How you'd like Civ to be like!?!

[Adagio]

This thread is not primary about coming with lots of ideas, on how to make Civ4 the best game ever... but about how you'd like Civ4 to be like, if you were in charge, and you didn't have to worry about people not liking the game... it's only about you! What would you like the game to be like...

[Spiffor]

Well, I'd try to follow the directions I give in my other thread. But more specificially :

- there would be more diplomatic options, and it would be possible to conduct multilateral diplomacy

- there would definitely be many, many buildings
- this goes along with "less powerful buildings" : libraries can give +30% of research, but schools would provide 20%, etc.

- There would be either a social engineering à la SMAC, or the fixed governments forms would have much more identity (like the possibility to temporarily lose control of your democracy if your popularity is too low )
- Hence, many governments, of course

- A civ's traits and UU would be determined by the way the civ is playing.

- Every individual element of the game would be able to be automated, and a regular AI takes over these elements.

- Commerce would not be dependent of roads, to avoid roads to sprawl everywhere. Roads and railroads would be only useful to the transportation of troops.

- Every single thing would be tradable with neighbours : resources, sure, but also food, shields, units, beakers...

- Secialist's output would depend of a town infrastructure. If a taxman's gives 1 gold in an empty city, it is only natural he gives 2 gold in a city with marketplace and bank

- Wonder movies. When I have built a wonder, I don't want to simply feel I have got a bonus. I want to feel like it is a grandiose achievement.

- Complete descriptions of whatever (especially techs) in the Civilopedia, with a vocal quote along the most "eventful" elements, like techs and wonders.

- "Cultural" dicoveries (alphabet, writing, monotheism, free artistry) give culture points per turn to every Civ that has discovered them itself. There would be "cultural" maps in the cultural advisor to show which Civs share the same alphabet, the same religion etc.

- It would be possible to contact foreign Civs that are located only within a range of your borders. This range gets bigger with civilisation advances (such as writing), and you can contact all Civs whatever their location once you have discovered an advanced communication tech, such as radio.
Marco Polo may have brought info about China and India, it doesn't mean his government talked with them directly.

- In the same vein, it would be possible to buy many resources/luxuries from a foreign country to sell them to other Civs, making a hefty profit in the process (Persia syndrom with the silk road).

- A log recording every knowable thing that has happened since last turn, like who started what wonder, who acquired what technology, who conquered what city, and also more trivial thing like the exact movements of foreign units that you know of.

- High moddability, and the ability to create scenarios with events.

- semi-random events, that depends of one Civ's superiority or inferiority.

- 3d

[Alex]

Well, I agree with most of Spiffor's ideas (this is becoming a dangerous trend), especially with the expanded diplomacy, the random events, wonder movies (why oh why did they took these out?), the log and more detailed governments.

And I would like to see a detailed combat, with more tactical options and all the fluff that I deserve.

[Spiffor]

Originally posted by Alexnm
Well, I agree with most of Spiffor's ideas (this is becoming a dangerous trend)

Muwhawhawha, next step is that you agree with everything I say in the OT

[pedrojedi]

I agreed with many of Spiffor's ideas, plus:

- More ways to lower corruption. It could be more buildings (like Spiffor said), the new specialist judge or prosecutor, or government options.

- I'd REALLY, REALLY like some government/cultural changes that are available in EU2, like Open-Minded or Narrowed thinking, Mercantilism or Free-market, etc. Of course, some of these would be changeable in more advanced game options, and it would be really something close of SMAC's social engineering, with the difference that it can be more fine-tunned and the value of ponderation of risk/benefit ratio would be enormous.

- Oh, much more techs. I would really like to start in stone age eras, having to discover fire or agriculture.

- In early games, stone age could be explored to an early tormentous chaotic game: you could discover fire and bows and do an early rush over the AI, bu who garantees that your enormous empire will not collapse with the rise of new cultures inside your own?

