BHG: Governments.

[Propaganda]

Greetings to the BHG motely crew, and all other forum members.

I have a concern about the "yanking out" of governments from this game. IMO, the idea of "separate, but equal" governments doesn't deterr from the fun, or playability this game will otherwise have. In fact, I see it as adding on to the excitement and strategic scope of this game.

You see, when I play Call To Power II, for example, I'm always sucked in to the game, because I have the ability to shape my empire(and the world), under a government of my choosing. If I choose to rule under Communism, I always force myself to deal with the limitations and consequences that it would bring. If my my economy is unhealthy, I try to trade more, and spend less. If my people are unhappy, I can either lower the workday hours, or up the wages and food rations. All of this creates an element of strategy, wherein I'm forced to deal with my economic shortcomings, instead of solely concentrating on military issues and strategic tactics, and IMO, it adds to the fun.

Personally, I hope you guys reconsider.

P.S. I have a few ideas to add to this concept. If you'd like to hear them, I'd be happy to post them.

[tniem]

Propaganda I completely agree with you when we deal with TBS but it is an entirely different matter in a RTS. Choosing governments slows down the game and keeps you from making another move.

But I would like to hear your ideas on how governments would work and what their purpose would be in a RTS.

[Propaganda]

Originally posted by tniem
Propaganda I completely agree with you when we deal with TBS but it is an entirely different matter in a RTS. Choosing governments slows down the game and keeps you from making another move.

But I would like to hear your ideas on how governments would work and what their purpose would be in a RTS.

Well, governments are not completely abstract in an RTS, and the idea behind IS to slow the game down, so not all of your resources/improvements are subjected to creating a huge military arsenal. Thus, this creates an element of strategy for the player, forcing him to deal with miscellaneous domestic issues, instead of focusing on beefing up your military(something that made Empire Earth less than average).

Now, I understand that RoN is far into the development stage, but that will not stop me from sharing my ideas. I hope, however, that there will be use for some of these, and that, hopefully, 25% of these can be implemented one way or another into RoN. My ideas are as follows.

First, I'd like to propose a "mood" system for citizens. All citizens/workers have moods, indicated by a bar following them. A green bar means they're happy, yellow means they're OK/indifferent, and red means they're unhappy. Happiness is determined by the sum of your economy; your ammount of collected resources, your gold treasury, infastructure, etc. It also plays well into governments, which I'll dwelve in later.

Second, I'd like to propose a system of "class workers." No longer will there be just simply workers, but you are now able to produce scientists, laborers, farmers and merchants. Certain types of citizens require perequisites. A farmer, for example, would require the research of farming, and a farm(allowing for 4 max farmers/each).

Thirdly and lastly, the governments. They go by the concept of "separate, but equal," however, not really. Certain governments give bonuses in different fields of research. Communism, for example, has a plus in Military and Civics research, while Democracy would have a plus in Science and Commerce. Production output potential differs for each government, however, the routes you take can differ in the way you handle your production power. For example, using Communism, it would be relatively cheaper to research and upkeep Military tech/improvements, while in Democracy, it would take more to research and upkeep Military tech/improvements. Also, since Communism has a bonus in Military and Civics, military units and infastructure(civics/military-related; i.e. Granaries and Military research centers are cheap in upkeep, however, universities are not) are cheap in upkeep(gold) costs, however, citizen morale is average/low, and upkeep(wages) costs are more expensive for them. Also, because their morale is average/low, they lose production values, therefore, laborers/engineers build slower, however, they will slowly become happy(and gain back production), if your economy is healthy. Also, since Communism has martial law instated, the ammount of units you have patroling your land will force happiness bonus to some of the citizens, but as economy continues to fail, they will revolt, and will try to overthrow the government(is enforced for all governments; once economy is down, citizens in any government will work to overthrow it, by attacking the infastructure. Once they have lowered infastructure "health" to low, they would have successfully overthrown the government, and put another in it's place. The government oerthrown becomes exiled for a fixed number of turns, where after, it can be tried again). Now, for Democracy, it would be different. Since there plus is in Science and Commerce. This means that it has a bonus in overall science research, and a bonus in commerce. With this, Democracy is always sure to have a lot of money(which can be used to buy citizens), however, upkeep costs are high for military and infastructure(but not for infastructure that is scientifically/commercially linked; i.e. military research centers are expensive in upkeep, but universities are cheap, overall). Also, in Democracy, citizen morale is high, so that also gives high production values.

The above examples were, just that, examples. They shouldn't be taken in context, they are only rough sketches on what I feel governments should be. If BHG has any intention on using these, please feel free to use them, and change anything as you see fit.

And that's my bag. Hope you enjoyed reading.

Night, folks.
Propaganda