I think that having your capitol city captured is the quick-n-easy way to stop your starship. Also going to each city in your country to launch your Nukes is very tedious and does not need the attention that moving troops does. So I think that you should be able to build a secret command center for all of your nukes. To make this you could simply make a underground fortress, an aircraft squdron or a base carved inside of a mountain (If Civ III goes into the near future than there could be underwater bases, too). This base would function as the secondary capitol of your empire and also be the command center of your nuclear arsenal. If you wanted to launch a nuke at a city of your enemy you would go to your command center popup window(button on interface). In the window you can select the city you want to nuke and the computer will display all nukes that can make it to the city and nukes that can be ordered to explode near the city to further damage it. You can also call up an overview of all of your nukes and what cities each can reach. This will also tell you what military units can make it to the city to capture it. You can also order the command center to launch all nukes at either preset targets or any city they can reach if your command center falls under attack. (Like a Doomsday order). If you chose to do this than any surviving countries will be pretty pissed so it causes diplomatic penalties like every country wanting to destroy you!

Tell me what you think!

I didn't mean underwater or floating cities but underwater bases about 100,000 square feet wide and about one story tall with maybe 30 to 40 people not a 7 square mile long metropolis or dome.

Each base would be able to take different amounts of damage from either warheads or military attack. This is a rough table on how each base would defend itself:

Underground Base-A hollow under a 1/2 to 1 mile of soil. If enemy does not know where it is than it acts as a normal square. If they do than they have a choice to attack it or go over it.

Attack: 10
Defend: 15
Cost: 1000 Gold
Tech: Underground Structures

Improvements:

Military Base on Surface: +5 Attack and Defence; Acts as combined airbase and fortress; can be detected from flat terrain if next to base; hill if 1 square away; mountain if 2 squares away. 50% chance underground base will be discovered if surface base is destroyed.

Aircraft Squadron-A formation of large airliners that is launched from the capital when capital is taken. Does need to be refueled regularly.

Attack: 0
Defend: 0
Movement Rate: 20
Cost: 500 Gold
Tech: Flight

Improvements:

Fighter Escort: Attack: +16 Stealth +32 Defend: +12 Stealth +12; -10 Movement; -6 Movement Stealth. This equal to 4 of one fighter with it. Cost: 120 Gold; Stealth 320 Gold.

Stealthy Aircraft: Makes the formation have the same qualities as stealth craft. This only applies to the formation not the support craft with it. Cost: 100 Gold

Tanker: Cancels out movement penalties for having fighter escort. Cost: 200 Gold.

Mountain Fortress-Hollowed out mountain with base inside.

Attack: 30
Defend: 200
Tech: Underground Strutures.
Cost: 5000 Gold

Improvements:

None???

Tell me what you think.

Please make sugestions people!

We can have "lost/forbidden cities" in old-middle ages, under some condition (hostile territory, like an oasis in the middle of desert or a city on mountain like in Tibet), but you should have an high level of isolationism on S.E. and some penalties on trade.

Under these limit, we can have city hidden from common unit view (not dedicated Explorer) also if adiacent, but not right on movement path: i.e. you can find it only if you hit your head against the city walls .
Of course any smart player can use roads or developed territory as a hint for find hidden town.

As for hidden bases, I think that any base larger than a few bunker will be discover on modern time assumed the CIV turn lenght. They can be harder to attack, but also expensive to build.

About using them as kind of "AirForce One" or Norad base for nuclear defense/counterattack, I'm for shift this NBC strategical warfare on a civilization screen, instead of a special city/base menu.

Whatīs about some bases which boost your science output (Area 51) but when discovered gives you a diplomatic penalty from democratic states and causes unhappiness in your own nation because of the unethical research methods?

I like your idea. Maybe secret bases could be displayed with square yards or something and you could take templates of parts (i.e. a lab room, nuke silo) and you could mix and match to build a full base.

Mo

Maybe you could cover it up by having two workers there, one pretending to build a mine, the other building the secret base and giving the dug out soil and rock to the miner.

Secret bases could be a simple terrain improvement, like a hidden airport. They would allow you to host nukes. The base would be invisible to enemy until a ground unit occupies the same square. In case of nuclear attack, you could rippost from these basses. Altough I think that the concept of MAD is a more important to emulate a cold war situation, this concept could also be important (not knowing from where could the enemy launch its missiles).
This is a concept easy to implement.

About secret 'command centers' allowing you to save the space ship if the capital is conquerred, I think a simple city improvement can handle it. Create in more cities a 'Space command center' and you avoid loosing the ship when a city is occupied. You could only loose it if you lost all your 'Space command centers'.

Regards,
Remus

I suggest making a special city that cannot grow beyond size 5. Can't build most improvements (bnka, temple etc.)

Here's thoughts about the city:

1. Would it have production? Or would it just be a storage place for nukes and units that cause unhappiness?

2. If it is producing units, would it have unlimited (or increased) support? (if it can't grow beyond size 5 or whatever)

3. Can it have it's own science research? That is, the nation is working on a cure for AIDS, while in Area 51 we're inventing new synthtic killer viruses / weapons / people .

However against AI this will be somewhat difficult to implement:

You will see the color of the Nuke unit, or you will see who'se turn is it when you get nuked.

However against AI this will be somewhat difficult to implement:

You will see the color of the Nuke unit, or you will see who'se turn is it when you get nuked.