Making Cradle 3+ fully compatible with the Apolyton Edition

[Kull]

Too Many Civilians City Battle CTD (con):

As described in Post# 365, the game CTDs when there are too many civilians on the "back row" during a city attack battle. In my Rome campaign, this occurred when Rome attacked a Shang city with 3 infantry and a ranged unit and the AI civ had 9 units including 5 Slavers. As a test, I used the cheat screen to delete one of the Slavers, after which the battle proceeded normally, seemingly indicating that "5" is the magic number. But the next test used 5 infantry & 2 Ranged units and the added length of the attacking frontline moved 2 of the Slavers off the back row and there was no CTD. Accordingly, when faced with this CTD (or running a test), make sure to account for the "length of the front row", as that clearly has an effect.

[Kull]

Chariots vs. Javelin Cavalry:

Here are two indisputable "game facts" in Cradle:
1) Chariots are rarely built
2) Javelin Cavalry are the pre-eminent mobile units of the early Ancient Era in Cradle

But historically the reverse was true. The Bronze Age is also known as the "Chariot Age" because they dominated the battlefields of this era. The problem is this pair of units have two primary aspects which should be complements, not monopolized by one, specifically Movement & Vision. Seen in this light, the solution seems obvious:
* Chariots will boost movement from 2-3 while retaining all other stats, in particular the one-tile vision. Now Chariots - with greater range and better attack - have regained their proper historical role.
* Javelin Cavalry will experience a corresponding decrease in move (from 3 to 2), but will retain the two-tile vision, thus emphasizing their true role as scouts. In addition, the upgrade from Javelin Cavalry to Horseman is now very desirable since that changes Move from 2-3, whereas before there was only a moderate improvement to Attack.

Accordingly, the player now faces a real choice when it comes to choosing which unit to build: Better Movement or Better Vision?

- File changed: Units.txt

[Kull]

Unit Card Shadows:

The first Cradle 5 release had quite a few new units, but at the time I hadn't learned how to add "shadowing" to the unit cards. All the original Cradle and CtP2 units had this, and it's a much better look, almost 3D. There were 22 unit cards which did not have the effect, so all have been reconstructed and it's now universal in v5.1 (see attached example).

[Kull]

Tech Tree Codes:

I'll begin by noting that neither of the "as-delivered" CtP1 or CtP2 Tech Trees used "codes" to identify the benefit category of individual wonders, buildings and TIMPS so it's a Cradle feature we're dealing with here. Some of the Codes are obvious and won't be changed: "F" = Food, "H" = Happiness, "P" = Production and "S" = Science are obvious and OK as-is. The problem is that the rest are duplicative, misleading or non-existent, so for those there's been a major revision.

"C" = Crime (was E for Ethics): The use of "E" is simply too tenuous, especially since structures which affect "Crime" are designated as such - and only as such - in all game documentation.

"D" = Diplomacy: There was no category for buildings or wonders with this benefit, but clearly many of them have diplomatic effects: CloseEmbassies, EmbassiesEverywhere, EmbassiesEverywhereEvenAtWar, FreeSlaves, IncreaseRegard, etc

"G" = Gold (was both C for Commerce and G for Gold): The manual talks about "Gold" in several ways, but the easiest way to visualize it is that "Commerce Gold" is the total empire income which is used every turn to pay wages and generate science, while "Treasury Gold" is the amount which is left over and accumulates in the Treasury. This is shown graphically in the "Domestic Policy" tab of the "Empire Manager" screen. The latter category is the sum visible in the "Total Gold" window at the top of the game screen, and is used to accelerate production, upgrade units or assist diplomacy. Although each category is a different thing, both ultimately increase "Treasury Gold" and accordingly will use the same code letter.

"M" = Military (was D for Defense): Although many of these Wonders provide defensive benefits (hence the original "D" code), there are benefits to offensive capability as well. Even something like "lowerpeacemovement" applies since it affects Happiness based on the total number of military units. Likewise, "protectfrombioagents" and limiting "nanovirus" effects are clearly military related.

