http://www.civfanatics.net/uploads8/DG5_scidep.jpg

In 5 turns our great nation will know what Bronze Working is. A great breakthrough, made by our inspired scientists. They are eager to know more. They have pinpointed no less than 6 different possible things they'd like to and are able to work on.

1) Iron Working - Iron is an even stronger metal than the much talked about bronze. It allows for our nation to train army-groups which carry long metal weapons and are expected to be powerful attackers, and still decent in defense. The Science Department calls them "Swordfighters", but the name can change. We do need to find a source of Iron though to be able to manufacture the weapons for the swordfighters. The Science department believes that, once we know what Iron is, we can locate it. Civ-value 6.
2) Masonry - The smart stacking of stone. This allows defensive construction on a city-surrounding wall. It is believed that it can also be used to build a large grain-storage for the entire landmass we are on. Civ-value 4.
3) Alphabet - the calligraphy of pictures on paper. The science department is convinced this is very very useful, but until now hasn't been able to figure out why it is. Civ-value 5.
4) Pottery - Making storage containers out of clay. These containers can be used to store wheat (for instance) for a very long time so that in times that we have more food than we can eat we can save it for times we are short on food. In the long term this will lead to more people and a more powerful nation. Civ-value 2.
5) Warrior Code - the laws of our fighting forces. With a good designed law we can improve our warriors and perhaps give them better weapons. Civ-value 3.
6) Mysticism - Doing strange things for the good of all. Very often the greatest scientific breakthroughs are made by doing something stange. Strange things will benefit us. Civ-value 4.
7) Other :lol: I really would like to know what the other can be !!
8) Abstain: I have no preference.

The science department advises a speedy research to this tech:

http://www.civfanatics.net/uploads8/Literature.jpg

Libraries are great places for research and education. The first moment of glory in Science is the construction of Libraries.

This poll will remain open for 48 hours

With all due respect, Minister Rik, all the scientific breakthroughs in the world will not amount to a thing if we do not have the military strength to retain them. For that reason, we must discover Iron Working so that we can identify regions that hold an abundance of Iron, and ensure that we claim said region(s) for our own.

Please vote Iron Working.

*Throws a chair and misses* <--- just a little bit of roleplaying (U.S. House in its early days)

We have enough stone axes, spears, and chairs to protect us. We need Pottery. We need the ability to rapidly expand our empire through settlement.

Vote for Pottery!

*Gets escorted out by security*

I say research the less obvious in hopes we can trade that to others, if we ever find anyone. Alphabet, because it leads on a path to things we may be able to sell.

*Breaks through the guards*

Vote for Pottery! We need pottery, it should have been researched as the first tech, we are missing the chance to gte any kind of a settler factory!

Vote for Pottery!

Pottery- voters unite!

*ducks under table to avoid being hit by some darts and cups thrown by the angry people*

Pottery? Come now....we don't even have the production capacity to build a Granary at this point. Are we to spend 20 turns building nothing but this one item in our one city? What if interlopers suddenly find their way to our good land? Will we be ready?

In this age of barbarians and uncertainty, let's think about the defense of our nation first. The only way to do so is to find and secure any and all Iron in our vicinity. Until we do that, the mudhuts can wait.

*Pokes head frmo under the table*

But, this is Vanilla civ, people. Resources are many and a lot. Not scarce like in the latest expansion. We will have plenty o fIron in those hills to the South.

Vote for Pottery!

*gets thrown out by the guards armed with clubs and axes*

I say research the less obvious in hopes we can trade that to others, if we ever find anyone. Alphabet, because it leads on a path to things we may be able to sell.

You're being boring :p, and alphabet takes a long time to research.

*Runs from the guards*

Iron working I think....

I beleve we should get iron working :).

I believe that we need to figure out how to make the best use of iron. For a start we need to know how to find it. Swordfighters as minister-san explained will provide the empire with great early military strength, putting ourselves at the cutting edge of military technology.

Our words are be backed by iron weapons is a phrase other nations will be afraid to hear.

Although pottery has the advantage of being quick to research (which is a great help for a small empire) and alphabet has the wonders of science closer at hand, I believe iron preceeds both.

I voted for Mysticism. It quickly puts you on the path for a possible regime change to monarchy and it leads to the Hanging Gardens and it's a tech which can be traded with the AI, assuming you meet the AI soon.

I can see why Iron Working is the most popular choice though... I was a little torn when voting.

We can easily trade for Pottery and maybe one more tech if we get Iron Working before AI.
What if we meet (and it is very possible because its starting tech, its cheap and AI likes it) civilization that already has Pottery so we can't make any trade? That wouldn't be nice.
Also Granary will take too long to build now.

We are already having problems finding good places for new cities and Iron could help us to chose better.

We can easily trade for Pottery and maybe one more tech if we get Iron Working before AI.
What if we meet (and it is very possible because its starting tech, its cheap and AI likes it) civilization that already has Pottery so we can't make any trade? That wouldn't be nice.
Also Granary will take too long to build now.

We are already having problems finding good places for new cities and Iron could help us to chose better.

Considering that we had to research Bronze working too, there's a good chance that any lucky civ (goody huts) or scientific civ (they get bronze) will already have it, as the AI seems to simply drool in the face of Iron.

Pro Iron Working

So even if other nations have iron working perhaps they wont have any of the resourse. If we can find and secure multiple sources of Iron, then we can trade it putting our nation in a higher status politically, economically, and trade wise. This would obviously take some time, so we had might as well get a head start now.

