[Freeciv] Worker/Settler (was: A proposal concerning the game rules)

[Mikołaj Koziarkiewicz <lod@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Hi again,

after giving some thought to balancing the costs of the units, I have
chosen to test the following configuration:
Settler:
Pop cost: 2
Shield cost: 40
Upkeep: 1 shield, 1 food
Flags: "NonMil", "AddToCity", "Cities"

Worker:
Pop cost: 0
Shield cost: 40
Upkeep: 1 shield
Flags: "Settlers", "NonMil", "Airbase"

Engineers:
Pop cost: 0
Shield cost: 40
Upkeep: 1 shield
Flags: "Settlers", "NonMil", "Transform", "Airbase"

As you see, I have decided to drop the 1 pop cost for Workers/Engineers
- too much early game slowdown.
In the test, everything went smoothly. I had no problems with growing a
fairly decent empire - and neither did the AI.
That was partially due to the way Granaries compensate the two pop loss.
When a city within a certain size limit (obviously starting at 3, the
ending bracket of the limit is dependant on a certain factor) will build
a Settler, it will automatically grow one size up, granted a fair amount
of food surplus (that's the mentioned factor). This of course gives
granaries, and hence the Pyramids, a higher strategic value, but it also
promotes vertical expansion IMHO.
Comments welcome, of course :).

Regards,

Nick