"^" = City Level Increase (was G for Growth): Cities cannot exceed designated population levels (see Post# 5) until a building is constructed (such as the Apothecary which raises the maximum from 12 to 20). Rather than using a letter to designate these structures, the code is now an "up arrow" symbol.

Lastly, all codes have been added to the Tech Tree "Legend" (see attached).
- File changed: v5.1 Tech Tree

[Kull]

"IncreaseScientists":

As described in Post# 266, Wonders with this bonus "add additional Science per Specialist", which is a very weak benefit, especially if it is the ONLY benefit. Of the 7 Wonders which provide this, the Great Library, Galileo's Telescope and Manhattan Project offer no additional benefit. Whereas most of the rest also increase "National Science" by anywhere from 5 to 10 percent. Accordingly, I'm going to add an "IncKnowledgePercent" line of 2% to each of these wonders, so there's at least a small overall Science benefit. Otherwise they are scarcely worth building.
- Files changed: Wonder.txt & Great_Library.txt

[Kull]

Reviewing the Artillery:

The addition of the new Bombard unit (see Post# 372) requires that it be statted such that it "fits in" with the existing artillery-type units. In game terms, that means land units with the Bombardment attribute, which separates them from the Ranged infantry types such as Slinger & Archer. There were 7 such units in Cradle 5.0, ranging from Ballista to War Walker, and for the most part the existing costs and stats look fine. The only "headscratcher" was the Trebuchet having the same shield cost as the Cannon (both at 1200). That's OK, because we need to fit the Bombard in between the Trebuchet and Cannon, so that was going to change anyway.

As you can see in the attachment (top section are Cradle 5.0 stats, bottom is 5.1), most of the artillery numbers remain the same, but there are some adjustments:
* The cost of building the Onager and Trebuchet has been reduced, and that's largely a reflection of the primitive materials needed in the construction of each. The Trebuchet can cause more damage, but the extra cost is marginal because the tactics, materials, and ammunition are similar for both.
* By contrast, the Bombard uses entirely new technology (gunpowder and metal casting) so the cost is greater but the technology & tactics are new so the damage levels are only incrementally greater than those inflicted by its torsion-based predecessors.
* Finally the Cannon also costs more, which simply reflects the big foundries and the additional metal required to produce the large bronze cannons of this era.

Not directly related, but with the reduction in Onager/Trebuchet costs, we'll need to lower the build costs for the Composite Archer (from 650 to 600) & Crossbowman (from 800 to 700) as well. Otherwise, they are too expensive in comparison to comparable Bombardment-type units.

[Kull]

Naval Unit Revisions - Advances (con.)

9) L10 "Greek Fire": We're now going to shift our attention to the "Flight Advance" sequence which - for most of the game - is where we find Ranged Units and their enabling technologies. Greek Fire was originally at L12, but that's simply too late in the technological sequence for an invention which first appeared around 700 AD. Accordingly we're moving it up to L10 (currently empty) and we'll assign the Dromon to this Advance (moving it in from L12 Astrolabe). Pre-reqs: L8 Siege Weapons (New) and L8 Tribunal Empire (New). It is now possible (but not mandatory) to build Dromons before Cogs, which is historically accurate. Likewise, it prevents us from seeing Quinqueremes prowling the seas of the late Middle Ages.

10) L11 "Crossbow": Continuing along the "Flight" sequence, Crossbow remains at the same level, but now gains a new land unit which was previously assigned to Greek Fire, the Trebuchet. Pre-reqs: L9 Feudalism (Same) and L10 Greek Fire (New).

11) L12 Gunpowder & L13 Cannon Making: Both of these Advances occur a bit too late in the timeline (originally L13 & L14), so we'll move them one level earlier in the sequence. The main effect is a change in the pre-reqs: Gunpowder now has L11 Crossbow (New) and L11 Classical Education (New), while Cannon Making requires L12 Gunpowder (Same) and L13 Trade Guilds (New). This also allows us to add the Bombard as a new unit that's available with Gunpowder. It has none of the refinements of the later Cannon, but is one of the preliminary versions that were first created after the invention of Gunpowder.

