Don't you hate it when...

[jez9999]

... you start out with really great land (natural resources, rivers, etc), expand well for 10 minutes, get building the Pyramids very early in your capital city... and then the AI switches to the Pyramids and BEATS YOU TO THEM even though it started building a wonder later than you?? AAARGHHHHHH!!!

*tearing hair out*

[Mercator]

That doesn't ever have to happen unless you're cash-strapped.

If you rush-build your wonder when you see the "The X have nearly completed..." message (which appears the turn before they're done), you'll always beat them to it.

[DaveV]

Or, use caravans to rush the wonder. That way you can use all your cities to build your favorite wonder, which should let you stay ahead of the boosted AI production.

[rah]

If you're set up to celebrate, the Pyramids isn't really needed. And I usually have enough caravans lying around just in case the AI is working on a wonder that i'm interested in.

[Bloody Monk]

Re: Don't you hate it when...

Originally posted by jez9999
... you start out with really great land (natural resources, rivers, etc), expand well for 10 minutes, get building the Pyramids very early in your capital city... and then the AI switches to the Pyramids and BEATS YOU TO THEM even though it started building a wonder later than you?? AAARGHHHHHH!!!

*tearing hair out*

Interesting question/problem

As to how can this happen...

The AI enjoys a marked production advantage over the human player, especially if you are playing a Deity level game. Their production box is much smaller. It will never take them as long as you, other things being equal (for some of those other things, reread posts 2-4).

Not sure this has ever been proven, but there has been much discussion over the years that suggests the AI has another advantage, namely that they can use all their production from all their cities in any one city. Alternately, it has been suggested that the reason they sometimes have two or more cities building the same WOW is that they get to add the production to finish in one city. This could be just another Civ Urban Legend however....

Another suggestion is that the AI delays building those early, favored WOWs if you, the human, are not building them. For this reason (if it can be called a reason) I select another wonder and switch when finished, so as not to "alarm" them into speedier production.


Doing things a bit differently....

You did say, "get building the Pyramids very early..."

Perhaps none of the great suggestions in posts 2-4 come into play. If it is very early you may not have a pile of cash, may not have discovered Trade, and thus, there are no camels yet...and, you may still be in Despotism.

Have you considered the advantage of foregoing early WOW building and making another settler --> another city --> faster Science --> faster to Monarchy, faster to Trade.

And think on this.... It is more efficient, and definitely more flexible to build your WOWs in one turn by building camels and then cashing them for the wonder. Along the way any number of things can come up requiring a switch in production. You can switch to unit production from camel w/out dumping half the box, which happens when you switch from WOW to unit. Also, you may decide you want that WOW in a different city.

Finally, are you playing Deity?? If so, losing out on Pyramids is not the end of the world. You have a great starting position from what you say. Until later in the game when you have built some happiness WOWs, Temples, etc, Pyramids will cause a constant Happiness problem as your cities grow in size. If you feel you must have the WOW, mark down that AI city for future conquest, letting them build it for you. Now that's efficiency!!

Monk

[Six Thousand Year Old Man]

Re: Don't you hate it when...

Originally posted by jez9999
... you start out with really great land (natural resources, rivers, etc), expand well for 10 minutes, get building the Pyramids very early in your capital city... and then the AI switches to the Pyramids and BEATS YOU TO THEM even though it started building a wonder later than you?? AAARGHHHHHH!!!

*tearing hair out*

Yup, I hate that. I console myself by getting Hanging Gardens, Colossus, and Marco Polo instead. I can seldom get all the wonders I want, and of the early ones, Pyramids are fourth (or lower) on my list.

If the AI can build a wonder - any wonder - before you have built your first one, I'd say that you aren't using your resources efficiently. Others have already commented on the desirability of building Caravans and using them to rush the wonder. My suggestion, aside from that point, would be to consider which city you build the Pyramids in. Pyramids have the same effect everywhere; they need not be built in the capital (HG, Colossus, and anything else that depends on or boosts trade, and is thus subject to corruption, are better fits for a capital city).

My guess is that if you were working the rivers around your capital, you weren't getting enough shields per turn to win the race. My suggestion would be to build the Pyramids in a more production-rich city, or to at least build some terrain improvements quickly to get your capital producing more shields.

[rah]

Yeah, I always was willing to let the AI have pyramids. By the time I needed it's powers, I'd just take it.

Let's face it, even at deity, the AI isn't much of a challange.

[candle_86]

lol there are very few WoW's i care about and pyramids are not one of them. The ones i go for are

Great Wall
King Richards Crusdade
Leonardos Workshop
Statue of Liberty
Apollo Program

for the way i play the game these are the most useful to me, i have yet to win by space race and i have yet to see the year 2020, once i got to the year 2003 when i took out the last enemy city, but usally i win before i discover mobile warfare.

[Six Thousand Year Old Man]

Originally posted by rah
Yeah, I always was willing to let the AI have pyramids. By the time I needed it's powers, I'd just take it.

Let's face it, even at deity, the AI isn't much of a challange.

I always work off the assumption that not everyone has been playing Civ2 for 10 years like many of us have, and try to gear my advice accordingly. Absent evidence to the contrary, of course.

Yup, the AI can be walked all over, even with all the deity advantages... but I didn't start winning on deity consistently until I came here. And by way of analogy, I'm happy to have all my Civ4 questions answered over in that forum, even if the people answering them don't find prince (the level I'm at) to be a challenge.

[candle_86]

hmm ive only been playing since 98, i must be behind

[Deity Dude]

On deity level the Wonders I really try for our

HG - in capital
Col - in capital
Mikes - anywhere
Leo's - anywhere unless I have tons of vet units
Cop's - in capital
Isaac's - in capital
Bach's - anywhere

If it's an islands game the 2 water wonders combined can be awesome (see threads about super ironcalds)

[Grigor]

I actually prefer the AI to build Pyramids - by the time I am ready to celebrate in a representative government I can usually take it from the AI - all those shields for free!!

[Magic_gorter]

I normally play spaceship games. The wonders I need for the SSC are the most important:
Collosus, Copernicus, Isaac Newton, Shakespeare and later SETI. This way I get the most beakers for research.

[Bloody Monk]

Originally posted by Deity Dude
On deity level the Wonders I really try for our

HG - in capital
Col - in capital
Mikes - anywhere
Leo's - anywhere unless I have tons of vet units
Cop's - in capital
Isaac's - in capital
Bach's - anywhere

If it's an islands game the 2 water wonders combined can be awesome (see threads about super ironcalds)

Good choices DD.

Have you considered the advantages of putting the SSC related WOWs in a later city, say #4-7. You will usually finish the current tech as your SSC is processed and if you go over all those beakers are lost. Having 4-7 cities processed after finishing the tech means you will start the next turn with beakers in hand. And that's a good thing.

What about Marco Polo's Embassy?? In SP at least, MPE is very good to have.

Monk

[carnide_]

Have you considered the advantages of putting the SSC related WOWs in a later city, say #4-7. You will usually finish the current tech as your SSC is processed and if you go over all those beakers are lost. Having 4-7 cities processed after finishing the tech means you will start the next turn with beakers in hand. And that's a good thing.

Just learned something new, after all these years. Thanks!