The Cost of Research Explained

[SlowThinker]

I found spears! I always thought it is only a picture without any sense...

A question: it looks the AI owns the techs on the right side of the diplomacy screen. How are they chosen? Last discovered?

3 0 0 4 3 3 (from white to purple) are numbers that look like sizes of small cities that are drawn on the left side of the window you get right after pressing the F3 key. What is it?

[TimTheEnchanter]

I don't usually pay much attention to it, but I think the numbers by the little cities are the size of the capital cities. Ones with 0 have no capital

[SlowThinker]

I have MPE in my current game and so I am sure those numbers are not sizes of AI Capitals.

[Ljube]

The numbers are the sizes of capitals of your opponents at the time you discovered those capitals. Zero for undiscovered.

[Bloody Monk]

This deserves a place near the top. Still one of the best research threads.

Monk

[solo]

There is a link to it in Slow Thinker's Great Library, as well as to many other definitive threads authored by Samson.

[Sparrowhawk]

I am not sure I follow all of this, but what I want to know is this...
If at the end of my turn I have enough accumulated science and science on the turn to come to complete the research of a technology, is there anything that could make me not be able to complete this research?

(by the way that I understand this thread, the answer to my question is NO as the other civs completing techs should increase their own research cost and if it affects my research cost at all it should decrease (or more likely stay the same).

So ignoring possible lost trade due to changes in trade routes (AI having moved workers from Trade Arrows to Shields/Food) or from the creation of settlers or other ways in which my own trade could decrease, I don't see any way for my research cost to increase due to other civs actions.

Am I correct in this or am I missing something?

/me

[debeest]

It has never occurred to me before, but there is one possibility.

I think the recalculation of relative civ strengths (power)happens every four turns. If it happens during the period between turns, your key civ could change, which could change your tech requirements in either direction.

[rjmatsleepers]

Another possibility which I'm sure you realised, but didn't mention is that you increase your research costs by exchanging techs during the AI turns.

Can science in the turn be hit by a city going into disorder? I'm not sure on this one - you lose next turns production, but do you lose this turns research or next turns?

RJM at Sleeper's

[SlowThinker]

Originally posted by rjmatsleepers
Can science in the turn be hit by a city going into disorder? I'm not sure on this one - you lose next turns production, but do you lose this turns research or next turns?

You lose no science, only shields and gold.
The details are in GL - Managing cities: the order

[rjmatsleepers]

Originally posted by SlowThinker

You lose no science, only shields and gold.
The details are in GL - Managing cities: the order

Interesting I'd always assumed that the difference between the beakers reported by the trade advisor and the science advisor was the effect of unrest. But since unrest doesn't lose you any science, the trade advisor is simply wrong.

RJM at Sleeper's

[Elephant]

I've had both situations Debeest and RJM mention during many One City Challenges: change of KeyCiv between turns (changing an over-full beaker box to an under-full one), and increase in research costs due to tech exchange at AI request between turns (learned that lesson just once...). When you build a Wonder, the first one to fill the production box completely gets it. When you research a tech, the "you got it" calculation is done at the instant of the first city being processed at the beginning of the next turn, so any changes to beaker quantities required are made BEFORE the city processing starts.

I'm not positive about the disorder thing. Seems like I have had problems with disorder hurting a research completion, but I do not have a specific case to look back to, and it could have been another issue or a miscalculation. I will keep this as a "look out for" situation and post if I see it happen again.

[Elephant]

Originally posted by rjmatsleepers


Interesting I'd always assumed that the difference between the beakers reported by the trade advisor and the science advisor was the effect of unrest. But since unrest doesn't lose you any science, the trade advisor is simply wrong.

RJM at Sleeper's

My experience has been that at the very first check at the beginning of the new turn, the F5 Trade advisor reports the number of beakers produced the previous turn. Once I check some cities (like ones that changed in size) that number may change, even without reassigning workers. But the calculation on F5 is rounded up to the next higher turn, whereas the F6 beaker box shows you exactly how many beakers have been stockpiled so far (if they are few enough that they are individually distinguishable), along with the general number of turns from F5. My habit is therefore to check F5 as the very first thing I do at the beginning of the new turn and add the number produced to the previous total. I've been able to account for all the variations I've seen by doing that and noting my PowerRating each turn. I have seen my KeyCiv change two or three turns in a row, not once every four turns, playing One City Challenges.