12) L12 "Astrolabe": Turning our attention back to the Naval sequence, Astrolabe remains at the same level and gains a new Naval unit, the Galley (while losing the Dromon). The Galley has a gunpowder weapon, and that is reflected in the new pre-reqs: L10 Compass (Same) and L12 Gunpowder (New). Technically speaking, perhaps we should wait for the L13 Cannon Making Advance, but that delays the arrival of this vessel, and keeps Dromons around long after they were superseded.

13) L14 "Age of Discovery": This Advance remains unchanged and enables the building of Galleons. Pre-reqs: L12 Astrolabe (Same) and L13 Cannon Making (Same).

14) L14 "Chronometer": For reasons we'll discuss below, Chronometer will appear one level earlier (from L15) and will shift over to the Engineering sequence, which has vacancies at L13 and L14. Pre-reqs: L14 Age of Discovery (Same) and L12 Perspective (New). This will also change one of the pre-reqs for L15 Modern Metallurgy from L12 Perspective to L14 Chronometer

15) L15 "Naval Tactics": This Advance enables the building of Ship-of-the-Line, which is appropriate because it quite specifically states that the Naval Tactics in question involve development of the "line ahead" battle formation. The problem is that it sits at the same level as L16 Industrial Revolution (which enables Ironclads) and it's actually possible to build those before the Ship-of-the-Line is even available. I looked at several alternatives to resolve the problem, but the best solution is to move this Advance back from L16 (thus shifting Chronometer as described above) and the Pre-reqs alter accordingly: L14 Chronometer (same) and L14 Age of Discovery (New).

16) L16 "Coastal Forts" (NEW): Naval Tactics used to enable construction of the "Battlements" city defense improvement, but now it's moved over to this new Advance, still at L16. Worth noting that the term "Battlements" has nothing to do with coastal forts, but refers to the crenellation at the top of a castle wall. Pre-reqs: L15 Naval Tactics (New) and L15 Economics (New). This will also become one of the pre-reqs for L18 Radio Navigation, replacing L15 Naval Tactics.

17) L16 "Industrial Revolution": Although it's part of the Engineering sequence, we'll ensure that it's impossible to build Ironclads before the Ship-of-the-Line, by altering one of the prereqs from L15 Economics to the new L16 Coastal Forts. That will ensure the proper techological sequence is restored (and Economics is still a pre-req since it's part of the earlier Naval sequence). From this point forward the chain of Advances looks OK, so no further alterations are needed.

- OK! Well that was a huge project, to include the creation of several new sprites. On to the next challenge!

[Kull]

Naval Unit Revisions - Advances

As indicated in the previous three posts, adding new units and changing upgrade sequences and stats is only part of the solution. The last leg was equally important - revising the Naval Advances:

1) L1 "Fishing" (NEW): The Naval Technology sequence did not have an L1 Advance, but now it does. L1 Fishing allows the construction of the Nets TIMP (brought in from Level 2). Pre-reqs: None.

2) L2 "Ship Building": This L2 Advance enables building of Reed Boats. Pre-reqs: L1 Toolmaking (Same) and L1 Fishing (New).

3) L3 "Oared Galleys" (replaces L3 Sails): As discussed earlier, the invention of Sails was certainly important, but it was primarily a benefit to trading and fishing vessels, allowing them to extend their range and use fewer crew members. Vessels of that sort are represented in-game by TIMPs and Caravans, whereas the first warships we see in Cradle are Oared Galleys (the Homeric Era vessels of the Odyssey and Iliad), representing historical vessels such as the Eikonter, Trikonter, and Pentekonter. This L3 Advance enables the building of Early Galleys. Pre-reqs: L2 Ship Building (Same) and L2 Pottery (New).

