I'm the mayor of simpleton

[D4everman]

If the AI and human player are equal on noble level, then I really am doing something wrong. Playing with the malinese on noble, huge map and epic, I found that by 500 AD I was five techs behind the leading AI's. If they were trading with each other they left me out of the loop, even though I did everything I could to please them. (didn't want any early wars)

I tried it again and ended up with a nice sized island to myself, but still, I lagged in technology. Both times I kept my research as high as it could go. built cottages everywhere they would fit to be worked for income. No luck. I'm hoping some of you smarter folks may lay down some knowledge on me so I can at least stay up there with the AI.

[Solver]

You do need a friend or two that you can trade with. Don't be shy about approaching them with trade offers. Most of the time, they're happy to trade tech-for-tech. And don't forget specialists, they're quite important to research. Of course build Libraries and the like... and maybe you are going too heavy on cottages. I mean, you also need enough farms to have your cities grow, not be stuck at size 7.

[D4everman]

I'll give that a try. You know your avatar always creeps me out because Cancer Man always creeped me out on the X-Files. I think I need to get one....where can I find a good one. (I'm thinking perhaps Scorpius from Farscape)

[Solver]

You should instead put Doc Cottle from Battlestar Galactica in your avatar .

BTW, another tip. There are some technologies that the AIs are typically less keen to research. That means, it's easier to get those techs first, even if you're a bit behind overall, and sell them to the AIs. Some AIs ignore Philosophy, then to others I can usually sell Education...

[Amarsir]

Are you building Libraries and Universities soon enough?

You probably know that you can mouse over the tech on the trade screen to see how many beakers it costs, that helps maintain parity on trades. However, if I can trade the same tech at a loss to 4 opponents for 4 different techs, that's a huge win for me. So make a point to look as soon as you get something new.

[Willem]

Are you using Scientist specialists fairly early? By getting a couple of early Great Scientists you can build a couple of Academies. At +50% beakers, they really help your research rate early in the game.

[D4everman]

I'll give that a try. You know your avatar always creeps me out because Cancer Man always creeped me out on the X-Files. I think I need to get one....where can I find a good one. (I'm thinking perhaps Scorpius from Farscape)

[Nikolai]

How much cottages vs farms should I make? I have read that the more cottages the better, so I've tended to make cottages on everything except food resources and tiles where I can get some valuable shields.

[Addled Platypus]

more can be good, but is it the right thing

My standard is 4 per city, depending on how many cities.
Once I hit 10+ ciites, I will have at least 2 cities with 6+ cottages.

I look at the overall balance of health, growth and the negative balance of my gold

[Senethro]

Disagreeing with Solver here, unless your city has no food resources I see no reason to build farms at all. They dont make any profit.

[Solver]

Well, it depends on the terrain and your tech level. But Cottages are definitely better if you want to be in the tech lead.

[DaShi]

Originally posted by D4everman
I'll give that a try. You know your avatar always creeps me out because Cancer Man always creeped me out on the X-Files. I think I need to get one....where can I find a good one. (I'm thinking perhaps Scorpius from Farscape)

Ok, this creeped me out.

[Solver]

The Cancer Man's creepier anyway, he's real .

[DaveV]

Originally posted by Nikolai
How much cottages vs farms should I make? I have read that the more cottages the better, so I've tended to make cottages on everything except food resources and tiles where I can get some valuable shields.

It depends on what you're trying to do in that city. For military production cities or great person pumps, you should farm all the tiles (so you can work lots of mined hills in the former case, or support lots of specialists in the latter). Those cities aren't going to be big commerce producers, and don't need libraries, markets, etc. Your commerce cities need as many cottages as they can make. Specialized cities are the most efficient way to maximize your resources.

[Blake]

Eh. There is no shame in being behind the AI during certain periods of the game, especially when expanding aggressively, since expansion in the short run slows your research, while greatly improving it in the long run.
It would be a problem if you're both behind in tech and territory.

Catching up comes down to getting a tech the AI's don't, then trading it around. If you can get to liberalism first (beeline striaght to it after Civil Service and Machinery) you can be assured of fully getting in the loop, and taking the tech lead. The AI's don't really prioritize the paper-education line much (they prefer like guilds) so liberalism is quite getable.