Where can you go or what can you do to monitor the AI's tech progress?

[jshelr]

There is probably an easy answer. I'm just not seeing it.

[Proteus_MST]

Well, if you mean some kind of spy button which enables you to see their tech tree...
well, then the answer is easy...there is nothing of this kind.

You can only indirectly observe their technological progress,
for example by seeing which player enters at which era at which time.
And of course by the types of unit the AI uses
(as well as getting the info on the AI literacy in the demographics screen,
allowing you to see who scoires best or worst [unless it is you ])

[rah]

Or just pray that the random standing pop up is the one that tells you how many techs each civ has researched.

[jshelr]

ok, i found the right line on the demographics screen. It says Liz is first with 81%, average is 55%, and worst is 33%. I'm guessing from where Liz is on the tech tree that 81% means percentage of the tree completed. But that could be wrong.

If average is the numerical mean including us, then we are probably a whole era ahead. Average might be the median, however, and another civ could be close behind. (I thought the Persians were close since we had a perpetual research agreement the whole game.) Incidently, Liz is ahead by exactly the amount that the CS contribution to her research suggests she should be. The CS thing is huge.

Lack of a way to judge the tech race properly is kind of a serious issue with respect to game enjoyment. Most of us normally use the tech race tree to judge whether to claim victory and move on to a new game or go back to real life, temporarily, of course. As it is, in this game Liz is building modern armor and she will probably face riflemen when she finally embarks her units to attack the mainland. They should be tipping over their kings.

[Proteus_MST]

Nope, the line on the demographics screen doesn´t say directly how many techs the AI has.
It says, how many libraries, universities etc. the AI players have..
a high percentage means their cities are well equipped with libs and universities,
which at the same time means, that they will probably generate a lot of science points (unless they habe only few cities within their nation) and therefore will be able to acquire techs faster.

To find out how many techs the AI has, you need the random popup rah mentioned
("Homer publkishes his work on the scientific progress of the world" or something similar )

But yes, considering the fact that in the real history usually nations didn´t have totally closed borders, but rather there were lots of travelling salesmen wandering from one nation to the next, and that there would be diplomatic envoys visiting other nations, one should assume that you would be able to get limited insights into the technological progresses of the neighboring nations.

[sowings]

But yes, considering the fact that in the real history usually nations didn´t have totally closed borders, but rather there were lots of travelling salesmen wandering from one nation to the next, and that there would be diplomatic envoys visiting other nations, one should assume that you would be able to get limited insights into the technological progresses of the neighboring nations.

I think it would be interesting if you got something like this from one of your advisers. "Travelers returning from report seeing many hackneyed / comparable / wondrous / magical artifacts at use in that empire." This could at least give you a relative sense of the development. If you've got gunpowder, and they've got lasers, that's the Clarke's Third Law "magic" in play.

[Ming]

Since the new tech tree is far more narrow than in past games, I pretty much just use the military units I see as a guide.
Between that and the Era announcements, and I usually have a good idea where the other civs are at and whether I'm ahead or behind.

[Hermann the Lombard]

Let's see, the Ottomans have Janissaries and Cannon, and I have Swordsmen and Archers.

Oh, oh.

[That, BTW, is my current situation with France, but I haven't produced or used military units in a long time, and fortunately the Ottomans are on another continent, but dear old George Washington has noticed that my military is archaic, so I simply must do something about it...along with the dozen or so settlers I have waiting.]

[Ming]

along with the dozen or so settlers I have waiting.

The problem with that is that you are paying for them to sit around and do nothing