4) L4 "Outrigger" (NEW): The original Galleys were restricted to a single line of rowers, so an increase in rowing power required lengthening the vessel to add more oarsmen, finally reaching its apotheosis with the 50-oar Pentekonter. Beyond that point, the increasing length of the hull caused a loss of rigidity, leading to flexing and distortion. The solution was the invention of the Outrigger, or parexeiresia, a triangular frame that holds the rowlock (into which the oar is slotted) away from the ship's sides allowing for a second tier of rowers. It also optimized leverage and kept the oars from clashing. This is the technology which enabled the creation of the Bireme. Pre-reqs: L3 Oared Galleys (New) and L3 Copper Smelting (New).

4a) L4 "Sails": This Advance has now been moved out from L3 to L4, where it exists alongside Outrigger. As noted earlier, this technology led to improved trading and fishing vessels, and accordingly this Advance enables construction of the Fishery TIMP. Pre-req: L3 Oared Galleys (New). It's also worth taking a moment to discuss why "Sails" isn't used as a bifurcation point between fighting galleys (with no transport capacity) and Sail-powered troop transports. One of the key features in the original CtP2 is that all the early naval vessels carried land units, and that's because historically this time period didn't have the delineation between "warships" and "troopships" that first appeared in the Middle Ages and are a key feature of the Industrial and Modern Eras. Instead, the first seaborne fighting men were also the oarsmen on galley type vessels. This was a feature of all ancient Mediterranean and Baltic societies, and was probably true wherever pirates and raiders first appeared. Accordingly, while there was a clear distinction between Sail-powered Trading Vessels and Oared Galleys, ancient Sailing ships were not used as troop transports in the modern sense, so they aren't treated that way in CtP2.

5) L5 "Map Making": This Advance loses the Fishery TIMP to L4 Sails. In addition, so as to extend the period in which Biremes are the pre-eminent Naval unit, this Advance (which enables the building of Triremes) will see a change in Pre-reqs, with L4 Currency changing to L5 Oligarchy (New) and the earlier L3 Sails replaced by L4 Outrigger (New).

6) L7 "Hullmaking": This Advance remains unchanged and enables the building of Quinqueremes. Pre-reqs: L5 Map Making (Same) and L7 Iron Working (Same).

7) L8 "Ocean Faring": This Advance remains unchanged and enables the building of Longships. Pre-reqs: L7 Bureaucracy (Same) and L7 Hullmaking (Same).

8) L10 "Compass": This Advance remains unchanged and enables the building of Cogs (instead of Carracks). Pre-reqs: L8 Ocean Faring (Same) and L9 Dark Ages (Same).

[Kull]

Naval Unit Revisions - Fighting Ships

Most of the Transport units have a dual purpose, so there's no doubt that Biremes and Triremes are certainly "fighting ships". The distinction here is that NONE of the vessels in this sequence have a Troop Transport capability.

1) "Quinquereme": Another existing Cradle unit (using the modified CtP1 Trireme sprite), the unit stats have not changed. Attack (25), Defense (15) and Move (8) are the same, as is the ability to pillage and pirate. However, since it does not have the Transport ability, now there's a legitimate "game reason" for the player to build both Quinqueremes and Triremes. The Quinquereme upgrades to the Dromon (next).

2) "Dromon": This unit is now going to be available much earlier (assigned to a new L10 Advance). As with the Quinquereme, the unit stats have not changed (A30-D20-M8). In addition to its early availability, the other big change is the Dromon upgrades to a new unit, the Galley (next).

3) "Galley": Beginning in the 12th Century, Dromons were replaced by a variety of Galley types which hearken back to the fighting ships of the Roman era. These new vessels also had large rams affixed to the front of the ship, but they also had one thing more - cannons. Historically these vessels ruled the Mediterranean for centuries, most famously participating on both sides in the Battle of Lepanto in 1571. As described in Post# 369, the Galley is a modified Quinquereme sprite, featuring a different color (Orange vs Red) and a large bow-mounted cannon. Which means the Attack animation no longer uses ramming but rather a large blast of cannon fire (taken from the Tom Davies Bombard unit). As a new unit, it has the following statistics: Move is 8 (same as the Dromon & Quinquereme), Attack is 35, Defense is 20, and it can both pillage and pirate. The new Galley upgrades to the Ship-of-the Line (next).

