Science

[Phatphal]

I have a real hard time keeping up with science, i'm not playing that hard of difficulty "warlord" and I play with 16 civs. When the game gets going I find I'm behind 4-12 civilization techs. Its near impossible for me to keep a positive income and compete with the science build up. I usually end up declaring war and demanding peace and all the knowledge they have.

What do you do to get on the right track for knowledge ?

[Manya]

I race for the Great Library or do some trading, by putting less money on science to buy some techs you may want to build some libraries and universities too

[The Mad Monk]

Build roads. Lots and lots of roads.

[The Mad Monk]

Also, make sure you actually need everything you're paying for -- no sense in having in invasion force if you're not actually invading someone.

[pedrojedi]

Also, make sure you actually need everything you're paying for

A concept unknown for me; I spend lots of useless gold on early city improvements.

[Phatphal]

I made use of my force, decimated 2 civilizations with galliac swordsmen. They ended up giving me 14 technology for peace, but I couldn't get it all because their other technology is longer on the science line.

[0bsidi0n]

Your starting position plays a role as well. If you play on many islands, contact is more limited and the AI's will trade less (as they don't know each other). This slows everyone else's science down. That may not help, but I always play this kind of map because I can usually dominate the diplomatic scene by knowing everyone, which does help tech trading, and I get a good head start by not needing a military early. I guess that's up to your preferences though; it kind of sounds like you enjoy your warmongering!

edit: I guess with that many civs, this whole strategy might not be feasible; I've never tried many civs on archipelago.

[wilbill]

Originally posted by Phatphal
I made use of my force, decimated 2 civilizations with galliac swordsmen. They ended up giving me 14 technology for peace, but I couldn't get it all because their other technology is longer on the science line.

Sounds like you already discovered a good way to catch up in science, lol.
A good way not to fall behind is to trade with the AI's, early and often.
On Warlord, though, you should be able to keep up if not stay ahead of the AI's. Where are you leaving your science slider? If you can, push it up a few notches. If you can't and still allow sufficient income, work on your terrain improvement to generate more gold. And as someone already mentioned, go easy on the improvements in the early game - be sure you need those buildings before you pour shields - and upkeep - into them.

[Jaybe]

Since other civs are trading techs with other AI civs they have encountered, it is self-defeating to be selfish with your own techs in most (but not all) cases. If you can get techs others don't have, you can sell/trade them at substantial profit, and when you get gold for them you can be limiting their ability to research.

Also, optimize your science slider. Sometimes 50% is as good as 70%, etc.
Especially, check when you are at 1-3 turns from discovery. Often you can save another 10-20% during those turns (excess science allocations are lost -- do not carry over to the next tech).

[Phatphal]

Its a total conquest game so I guess warmongering and blackmailing civilizations is an effective way of catching up. But all I see coming out of that is me being always one step behind and having to deal with civilizations with more advanced units than me. I had to cut short my war with the Spanish as they has pikemen and my galliac swordsmen were starting to lose.

I'll take those pointers on board and see what I can do with the situation.

If things look grim I always resort to war, but I guess thats how I like to play my game

Thanks

[Skanky Burns]

It depends a lot on your government type too. Republic / democracies are easier turn into strong science centers, whereas the more warmongering governments such as communism aren't able to keep up with them.

One way to get an advantage from this it to get all the other civilizations attacking each other. They will soon be unable to devote as much to science, and allow you to take the lead.