29SEPT11 Moving Cities

Message Rating: Topic Search Topic Options Post Reply Create New Topic Printable Version Translate Topic

MOVING CITIES

It is now possible to move your cities via non-magical means. Moving a city is a massive undertaking and requires the deepest understanding of storage, inventory management and logistics - as well as sacrifice. It is also slow - a city moving will only move at 5 squares per hour.   

THE "EXODUS" TECHNOLOGY

Exodus is attached to Inventory Management in the City research tab and requires a level 20 Warehouse to research. 

Researching the Exodus technology will allow players will be able to move their cities (beyond the one-off relocation spell) to other locations.

You must have more than one city to be able to move a city.

Moving a city is performed on the relocate city page in your castle. On this page you will be offered a list of your other cities that have the Exodus technology researched and asked where you wish to relocate it to.

You will carry over your military, diplomatic and trade units with you, as well as your research and currently stored storehouse/warehouse items.

Before you choose a location to move to, you will be informed of the consequences of moving, both generally and specific to your city.  Relocating cities move at a speed of 5 squares per hour.

CHANGES DUE TO RELOCATION

As well as obviously the town's location - unlike the current relocation spell - you will not take your underlying terrain resource distribution with you.  Your city's terrain will change both for combat and resources to the new square's terrain. This allows you to change the resource distribution of your city.

You will receive the new resource distribution of the new square that you move to, and will be able to exploit those resources accordingly.  Your existing resource plots will be mapped over to the new resource plots.  Those that do not match will be lost (ie if you move from a 7 Clay to a 5 Clay terrain, you will lose the 2 clay squares). Those resource squares that are new to your resource layout will start at level 0.

SACRIFICES

Moving city can potentially have significant penalties attached to it:
All buildings in the city (both city buildings and resource building, and the city wall) above Level 12 will be levelled down to L12 by the process of moving.  

Once you arrive at your destination square, you will not be able to send out diplomatic units or armies for a period of 5 days.  Your armies and diplomats will spend this time adjusting to their new surroundings, and preparing their defences. They will, as ever, defend if attacked. 

Whilst your city is moving it will require sufficient gold upkeep to support the units it owns, travelling with it, for the period that you are travelling.  You will be informed, when you choose to relocate your city, of this cost - and it will immediately be debited from your town gold.  If you do not have sufficient gold, you will not be able to move cities.

All sovereignty owned by the city will be immediately relinquished.

If the city you have chosen to move is your capital city, then your capital city will change to your largest non-moving city.  We will also be introducing a mechanism to allow players to change their capital city at will.

All your advanced resource production will be paused during the move and continue at the point it left off once your city reaches its destination.

All your unit production will be paused during the move and continue at the point it left of once your city reaches its destination.

All your current quests will be cancelled.

All the spells you have cast from this town and those cast on your town will be cancelled.

Any town prestige effects you have running in this town will extend to cover the move time; so you will not lose any prestige active time for this town.
WARNINGS
Ensure you either have enough gold reserves or will have enough revenue to continue pay your units after your town has moved or they will begin to disband.

Remember to factor in the gold deduction for moving (upkeep) and the additional reduction in income that may occur from buildings being levelled down due to the move.

You will not receive any income for the moving city - either in gold, or in resources - during the move.

You will lose any resources and advanced resources your new level of storehouse and warehouse cannot hold.

RESTRICTIONS

Moving to a new location in this way has the same restrictions as the Tenaril's Spell of Ultimate Teleportation (ie must have all your units at home, cannot move to a location that is within 10 squares of another alliance - unless you have sovereignty 5 claimed on the square etc). However it has additional restrictions:

You may only move a city in this manner if you have more than one city. Players who only have one city cannot use this method of relocation.

You need enough gold to pay your units during the time of the move (see point 3 above)

You may not move a city while it is an Alliance capital. You will need to change the capital to a new city before moving (Where would the tax collectors go?)

You may only have one city relocating at a time.  This includes (non-relocating) settlers.  If you have a city relocating, or settlers in motion, and then try to relocate another city, you will be refused.

You cannot have any research in progress and will need to wait until they complete to move your city.

You cannot have any building constructions or demolitions in progress and will need to wait until they completes to move your city

Sitters may not relocate other players' cities, this is very much an "account-holder-only" function.

All your units must be at home.  Trade, Military and Diplomatic units cannot be moving or stationed abroad.

You cannot have trade offers on the marketplace. These must be cancelled prior to move.

You cannot have reinforcements from another player in your city.  These must have left your town.

You cannot be currently under an active blockade or siege. You must break blockades and sieges before you can move. A blockade or siege that has landed (and/or set up) will hold the city.

Incoming units will not prevent a city move (unless they are a returning Sally Forth or a capturing/razing army)

Reinforcements already in the town will prevent a city move.

You cannot sally forth for 5 days after moving your city, or move your city for 5 days after moving your city. 

Incoming sieges and blockades will be changed to attacks on the square that they we going to set-up on, and return immediately after. The sieging/blockading army will be informed immediately via in-game mail that the city has moved.

Incoming reinforcements to the city will be changed to occupations of the square. The sieging/blockading army will be informed immediately via in-game mail that the city has moved.

FUTURE CONSIDERATIONS

Moving the same city again will have the same restrictions as above and additionally will have to wait 5 days as per the diplomatic and military unit pause. Also you will not have to research the move city spell again as it will already be in this town.

However, once the city move is complete, you will be able to immediately move another city that has the Exodus research complete and is able to move under the restrictions.

Once we introduce unit interception, pathfinding and all the rest, it is entirely possible that a relocating city in motion could be destroyed outright - whilst it is in motion.  Of course, the units moving with the city will defend the convoy - but you need to understand that this might become a risky proposition in the future.

Edited by GM Stormcrow - 25 Oct 2011 at 18:57