Underground Construction

[Valkenr]

I would really like to have the ability to create extensive underground structures.

Think:

-Wildfire Facility from Andromeda Strain
-Umbrella Corp. Raccoon City Facility from the first Resident Evil Movie
-A little shed in the middle of a dirt plain that has an ENTIRE CITY below it. Say the magic phrase, and the shed starts moving UP!.. NO! it's you... moving DOWN!

Now. fill in the technology gaps with magic and innovative wood/metalworking.

I would love to be able to develop a small little settlement way out from the bulk of the population, and keep it small, but build a huge underground structure. Then some hostile army comes along trying to take our territory, and BAM! 1000 soldiers flood out of a small building in the center of town.

It adds a whole other element to seizing a settlement, there is always the possibility that what you see isn't what is actually there, you would need to send in spies, or hope.

[Blaeringr]

Underground cities are awesome.

Even small scale stuff, like a camouflaged lair, go great with this idea.

[Skwiziks]

Certain more isolated and mountainous hexes make it so player settlements are built underground. This makes it harder to find and easier to defend. But costs a whole lot more in resources.

And they could be built for a steep price in regular hexes. I like the sound of that.

[BlackUhuru]

I believe this is very much an idea Ryan has, as stated by him in the blog posts after clearing caves, Lairs and abandoned ruins you could start a settlement or build some kind of structure. I'll have to go back and re read the blog but I really like this idea and could see this being a mechanic that would provide a lot of really fun content.

Hopefully Ryan will chime in on this thread and give us a more in-depth idea of what he is thinking.

[Valkenr]

It would be awesome if this game improved on the Minecraft model for terrain control. Let us get different tools that do different things to the terrain(pickax for stone, shovel for dirt, flat shovel to make flat dirt floors, magic wand, programmed crystals that automatically make tunnels, etc. )

So a player can grab a shovel and hollow out a section of ground, and place structures. collapses and cave-ins should be possible, and there should be structural support we can throw up.

The excavated product shouldn't disappear, we should have to use a shovel(takes 20x as much as it would IRL) and move the product around.

As you go deeper, after a certain point, the difficulty to go lower increases(asymptotic end of digging depth)

If we wanted to, it should be possible to create a mountain, or even re-direct rivers and create lakes.

You could do fun things in war, like dig trenches too.

There can even be harvest-able materials(gemstones/metals/crude-oil) that are underground.

[Pucktheplatypus]

I love this idea, having my own underground city supported by my loyal minions..... I mean followers would be awe inspiring

[KitNyx]

Valkenr wrote:

It would be awesome if this game improved on the Minecraft model for terrain control. Let us get different tools that do different things to the terrain(pickax for stone, shovel for dirt, flat shovel to make flat dirt floors, magic wand, programmed crystals that automatically make tunnels, etc. )

So a player can grab a shovel and hollow out a section of ground, and place structures. collapses and cave-ins should be possible, and there should be structural support we can throw up.

The excavated product shouldn't disappear, we should have to use a shovel(takes 20x as much as it would IRL) and move the product around.

As you go deeper, after a certain point, the difficulty to go lower increases(asymptotic end of digging depth)

If we wanted to, it should be possible to create a mountain, or even re-direct rivers and create lakes.

You could do fun things in war, like dig trenches too.

There can even be harvest-able materials(gemstones/metals/crude-oil) that are underground.

I would love this...and hope encumbrance plays in as a way to keep it in check.

[Hudax]

This idea could be expanded upon in many ways:

-barely underground construction (ie: hobbit holes)
-underwater construction
-construction floating on water
-construction floating on air
-construction in trees

[Beacher]

This hadn't actually occurred to me, but the more I think about it, the more I love it. Most fantasy worlds I've encountered have at least one prominent underground civilization, from majestic Moria in The Lord of the Rings to the high-tech anti-nuclear bunkers in The Hunger Games.

This might also help alleviate some of the strain on landscape with all of us running about willy-nilly trying to establish settlements. It's also a way for player settlements to conceal vast resources from the casual observer. I like the idea of the surface presence being just the tip of the iceberg.