- Natural events, and eventually new variations of terrain - vulcanoes and earthquakes could be possible, with future techs helping to anticipate them, and preparing yourself.

- It could not be standard, but I'd love some future techs added, like CtP did. At least as an option.

- Easy-to-graphically-customize units. Yeah, totally unreal and far from possible, but it would be nice for me and the lot of gamers which do not know anything about programming and stuff. I'd love to make some sketches in my warriors, archers or tanks. They'd be nice wearing pink dresses for the prom!

- More Wonders. New Wonders.

- I wish to see myself instead of some leader's faces. Specially for MP.

There's more, but just these are a lot to discuss.

[pedrojedi]

SCENARIOS!!!! I forgot these! With, of course, customizable objectives, like "eliminate the germans", or "conquest and hold for 10 years Baghdad", or "explore and colonize > 50% of Asian terrain".

As long as we're dreamming, everything is possible!

[Adagio]

Great ideas mentioned here

Though I'd also like to have different wonders for different Civs:

Asian civs should be the only one to build the secret palace (never remember the names of the wonders), while those midterrain civs are the only ones to build the Colossos...


...sure, this will unbalance the game pretty much, but since I mostly play SP anyway, and I like when games are unbalanced (in ways like that)



What I'd like also is:

All civs start exactly the same, but after x turns, the player who has most food per turn, gets the agriculture (?) trait, which gives a little more food, and food buildings gets cheaper... Then the civ who has most ships, gets the sailor trait, which allowed ships to travel faster, etc...

Even though one civ can be the best in several of those, one civ can only get one trait. If a civ is the best in several ones, it's random picked on which trait that civ will get... and if a civ don't have any traits, they're best at (compared to other civs), they get the trait where they second best at (or third best... and so on)

This happens again later... A civ can get the same trait two times, this doubles the effect...

[Cruddy]

GLs that are actually intelligent - you could assign tasks to them like "go and invade that neighbour" and they'd move all the necessary units for you! As an option, mind you...

Unit clicking is what I hate about all the Civs... if you play on Huge maps it can take hours just to complete one turn.

[TheArsenal]

Originally posted by Spiffor
- there would be more diplomatic options, and it would be possible to conduct multilateral diplomacy

I'm certain none of these are revolutionary, if not old hat:

I would also like to have the ability to know how AI civs feel about each other. This is one of the huge unknown factors that would influence how I go about things, especially aggressive action. If that requires spies. Fine.

I would also like the ability to threaten someone with war, without actually having to go to war. Along the same lines, I would like to be able to intervene diplomatically for the welfare of my allies. A "stop aggression with Egypt, or I will attack you/give you tech or gold" kind of thing.

I would like exploration to play a bigger role and map trading to be pushed back.

[Alex]

Originally posted by TheArsenal


I would also like to have the ability to know how AI civs feel about each other. This is one of the huge unknown factors that would influence how I go about things, especially aggressive action. If that requires spies. Fine.

This is one of the most important features that could be added to a Civ game. It would revolutionize the way how we strategize our actions in the game.

[Spiffor]

Alexnm :
One thing : information screen à la Civ2. I'd pay 15 € for the sole implementation of such a screen.

[Rasbelin]

That's a good point.

[JRK]

One thing that's been bugging me has been the way the game handles wonders. Why can't--on most wonders anyway--two civs concurrently build, and complete, the same wonder. Pyramids for example have been built throughout the world. I understand that if one civ builds something smaller, slower, and later right next to the first wonder they won't receive full culture points, but why can't building something without any knowledge of the other give some, at least temporary, culture points or other wonder effects.

[JRK]

Also, on trade routes:
(1) If one civ is only connected to another via one road going straight through my capital, why can't I get some cash from it.
(2) If one civ's capital is right next to another but not connected by a road, why can they not trade though another, through a series of land--sea connections and a final road treking a thousand miles through snow-capped mountains can.
Trade routes should be paid for based on their length and difficulty. Lacking a road should not make a trade route impossible, simply more costly.