Technology from conquered civs

[Imran Siddiqui]

Originally posted by Dr Zoidberg
Perhaps. But I�m not sure this could be accomplished without it being unecessarily complicated. I think it works fine just the way it is. Civ isn�t a historical accuracy game after all.

Indeed, I was concerned about the complexity of my proposal. It IS much easy to pick a random tech instead of boosting research in all the techs you don't know (depending on if you've kept the city until you are ready to research that tech... and if it has plenty of the conquered civ's citizens).

[johnmcd]

I think the tech boosts ought to come from cultural assimilations rather than conquests.

[Urban Ranger]

Originally posted by Imran Siddiqui
Yeah, I know... but not quite... because, as I said, it would go to ALL techs you don't have when you capture an enemy city and keep that city (if you raze the city, forget it). Though my beaker boost would only apply once for each tech.

All the techs? That seems to be a bit overwhelming to me.

Granted, a really backwards country is unlikely to have the strength to capture a city from an advanced civilization, unless something really strange has been goind on.

A culturally flipped city may be another matter.

[Imran Siddiqui]

Originally posted by Urban Ranger
All the techs? That seems to be a bit overwhelming to me.

Granted, a really backwards country is unlikely to have the strength to capture a city from an advanced civilization, unless something really strange has been goind on.

A culturally flipped city may be another matter.

All the techs. It makes no sense to me to get a 'random' or picked tech. Civilizations throughout history didn't just take one tech and decided to forget the rest and research them from scratch.

But like I said, perhaps the effects need to be dialed down. 10% beakers? 20% beakers?

And, of course, you have to have those cities in your control when you research those techs.

[Urban Ranger]

Originally posted by Imran Siddiqui
All the techs. It makes no sense to me to get a 'random' or picked tech. Civilizations throughout history didn't just take one tech and decided to forget the rest and research them from scratch.

The rationale behind that is you gain access to some of their research records that they failed to destroy. It's not like you get to pick and choose.

Originally posted by Imran Siddiqui
But like I said, perhaps the effects need to be dialed down. 10% beakers? 20% beakers?

In that case maybe you get a random number of beakers, which is divided by the number of techs you could gain, and that is the number you get for each of the techs.

[Imran Siddiqui]

Originally posted by Urban Ranger
The rationale behind that is you gain access to some of their research records that they failed to destroy. It's not like you get to pick and choose.

Yeah... that sounds kind of silly to me .

In that case maybe you get a random number of beakers, which is divided by the number of techs you could gain, and that is the number you get for each of the techs.

That works as well... I like that idea.

[ingolfson2]

All the techs. It makes no sense to me to get a 'random' or picked tech. Civilizations throughout history didn't just take one tech and decided to forget the rest and research them from scratch.

But like I said, perhaps the effects need to be dialed down. 10% beakers? 20% beakers?

And, of course, you have to have those cities in your control when you research those techs.

That would be unbalanced. And unrealistic too. Lets just for a second assume that Mongol Hordes out of a timegate attacked and conquered a modern country of today. Would they then gain an understanding of all the technologies that they didn't know before? No way. At best, they would make use of the easier, simpler ones, and take some 'wise men' of the enemy prisoner to help them use and slowly understand all those beeping boxes and magical flying machines.

They'd not be using Windows XP as a CULTURE before a few decades had gone by. The tech research process in Civ is more like an ADAPTION of that technology (shown by the fact that you plow up to 70-90% of your whole taxes - your whole commerce of your civ - into it). The car was invented by a few guys in back yards (proof of concept, really), but it took decades and the creation whole industrial conglomerates in car manufacturing and oil refining before it changed our life the way it is today.

Also by the fact that in CIV you know your future tech tree choices - its like today: we know that nanotech will work, but have not yet brought it into widespread use.


So, yes, tech stealing should be possible - by something like the assimilation process. Maybe gain a declining research bonus, on all techs that Civ X has and you haven't, depending on the percentage of that Civs population you have among your own (still declining with time, as now).

[Imran Siddiqui]

At best, they would make use of the easier, simpler ones, and take some 'wise men' of the enemy prisoner to help them use and slowly understand all those beeping boxes and magical flying machines.

Yes, that's my point. By keep the cities, you have the scientists and engineers who worked with the newer technology and they help the conquering civ to get to that level as well.

[fed1943]

IMO,the question should be thought as a game's one,because civ4 is a game.In a given moment,the player must decide between starting a war or not.The war,if sucesseful,gives advantages (more territory,perhaps cities,so the potential for more,food,hammers and commerce);the price is the necessity of a focus in the war,translating in a temporary diminiushion of devlopment,mostly research.
To give research as output of war,will turn off the dilema (war-not war)so limiting the game.
Best regards,

[Imran Siddiqui]

Very true as well... so the benefit shouldn't be overpowering. Recall that in Civ4 warmaking is already hampered by the high costs of holding more cities. The boost should likely be small enough so you still have to weigh the pros and cons.

Civ4 may indeed be a game, but a lot of it is based on actual history.