Wonder Guide

[Dis]

here's mine. I am currently playing 3rd level (monarch?). I'm still finding my way in this game, so the ai has a tech lead on me and has better production cities. I missed out on every singe wonder except colossus until I finally got to the industrial age. I nabbed universal suffrage and the mighty hoover dam.

Ancient:

Colossus- 3: I rate it this high because it is attainable. the ai never really goes for it fast. but the effects aren't all that great.

Great Library-3: expires too early imho. and nearly impossible to get

great lighthouse-2: a little bit easier to get, but I still can't get it. good to keep out of the ai's hands. keeps the ai expansion down for a while

great wall-0: worthless. build offensive units instead. defense is worthless in this game. all offense is what you need

Hanging Gardens-2: I need this one, but still too hard to get since I went for republic

Oracle-1: useful if you don't get hanging gardens. I didn't get either one and I'm surviving.

Pyramids-4: too much growth can be difficult to manage, but the pyramids makes things so much easier. get it if you can, but I never can.

Medieval

Adam smiths-4: I had money problems in my last game. I would have liked to get this. but if you don't build those improvements in most of your cities don't bother

Copenicus- 3: too figgin' hard to get. good for a super science city though

Bach's Cathedral-3: good if you don't get sistine chapel. but I couldn't even get this one

Lenardos- 4: like I said I had money problems. this makes upgrading affordable, and the ai will respect your upgraded military more

Magellons-3: something I always got in civ2. no more. too hard to get, but very nifty to have

Sistine chapel-4: hugely important. I couldn't get it though

Newtons-3: same as copernicus. nice to have for science city

Shakespear-0: worthless. get it only if you are going for culture win

Sun Tzus-4: good for peacniks or warmongers. nice to have barracks on newly captured cities. Or have them on fringe cities with high corruption

Industrial:

Hoover Dam-5: highly important. Because you will likely be equal or behind in tech. You need production to win the game for you

United Nations 0 (5): only useful for diplomatic victory- duh!

Theory of Evolution-2: too hard to get

Universal Suffrage 3- much easier to get. and it helps with war in democracy

Modern:

Cure for cancer:3- should get this if you miss sistine chapel or bach's cathedral

Lengetivity- 2: get this if you never got pyramids

SETI- 2: not as useful this late in game. but can give much needed kick to science city if you have one

Manhatten project-1: unless you like nuclear war...

[Arrian]

UN

Doh! I did totally forget the UN. You're right, of course. The UN is a "5". If you don't build it, you're toast, I would think. I've always built it... and the one time I held an election, I lost (hell, a civ that was actively AT WAR with my opponent in the election voted against me).

I also forgot Apollo *smacks self*, probably because the UN and Apollo are so obvious they didn't occur to me.

-Arrian

[gamma]

Heroic Epic = more leaders = more rush-built wonders, spaceship components, etc. I give it a 5.

Pentagon is worth it if my theory is correct, and the AI simply abhors attacking a full-strength army. Put an army in a city (provided you're sure the city won't defect), and the AI will likely never even try to attack it. Meanwhile, think of it as allowing you to add up to 5 hit points to your armies. 20-point units walking around are literally juggernauts.

Copernicus, Newton, and SETI are worth putting into a coastal metropolis near a river, in a democracy, perhaps with the Forbidden Palace in the same city. This maximizes commerce and results in a -huge- science production. It's harder than you might think to maintain that 4-point wall in the modern era, especially if you're at war (and communist); you'll need all the tech help you can get.

[Dis]

I forgot to mention. Iron works kicks all ass. just have plenty of workers for pollutino control. This helps get those late game wonders.

[MarshalN]

Unlike others, I think JS bach is better than what most people think. It's a good alternative especially if you play on pangea or continents with most of your city on one continent. It really saves you a lot of stress trying to keep people happy, and it's actually attainable (on regent/monarch anyway).

Great Library is just too hard to get. Even if you make a beeline for literacy I still wonder if it's possible to get it built in time. On higher levels I suspect the chance is next to none. Might as well go for something else since this one's as good as gone.

[eMarkM]

United Nations 0 (5): only useful for diplomatic victory- duh!

