Based on what we know so far, what do you want to mod in CtP2

[Yoleus]

quote: Originally posted by ElitePersian on 11-22-2000 03:46 AM The Ship of the Line should definately be able to bombard land units, but its bombarding strength should be decreased.

Agree. Hopefully to be included in the -eventual- 1st patch...

[Mad-Kat]

I want to see a nice stat screen like the one in Civ II, showing birth, pollution, army income etc. That was a great feature and CTP II is sorely lacking in the nice touch department.

Also, bring back the old style messages. Hopefully something comparable can be done in SLIC.

A way to view the scores other than at the end of a game would be nice. I also miss the Civilization % from Civ II and the comparison to a world leader. That was cute.

In fact are there any negatives in the Civ score? I don't remember getting any.

[Diodorus Sicilus]

After playing a couple of games up to the beginning of Gunpowder, here are my tentative thoughts on changes:
Each age needs a combination of ground units as Defense, Attack, Ranged, Flanker, Special. Right now, the modern units actually seem to be the most messed up, although I haven't had a chance to play with them and confirm this. There is no defensive infantry, the Flanker (tanks) has a higher Range factor than Artillery (the Ranged unit) has, and the only non-special Attacking infantry are Machinegunners, who should be (historically) Defensive units. In the naval area, the Carrack has no attack factor at all, which is Unhistorical, to say the least, the Ship of the Line, Ironclad, and Battleship have no Bombard/Ranged factors, and for some inexplicable reason the Destroyer (according to the Reference Chart) has no Sub-spotting capability while the PT Boat has, and the miniscule PT boats cost almost as much as the Destroyer!
The City Walls are much less effective at keeping cities safe from anything, and there is no replacement for them until Forcefields become available in the (far) future. At least, the City Walls need to be upped in effect from +15 to about +25 (testing needed). This would have the effect of making the average defensive unit (Hoplites) almost twice as strong as the average attack (ancient) unit: Samurai or Knight. Without "city crackers" like Cannon or Catapults, attackers would need to outnumber the defense by at least 2:1 or more, which is closer to historical effects. Someone with considerable graphics expertese needs (more than I, anyway!) to add a Gunpowder-Renaissance era replacement for the City Wall, the Vauban or Italian Trace fortifications, which would double or triple the original effects (+40 or +50?) to make cities defensable into the modern era. Increased use of air power and modern artillery would make these Ramparts increasingly ineffective, until some futuristic Forcefield can be substituted.
The Sentinel command for units should be modified by someone with more programming knowledge than I (my last computer language studied was FORTRAN, so you can tell I'm waaaay out of my league with the modern stuff) so that aircraft fly to their target, attack, and return to base within the same turn - bombers taking up to 5 years to attack and return is beyond ridiculous. If Fighters on Sentinel could attack enemy aircraft coming within their 'Vision' automatically in that same turn, we could streamline the air unit combat realistically. By combining fighter/interceptor units on Sentinel orders with Radar Stations (+8 tile Vision) a player can simulate the extensive Air Defense networks like Britain's Fighter Command in the Battle of Britain or the USA's NORAD and USSR's PVO-straniy in the 1960s and 1970s.
In Summary, what I think we need in units is:
Chariot - first ancient Flanker unit
Legion - ancient Special dual-purpose unit
Longbowman - 2nd level Ranged ancient unit (medieval)
Rifleman - Industrial Age infantry unit
Rename the CtPII Cannon as a Bombard, which is what the graphic shows, and supplement it in the Industrial Age with a Cannon using the CtPI graphic, for a Ranged unit.
Make the Machinegunner's defense factor better than its attack factors, make it the Defense Modern unit, and add the Shock Troops (new graphic similar to the Marine or Fascist) as an infantry non-special Attack unit.
Refactor the Tank - no ranged factor, but possibly a higher attack factor.
Add an attack factor to the Carrack - they mounted guns and later evolved into the Frigate, although I don't think we need another naval unit between Carrack and Ship of the Line - no time.
Add Ranged factors to the Ship of the Line, Ironclad, and Battleship.
Give the Destroyer Sub-spotting capability.
If we have to have the PT Boat, make it a Special Unit, rather like a seagoing Cruise Missile: huge attack factor, but it self-destructs when it hits (good analogy for attacking Battleships with those things!)
Finally, redo the Tech Tree extensively, which is grist for an entire other thread...

[TheLimey]

Giving mechanized units a limit FOR the human player... wouldn't be a bad idea;

When a human player builds a mech unit, which when built has no fuel requirements, it would be replaced by a fuel restricted version.

The AI is not constrained by the rule, but you don't necessarily *NEED* to see this anyway.

If we have the same problem with planes crashing as we did in CtP1 we should use the same approach to a) give appropriately fueled AI aircraft or b) infinitely fueled aircraft (although b is probably unbalanced...)

[ElitePersian]

I dont know if this would be possible in a "patch" but it would be REALLY nice to actually SEE a picture of the other nation's leader in the diplomacy screen, diplomacy just feels incomplete without that.
[This message has been edited by ElitePersian (edited November 24, 2000).]

[WesW]

Persian, check out my upcoming thread about the Med mod II.

Diodorus, the PT boat is a problem. I was told in the beta that it was going to be a Frigate. I didn't see this unit until the later beta I got.
I was thinking of giving this unit a large damage setting, with a low attack and defense setting. Would this simulate torpedo attacks, which were the main weapon PT-boats used against other ships? Their chances of hitting were small, but if they did, they caused a lot of damage.
I am also going to find another unit to be used as a Frigate, similar to that unit in the Med mod 4. This unit will have anti-air capabilities, with Destroyers being the sub-hunters.

[TheBirdMan]

About the fuel problem:

If possible, the AI shouldn't be affected. The engine cannot handle that (I think).

Human "units" should be refueled at cities or at airfields/fortifications (are the more installations in CTP2 than in CTP? Or can you "make" your own?).

For the human: When (I write when, cause it will happen) a tank or mech.inf. runs out of fuel, the units should still be "alive", seeing and defending.

Only way to get that unit moving again would then be either to build an installation or a city "below" the grounded unit - if you use a city, you are able to disband that when it has done the job - refueling the unit?!

[Starfighter08]

Activision would be well advised to implement the changes Diodorus Sicilus proposed. They are well studied and would add a great deal of realism to the game.

Regards

[Savant]

Please, please please! reduce or eliminate infinite city sleaze (ICS) factor!

Small, efficient, advanced empires should have an edge over large, inefficient, backward ones. From my understanding, the game does not reflect this at all.



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'Blood will run'