Its abit much for me, but Id like abit more options than the city options to be set in stone, a few choices too, like building a barracks in my huge city so In an emergency it can spew out troops.

Also atm I only really build 2 kinds of cities, I either try to get production up high as possible for a city able to spew out units, or I build up the food size as much as possible, upgrading either gildar or research when able, but focuses food. Seems high food cities can build stuff decently with the construction per citizen, so at lvl 1 I usually pick garden, unless its a 2 grain city I pick the 2 gildar / turn item. Because due to game mechanics atm every aspect of a city is based on how many citizens live there.

That little note aside, I like the idea to focus cities to become forts, or research hubs. But I would probably miss the ability to build a barracks and a workshop in my city or research hub to put out some units in an emergency.

With your setup and current game mechanics, I would probably be biased to have 1 fort, 1 tower, and then just cities, meaby another fort in a narrow location to stop enemy troop movements.

But I totally like the step forward. putting some structure to the city building.

Sincerely
~ Kongdej

I totally agree that the cities need a more exciting, broader, and mutually exclusive "level up" tree, I'd really like to see the mechanic get away from unlocking buildings and go more for adding flavor to the city for two reasons.

First being that cities already run out of buildings to produce pretty much immediately and no amount of focusing on civics changes that. We should have more and better balanced buildings to choose from  regardless of city level.

Second being; Elemental is as much about strategy as it is about narrative. You can tell that by the amount they focused on questing and champions. We have events that occur, our leaders have history, our magic tree unlocks access to history and theme and narrative. Every new game is telling a story (even if it is a bit muted at present), and to me "our city got bigger and we learned how to put a bell in a tower but then we still had to build it" doesn't say a thing about narrative. What DOES say story is "Our citizens in Resoln are seeing great prosperity and it attracted several notable people. The priest wishes to build a place of worship (-10% unrest), there is also a Blacksmith who makes amazing weapons (-10% metal gear production cost), and a retired general who wishes to help train our militia (City Defense units are level 2). Which would you like to grant space?".

City level bonuses should be significant, and immediate. Some of them can be maintenance free buildings that the populace builds in its own time (Your citizens really want a barracks and have built and staffed it themselves), some of them notable people who move into the city giving it bonuses (Adventurers, generals, blacksmiths, poets, etc). If there is to be a building unlocked by a city level up it should be something awesome that allows every other city in your empire to build a smaller version of it. Point is, having to push cities to level up with tech, being given a choice of "more buildings", and then having to spend 50 turns building the thing that you "earned" is offputting and boring. Our cities start with a little blurb about them, why not work with that and have them write their histories with notable events and figures and not just "Hey, I figured out that we can put money in a building and call it a bank, but the neighboring cities haven't. Should we do that here now?".

Yes, this would be cool.

Market Square vs Castle for instance would be very distinctly different city hubs (large building vs open forum)

Two things.

First off, it's far LESS illogical to think that the city is working on its own large developments at the same time as it trains up 7 people with spears and slaps together a market wagon. It is ludicrous to think that 72 people are sitting around just waiting to be told to start sharpening up the next 3 sticks for the next round of spearmen. So, the game would abstract it out and say "so, now that the city has reached a notable level, what have they been working on?" Frankly, you can't tell me that the current build of FE doesn't have giant, massive piles more than enough wasted production turns to justify a noteworthy building "appearing out of thin air" at city level.

Second off, what I was saying is that these level up things should NOT be buildings at all, but notable events. Things that happened recently which afford the city a certain character and give it bonuses. Things which justify the strategic numerical benefit with the thin veil of story.

Regardless, as with the OP, having early level choices having later game impact is a good and important thing which should be included in the city aspect of the game.

The more I think about it, the more I like the idea of immediate bonus on level up and them being some kind of persons and not some buildings. Guilds, legendary craftsmen, knowledgeable sages, heroic citizen militians or whatever would make the cities more alive than some more buildings.

It is weird to have a level up with no effect for the next 500 turns anyway. Events too would be cool (but I really like to have some kind of extraordinary citizens granting bonus to the city). 

On a related note, it would be nice if once you've chosen a path for a city, that you could see what level ups you've done previously in the level up screen.  Once you get more than a few cities under your belt, from builds and conquering enemy ciites, it can be easy to lose track of which cities are supposed to be focused on what.

Also, now that cities don't train and build simultaneously, I think that the 'gives bonus when idle' traits are less useful than they could be.  They should provide a lesser bonus persistently, with a greater bonus if you choose to not build/train.  Leaving a city idle isn't usually a good idea, as you need to keep producing units or building infrastructure to avoid being overrun by your neigbors...

Interesting idea. Not sure if it should replace the level up system .... but definitely could add some life and flavor to a city

Maybe a chance for 1 event per city level? And events/great people would have to coincide with what types of buildings have been chosen for that city.

I like the OP idea that by choosing the same branch of city level up every level, by level 5 you get some sort of "legendary" specialized upgrade, while you could also choose the first branch of each specialization on each city level up, and have a generalized city with mild bonuses across the board; by choosing military specialization twice and production three times on the path to a level 5 city, this city would be pretty good at producing military units and quite good at production, whereas a level 5 city with only military upgrades would produce military units at a highly refined level.

This grants quite a number of permutations to city level up, and makes each a viable strategy on its own. Even base bonuses (+10% or something) in each branch would wind up making a huge difference by the end, though some more interesting bonuses would be cool (maybe have the level 5 and/or 4 upgrades grant something really special, maybe in addition to a percent bonus).