You give it a zero and than a (5). 0 for those going for non-diplo victory? 5 if you're going for diplo? Is that how I read this? If you're saying that if the OPTION for diplo win is off altogether, than yes, UN is a big waste. Otherwise, it's a five no matter what type of victory you're going for.

Let's just clear up one thing as I think it's caused a lot of confusion. The UN is more important to you when you're NOT going for a diplo win. If you're a genocidal warmonger, you're not going to get votes in the UN. Or even going for a peaceful space win, but another civ is more well liked than you; they'll build it, hold the election, get elected before you launch, and you're sitting there going "WTF". Therefore, it's critical that you have control of the UN so you can endlessly filibuster on the vote.

If you're going for diplo win, you want to be the one who chooses when the vote will take place to assure yourself of victory. Maybe there's one swing vote you have to have and need time to butter them up. Also, if you're the one everyone loves and think you're a shoe-in for diplo win, but the warmongering Zulus get UN, THEY will filibuster on the vote forever and you'll never get it.

Anyway you slice it, if diplo win is turned on it's a FIVE no matter what kind of victory you're going for. You just can't let it fall into AI hands. It's the most expensive wonder of all of them for a reason. It's the most important one to have. Save a leader to rush it. It's a no brainer.

e

[eMarkM]

[Iron works] helps get those late game wonders.

Uh, you'll get EVERY late game wonder with that puppy. SS parts every other turn. Man, a shield monster. I think I had 130 shields a turn buzzing out of the city I built that one in. Added factory, the most updated plant, wow!

e

[Dis]

you explained it much better than I could. Thanks. I do wish there was a council like in SMAC though. It would make UN more useful.

P.S. put a nuke plant in the city with iron works. like you need more production. but it is nice to have

[sophist]

Great Library = good!

Great Library - 5:
If you're on a Pangaea, the Great Library's requirement that you know the other civs from whom you get a Wonder is considerably eased. As far as the pace of building goes, I tend to follow a different strategy from the REX being advocated on these boards. Generally I get a settler or two, 2 defenders, and a temple in my capital and then start on the Pyramids. I research towards Literacy (after Iron Working, the Wheel, and a couple others) as quickly as possible. Meanwhile the AIs are zooming ahead of me in terms of cities built. I just make sure that my other cities have at least a temple. I don't worry so much about a military because this I'll generally only have a couple neighbors, whom I appease, and then more distant civs that I don't care too much about angering. If they show up on my doorstep, I can appease them or possibly boot them. Either way, I'm not going to waste too much on them. So anyway, I start building the Pyramids pretty early. As soon as I get Literacy, I switch over to the Great Library. If I have a strong enough military (horsemen/swordsmen are sufficient at this time), and I'm close enough to completion to be fairly certain of getting it, I'll go to a low science rate (just enough to get an advance in 32 turns). I aim for the ones the AI ignores early on (like Currency or Code of Laws) because you can make hay with those. Even when I do get the Great Library, I don't kill the science rate; I don't really see it as an advantage so much as it is a way to catch up with the AIs. The techs I get from it I sell for as much as possible, as well as the ones I get myself deeper in the tree. So what if the Great Library is only useful partway into the Medieval period? It gives me some valuable catching up. And don't forget the 6 culture points. And remember that the 6 double to 12 after 1000 years. So if you finish the Great Library in 500BC (I finished it in a recent game in 800BC), that means it's producing 12 culture in 500AD, which is not so long after, given the turn length at that time. Don't knock the Great Library; at the higher levels, it's great for catching up and making dough. If it lasted beyond Education, it would be a hugely unbalancing bonus.

T of E: 3
As far as the Theory of Evolution goes, well, you'll probably get techs you skipped for good reason, but consider what will happen if the AI gets it.

Military Academy: 3
Armies are useful for knocking off the first few strong defenders in a city, especially against a militaristic civ where you don't want to give the unit a chance at promotion (which means the attack/retreat of horsemen/knights/etc. isn't quite as good).

Battlefield Medicine: 0
I've never found this to be useful. But I retreat wounded units along railroads built just behind the front line, so I guess I wouldn't really see much use.

Longevity: 1
Agreed. Almost useless.

Universal Sufferage: 5
It seems to reduce war weariness (at least partially) by making it take longer for your citizens to get weary. Consider how much 2 or 3 turns (not exactly sure how long it is; could be more) would help your wars from the late Industrial on. Your units move so fast that 2 or 3 turns could net you 5 cities easily, if you strategize properly.