From Iron working we can rethink what we're doing and go from there.

Poeple, Iron working is an expensive, useless tech at this point of the game! Most of the AI's will research it, and we can trade for it!


*runs to avoid being caught by the guards again*

4) Pottery - Making storage containers out of clay. These containers can be used to store wheat (for instance) for a very long time so that in times that we have more food than we can eat we can save it for times we are short on food. In the long term this will lead to more people and a more powerful nation.
The words in bold are my emphasis of your words Minister Meleet. We need to get powerful and that we must do quickly. Iron Working will do fine after we have researched this small, but significant tech. After all, Minister, it is power that rules the world. Once Pottery is researched, we can build a bigger army and quickly. Once this is done, you may research what you want Minister.

From your humble servant, Classical_Hero. :salute:

Honorable Science Minister:

The Ministry of War has touted this "Iron" as being strong for tools, weapons, and other impliments. I grant this point as the Ministers of War and Science probably have a plan to make these true.

However, I must bring this up:

Even the War Ministry has said that we must procure this metal.

What if none is found to exist within the various mountains in our area? What then does this knowledge gain us?

Only the knowledge that we will have wasted about 20 turns worth of research.

Instead, I propose that we research Warrior Code. This gains us 3 things:

1. A Pro-active Defense Unit, the Archer. Even though they don't know to shoot while standing still, they can be useful in preventing our nation from attack.

2. A tech towards Monarchy. While I personally favor Republic in non-Conquest games, there are many who want this "Monarchy" and this may be a vital point for them. The "Republic vs Monarchy" debate is for another thread.

And the main reason for my support:

3. We DO know that there are horses nearby. Since our scouts have determined that we can use certain tools to have these beasts pull cargoes of items, (hopefully including the Gems in the Southern Mountains,) I see better uses for them, especially in exploration and pro-active defense. (Read: We can research Horseback Riding immediately thereafter and gain a Guaranteed 2:1:2 unit.) Further, IIRC, researching both of these techs will take only a few more turns than solely Iron Working.

I encourage my fellow Japanticans to ensure the continued Defense of our nation without investing in "gambits". Vote for Warrior Code with a Horseback Riding Followup!

Sir Donald

The presence or absnce of Iron will impact the fate of Japan for 4500 years.
It is critical we research Iron first, so we can choose the right path.

What does mean u1 c3 in that picture at the top of page?
Library u1 c3 :) silly question

:confused: I thought we chose the Monarchy Path.

@ Sir Donald III: The science department carries out the research as efficiently and eagerly as possible, but it doesn't decide what to research. The Democracy principle makes it so that the citizens have their voices heard. The Science department does however advise what to choose, but in the end the people choose and decide.

What does mean u1 c3 in that picture at the top of page?
Library u1 c3 :) silly questionLibraries have an Upkeep of 1 gold per turn and give our nation 3 Culture points per turn.

:confused: I thought we chose the Monarchy Path.The Monarchy path is chosen, but sidesteps are allowed. And people change their minds. I posted this poll to give the citizens their rightfull choice for the next tech, as I will for every tech. It's the voters who should keep the chosen path in their minds when voting.

I understand this, Honored Minister. (Or is it Honored Deputy?) I was merely justifying my vote in a speech before the Citizens in an effort to sway them. It was my understanding that, when making such speeches, to address my direct comments to the Chair (in this case, the Minister of Science).

It's Honorable Minister ;)

I hoped it was a persuasive speech, but to eliminate the slightest possibility that you (as an yet inexperienced participant in the Demo-Game) was searching for answers and explanations, I gave a short explanations of the way I lead the Science-department. I am glad that that was superfluous, but it's better to have too much information than too little.

vote for pottery!

*Bows before the Honorable Minister, then takes his seat*

Researching Alphabet is useless.

We can easily acquire it through trade in a much shorter time then researching it. I agree that we must secure the Great Library as fast as possible, but a direct route straight to it is not the answer. We must secure an iron resource for our future war efforts, not only will researching Iron Working help us secure a souce of Iron, it is also a strong tech and easily tradeable.... for say a tech called alphabet? You have to remember that alphabet is a tech that quite a few civilizations start with, so it's trading value is low from the start of the game. Once we secure Alphabet from trade we could easily start on Writing, and we also have the extra benefit of not having to trade/research Iron Working.

You must also think about any other techs/gold we might acquire from trading it.

Truth to be told from all starting techs most tradeable are Alphabet and then Wheel.
Thats not the point why people didn't vote mostly for alphabet (it is still 2nd with 8 votes), we want IW so we can locate iron and remove any threats to our great nation.
A few swordsmen are efficient in removing small ancient civs, that is why i like early IW. It seems everybody hates Babs so we are on a good way :cool:

How is Pottery in third? :shakehead

Bah!

The more we rapidly expand, the more likely we will have iron in our territory, anyway.

How is Pottery in third? :shakehead

Bah!

The more we rapidly expand, the more likely we will have iron in our territory, anyway.
people would rather write strange symbols into rock and find shiny things in the earth over eating :D

How is Pottery in third? :shakehead

Bah!

The more we rapidly expand, the more likely we will have iron in our territory, anyway.
In my games i get pottery 99% easily and have probs with Alphabet or Wheel.

BUt we still need Pottery ASAP.