Re: [Freeciv-Dev] Feature suggestion

[Per Mathisen <permath@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

On Mon, 18 Jan 1999, Lalo Martins wrote:
[engineer transformation]
> What's this?

Using engineers to transform, say, a desert into a plain. Freeciv 
supports this somewhat (plains into forests, but not deserts into
plains, I am not sure why).

> Of course. That's why I suggest a server option. Perhaps the
> long-discussed "civstyle 3" for FreeCiv extensions.

Yah, that would be real fun.

My take on the "channel" discussion is that we should rather let
engineers create rivers, and use Peter's suggestion that small ships 
can sail on rivers. I liked that idea.

I don't think any prerequisites other than explosives (ie engineers) 
are needed, but it should take quite a while to do.

> Yes, this is one thing that bothered me in the proposal. I guess
> it would be kind of like "goto" - you order it to landfill and
> it asks "please give the direction", which can be done by
> clicking or pressing an arrow key. I don't know if the best
> thing would be to have the engineer stay where he is or move to
> the ocean square.

This sounds like a horrible (and user-hostile) kludge. If we are really to
bother with this, lets make a new sea-engineer (or whatever) which can
build chunnels, fill landmasses and transform rivers to ocean squares. It
would need some serious high tech, though.

Chunnels do not need to give terrible nightmares of underground combat.
Just rule that no unit can attack inside a chunnel (but be attacked by
ships maybe) and that any unit ending its turn inside a chunnel is dead.
(Chunnels should, of course, only be built on ocean squares and work
like rail.)

When we have nothing better to do, we could add an option to this
sea-engineer so that it can build underseas cities* :)

> And there are no tunnels in FreeCiv! Are there tunnels in
> Civ/CivII?

No.

Yours,
Per

* I've heard that the new Civilization title coming out of Activision
actually will have this feature...