Preventing a unit from taking a city

[Pano]

I would like to prevent the units of a civilization from taking cities because this civ would be only an ally helping an other civ. It's for a middle age scenario and I already have an idea : I was planning to give that civ only air units (so then can't take a city), renaming "air base" to "Castles" and giving all ground units the ability attacking air units.
I don't think this solution is perfect, mainly because these air units would ignore terrains and would be able to walk on the ocean !!! So if you have an other idea...


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Pano
http://www.campus.ecp.fr/~pano

[Mercator]

It may be an idea to make those units all trade units??? Trade units are (I think) able to attack units (when given a proper attack strength of course). They aren't able to capture cities, since they will automatically establish a trade route instead. The question is if that is really what you want. You would have to compensate the money that is gained through this trade. Apart from that, I have no idea how the AI handles this.
Perhaps 3rd domain units also work. The AI handles these as being land units, but just maybe they aren't able to capture cities. I'm not sure about that, though.

[Pano]

Trade units seems a very good idea... but the problem is that I could do only 2 different kind of units... and I was planning to use around 6 or 7 sorts of units !

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Pano
http://www.campus.ecp.fr/~pano

[William Keenan]

Why only two? Just change the unit roles to 7 and you can have as many as you want.

[Pano]

I've tried to make these trade units but they can't attack a city even if they have more tha 0 in attack. In fact when then unit is deplaced to the city it's only considered as a trade unit and you etablish the trade route... What a pity it doesn't work, it would have been great for my scenario


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Pano
http://www.campus.ecp.fr/~pano

[shamrock]

All right, I give up. Why can't you just set the treaty status between the 2 civs to allied and then prevent negotiations via events? I know an allied civ can't attack your units - doesn't that mean they also can't take your cities?

[Michael Daumen]

Create a unit of the allied civ (American) in each city of their friends(French). Then move each American unit outside each French city (switch to the American player). I believe that for each French city you do that to, the American civ won't be able to take it over.

[Michael Daumen]

Another alternative which is 100% crashproof (no warranties made for the previous post :P) is the make the American civ units die upon attacking. That way one attacking unit can't take over a city. . . .

[Civfan]

Pano, with the air units. Why not place air units in the city with a move factor of zero. Would prevent the units from moving around and stop another civs from attacking its cities.

[Pano]

shamrock : I will take an example : 3 civilization French, English, Germans. Germans have conquered France. English and French are allied against germans. English will help French to recover their territories. So English need to be able to attack German Cities without taking the cities (Only French could take the cities) ! So I don't think I can do anything with Events...

Michael Daumen : Your first solution doesn't seem work. And there is a problem with the second one : The units CAN take the city if there are no units in it ! Moreover it would have been a little bit annoying to have all the units of the civilization destroyed after attacking.

Civfan : I don't want to prevent the civ from attacking the city, I just want to prevent them from taking the city !


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Pano
http://www.campus.ecp.fr/~pano

[Eyn]

hmm si tu faisais apparaitre, a la conquete de la ville par les anglais, un diplomate francais et que tu donnais de l'argent pour que tu puisse acheter la ville aux anglais au tour suivant ?

[Sten Sture]

My francaise est terrible, but wouldn't buying/bribing the city be an act of war and dissolve the alliance?

Forgive me, Eyn, if I completely missinterpreted your post.

[Captain Nemo]

Si toutes les unites Anglaise sont du type "3", elles se deplacent comme des helicopteres attaquent les villes mais ne peuvent pas les conquerir...Bien sur, elles ignorent le terrain et elles peuvent se deplacer sur mer mais au moin elles sont vulnerables aux forces terrestres ennemies.

C'est pas la solution parfaite? Une autre solution c'est de placer une unite presque indestructible (Etat Major Allemand)dans chaque ville conquise... Cette unite sera sans movement et avec une attaque de 0. Les Francais seront les seuls a avoir l'unite dans la position des partisans qui peut detruire cette unite Allemande. Cette solution donnerait a un AI Anglais la possibilite d'attaquer les unites Allemandes hors des villes mais leur donnerait tres peu de chance de capturer une ville.

[Sten Sture]

Could you create an event that returned the city back to France if it was captured by England?

hmmm, on second thought that would destroy all of the English based units there as well, maybe not a good idea.

[Michael Daumen]

Your example helps a lot. Did you try putting English units in the German cities, then moving them off to see if they could go back in? I tried this for a scenario, and I couldn't take over someone's city once my units had been in that city.

...later...

OK this is what happened: If I put an American unit in each of the German cities, I can move American units into a German city without taking it over, unless in the meantime a German unit has moved back into the city or the city has built a new German unit. So I don't think this trick will work unless you prevent German units from entering their own cities, which sounds like a pretty dumb and impossible idea
[This message has been edited by Michael Daumen (edited May 11, 2000).]