[Freeciv-Dev] Two suggestions/ideas for FreeCiv

["Jonathan Day" <jd9812@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

Hi,

   I'd like to propose two suggestions for
FreeCiv. They're not related, but it saves space to just send the one e-mail. 
:) Apologies if any of these have been suggested before.
   Firstly, I'd like to suggest Standing Orders. A "Standing Order" is an 
instruction for a specific unit which will be carried out IF the conditions for 
the order are met, AND the unit has performed no action for that turn. A unit 
may have more than one Standing Order. In which case, the first Standing Order 
in which the conditions are met would be used.
   One example may be for an explorer to have four Standing Orders:
   1) If (No Sea) to the (West), (Move West)
   2) If (No Sea) to the (North), (Move North)
   3) If (No Sea) to the (East), (Move East)
   4) If (No Sea) to the (South), (Move South)
   The result of this would be for the explorer to find the perimiter of the 
land (minus any diagonal paths), and follow it repeatedly.
   It would be realistic, in that both civilian and military organisations have 
Standing Orders in the real world. It would also simplify management of 
repetitive, "mundane" tasks.
   The way I envisage it implemented would be to have a stack of a certain 
maximum depth, associated with each unit. If the unit has not carried out any 
action, the stack is searched through until EITHER the end has been reached (in 
which case, the unit still does nothing), OR the conditions are met for a SO. 
If the conditions are met, then the action is performed.

   The second suggestion is for Regional Government. Regional Government is 
where a second player (or AI) takes control of one specific city. The principle 
player can allot a certain budget to that city, but has no control of any 
operations within it. They do, however, retain full control over any units that 
move out of the city.
   The Regional Government can use it's budget and any non-monetary resources 
the city has to do construction, keep people happy, etc. It controls all units 
inside the city, but loses that control once the unit leaves. For traders, that 
means that the Regional Government can choose the comodity to trade, and the 
original goal of the trader, but it is left to the principle player as to 
whether the unit actually goes there or not.
   Regional Government is also completely responsible for the defence of the 
city.
   In terms of playability, this allows a player to optionally delegate 
responsibility for cities, as it can get very easy to construct far more cities 
than the player can keep track of.
   In terms of realism, empires invariably end up delegating control to 
regional governers, as it is impractical for an Emperor to micro-manage every 
detail of every city in every country under their influence.
   This begs the question of why anybody would want to play a Regional 
Governer, when they can play a Warlord or Emperor. I can give two possible 
answers to that.
   First, a Regional Governer is unlikely to be appointed at the start of a 
game. Therefore, this would give people who want to see what FreeCiv is about 
(hands-on), but don't have the time to play a full game, the opportunity to 
have it both ways.
   Secondly, it would be possible to extend the Regional Government concept, to 
allow a city to rebel and go under the total control of the Governer. This 
would allow a Governer to change status and become a Ruler. This answer would 
allow a player experience in both roles, and would increase the importance of a 
Ruler keeping cities (and Governers) happy. (It would also increase paranoia 
levels, which is both fun and realistic!)

   Hope this is of interest,

Jonathan Day



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