4) "Ship-of-the-Line": As noted earlier, there's a problem with the enabling Advance, but almost everything about this unit is exactly the same (A40-D25-M10). The major change is to eliminate the transport capability (drops from 1 to 0) while the "Attack" sound is being replaced by the one from CtP1, which features a rippling broadside. The Ship-of-the-Line upgrades to the Destroyer (next). It should be noted that while the Ironclad (L16 and A40-D40-M8) would seem to fit into this sequence, historically they coexisted with Ships-of-the-Line for decades, plus they are the originating unit in the CtP2 Submarine sequence. Obviously the latter is not technically correct, but it allows these units to serve together and gives each a different upgrade path.

5) "Destroyer": Still available with L18 "Radio Navigation", the statistics and capabilities have not changed (A55-D45-M8). From this point on, although there's additional modern and future era naval units, none of their Advances, statistics, and upgrade sequences were altered.

[Kull]

Naval Unit Revisions - Transports

Given the many issues noted above, there's been a significant change to the early-to-mid game Naval Unit System. We'll start by looking at the units themselves, and then will move on to the Advances:

1) "Reed Boat": The new name for the "Coracle" unit. There is plenty of historical evidence showing that the earliest vessels plying the waters of Ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia were made from Reed bundles. This is exactly what we see in the hull construction of the CtP1 Coracle sprite (which remains unmodified), although there's no evidence for twin hull reed construction in those regions. However, vessels almost exactly of this type are known from ancient Polynesia, so there is historical precedent for this hull type, albeit limited in area. The unit stats will undergo significant modification. Movement drops from 5 to 4 (and remains restricted to Coastal waters) while Transport capacity is reduced from 2 to 1. In addition, this unit will only transport "Small" Land Units, which is the category occupied by Civilian-type units such as the Nomad, the Emissary and the Slaver. Attack and Defense are cut in half (to A5-D5) and the unit is still prohibited from pillaging and piracy. The Reed Boat upgrades to the Early Galley (next).

2) "Early Galley": The new name for the Cradle 5 "Bireme" sprite. There's extensive evidence from most regions of the world which shows that small, un-decked oared vessels were used extensively for trade, exploration, and especially for piracy and the raiding of coastal settlements. The existing Bireme sprite (the CtP2 Coracle) is unmodified, but the upturned bow and stern plus the single bank of oars gives it a passing resemblance to the earliest historical galleys. Here too we'll make a number of changes to the unit stats. Movement remains at 5, but it's now restricted to Shallow Water tiles (reflecting the low freeboard of these early galleys). Transport capacity is reduced from 2 to 1, although this unit can transport both "Small" units and Military land units of "Medium" size (which is most of them). Attack has been reduced from 20 to 10, but Defense remains the same (10), as does the ability to pillage and pirate. The Early Galley upgrades to the new Bireme (next).

3) New "Bireme": As described in Post# 366, the CtP1 Fire Trireme sprite has been modified to remove the mast, sail, & dragon head, while adding a fan-shaped stern post (matching those seen in historical bireme images) and new Idle, Attack (ramming) & Death animations. The unit now looks and performs very much like a true Bireme. As a new unit, it has the following statistics: Move is 5 (same as the Early Galley), but it's no longer restricted to Shallow Water. Attack is 15, Defense is 10, and it can both pillage and pirate. It has Transport Capacity for 2 land units (both Small and Medium sizes). The new Bireme upgrades to the Trireme (next).

4) "Trireme": An existing Cradle 5 unit (using a modified CtP2 Fire Trireme sprite), the unit stats are mostly the same, with one major exception. Attack (20), Defense (10) and Move (6) do not change, nor does the ability to pillage and pirate. However, it now has Transport Capacity for 2 land units (both Small and Medium sizes). The Trireme upgrades to the Cog, but first let's consider the Longship (next).

