How should techs go from a civ to another?

[fezick31]

I think that there should be a decent chance of stealing technology when a city is taken that contains a library- say 50-75%.

However, no library, no tech - it doesn't make sense for common citizens to possess the development knowledge of technology, even if they use it.

[Nikolai]

The contact options and conquering an importand city. I especially like the idea of Tatilla the Hun.

[MORON]

If we go by history, there are a trillion ways to gain new tech. Many tech, like handwriting, the wheel, horse back riding, government systems what not are stolen on contact basically. Other tech are gained in strange ways, like how the defeat of a chinese army led to the arabs learning papermaking. Some tech is indeed beyond reverse engineering, but only for people an age behind and largely unmotivated to do so.

As a gamer, I hate tech leaks since I'm a hopeless teching builder most of the time. Civ don't treat structure wealth that heavily as the first seriously useful building is the factory. If tech is easy to gain, the primary early game strategy would be some ICS varient with massive armies.

If one is allowing tech to leak, the type of tech would be of huge importance. Techs like democracy takes no effort to steal, but nuclear weapon tech is alot harder. (but not all that hard when you have good commie spies)

[Trifna]

Yep, I think that Tattila the Hun showed pretty much the simplest way a technology could at the same time coherently and "player friendly" be completely leaked or be researched more easily.

[Pizza]

With CivIII it's too hard to obtain a tech through negotiating a peace treaty. I've quite often beat the AI very badly, yet they still refuse to give me any techs as part of the peace agreement.

[OliverFA]

Originally posted by Tattila the Hun
Perhaps, as multiple civs research certain tech, it "leaks" trough whatever channels/contacts the civs have eachother.

Doesn´t it already happens? The more civs that know a tech the cheaper it is to research.

[realpolitic]

Recieve 1 tech by taking a capitol, 1 by destroying a civilization. It was too easy to take by conquest in civ2, but by making it possible in a few cases, makes the game more interesting.

[Gen. Atkinson]

Everyone has some good points, and they all work. How about if you capture a unit from a more advanced civ you get a 10% chance of learning a tech, 80% if you capture a scientific leader?

[MrFun]

Originally posted by Tattila the Hun
Perhaps, as multiple civs research certain tech, it "leaks" trough whatever channels/contacts the civs have eachother.

Example from the beginning:

You have the choice to research alphabet, bronze working and masonry. You choose masonry, and your civs research points start flowing towards it. Now, if others civs know of masonry, and you have contacts with them, certain amount of additional research is added towards masonry. Also, same applies to alphabet and bronze working, even if you are not researching them yourself, at the time. In time, you will "discover" both of the two, but slower than by researching yourself. Also, even if someone knows of nuclear power, you dont get any research, until you can start your own research on to it.

I think research should be possible to divide, also. Not just gunpowder, but gunpowder and chivalry at the same time, just slower.

Kinda like in Master of Orion...

Hey, I think I like this idea.

[Robert]

Maybe it's a good idea to have your people being infiltrated in the science networks of other nations. Something you have to pay for, and something that may come out. Like the good old spy, but then broader and better implemented. Not just: 'pop a spy in a city and get a tech'

[General Ludd]

The game that has best handled technology is Crusader Kings, where technology is not property owned by a nation, but something that a region possesses, and is slowly spread from region to region throuhg various means.

[Adagio]

Sounds like an interesting and more realistic idea, but then it wont be Civ anymore and would probably scare away too many

[General Ludd]

Yeah, I have no hopes for Civ 4. The series is entrenched in antiquated ideas that are a decade old. The series hasn't learned anything from all the other great strategy games that have been made in the mean time - it's just the same old stuff, with very little innovation at all.

Hell, they can't even get off the idea of a cylinder grid-world.

[Robert]

What I read about the civics, ie. women emancipation being required by other countries when your country switch to it, sounds alike this spreading of technology.

I like that very much

[Trifna]

Boy, this thread just got revived from old days

Yep, I say as CyberShy...

General Lud: I guess that they put their energy where it counts more. I don't know how much it'd cost to get a sphere with which advantages afterwards. Still, a sphere really is something I want to see