FreeOrion

The current plan for governments is something like SMAC (and Civ4)... the player's society selects several multiple choice options which open up with techs, and which can be changed for a cost.

I think that something could be done to make it more rich+strategic, borrowing a concept from Civ V. In Civ V, technology is needed to unlock some of the options, and some are mutually exclusive, but the biggest barrier to opening up 'social bonuses' is that they cost culture.

I think that would be an excellent addition to FO. The "Government" of a player's society would be the collection of all the "Social Institutions" they have
1. Unlocked the tech for
2. Built (probably with Trade)
and
3. Non inactived (some Could be mutually exclusive, so building one Might inactivate those it excludes)

The fact that some investment would be required in a "Government" means that it would be unlikely for them to switch back and forth (particularly if reactivating an inactive one cost additional trade)... but it would provide that option, and provide the idea of an "advanced society".

[Note: I don't think Civ V's "Cultural Win" is appropriate for FO, but the fact that they found something useful to do with 'Culture' as a 'social resource' makes me think it warrants looking at. Including some ideas like increased cost for social advancement the larger the empire]

I haven't played Civ V yet. My current computer is not up to spec. I have read the that part of the manual, but that doesn't really give me a feel the mechanic. Hopefully i will before we get to governments.

Some of the vauge changes Geoff has proposed for trade sound sorta like Civ "culture". I don't think that's a bad direction to go for "trade". I wouldn't want to add "culture" in addition to the other resources we have.

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definitely agree on using 'trade' instead of adding some new resource

Hi! First time posting here.

If trade could be given impact on intelligence gathering, diplomacy and culture spread it would be very interesting. Players will be more careful with who they trade.

Trade inside your empire could reduce revolt risk and increase spread of a single culture.

However, physiological differences could impede or limit the spread of your culture to another species. An example of this could be that one species is a mammal (living offspring, warm blooded, families), while another is lizard like (cold blooded, lays eggs, solitary).