5) "Longship": This vessel no longer upgrades from anything else and fills a unique niche featuring 2-tile vision, carrying capacity of one ("Small" & "Medium" size), and long distance travel. Basically a scout unit, in which all stats remain the same. Eventually it upgrades to the Galleon, which keeps it from hanging around beyond the end of the Middle Ages.

6) "Cog": The new name for the "Carrack" unit. This sprite uses the modified Tom Davies "Cog" sprite, and is MUCH more appropriate as an L10 transport ship since historically they first appeared in the 10th Century although the larger ocean-going craft aren't seen until the 1200's (which is still long before the late 14th Century, when the first Carracks appeared). This early appearance means the Trireme won't be sailing the seas deep into the Middle Ages. Besides the new name, the biggest difference is that it's now part of the transport upgrade sequence. And the stats have also been altered: Attack, Defense and Move have all increased (A15-D15-M7), although the unit is still prohibited from pillaging and piracy. The Transport Capacity has been reduced (from 5 to 4) which is still double that of the Trireme, and matches the capacity of the Galleon (next).

7) "Galleon": Another existing Cradle unit (using the modified CtP2 "Carrack" sprite), and for once there won't be any changes. Attack (35), Defense (25), Move (8) and all the other abilities remain the same. The Galleon upgrades to the Troop Ship (next).

8) "Troop Ship": The only remaining quibble is that upgrading from the Galleon to the Troop Ship omits a few historical interim ship types, but regardless, in all cases we'd still be looking at a transition from Sail power to Engines. Plus, the Advances for each are not too far apart (L14 Age of Discovery until L17 Internal Combustion). Once again, no change to any of the unit stats and abilities (or to those of the units which follow in the timeline).

[Kull]

Naval System Issues:

- What kicked off this review was noticing that two upgrades resulted in naval units that can carry FEWER land units. For example, the Bireme can transport 2 units and upgrades to the Longship which only carries one. I ran a test and if you load two land units on a Bireme and then upgrade it, one of the two land units just disappears. I can't say for sure if that results in any long term instability (unlikely), but it's certainly not optimal. That led to a deeper examination of the entire ancient-to-medieval Naval system, and the more I looked, the worse it got. The whole system is fraught with issues, so let's go through them:

1) Transport Capacity disconnects: As indicated above (and looking first at ships which upgrade in the same sequence), the transport capacity begins at 2 land units (Coracles), stays at 2 with Biremes, drops to 1 with Longships and then jumps to 4 with Galleons. Oddly enough, the Carrack (capacity of 5) is not part of that sequence, but eventually it does upgrade to the Galleon (with capacity dropping from 5 to 4). Since all AI units upgrade automatically with the discovery of each enabling Advance, it's not just a theoretical problem, but will definitely cause the AI to lose land units unless something is done.

2) Coracle: The first in-game vessel is the Coracle, but historically that name refers to a type of tiny round tub made from animal skins. It held a single paddler and was primarily used in the lakes and rivers of Ireland and Wales. By contrast, the vessel we see in-game is twin hulled (and those made from reed bundles) with a square sail on a single central mast. The only evidence for such vessels in very ancient times are those built by Polynesian cultures as early as 3000 BC. However, vessels of this type were clearly intended for open-ocean stability and thus are the exact opposite of the sort of ship that is restricted to coastal and beach terrains, which is their role in CtP2. Unfortunately there are only two "pre-Dynastic era" ancient naval unit sprites available (the other already utilized as the Bireme), so there's no obvious alternative. That said, the sprite is certainly NOT a coracle in any way, shape, or form!

3) Bireme: The second in-game vessel is the Bireme, and by definition it utilized a new form of technology which allowed for two banks of rowers. Once again we have a disconnect with the appearance of the sprite, which looks more like a bundle of reeds with a few oars protruding from the side and a central mast with an angled sail. The latter is a much later invention, and not really appropriate to a vessel of this period, and certainly not anything ever used by historical Biremes. Fortunately it's not all bad. The sprite has an upturned bow and stern plus a single bank of oars, providing at least a partial resemblance to the earliest historical galleys, but definitely not a Bireme.

