So, I read through the patch notes for version 1.3 of Empire, and I'm confused about the change to unit creation. It seems as though all units are created only at the time when a city gets an upgrade and only if the unit is chosen as the upgrade. What is the primary use for the Production resource gained by building up around cities if not to create units? Just for revealing fog of war?
Hi TDude! As you probably figured out, the fact that you need to build cities to build units now means that you'll be building and abandoning cities faster than before. Settlers cost 50 materials, which doesn't sound like a lot, but keep in mind that you no longer have those forests pouring in materials as you did before. On top of that, yes, revealing fog of war.
Ok, yeah that makes sense. That clarifies a few other things I see as well. Cities will grow faster because some spaces will grant more food than before AND each city benefits from more spaces. Building and razing your own cities at a faster rate also helps make sure the land burns up in a way that challenges the player (since now the monster lairs don't ruin the land). Larger city area usage will cause players to want to spread out more so they don't overlap, causing more devastation to the land, and the map is smaller, so players will soon have to consider city placement pretty carefully. This means exploration is hugely important to get enough information to plan ahead a city or two. So I can see why production will be plenty important. I've got a follow-up question about the process of advancing a city under certain circumstances: When a city upgrades to Tier 1 or Tier 3, if the player has a full army and does not have any gems, what happens? At tier 1, they can't add a warrior to a full army and they can't purchase a Shaman Hut. At tier 3, they can't add a cavalry to a full army and they can't purchase a Keep.
Ah right, glad that's staying in. And I just realized I got the term wrong, "materials" rather than "production"... oh well! Thanks for your explanations. I'm enjoying the game, and I'm excited for 1.3!
