More diverse governments: social engineering Alpha Centauri style
Posted: Wed Sep 13, 2017 1:54 pm
It seems that there is a tendency among modders to add new governments. I see it as a sign that the current governemnt system is too restrictive and doesn't give enough choices and variation. The problem with adding new governments is that you simply have to pick one and mostly stick with it and, when you need something else, choose something else, without designing a strategy about what to keep and what to discard.
Alpha Centauri had this solved by, instead of Governments, having social effects, in all, 16 of them, all with bonuses and downsides, that you could combine, one from each group of four (once you discover them, just like the governments here). Technically, it can't be done in Freeciv without serious coding, but I think the effect can be emulated very accurately using the Wonders system.
The difference between the concept of Wonders and Social Effects is basically that Wonders cost a lot, but have no downsides, while Social Effects may have downsides and should be reversible like governments. Therefore, they shouldn't be too expensive (or people would build them very rarely). Also, some of them would exclude/negate each other (existence of A would remove effect of B and vice versa, whichever was built first).
Some ideas, right out of my head, would be:
Literacy Campaign: +30% bulbs, -50% tax
Laissez-Faire: +50% trade, +1 unhappy, +50% buildings upkeep, +20% corruption (or at least some of those)
Planned Economy: +30% shields in each city (minimum +1 shield), +50% pollution
Baby Boom: +50% food, -1 shield on tiles that produce 3+
Militarization: +1 veteran, 4 units free of upkeep, -25% trade, -1 food on tiles that produce 3+
Any more ideas?
Alpha Centauri had this solved by, instead of Governments, having social effects, in all, 16 of them, all with bonuses and downsides, that you could combine, one from each group of four (once you discover them, just like the governments here). Technically, it can't be done in Freeciv without serious coding, but I think the effect can be emulated very accurately using the Wonders system.
The difference between the concept of Wonders and Social Effects is basically that Wonders cost a lot, but have no downsides, while Social Effects may have downsides and should be reversible like governments. Therefore, they shouldn't be too expensive (or people would build them very rarely). Also, some of them would exclude/negate each other (existence of A would remove effect of B and vice versa, whichever was built first).
Some ideas, right out of my head, would be:
Literacy Campaign: +30% bulbs, -50% tax
Laissez-Faire: +50% trade, +1 unhappy, +50% buildings upkeep, +20% corruption (or at least some of those)
Planned Economy: +30% shields in each city (minimum +1 shield), +50% pollution
Baby Boom: +50% food, -1 shield on tiles that produce 3+
Militarization: +1 veteran, 4 units free of upkeep, -25% trade, -1 food on tiles that produce 3+
Any more ideas?