Hoover Dam: 5
Gotta have the free extra shields to pump out your spaceship if the AI is close. Or if you fight a lot, not having to waste a few units worth of turns to build another powerplant is a definite plus.

JS Bach: 3
Pretty handy. But I didn't get it in the last game and did just fine. Just make sure you secure all the luxuries you can get (militarily, preferrably, so you don't spend $$$) and build marketplaces. By the time that's not enough (with temple, cathedral, and possibly colosseum), your cities are pretty huge. Two citizens is helpful early on, but the Sistine Chapel's doubling of cathedrals nets you 3 more happy citizens. And I think JS Bach is restricted to that continent, right?

Sistine Chapel: 5
Above reasons. And 6 culture? Plus if you build it early, you get the double culture. I got it in 550AD with my last game.

Newton/Copernicus: 4
And they're great with increasing culture. You can get Copernicus early enough that you'll get the 1000 year kick to its culture (I got mine in 720AD, which gave just a little time at 12/turn).

Smith's: 4
definitely a good one to get. just paying for marketplaces justifies it

SETI: 2
comes too late to be that useful. Wait, scratch that. If you're in a tight spaceship race, then it could be useful. Otherwise not.

Manhattan: 1
I agree with eMarkM. Let the AI build it. If they're building it, let them. Use your shields to work on the Palace or something else so you can get your actual nuke units before them.

Heroic Epic: ?
I can't tell if it works. I got one leader really early on which I used to build an army that won a lame battle. Then I built the HE and got nothing until I got two leaders in a few turns about 30 turns before winning. If it worked more reliably, that would be good.

Pyramids: 3
I guess they're convenient. Growth of my cities generally hasn't been a problem, but I'm not a slave driver and I don't REX very much. I'd rather just capture them if possible ;-)

United Nations: 2
The Diplomatic Victory seems broken. The only thing that I'd do is build the UN when I forgot to disable the DV just so I could prevent the AI from winning.

Pentagon: 2
a 4 unit army isn't much of an improvement over a 3 unit army.

Currently playing Standard/Large Pangaea/Normal/Warm/Roaming/Monarch

[Alex 14]

Thanks for the comments and observations...

Thank you for your comments, I have updated the guide with more comprehensive information and 2 new wonders. I have also made the Theory Of Evolution wonder more understandable, obviously it's effects are less than those in Civ 2.

[Capt Dizle]

I think the TOE is a great wonder. The key is to be careful to have traded for all of the secondary techs. The AI will sell them for a song. Buy all of the techs the AI has researched. Time the completion of the wonder to get it the turn after you complete your next new tech and don't spend anything on tech the turn that you build it.

This will give you a minimum of three tech lead. From this point just sell techs and you have a win.

[Fistleaf]

Regarding the Great Library, I actually got Education from the Great Library. Before this, I checked with the Persians and found that they had already discovered Education. So perhaps, GL expires only if you discover Education.
Then again, it could be a bug because I captured the GL instead of building it. I had also captured the Hanging Gardens before, and the effects never expire until the end of the game.

[Alex 14]

Interesting, I've never seen that happen, it must be a bug.

-----

I've updated the guide again with the following great wonders:

The Colossus -- 2
The Hanging Gardens -- 4
The Oracle -- 2
Copernicus' Observatory -- 3
Newton's University -- 3

[sophist]

I too have gotten Education from the Great Library. Seemed kind of odd at the time.

[boney1]

Shakespeares is good but it has to be in the right place. I have it in my mega production city. 1 square grasslands or 5 plains 3 with water, gives massive food, the rest are all hills and mountains. Production with mines and R&RR is huge. Shakespeares makes sure that this city never stops working.

ToE is better than most of you think. I have found, at least in my latest game that what it gives you depends on not just the cheap advances but also what you are currently researching. I saved the turn before I got ToE and experimented. Basically it seems to give you things not from the thread you are currently researching. e.g. I had replaceable parts and was currently researching either steel or refining I got atomic theory and electricity. But when I was researching atomic theory I was given steel and refining.

This means lots of time to complete hoovers, and with my mega production city no probs.