Re: [Freeciv-Dev] How much is missing to make C:CTP clone

[Artur Biesiadowski <abies@xxxxxxxxx>]

Jules Bean wrote:

> Could someone perhaps outline how these work, for those of us who've
> never seen CTP?  Stealth units are pretty straight-forward, but how do
> the the stacking and trading rules work?


Ok, lets try.

TRADE

Every special resource is worth the same - 10gp (CTP uses greater
numbers than civ1/2). This is simple. But if you happen to have more
than one special resource of same type in town you began to monopolize
the market - second one is worth 20gp (third 30gp etc). Of course it is
very unlikely that you will have more than 2 of same resourceces in city
radius. And here comes the caravans. Thanks to them you can create a
trade route, transporting resource from one city to another. This way
you can have for example 4 x tabacoo in one city - 100gp of income
instead of 40.
Of course it is a bit unrealistic - more common the resource more easy
is to create a 'monopoly' - but the general idea adds a lot to game -
for example you might want to conquer specific city for resources that
are there - not because they are good alone, but because you have a big
market for them...
Next thing is trade bewteen nations - you can advertize good from your
city for sale. You can seel it for example for 20gp per turn, but
somebody else will gain anyway - mutual benefit. Or it can be forced as
part of peace deal. Etc, etc.
Trade routes are represented by lines - actually crossing land and sea.
If military unit happens to be on such line it can pirate it - breaking
route (and thus wasting a caravan). So you have to watch if you trade
routes do not come through enemy territory - a lot of realism feel here
(plus suicide units jumping in your territory to sabotage supply lines
and then die..)
Generally I feel that such trade adds a lot to gameplay - with only
mistake being the fact that sparse resources are not valuable. But it
can be ignored, or we could just make server to create even number of
each resource.


STACKS

Up to 9 units per field. You can move them at once. No problem until
combat occurs. In civ combat is resolved single unit versus single unit
(and if defenders is not in city (not fortified?) entire defending stack
is destroyed). In CTP combat screen appears and combat goes as follows:
Units are put in 3 ranks. There has to be at least two units in rank I
think. First rank fights with first rank of enemy - no surprise here.
But in addition to attack/defence units have ranged attack attribute. If
unit with ranged attacks happens to be in second(also third?) rank it
shoots BEFORE combat - resolved as normal attack but without possibility
of being hurt in process. 
So for example you can make a stack of two pikemans and two muskeeters,
where musketeers shot from second line and the pikeman fights with
surviving units.
This adds a new dimension to units - now you can compose armies. For
example few muskeeters backed up by cannons. Or phalanx with archers in
second row. 

Side effect of this is that defence is a lot easier in CTP, especially
at early stages of game. If you will put few phalanx and few archers
fortified behind city walls, NOTHING will come through them. This makes
use of special units like clerics/speedy desks a lot more appealing. 

I don't remeber if civ2 had a bombard - in any case few units in CTP has
a ability to bombard. They attacks a near field without risk of being
hurt (unless there are bombard-capable units there). This allows sieging
city with cannons for few turns and attacking only then (again quite
realistic). 

BTW there is one major mistake in CTP I think - RoboticWalker comes too
early. It is best allaround unit available and comes only one step after
artillery. Due to that there is almost no conventional warfare in CTP -
I mean tanks backed up by artillery (and possibly machine
gunners/fashists). But anyway it is a lot better than civ2 - creating
stacks really requires more thinking than packing best units in civ2.
And it allows defending critical points instead of spreading forces to
minimize cost of lossing entire stack during defence.


STEALTH UNITS

I'm not sure if you really know what this means in CTP - they are not
only invisible but allow for quite another kind of warfare. For example:
- cleric (theocracy only) - can convert city (it gives some gold to you
each turn), or induce unhappines
- slaver - can capture settlers or citizens from cities and put them
into yours as slaves (1/2 food and no salary)
- abolitionist - can free slaves and transport them back to your city
(not the city from they were captured from :)
- speedy desk - can block production for one turn in city
- somebody (ecoranger?) - can disease the city, reducing happines;
disease has a chance of spreading through trade routes (I REALLY love
this idea)

etc, etc


Artur