2 questions

[MyOlde]

Thanks for your answers and your patience.

[campm@jor]

Sounds like espionage has gotten complicated in Civ IV. But it certainly sounds a lot better than it was in Civ III! In Civ III I never use it anymore.

[Brael]

In civ 4 you can use espionage basically as its own economic system rather than simply an extra. It actually makes a viable economy, allowing you to get techs at a very substantial discount but it means you need to have neighbors that are more advanced than you.

Then there's the other benefits like city revolts, sabotaging production, and so on. There's a lot you can do with espionage but to really get the most out of it you need to commit a good portion of your economy to it. Suleiman makes a good leader to try it with.

[Garth Vader]

Or you can almost totally ignore it. I almost never build spies, and never use the slider. I do make sure to build the buildings so I can accumulate a decent total of EP's.

[Brael]

Ignoring it is the route I usually take as well. I'm just saying it's there.

[campm@jor]

Hm, I will investigate it. Then I will judge if it useful to me. Thanks for the information!

[Sir Og]

Don't forget to use a spy of your own for counter-intel every 10 turns. It lowers his success rate and doubles the cost of his misions.

QFT

In games where I did not forget to do this regulary, I've had no problems with spies.

[Sir Og]

Here's a basic tip for espionage. Early in the game, go into the espionage screen (which by the way you can get using the buttons at upper right) and click the + button next to the civs on your continent and ONLY those civs. Leave it that way all game.

I've had a game where I conquered a small continet which was inhabited by the Koreans and they managed to steal two techs from their former cites before I finished them off.

Just saying that you should take care because at some point you may start sharing continents with civs which have huge spy advantage over you.