4) Bireme Period: Cradle Biremes become available with the L2 Sails Advance and upgrade to the Longship with L8 Ocean Faring. That's a very long period of time, meaning that Biremes appear before the Dynasty gov-type and last until after Tribunal Empire. In reality, this was an intermediate ship-type which existed for a short historical period, and was largely replaced by the Trireme (City State-Oligarchy period).

5) Sails Advance: The Sail was certainly an important invention, but it did not lead to the Bireme, nor any of the earlier galley variants. Instead, the initial pre-requisite was the technology which enabled open-hulled Oared Galleys, leading to three different vessel types: The "Eikonter" (10 rowers per side), the "Trikonter" (15 per side) and eventually the "Pentekonter" (25 per side). The addition of a second level (which defines the Bireme), required a new Technology, the invention of the Outrigger. This placed the upper rowers in a supported outrigger structure which positioned the oars at different vertical and horizontal intervals, thus allowing for more powerful and coordinated strokes without a clashing of oars (see attached). The other new design element was to affix a ram to the front of the vessel. The greater power of the Bireme (and shorter length compared to the Pentekonter) allowed it to accelerate quickly and deliver a smashing blow to the hull of an opponent. The point of all this being that "Sails" had nothing to do with the invention of the Bireme much less the ability of oared galleys to transport men of war.

6) Trireme: As discussed in Post# 48, Cradle 5 features a modified Trireme sprite, a unit which becomes available with the L5 Map Making Advance. Unlike the historical Triremes, this unit does not upgrade from the Bireme, nor does it have any Land Unit transport capacity. Playtesting experience has shown the in-game Trireme to be a "less capable" version of the Quinquereme (available with L7 Hullmaking), except it can't upgrade to that unit. So it arrives at L5 and is effectively superseded by the Quinquereme at L7 but doesn't upgrade and instead it just hangs around until both units get the Dromon upgrade (L12). Historically that makes sense, since the Trireme and Quinquereme co-existed and ancient fleets often contained both unit types, but in-game there's simply no reason to keep building Triremes once the Quinquereme is available.

7) Carrack: As noted in the first item of this post, the Carrack (L10) isn't part of the "unit carrying ship sequence", so by the time you reach the early Middle Ages, Biremes are still being used (at least by the human player) since Carrack fleets have to be built from scratch and Biremes have double the carrying capacity of Longships. Accordingly, human navies are a strange mix of FIVE units (ship types that run the gamut from pre-Dynastic to Medieval periods) which historically never coexisted. The other major issue with the Carrack is that it becomes available immediately after "Dark Ages", whereas historically it appeared in the 14th Century. Definitely a problem.

8) Dromon Upgrade: The Quinquereme upgrades to the Dromon with the L12 Astrolabe Advance, but historically they were a very early Medieval Byzantine naval unit, first appearing @600 AD (in game terms that would be L10 or earlier). By delaying it to L12, that keeps the Quinquereme in action long after it became obsolete. Part of the problem is that Dromons also require the "Greek Fire" Advance, and that too is L12 whereas it also first appeared @700 AD. The Dromon itself upgrades to the Ship-of-the-Line, but that doesn't happen until the L16 Naval Tactics Advance, so again we have a ship that remains in game long after it was superseded by other types.

9) Ship-of-the-Line: In Cradle, the Ship-of-the-Line has a transport capacity of "1", but it upgrades from-and-to a pair of units that have a capacity of "0" (Dromon-L12 & Destroyer-L18), so again this can lead to the "disappearing unit" problem described in Item# 1 (above). Even worse however, it is linked to an Advance which allows the Ironclad to be researched out-of-sequence, meaning that Ironclads can be built before the Ship-of-the-Line. Clearly a problem.

[Kull]

Religious Victory Tracking Screen:

The "Religious Influence" status tracking screen lists civs by number and by color (not by name). The problem is that in Cradle 5 it uses the original CtP2 colors and it can only display 16 civs. This has now been modified, and the colors now match the default setup in Cradle 5.1 and it scrolls through 4 screens that display all selectable civs.

