[Freeciv-Dev] [DRAFT] New modpack: FutureTech

["Miguel Farah F." <miguel@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

One of the things that always bugged me about Civ 1/2 was the tech tree:
after fusion power, came Future Tech 1, then Future Tech 2, and so on.
In campaigns with large landmasses, the techtree would be exhausted
early, and I'd be stuck with all these FTs which ammounted to nothing
interesting, specially for a science-fiction fan like myself. In most
cases I'd reach the FTs in the latter half of the 20th century, so it
wasn't that terrible a problem... but considering Freeciv can reach much
further into the future, it is a more noticeable annoyance.

I decided that since Freeciv has an ancients modpack, then there should
be a FutureTech modpack too, and I've begun with the initial design.

Here I'll show you the current specs [let's call it draft 0.01].
Suggestions ARE welcome. First I want to have a complete spec for the
modpack, and only then the actual work (writing rulesets, modifying
source code, drawing tiles) will begin. I WILL need help (specially with
the source code and the tiles).

Here goes (you might want to print this and read it from paper):


-----8<--------8<--------8<--------8<--------8<--------8<--------8<-----
                   FUTURETECH MODPACK - SPEC 0.01



NEW GAME CONCEPT

HIJACKABLE UNIT: it's a unit (typically a non-military one) that can be
taken over by a military unit of an enemy. For example: a canadian fish
factory (see below) is doing its business in the sea, when a spanish
battleship [homecity: Barcelona] arrives to it. If the spanish player
issues the attack order, he/she/it is presented with two options: either
attack the unit or hijack it. If he chooses the former, attack proceeds
as usual. If he chooses the latter, the unit is hijacked: the fishing
factory now is a SPANISH unit, suffering no damage in the process (and
its homecity will be Barcelona, just like the battleship).

This kind of unit can only be hijacked if there aren't any
non-hijackable units on its square. If there's more than a hijackable
unit in the same square, they are all hijacked simultaneously.

The unit that does the hijacking uses up as many movement points as it
would have used in a regular attack.



NEW UNITS FOR EXISTING TECHS

- NEUTRON BOMB (identical to nuclear, but without the pollution/fallout)
  requires: power fusion + rocketry
  cost:      320     attack:    99
  defense:   0       move:      16
  firepower: 1       hitpoints: 10
  basic upk: 1S,1U   vision:    1


- FISHING FACTORY ("farms" a 3x3 sea area and feeds it to its homecity;
                   its extraction takes precedence over a city)
  requires: robotics + plastics
  cost:      400     attack:    0
  defense:   1       move:      5
  firepower: 0       hitpoints: 20
  basic upk: 1S      vision:    2
  + non-military unit
  + "hijackable"


