[Freeciv-Dev] wonder balance (was: Blitzkrieg patch)

[Reinier Post <rp@xxxxxxxxxx>]

On Tue, Aug 01, 2000 at 03:49:49AM -0400, Reed Meyer wrote:

> >  If players are equally powerfull and rather good players (so luck does
> > not have overly big part), almost any wonder can have very big effect to
> > results (if its only thing that differs...). Even with my weak subset of
> > wonders, its not uncommon that some wonder changes 51/49 to something 
> > like 75/25.
> 
> Not in my experience, and I've played many Civ I and Civ II games.

I'm not sure how relevant Civ I and Civ II are here, their AI is
said to be poor compared to Freeciv's or human opponents.

> [...]  In other words, the Wonder could be a "predictor"
> of who is the better player, and that "predictor" might have a probability
> of being correct 75% of the time in determining the winner.

This is definitely true ...
 
> >  Depends on world. With Magellan and pretty strong navy, you can destroy
> > basicly all enemy ships aproaching your island. Thay can't escape you and
> > you can probably escape them even with wounded unit.
> 
> But, keep in mind that with the 400 or so shields that you COULD have
> spent on Magellan, you spent on something else, like a fleet of ships for
> example.

It's a waste of resources to build units that you can't use.  In 1.10.0,
Magellan's made a nation invincible at sea, especially in defense.
Now that it gives only 1 bonus point - does it? - it may be better.
Fog of war also helps.

And attacking a nation that threatens to win by building Magellan's
before you  - i.e. justifying the collapse of your research speed while
it heads for Steam Engine - is out of the question - you'd need Magellan's
in order to do it!

> If both nations have 800 shields, and Nation A spends 400 on 
> Magellan and 400 on ships, but Nation B spends all 800 on ships,
> Nation B will literally blow Nation A out of the water.

This is true if A attacks B, but not the other way round.  Everything
that gets near A will be blown out of the water by A, with ships that
can return home to recover.  This is where fog of war can make a major
difference.

> better example:  Nation A builds Magellan, but later on Nation B builds
> Hoover Dam.

Generator > 1 games are usually decided by ironclad / cruiser campaigns.
The Hoover Dam or even factories arrive too late.  Besides, most cities
aren't even big enough to make factories worthwhile.

-- 
Reinier