[Freeciv-Dev] (PR#6159) Colonization: Professions

["John Wheeler" <jdwheeler42@xxxxxxxxx>]

[rwetmore@xxxxxxxxxxxx - Wed Sep 17 15:00:36 2003]:

> 2)  In the greater context, why should one not have as much
> flexibility in worker management as military management? One
> could reduce the number and types of military units if there
> is overload so that resource management was a greater game
> component for those that really don't like wargames.

This brings up a good point: for most of the game you really only have
one kind of (land) military unit in Colonization, the Veteran Soldier. 
When you equip a veteran soldier with muskets, you get a veteran
musketeer, and when you equip a veteran musketeer with horses, you get a
veteran dragoon.  I think this would encourage people to upgrade units
ASAP, since all you need is the new equipment, with the major drawback
that military units would have a population cost.  (And of course, more
diverse resources would also be required.)

For example:
Units:   Equipment needed:
Warriors Spears
Phalanx  Spears, shields
Horsemen Horses
Pikemen  Pikes
Legion   Pikes, shields

Units that ignore terrain (explorers, alpine troops, and partisans)
would probably have to be a seperate unit from Veteran Soldiers.

> But the main consideration here, is that these options should all be
> ruleset options so that people can tailor their game to their tastes
> and intellectual levels rather than forcing their tastes on others.
> 
> In this discussion, non-twitch games are much more challenging when
> there are varied ways of enhancing the growth curve, from diplomatic
> sharing to, more efficient and targetted resource allocations. This
> makes for many different game strategies and solutions. The lack of
> Freeciv development along these lines is still its most serious
> shortcoming vis a vis the PayCiv variants.

:-D

I agree wholeheartedly, except I do realize that programmers are limited
for Freeciv, so features (like this) that are difficult (and/or not
widely wanted) need to be put off for a while.  But it's never too soon
to start design discussions ;-)

-- 

++JohnWheeler