beefing up science output

[Cookie Monster]

Originally posted by skrobism
re: TRADE TECHS
In Civ2 we found that trading techs can slow your research down.

I never knew that. Was the penalty permanent or just temporary?

[Dauphin]

It comes from the fact that in Civ2 the cost of researching a tech was dependent on how many techs you already had. Trade techs -> you have more techs -> costs more to research the next one.

[Whoha]

Originally posted by skrobism
Sorry - Still don't have Civ3. I am waiting for Civ3 Complete, but will be playing soon.

re: TRADE TECHS
In Civ2 we found that trading techs can slow your research down. Did the tech penalty go away in Civ3?

theres a min and max cap on how long research can take, so 15 AI empires working together(there is no other word for it) can clear the field and grab all the immediately available techs in 40 turns, while you only get 1.

[Mad Bomber]

Originally posted by yimboli
....What do you mean by "economy"? do you just mean trade improvements and government type? or is there more to it than that?

When I refer to an economy I refer to the entire system of treasury, research, and entertainment improvements, the road system, and worker improvements that produce or buy buildings, wonders, or units and increase the efficiency of the economic system (luxury/commerce/research)

The most crucial part of your economy is the road system as each tile which has a road gets a +1 commerce bonus in addition to the normal commerce for the tile. My advice on roads is this, if the tile belongs to you, it needs a road. Remember to build enough workers to get jobs done in a timly manner. 30 workers may be enough for a standard sized map, but you may need up to 70 or 80 on a huge map by the time you reach the middle ages. A good rough guide is to have AT LEAST one worker per city owned.

Almost as important is the manner in which you develop your cities. You should always work a tile that you have a laborer working before you improve a tile in which you do not (roads are an exception, as is irrigating to land that does not have immediate fresh water)

City improvements are important too. Market places, Libraries, Banks, Universities, and Cathedrals are all very important to your economy. Remember that Commerce is divided into 3 sections, you should develop all three in a systematic manner to obtain peak efficiency of the economy.

[yimboli]

hm... i see a lot about roads and commerce. the thing is, i always have a huge fleet of workers, and my piece of the map is often the first completely roaded, so i don't think that's ever really been the problem. I think the tech whoring is what's getting me. i really don't like that part of civ3. but at least all games arent like this. i can still keep my tech advantage in space empires 4, call to power, and moo2/3

thx for the replies

[yimboli]

on second thought...

is there some way to disable tech trading? and if so, would it break the AI?

[bongo]

Wouldn't break it I guess, but it would slow down research to a crawl.

Check the editor, all techs can be made non-tradeable

[Theseus]

yimboli, how often do you research the tech suggested by the science advisor?

What do one has really mentioned is that tech trading can be managed HUGELY to your advantage... you just need to get out ahead of the AIs in a given branch.

[Mad Bomber]

Originally posted by Theseus
yimboli, how often do you research the tech suggested by the science advisor?

What do one has really mentioned is that tech trading can be managed HUGELY to your advantage... you just need to get out ahead of the AIs in a given branch.

Sometimes you can be a tech whore just by researching one pivital tech. Take writing in the Ancient age or Atomic theory in the Industrial. There are some techs that the AI will pay very dearly for, but you have to know which ones they are to research them first.

In the ancient age I usually research writing and tarde it around for tech parity, plus a little revenue for eventual upgrades. In the Industrial age I usually trade AT to drain excess AI commerce and maintain a slight tech edge.