Science Advisor Campaign Thread

[Nubclear]

"Dear Fellow People,

My name is Tassadar, and I am currently running for the Science Advisor position in the Civilization III Democracy Game.

Science is a very important part of Civilization III. Science allows you to trade with other civilizations for money and resources and even more science. It helps you to build up your culture so that others may look up to your civilization and even overthrow their rulers to come to you. But maybe most importantly, science allows you modern armies that defend you from invaders and expand your territory.

However, science is nothing when set in the wrong direction. Researching certain techs at the wrong time can have disasterous, even deadly results. An empire collapsing due to lack of scientific progress is in my opinion, more frustrating than an empire collapsing due to underwhelming military strength.

I believe that I would make a good Science Advisor as I like to sit down and think about things. I regularly do this in games of Civilization III that I play. Sometimes I sit down for quite a bit of time thinking of the consequences of researching this, over researching that. And that is what we need. Someone who will sit down, and spend some of their time thinking about what needs to be done because blind, erratic research will ultimately result in complete and total failure.

By officially declaring candidacy, I make a promise not only to myself but to the entire group that I will research the best techs and I will steer us in the right direction. I will do my part to better the empire, and I will listen to the people.

So when it's finally that day, finally time to vote, I sincerly hope that you vote for me. Thank you."

Questions for any of the candidates? Ask them here.

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Tassadar is an official supporter of Trip/Space05us in the Civ3 Democracy Game.

[Nikolai]

Your post sure make me feel that you at least are able to write good letters! Are you some sort of politician IRL? As it stands now, you seem to be the right guy.

[Nubclear]

Originally posted by Nikolai
Your post sure make me feel that you at least are able to write good letters! Are you some sort of politician IRL? As it stands now, you seem to be the right guy.

Well thank you for your kind words.

And on the politician comment, I am a journalist.

[Flip McWho]

i agree. come the time to vote u are my choice.

[Jethro83]

You can count on my vote when the time comes Tassadar.

[Franses]

It sounds like you are a good candidate, Tassadar, but I suggest you sit down NOW, think a while as you seemed to be used to and then tell us what your global plan for the ancient times is.

[Timeline]

Tassadar is a solid player. He has his head on streight and seems to be most reasonable. He has my vote.

[MrWhereItsAt]

Yes, Tassadar: if you become Science Minister/Advisor, which techs will you advise the ppl aim for first? As for advancing science, how would you go about this? Would you aim to convince the ppl that libraries and universities in every city that can afford them creates a strong "knowledge economy" ( sorry, New Zealanders would laugh at that phrase)? Or would you advise that concentrating science into a few dedicated cities is the way to go? Will you aim to build a super science city, as is so popular in Civ2?

[hetairoi22]

You seem to know what your doing ... What would your goals be in the ancient age?

[civman2000]

ooops...missed this. This is my campaign promise:
I will always have 3 techs in order of priority so the prez knows what to go for if we acquire techs. I will support tech-trading as long as it's reasonable but oppose too much tech-selling until we have a strong position in the tech race, so that our selling doesn't end up leaving us backwards. However, once our competitiveness is assured, tech should be used as our tool in buying luxuries and alliances.

I will search out general paths to take, and present them clearly in polls. Depending on what the current need is, I will send us toward peaceful improvements and wonders to get ahead in races, or go for military tech. Our first priorities should be bronze working, alphabet, iron working, warrior code, and writing (in that order). Ceremonial Burial is also a high priority, but we will hopefully start as a religious civ and not need to reasearch it. The wheel and masonry can be traded for/bought from the other civs so we should not waste time researching them.

[Ninot]

i asked this of Tassadar last night, now I will ask it of Civman2000

Civman, during your time in office, despite our nation's situation, which specific techs do you predict you will put the most emphasis on?

[civman2000]

literature, republic, writing, iron working, feudalism, chivalry...

I think that should be far enough ahead to go for now.

But even if I disagree, my reports will almost always say what hte people chose to research. I will attempt to show people which ways are the best, but ultimately the people decide.

[Captain]

Candidates Tassadar and Civman2000:

What are your positions on scientific spending in the early game?

Should we allocate a large % of funds towards research, or towards treasury build-up in order to purchase such technologies from rivals? Or should we demand technologies as tribute from weak neighbours?

Once we have achieved a strong infrastructure (with libraries and universities), what will be your new position on the allocation of funds for science?

[Inverse Icarus]

as a possible military minster, and a jingoistic nationalist, i want iron working and the wheel asap.

all candidates: state your first few advances. (civman already did)

[Nubclear]

Originally posted by Franses
It sounds like you are a good candidate, Tassadar, but I suggest you sit down NOW, think a while as you seemed to be used to and then tell us what your global plan for the ancient times is.

