In order to keep your cities from rioting you simply need policing, propaganda and recreation improvements.
3. improvement upgrades. Maintance cost isn't enough, every once in a while
a total renovation is necessary, especially after certian advances like 'electric light' or 'internet' or 'telephone' and other things. Those new upgrades will make the improvement either sheaper in maintance or more efficient.
How to implement that fact that your money fall in value as they increase in quantity i haven't figured out. But maybe the best is to skip that, how on earth would we afford to to send a spaceship to AC or conquer the world if that was implemented?
When your trade-routes are passing through foreign territory they can demand taxes for it even if it's just passing trough. The only representation in civ2 is that they will or won't kill your camels.
In reality goods are not always more profitable to sell far away, the further distance, the higher travel cost (and sometimes taxation for passing through certain places. Particulary in older times this kind of expences could multiply the value of the commodity.
Another thing that SMAC tried to simulate a bit is the business cycle. Good times keeps being interrupted by bad times. In modern times this has happend every 6 - 8 year (I read it in a newspaper).
Finnaly, in civ2 when everything is built you are rich beyond imagination, in reality we all know that even the most riches countries are struggeling for keeping their income higher than their expences. Things can always be improved further. Also the distribution of wealth is still, no matter of government type unjust and the corruption in every government is a problem. I doubt there has been any country in history that hasn't had atleast 5% of it's reasources wasted through dumbness or corruption.
This is the reality. (Some of the reality since reality are so complex that i could write hundreds of pages without ever come close). If firaxis could implement some of it and still have an enjoyable game it's fine, but too much reality would just be a pain. What i wanted to say is just that civ2 economic model is based on a model that is proven wrong every day. There are two assumptions that are wrong:
1. The more money the more happy people - false, it's the distribution of wealth and alot of noneconomical factors that influences the happiness of people. Of course more money 'can' benefit more people, but it's seldom the case.
2. The value of money never changes - anyone that knows anything about economy knows that the more gold the less the value of gold. Since the economy cannot be bigger than the amount of traded goods and services. It doesn't matter how much money there is, the only thing that actually matters is how much there can be purchased for all this money.
I make three easy suggestions.
1. traderoutes - furthers distance means greater need for demand to be worth it. (England don't make profit of selling silk to china). I suggest that setting up a trade route has a cost depending on distance and then the bonus is what it is, if you are lucky or smart the bonus should not be smaller than the cost for setting up the trade route. (and you still get science bonus so it could be worth it anyway)
2. instead of 2 luxury making a new citizen happy (or content if they are unhappy) every 2 luxury should every other time (or every third time) make an already happy citizen extra happy. In order to keep your cities from rioting you simply need policing, propaganda and recreation improvements.
3. improvement upgrades. Maintance cost isn't enough, every once in a while
a total renovation is necessary, especially after certian advances like 'electric light' or 'internet' or 'telephone' and other things. Those new upgrades will make the improvement either sheaper in maintance or more efficient.
How to implement that fact that your money fall in value as they increase in quantity i haven't figured out. But maybe the best is to skip that, how on earth would we afford to to send a spaceship to AC or conquer the world if that was implemented?
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