I’ve been rolling this over in my head for a few days now, and think I have a good handle on the direction that city upgrades could go. Please keep in mind that I’m making a few assumptions such as the adventuring shop should have a finite amount of cash, as well as fudging some proffered numbers knowing that the balance of the economy is currently up in the air. I also think that pretty much every possible building that you can currently unlock for city upgrades should just be tied to techs and available for all cities. CHOICES CHOICES CHOICES!

Cities in the world of Elemental (and most 4x games) serve several key functions. They are centers of production and trade, they are the nexus point from where your defense rallies, they are the centers of your social and political power, and in Fallen Enchantress, they are places where the lost refugees of a sundered world can find hope.  In addition, with the tech tree, we have three primary paths to victory in the game. The unique way in which each city develops should represent these aspects of the game. As such, the city upgrade abilities should be keyed off of five primary ideas. The lower levels will be functional only in the city, but as the city becomes greater, its benefits will start to expand beyond the city wall.

• Production – These cities are the pride of your industry, and are capable of building even the most intensive structures and units with ease.
• Trade – These cities are hubs through which all the wealth of your empire moves. They focus on money and opportunities at home and abroad.
• Military – These cities are focal points of your military power.
• Magic – These cities are centers of history, learning, and mythical power.
• Social – These cities are glorious bastions of civilization. They are the literal Phoenix of civilization rising from the ashes.

Production abilities include things like:

• (L2) Laborer’s Union – The workers in this city have organized, and set up a hierarchical system of skilled labor training. They work more efficiently, but are very strict on daily hours. All production in this city happens 10% faster, but Rushed production costs more because of overtime wages
• (L2) Surveyor’s Guild – A couple of your citizens in this city have shown a real knack for identifying useful minerals in the surrounding area. This city generates 1/2 iron per city level per turn

Trade abilities include:

• (L2) Festival Grounds – A local celebration of the founding of this city has gained regional appeal, and draws people from the surrounding villages and cities on a regular basis. This city receives a bonus to gold income and prestige
• (L2) Merchant’s Guild – This city houses a budding merchant syndicate which helps develop trade across our empire. Your shops have 200 extra gold during any given season
• (L3) Oddities Merchant – A shop in this city has started doing a brisk trade in strange goods brought back from the wastes by adventurers. Improves sale prices of champion gear by 10% and adds two random unique options to the shop which changes annually
• (L3) The Rat and Raven – A pub in this city has gained kingdom wide notoriety, and is a draw for all sorts of business and opportunities. Increases the likelihood of positive random events for your empire, and a flat benefit of <x> gold per turn in increased trade.
• (L4) Royal Advisor – A bureaucrat in this city has shown a particular aptitude in crafting trade agreements with other nations. Gain a 10% more favorable deal in diplomatic dealings with other nations

Military abilities include things like:

• (L2) Scouting Parties – The guard in this city keeps advance patrols and uses a system of signals which allow them to mobilize the town’s defenders much faster than normal. This city fields one more town defender than normal due to being able to mobilize people faster
• (L2) Grateful Populace – In this dangerous and war torn part of your empire, the citizens are keenly aware of how much they rely upon their soldiers for protection and do what they can to help support them. Trained units garrisoned in this city have no upkeep while stationed .
• (L3) Home Guard – The citizens of this city realize that they must rely upon themselves for protection and train to improve their martial prowess. All City Defenders in this city are Level 2
• (L3) Quartermaster’s office – A military bureaucrat station here has shown a real knack for supply logistics. Reduce the kingdom wide per turn maintenance of your military units by 1 per level of this city
•  (L4)Secrets of the Ancients – A martial master comes to town from the wilds, and offers to teach the soldiers of your kingdom lost knowledge of warfare. Unlocks a small handful of weapon related unit perks which are all very good.

Magic Abilities such as:

• (L2) Circle of sages – The researchers in this city have started a process of peer review and ideas sharing encouraging new breakthroughs. Research generated in this city is improved by 5%
• (L2) Crystalographer – A Diviner in this city has discovered a way to find smaller deposits of Crystal scattered throughout the wastes. This city produces crystal at a rate of 1/2 per city level  per turn
• (L3) Arcane Monument – A strange and beautiful object is found in the wastes which is brought back to your city and installed as a monument. This city generates 1 mana per turn per city level
• (L3) Crystal Nexus – Your sages have discovered how to install a network of crystals which allow you to maintain enchantments on this city for far less mana than normal. All enchantments on this city cost 50% maintenance
• (L4) “The Eye of <insert sovereign name here>” – The city thrums with arcane power. The sovereign has finally figured out how to protect the city using his/her will and the magical structures built here. Enemy units engaged in combat in this city suffer a magical attack targeting a random unit every seventh initiative phase.
• (L4) Tomes of Grandeur – Some ancient spellbooks have been found and are added to the library at this city. Add five random quest spells to your grimore

Social Abilities

I’m dry on ideas here at the moment, but this is where those world wonders which improve diplomatic capital, things which improve the growth of cities, reduce building maintenance, the healer’s guild which heals units stationed here in two turns goes here, as does something else to add experience to champions stationed here.

The basic idea is as follows:

•  L2, you can choose one of the two L2 abilities from each of the five (randomly selected).
• L3 You can choose from the L2 you didn’t get and  the two L3 abilities. The other two are made up from two random L2 abilities from other trees.
• L4 is the abilities you haven’t chosen yet as well as both new ones from your base tree.
• L5 is similar to the previous levels.

You can almost always choose what you want from each tree eventually. What you lose is the opportunity to choose from OTHER trees, as it gets harder to broaden your focus the more you specialize, and if you broaden your focus, you can’t get the REALLY nice stuff from any of your trees.