I hear that it is sometimes a worthwhile strategy to drop the research level down to 0%. Could somebody tell me of such a circumstance or direct me to another thread about this topic? Many thanks

I dislike that idea, but I've been forced to do it several times-
You do that for:
1. Extra gold to fund a war, buy techs, or rush buy buildings.
2. Keeping out of bankruptcy.
3. Siphoning your moolah into culture to avoid unhappiness, or to increase culture.

1. and 3. are reasons why. More money=more techs, and happier trading partners.:lol:

In this (http://forums.civfanatics.com/showthread.php?t=156299) thread, goraemon suggests that rapid expansion that forces you to run at 0% science is a viable strategy.

The idea could also come from this (http://forums.civfanatics.com/showthread.php?t=159109) thread. The point made is basically that you should switch between 0 and 100 percent science to 1) prevent rounding down of the effect of libraries, markets etc., and 2) maximize the science bonus you get from other civs who discovered the tech.

It's too micromanaging for my taste, but it does make sense I think.

To gain quick cash for rushing or upgrading units and buildings is usually the only reason I'll drop to 0.

I'll often expand to the point where my research is down to 10 or 0%, then stop, build courthouses and generally improve my economy. Note that some research may still be going on with specialists, not that much though :)

It's too micromanaging for my taste, but it does make sense I think.
How is switching from 0 to 100 and back once every 10 turns MM?

The direct advantage of the 0/100 system is:
- you don't lose out due to bad rounding
- you always have a sum of money available (which can be a lifesaver for upgrading a unit)
- you can switch tech even after a few turns (you start music for the free artist but get beaten by an AI 3 turns later: since you run 0% science, no harm done and you just switch tech)
- it WILL give a slight advantage in the end. A couple of beakers here, a couple of coins there. It's not much, but it IS an advantage nonetheless

You can read several articles about the mathematical principle behind the whole thing.

I started a similar thread before:

http://forums.civfanatics.com/showthread.php?t=160535

It is actually BETTER to expand up to 0% research early on, as you will have much more resources to work on later.

Also, in the story forum you can find a "0% science game". Therefore, even if you go with 0% research all the time, you can still win (a Monarch game in that story, if I remember it right)! :cool:

I had about 60 Infantry in my last game - I think it took over 8000 gold to upgrade them all to Mech Infs. Set science to 0% for 4-5 turns and it was done. I figured I could a) lose ~5 turns of tech, or b) spend 15-20 turns building new Mech Infs (who would be inferior to upgraded ones, since they only would have 6 xp).

Of course if you maintain a tech lead, you can sell techs for cash, or use techs to arrange for AI's to kill units for you, saving you the expense of killing them yourself. I like to expand to about where my research rate goes down to 50%, but there are several techs that facilitate expansion that I'd rather not miss out on by expanding to 0%.

Frankly, the AI's are so stingy and so poor that selling techs just isn't a cost effective strategy. Don't get me wrong, I do it, but MM'ing the slider is smarter.

It's a shame, getting a tech lead and then pimping our your superior knowledge to the dumb AI's for hundreds of gold per turn was pretty much THE way to win in Civ 3. Ah, the good old days...

"Frankly, the AI's are so stingy and so poor that selling techs just isn't a cost effective strategy."

The wealth of the AI is a variable not entirely out of the player's control. It's also one of the rare factors that improves with difficulty level. The higher the level you're playing, the more likely you'll have customers if you manage to gain a tech lead.

How is switching from 0 to 100 and back once every 10 turns MM?

The direct advantage of the 0/100 system is:
- you don't lose out due to bad rounding
- you always have a sum of money available (which can be a lifesaver for upgrading a unit)
- you can switch tech even after a few turns (you start music for the free artist but get beaten by an AI 3 turns later: since you run 0% science, no harm done and you just switch tech)
- it WILL give a slight advantage in the end. A couple of beakers here, a couple of coins there. It's not much, but it IS an advantage nonetheless

You can read several articles about the mathematical principle behind the whole thing.

well, it's not MM literally, but it's just so serious. It means more work... and for me CIV is mostly meant to be fun.

Define fun? Well, you can mess around on Noble but from Monarch up you have to pay attenting :)

Some people enjoy this much "work" (and you will have to micromanage things if you want to play higher levels), while others just want have "fun" so they'll set the slider and be done with it. For example, although I can win on both difficulties, I find Monarch to be more "fun" than Emperor most of the time, simply because I don't have to micromanage anything. Sometimes I'm in the mood for more of a challenge and kick up the difficulty, but it usually feels more tedious than fun, because you do need to micromanage to win.

And n0xie, it is micro-management. You choose not to use the slider as a percentage in favor of doing it yourself manually every few turns, for a relatively small gain. It's certainly not as tedious as other useful tricks, but it could be the final straw that tilts the fun vs. challenge scale with some players.

Aside from this on/off research tactic, I've had times where I needed to drop the slider down to 0%, just to keep my military units from being disbanded. If you go for a major, early conquest/land grab, it may be more effective (or necessary) running at 0%, while using Caste System and having many small cities with merchants/scientists. You can keep every city you conquer, because with farms and specialists, rather than cottages that require time to develop and libraries/markets, every city can immediately pay for itself with a merchant or two. Now, I don't really know how effective this route can be at Immortal or Diety, but it can certainly be useful on Monarch to afford a lot of early land.