Defensive the the ancient times is a must in order to maintain an empire, as if you lack on defense your empire could fall prey to a more powerful enemy. This is why, if we do not already start out with it I would go for Bronze Working. Because of this aspect, it would be preferable to be Greece as a 1.3.1 (Attack/Defense/Movement) value compared to the 1.2.1 of the spearman. However, the spearman will probably be efficent. It would also be preferable to have a barracks in the city, but that it out of my hands.

Then we must build our culture up. Although I am pretty sure that we are going to have a civilization that is religious, if not then I would recommend going for Ceremonial Burial for the temples it provides. Temples are extremly important, as they are usually the NUMBER ONE choice to build up your culture, and they keep your people happy. At higher difficulty levels, this is quite hard.

My plan would then be to try to race to literature because if we can build it early on, literature is a definite plus. It gives us culture, and a tech that has been researched by at least two civilizations. This will be effective until Education, the tech advance that makes the Great Library obsolete. However, literature also allows us to build Libraries and increase our science research early on, a very important aspect to look at.

Immediately following Literature, researching Code of Laws would be benificial for the sole reason that the couthouse reduces corruption, and I anticipate that if Trip (whom I strongtly support) is elected, he will attempt to expand and therefore with the difficulty level I anticipate, will have corruption problems. Courthouses can bring a 10.1 (Waste.Production) to a 6.4 city. Although the number may seem insigificant to some people, it is very significant as for each shield produced other than the first, it cuts the build time by half. A temple that took 60 turns, for example, would now take about 10. Hm...

Then, I believe iron working would be a viable option as it offers a unit that has the highest attack value (next to the Catapult) of any unit in the ancient era. It would also bring us one step closer to Construction which has the Aqueduct which can let our cities grow, which would equal more shields and commerce which equals more science.

There are also other advantages for going to Construction as well. It provides the Colloseum, which I believe turns one/two unhappy face(s) into a content one(s) which will be nesisary especially for completing wars. It also allows us to build fortresses which can enhance our units ability to fight which is essential for survival of our empire. And it opens the door to the Great Wall, which boosts our walls effectiveness against barbarians and at the level that is predicted were going to set to, this could be a benficial wonder and because it is 200 shields, it is very cheap to build.

Then in order to enhance our economy, currency would be my next choice only because of the Marketplace improvement that it provides. The marketplace will help us generate more gold, and gold is very important to have.

After that, although no immediate benfitis arise from this tech, I would suggest philosophy because it opens the doorway to Republic, which is an advanced form of government that generates more....gold. Getting out of Despotism is very important, and Republic in my opinion is the only viable option.

After that, Pottery would become a viable option as it is a very cheap tech which opens the doors to Map Making. Map Making is a tech that offers boats, harbours, and the Great Lighthouse. However depending on the situation, Map Making could be very useless or very useful.

In order to finish off the remaining techs, I would go for Warrior Code as the archer as a 2 attack, 1 defense, one movement. This is preferred over the wheels' chariot which is 1 attack, 1 defense, 2 movement. Although if we are at war, movement maybe preferred over attack, although I personally see the situation as highly unlikely.

After which, if we did not already research it, I would go for the wheel if not only to get to Horseback Riding which gives us the horseman: A unit that has Two attack, 1 defense, and 2 movement. That literally combined the Chariot and Archer in order to form a powerful, fast unit.

Depending on the situation, I would either for for Map Making of Mysticism. Map Making would offer us costal trading however, on a pangea map that probably will not be useflu. However if were on an island Map Making could be very useful. Mysticism offers us the Oracle great wonder, which doubles the effects of all temples and I believe produces 4 culture per turn. Not an amazing number when compared to Great Library, but the double-temples effect would certainly be helpful. It costs about 300 shields which I believe that we could get through easily considering the projected strength of the empire.

Then, as there are no choices left, I would go for Polytheism. This would cause an advancement in era, however, I would like to research Monarchy if only for the Hanging Gardens great wonder. The Hanging Gardens produces 4 culture, costs 300 just like the Oracle, however, it makes 3 citizens content in the city its built in and 1 citizen content in all other cities. Combined with th effect of the colloseum would make 3 citizens content everywhere the colloseum was.

That would be my plan for the ancient era. Please be advised that this plan may or may not change due to wars, trading, or unforseen circumstances. This plan does not take into consideration the cost of running the imrpovements such as the harbour. This plan has emphasis on peaceful technologies although it can be adapted for wartime as well.

This plan may change due to the polls being the way they are. I do hope this has answered some of your questions and if you have more, just ask!

Tassadar