Learning lessons from past games (Birth of the Federation, especially)

BOFA

Sometimes the best games learn lessons from earlier games.

For instance, clearly being able to design your own space ship is inspired from the lessons of Masters of Orion I and II.

Having events where a player must make a choice, a, b, or c reminds me of Castles I. In that game however, a flag would be set and the decision would come back to haunt you later. So for instance, you decide to send your son to the crusades, later you get asked whether to assign him gaurds on his trip. If you were like me, you were pleasently surprised when he returned stronger and wiser, for having had no gaurds and distinguished as a man and a warrior, instead of the rakish layabout he was when he lived at the Castle.

So my first suggestion is that there be event flags, for follow up events. You could script all kinds of neat storylines with it.

My second suggestion is to consider the redeeming quality of Birth of Federation.

In this game, you were rewarded for playing "Like" your race. So for instance, the Klingons actually generate a type of Peace Weariness and are pleased when you conquer a new planet. Federation expand not by conquest really, but by aiding an ally!

So, what I would propose is a type of scatterplot style control when designing a new culture, and that all existing cultures and/or controlling parties have this value pre set. If you think of it like a compass with;

North = Conquester
South = Peaceful
West = Erudite
East = Wealth

So that if you were directly in the center of the compass you would gain no bonuses what so ever. The good old ever adaptable human of genericness.

This compass would be outside of the normal morality, which ranges from good to evil. You could just as easily be a Good Conquestor as you could a Peaceful Wealth culture. it might be heard to be an Evil Peaceful culture, but it can be done.

Things you do in the game, will move these values in different directions. For instance, if you can build war academys on 2/3rds of your planets, perhaps you shift towards conquestor slowly over time every turn. Answers to certain questions in events can shift the value as well, for instance if you vote towards some Star Council event that taxes warlike civilizations, then you move towards peace and possibly towards wealth oriented cultures.

Then when you take a certain pre-determined action you gain bonuses or hits to your morale on planets. This is a lot simpler than it sounds;

Generating positive revenue = bonus to Wealth cultures. The closer you are to wealth on the compass the more you get.
Generation debt = negativity
You could also improve this culture based on the number of trade goods controlled

Researching new technology = bonus to Erudite cultures

Conquering a planet = bonus to conquerer cultures
Each turn at war = bonus to conquerer cultures
Each turn in an alliance = hit to conquerer cultures

Conquering a planet = hit to peaceful cultures
Each turn at war = hit to peaceful cultures
Each turn in an alliance = bonus to peaceful cultures

This would reward a player, for playing like their culture.

You could probably enhance this compass with an element of subterfuge and other civilization focuses.

ideas

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