NEW TECHS

 [Computers]
 |
 |
 v
 tech: COMPUTER NETWORK (gives 1 free tech to first player that obtains
 |                       it, but must NOT be "Artificial Intelligence";
 |                       ?also increases trade?)
 |
 +--+
 |  |
 |  |<---[Genetic engineering]
 |  |
 |  v
 |  tech: TRANSGENIC CROPS (+1 food in all farmland squares)
 |
 |
 +--+
 |  |
 |  |
 |  |
 |  v
 |  tech: CRIPTOGRAPHY
 |  |
 |  |<---[space flight]
 |  |
 |  v
 |  tech: SPY SATELLITES (reveals whole map + sees EVERYTHING on it;
 |  |                     other cities can be spied without needing a
 |  |                     spy (just click on them and you get the same
 |  |                     info a spy would provide)
 |  |                    OBSOLETES: Apollo Program
 |  |
 |  |
 |  +------> improvement: CITY CLOAK (the city and the squares it
 |  |                                 controls are immune to satellite
 |  |                                 peeping)
 |  |                     cost: 320 upkeep: 6
 |  |
 |  |
 |  +------> unit: FIELD CLOAKER (cloaks a 3x3 area from satellites)
 |                 cost:      200     attack:    0
 |                 defense:   1       move:      4
 |                 firepower: 0       hitpoints: 40
 |                 basic upk: 1S,1U   vision:    2
 |
 |
 v
 tech: ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE
 |
 |
 |<---[Fusion Power]
 |
 v
 tech: ADVANCED A.I. (duplicates global science output)
 |                   OBSOLETES: Copernicus' Observatory
 |                              Isaac Newton's College
 |
 |
 |
 |--+
 |  |
 |  |<---[Recycling]
 |  |
 |  v
 |  wonder: WEATHER CONTROL (global warming ceases, no matter what)
 |          cost: 960
 |
 |
 |
 +->tech: SHIELDING (provides superior city defense)
 |  |
 |  |
 |  +------> improvement: CITY SHIELDS (duplicates overall city defense;
 |  |                                   ineffective against disruptors
 |  |                                   (and nothing else)
 |  |                     cost: 400 upkeep: 5
 |  |
 |  |
 |  +------> unit: DISRUPTOR (when placed ADJACENT to a non-friendly
 |                            city, it disrupts its shields; effects
 |                            disappear if moved away or destroyed)
 |                 cost:      300     attack:    0
 |                 defense:   1       move:      4
 |                 firepower: 0       hitpoints: 20
 |                 basic upk: 1S,1U   vision:    1
 |                 + non-military
 |
 |
 |
 +->tech: FARCASTING (allows teletransportation)
 |  |     Almost any unit can be teletransported from ANY two squares
 |  |     having a farcaster, without using up movement points.
 |  |     Terms of use:
 |  |      - farcaster use is unlimited (unlike, say, airlifting, that
 |  |        handles one unit per turn).
 |  |      - any farcaster can be used as start and any as destination,
 |  |        even those belonging to enemy nations. For example, the
 |  |        following move is perfectly legal: a spanish armor enters
 |  |        by a german [enemy] farcaster and exits by a canadian [also
 |  |        enemy] farcaster.
 |  |      - if a unit farcasts into a square containing a non-friendly
 |  |        unit of any kind (even a lowly caravan), it's instantly
 |  |        destroyed.
 |  |      - if a unit farcasts succesfully into a square occupied by an
 |  |        enemy farcaster, it CAN hijack it immediately.
 |  |      - These units can NOT move by farcasters:
 |  |        + field farcaster
 |  |        + farcaster carrier.
 |  |      - Other than the farcaster carrier, all sea units CAN be
 |  |        farcasted.
 |  |      - No two field farcasters can be in the same square in any
 |  |        situation.
 |  |      - A field farcaster can NOT be put in "sentry mode".
 |  |      - PROGRAMMERS BEWARE: a city can have BOTH a farcaster and a
 |  |        field farcaster on it, and farcasting must continue to
 |  |        function properly.
 |  |
 |  |     Farcaster locations should be highlighted (in violet) in
 |  |     the world map (even if they are in places that are unknown by
 |  |     the player).
 |  |
 |  |
 |  +------> improvement: FARCASTER
 |  |                     cost: 800 upkeep: 0
 |  |
 |  |
 |  +------> unit: FIELD FARCASTER
 |  |        cost:      960     attack:    0
 |  |        defense:   0       move:      1
 |  |        firepower: 0       hitpoints: 100
 |  |        basic upk: 2S      vision:    1
 |  |        + air unit
 |  |        + non-military unit
 |  |        + "hijackable"
 |  |        + non-farcastable
 |  |        + non-airliftable
 |  |
 |  |
 |  +------> unit: FARCASTER CARRIER (a special kind of carrier that can
 |                                    carry one field farcaster and
 |                                    nothing else)
 |           cost:      300     attack:    0
 |           defense:   9       move:      8
 |           firepower: 0       hitpoints: 100
 |           basic upk: 2S      vision:    2
 |           + sea unit
 |           + non-military unit
 |           + "hijackable"
 |           + non-farcastable
 |           + non-airliftable
 |
 |
 |
 +->tech: FORCE ground   [write this]
 |
 |
 +->tech: FORCE air      [write this]
 |
 |
 +->tech: FORCE sea      [write this]

-----8<--------8<--------8<--------8<--------8<--------8<--------8<-----

-- 
MIGUEL FARAH              //   miguel@xxxxx
#include <disclaimer.h>   //   http://www.nn.cl/~miguel
<*>
"Trust me - I know what I'm doing."
- Sledge Hammer