Scale Administrators To Map Size

...and maybe planet abundance

I suggest scaling the number of administrators you get per citizen based on map size.   Because if you play on bigger maps where lots of expansion is going to happen, you have little choice but to do all or almost all your citizens as administrators for a long, long time, which kind of eliminates choice and somewhat eliminates the citizen feature.  I'm not sure what a fair value would be, but it'd be nice to be able to do something other than make administrators with citizens on the larger maps without crippling your expansion and mandatory starbase spamming.

I don't change planet abundance but I could see this problem being even more apparent if you boost that setting.

This is something that would impact both AIs and players, assuming the AIs play by somewhat the same rules as players when it comes to administrator earning and usage.

16,702 views 10 replies
Reply #1 Top

I think it's a good idea, but in the meantime you might want to check out this mod.

Edit: Gaak, the link isn't working for some reason.  Try this: https://forums.galciv3.com/482999/page/1/

Reply #2 Top

Back in early GCIII I was totally on the scale speed/research/etc to map size bandwagon.

But I think scaling admin directly to map size from the start of the game would be a huge mistake.

Here's why:

1.  Puts undo emphasis on colony rush.   

2.  would make  tall empires unviable.

3.  Removes the need to balance the opportunity costs of advancement.


Strictly put.     you don't need to colonize every planet or build every starbase now.       Building the ring of a billion starbases to boost every planet is no longer a viable cheese option.



Now, I'm all for having a building or a tech later in game that lets you train additional admins.      Especially if the building on planet does not really do much else, as that forces another lost opportunity cost on the player.


But I think early game, it is important that there is a limit on the number of admin and that the game forces you to decide what is actually best....  that planet/resource over there, or boosting my existing planets???

Reply #3 Top

Quoting Taslios, reply 2

Back in early GCIII I was totally on the scale speed/research/etc to map size bandwagon.

But I think scaling admin directly to map size from the start of the game would be a huge mistake.

Here's why:

1.  Puts undo emphasis on colony rush.   

2.  would make  tall empires unviable.

3.  Removes the need to balance the opportunity costs of advancement.


Strictly put.     you don't need to colonize every planet or build every starbase now.       Building the ring of a billion starbases to boost every planet is no longer a viable cheese option.



Now, I'm all for having a building or a tech later in game that lets you train additional admins.      Especially if the building on planet does not really do much else, as that forces another lost opportunity cost on the player.


But I think early game, it is important that there is a limit on the number of admin and that the game forces you to decide what is actually best....  that planet/resource over there, or boosting my existing planets???

Really good points, whenever the player is put into a situation to make a critical decision is a plus plus to me.

Reply #4 Top

After going all the way through the beta and now post release, I have yet to build an econ starbase in Crusade.  I do, however, build a lot of mining starbases to grab resources and artifacts.

Reply #5 Top

They are scaled. On a tiny map you only get 4 admins and one is used for the survey ship

Reply #6 Top

Quoting Franco, reply 5

They are scaled. On a tiny map you only get 4 admins and one is used for the survey ship

I  think he means the number of points you get for each admin citizen should scale

Reply #7 Top

Quoting a0152570, reply 6

I  think he means the number of points you get for each admin citizen should scale

Okay, I figured I was missing the point somewhere :)

They probably should do something on the issue. I think they were thinking there would be a lot fewer colonies in Crusade.

Reply #8 Top

I actually like that you have few to begin with, even on larger maps. As Taslios put it, this makes it possible to focus on a tall empire and extends colonization further into the game. I think focusing on administrators should be a strategic decision, and if you have 50 of them, the techs that award administrators become a lot less important. I think modding in an administrator-awarding building as Publius has done is a great option.

I was also thinking about making a capstone tech that does this, too--or a planetary project (like training legions). A starbase module could also be added for this. Extra administrators could also be modded into a ship mission (like the mission that finds citizens).

In other words, there are a lot of possibilities for making the pursuit of administrators akin to other resources--keeping it limited makes these optional rather than pointless, giving players more control over how they play. The key is making sure the other options are equally important to pursue, and so pursuing administrators becomes one of many viable strategies.

Reply #9 Top

I don't think administrators should scale with map size any more than I think tech cost should scale with map size....the mere existence of more planets should not affect the ability to colonize those planets or discover new technology....

But obviously there is a game balance issue here...for technology, you have a slider you can control that changes the tech cost based on the player's preference, and this allows the player to increase tech costs on larger maps if they feel that techs get researched too quickly with all those planets...I think a similar option for citizens/administrators adequately solves the problem... 

Reply #10 Top

Quoting Taslios, reply 2

Back in early GCIII I was totally on the scale speed/research/etc to map size bandwagon.

But I think scaling admin directly to map size from the start of the game would be a huge mistake.

Here's why:

1.  Puts undo emphasis on colony rush.   

2.  would make  tall empires unviable.

3.  Removes the need to balance the opportunity costs of advancement.


Strictly put.     you don't need to colonize every planet or build every starbase now.       Building the ring of a billion starbases to boost every planet is no longer a viable cheese option.



Now, I'm all for having a building or a tech later in game that lets you train additional admins.      Especially if the building on planet does not really do much else, as that forces another lost opportunity cost on the player.


But I think early game, it is important that there is a limit on the number of admin and that the game forces you to decide what is actually best....  that planet/resource over there, or boosting my existing planets???

 

You are absolutly correct. Thinking otherwise is in total ignorance of good game design. If administrators are going to be scaled by map size it must be those who comes with Tech.

Should be obvious. Starting with one less on tiny map is OK, but starting with more then 5 on huge is a disaster for gameplay.