[Freeciv-Dev] Re: (PR#4539) rules against smallpox (tutorials/nopox page)

["Kecskes Csaba" <cskecskes@xxxxxxxxxx>]

----- Original Message -----
From: "Jason Short" <jshort@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
To: <rt-guest@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Cc: <cskecskes@xxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Friday, July 11, 2003 9:51 PM
Subject: Re: [Freeciv-Dev] (PR#4539) rules against smallpox (tutorials/nopox
page)


> --On Friday, July 11, 2003 12:20:14 -0700 Guest <rt-guest@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
> wrote:

> > I have read Mike Jing's letter
> > (on the tutorials/nopox.html page)
> > and I think it is quite sad that he sees the smallpox
> > strategy as an incurable problem of FreeCiv.

> See the 'citymindist' server variable.  But it defaults to 0.
> See the 'notradesize' and 'fulltradesize' server variables.  But they
> default to 0 and 1.
> jason

You are right, I should have checked the server variables
before writing. But the fact that these variables are set to
ineffective values probably indicates that this kind of
solutions are not liked by the majority of the (human) players.
Therefore I tried to find another solution to the ICS
problem and I think I have found a "historically correct" one.
If you look at the "real world history" then you can see the
followings:
- some European powers and Turkey have colonized the larger
  part of the Earth in the 16-18th centuries
- in spite of it now there are many independent countries
  instead of a few great empires
- if the colonizers moved into (relatively) empty spaces
  ("built their own cities" in Civ terms) then the colonists
  (when they become more numerous and recognized how far
  are they from their mother country) developed a new
  national identity and when this new identity matured
  enough they declared their independence
- if the colonizers conquered an underdeveloped country
  then the inhabitants did not loose their original
  national/ethnic identity and when they become more
  advanced ("get enough technologies" in Civ terms)
  they declared their independence
The concept of "civil war" is implemented in FreeCiv
therefore it wouldn't be very difficult (I hope) to
implement the following rules, too:
- when a city is conquered then the conquerors will
  be the rulers of it but it's original affiliation
  will be remembered (and the units created in this
  city will inherit it)
- a Player is not eliminated from the game if all of it's
  cities are conquered, only when all of it's cities
  are destroyed
- if there are enough (3 ... 5?) conquered cities with
  the same "national identity" and they have already
  spent enough time under "colonial rule" (5 ... 10
  turns at least) then they may declare their
  independence (the cities are joining the empire
  of their original owner or this original owner
  will be an active Player again)
- if an empire is big enough ("civilwarsize" variable)
  and it has a lump of cities (3 ... 5?) not too far
  from each other but far enough from it's capital
  (at least 10 tiles?) then they may declare their
  independence with a new "national identity"
  (new AI Player)
- the probability of such a revolt is increasing by
  larger city sizes and by longer time spent under
  "colonial rule"
Of course, "historical correctness" is not everything,
the result should be a playable game. But the above rules
might be better than the "forced unhappiness" rules
described on the tutorials/nopox.html page.
Best regards
Mr. Csaba Kecskes
cskecskes@xxxxxxxxxx