- Files changed: feat_str.txt & culture_msgs.slc

[Kull]

Revising the Gov-type "TooManyCitiesThreshold":

Cradle 5 provided a marginal increase to most of the per-government city limit thresholds, but retained the +5 differential when going from one to the next. That is the level of increase we see over the entire course of the game as the player shifts from one government type to another, regardless of era. However, once the game enters the mid-to-late Medieval era the economic and production power of every civ begins to grow exponentially, but the tiny increase in city threshold limits makes it effectively impossible to recreate the pre-Industrial "Whole World Empires" such as those of Spain and England.

Interestingly, the AOM mod recognized this shift, since you suddenly saw a massive increase in the "TooManyCitiesThreshold" for governments of the Industrial & Modern eras when compared to those of the Medieval period. For example, the city thresholds skyrocket from 50 (Sultanate) to 75 (Democracy/Fascism/Communism) eventually reaching 90-100 with the Future-era governments. That's a bit much for Cradle, but something similar is certainly needed. Accordingly, the "TooManyCitiesThreshold" is going to increase in line with the attached chart, which compares AE to Cradle 3 then Cradle 5 then AOM and finally Cradle 5.1

- File changed: govern.txt

[Kull]

Government Statistics Analysis:

I've noticed a few things involving Gov stats which either don't makes sense (the comparatively high level of science under Theocracy vs. Tribunal Empire) or which have such negative consequences that the player is better off seeking to avoid that type of Gov altogether. For example, the Science level drops from 80% to 60% when going from Republic to Dictatorship which is so damaging that most players will seek to avoid that gov type altogether. Accordingly, a number of new settings have been implemented to address the issue (see attachment):

* Science Levels: Tyranny drops from 50>40%, Dynasty drops from 60>50%, City State drops from 70>60%, Republic drops from 80>70%, Dictatorship stays at 60% (but Knowledge rises from 1.35 > 1.5), Theocracy drops from 70>60% (w/Knowledge from 1.8 > 1.7), and Communism rises from 60>70% (but Knowledge drops from 1.9 > 1.8). In the late game, most of the Science levels will also decrease: Ecotopia (90>85%), Technocracy (100>90%), and Virtual Democracy (100>95%)

* Gold Coefficient: Republic rises from 1.2 > 1.3 (still much lower than those near it) while Theocracy drops from 1.8 > 1.5 (it should not be higher than Empire or Monarchy!)

The result of these changes is that it's now worth going from City State to Oligarchy (rather than wait for Republic) and the shift from Republic to Dictatorship won't crater your science so badly that it has to be avoided. Similarly, going from Tribunal Empire to Theocracy is now generally a downer rather than a benefit (the first "Dark Ages" gov-type should not IMPROVE your science!), and the move from Theocracy to Monarchy is an improvement and thus something to embrace, not avoid. The other benefit is to slow down the pace of science in the early game, which I've noticed is zooming along too quickly (even on "Hard", my test campaign achieved Monarchy in 500 BC).

- File changed: govern.txt

[Kull]

Road-type TIMP cost revision:

TIMP Costs were addressed (and reduced) as part of the "TIMP Project" (See Post# 328 and those which follow) and separately to deal with some outliers (See Post# 353). What was not looked at were the TIMP costs for the various Road types, and it's clear they should have been reviewed as well. As just one example, CtP2 Railroad costs range from 120 to 800 while the Cradle range is 240 to 1400. That's because the Cradle progression of Road>Stone Road>Railroad has the exact same costs as the CtP2 Road>Railroad>Maglev, even though technologically "Stone Roads" appear at Advance Level 8 while you don't get Railroads until L16.

Accordingly, a better approach is to price Stone Roads at the midway point between Road and Railroad, and then set Railroad & Maglev to match the values in CtP2. By contrast, considering the construction difficulties one would face when building a "real world" Undersea Tunnel, their TIMP cost was understated (often the same or less than a Maglev) and has thus been increased.

- Files changed: tileimp.txt & tilerefund.slc