AI researching faster than me

[GeneralZed]

No matter what I do, for some reason the AI always has a big space between me and them in matters of techs. After 20-30min in the game, they have like 8 techs I dont have. Sometimes I can trade somethings and boosting myself upwards to be equal. However, I always have my science thingy on 100% but they still beat me. How come they be faster than I??

[El Dorko Grande]

What level do wou play?
Do you build enough workers/roads/libraries?

[Tomoyo]

Because you're not generating enough commerce... which can be helped by doing a lot of things... but mainly growth and roads.

[GeneralZed]

When I compare amount of roads with other civs, I normally clearly have more roads than the other guy and I mined everything where it should be. I'm on the 3rd easiest level with less AI agression. Should I turn my laborers in my cities from taxmen to scientists?

[Tomoyo]

More cities and population, then.

[GeneralZed]

In population size I always have it low. Well, I need the frickin settlers and workers, where am I getting more pop? Should I try to get the pyramids, use agricultural civ? Never thought population would trouble me so much o_O

[Doc Tsiolkovski]

Should I turn my laborers in my cities from taxmen to scientists?

Uh...you have Specialists in the early game? That explains EVERYTHING.
Use the luxury slider.
(Yes, I am aware Scientists can be useful; I do use them quite frequently - but, I know when to not use them).
For a regent player: If you need to employ specialists in the early game, something is going complete wrong. Simply becuase the only reason a city should be big enough to see happiness problems is to either function as Settler factory, or to (pre)build a wonder - and in both cases, all citizens should work in the fields.

Then: Are you trading enough? The AI will trade everything among themselves; if you're left out, it is your fault.

[Willem]

Originally Posted by GeneralZed

However, I always have my science thingy on 100% but they still beat me.

You're just wasting money having your science at 100% all the time. Fiddle with your slider until you actually see a difference in the number of turns to a tech. If nothing is changing as you go up, you'd be better off having that money go into your treasury. Then you could buy some techs from other civs.
And try playing an Expansionist civ, they get a huge advantage getting ahead in techs in the Ancient Era,

[DBear]

You could always try the pointy-stick method of research

[GeneralZed]

@ Doc
If I dont put those laborers, my citys will grow too much ending with a civil disorder right before my settler is done. And sometimes I get to may quite alot to make em happy anyway so I need something balancing everything and what comes up to my mind then? Taxmen!
And somehow there is never a luxury in my territories. I started a new game the other day and there really was more luxury in the map than before, where only 1 in 4 civs had a luxury

I sure need some turn-by-turn tutorial

@ willem
There is normally a difference between 90% and 100%. But somehow after the 30 minutes I get some amount of money enough to trade things with the AI, whenever possible.

[Doc Tsiolkovski]

You have 2 born happy, plus 2 MP in despo. Even without a single Luxury, a Lux tax of 20% should be enough to keep everyone content. Specialists simply do not grow and do not produce shields, so they obviously delay expansion a lot.
Of course, Scientists produce a lot of beakers, so occasionaly they're worth it (like an AGR Civ and flood plain wheat - the city makes about 1spt, but can feed 3 or 4 Specialists). Never in the capital, of course.

[GeneralZed]

Oh, duh! I forgot there was this happiness thingy under the scientific one.

I've never used it before and never thought what that would result in.
That was a nono for me .

[GeneralZed]

I'm getting slightly less gold than before. Anyway to balance income/outcome in early 600 b.c.?

[nullspace]

Originally Posted by GeneralZed

I'm getting slightly less gold than before. Anyway to balance income/outcome in early 600 b.c.?

Income hardly even matters this early in the game. I'd say that food is by far the most important resource at this point, an production is the next most important, and commerce is a distant third. Food is most important because you need it to increase your population and build settlers and workers. More pop, more cities, and more terrain improvements are the best way to increase the power of your civ. Production and commerce are mostly byproducts of having a large population, many cities, and many terrain improvements.

As a general rule, don't sacrifice food and production by turning citizens into specialists if you can make them happy by using the luxury slider. That is why the slider is so useful, it lets you use commerce to keep you population producing food and shields.

[rotiboy]

Your 1st tech will take u 50 turns no matter u research at 100% or 20%. I suggest u set it to 20%, lowest possible.

Try starting with a civ which have alphabet so that u can go for writing than literature or if u r confident enough try getting philosophy for the free tech but it all depends what level u on. The purpose of literature is to get the great library so that u won't need spend much money on techs.

After u got your 1st tech, u should have more cities now, set research to 100% along will not work well unless u have scientists also. Convert the maximum number of scientists u can have, single cities simply convert the single population to scientist also. U now r considered 'fast' enough but it depends on other settings also.

Your map size, archipelago or pangea and location plays a factor also as the AI likes to trade among themselves. Your best bet is to get an archipelago map.

For the Great library, in case u will not get any scientific leader from literature, I would suggets u to build something which can be switched to building the Great library immediately once u get the tech so that u get a head start building the Great library.

Locate as many civs as possible so that u can have more civs to trade with.

Another way will be to research 0% but use the money to buy techs. Or get it through war or stealing techs.

[catchsomezzz]

Dont' forget - some civs are "expansionist" and they can pop techs from goody huts. On larger maps or maps with high land %, there would obviously be more goody huts for their scouts to pop and thus a higher chance of getting more techs. This can be compounded by the fact that they might be popping different new techs and trading with each other.

So they're not necessarily researching faster than you.

Plus, on Monarch level and above, you cannot possibly out-research the AI early on. So the best way to keep up is to trade trade trade and trade some more... and/or reach for the GL crutch.

[The Omega]

Build lots of cities. More cities=More laborers making money=more money that can be used for research=Faster research!

[Panzar75]

Originally Posted by catchsomezzz

Plus, on Monarch level and above, you cannot possibly out-research the AI early on.

While it gets more difficult with higher levels it is not as impossible as you suggest. On Monarch I always research faster than the AI and on Emperor I am also usually ahead.

[El Dorko Grande]

Originally Posted by rotiboy

Your 1st tech will take u 50 turns no matter u research at 100% or 20%. I suggest u set it to 20%, lowest possible.

NOT true. Try researching one of the cheaper techs (Pottery, Ceremonial burial), and build enough roads. If you have a river near your capital you can have your first tech well within 20 turns.

Try starting with a civ which have alphabet so that u can go for writing than literature or if u r confident enough try getting philosophy for the free tech but it all depends what level u on. The purpose of literature is to get the great library so that u won't need spend much money on techs.

After u got your 1st tech, u should have more cities now, set research to 100% along will not work well unless u have scientists also. Convert the maximum number of scientists u can have, single cities simply convert the single population to scientist also. U now r considered 'fast' enough but it depends on other settings also.

Single citizen cities? That sounds like a waste of settlers to me

Your map size, archipelago or pangea and location plays a factor also as the AI likes to trade among themselves. Your best bet is to get an archipelago map.

Or to get the AI to wage war on one another. That's a lot more fun

For the Great library, in case u will not get any scientific leader from literature, I would suggets u to build something which can be switched to building the Great library immediately once u get the tech so that u get a head start building the Great library.

Locate as many civs as possible so that u can have more civs to trade with.

Another way will be to research 0% but use the money to buy techs. Or get it through war or stealing techs.

Stealing techs is so depressingly expensive > I say: Wage war, kick butt an das soon as they start grovelling: Rob them blind! MUHAHAHAHAAAA

[GeneralZed]

I started to play like you guys told me. The AI is still researching more than me, but I still have lots more points than them. I have a war against the romans and lost 2 cities and stopped their attack on the 3rd city and trying to hold. I am the Iroquois with that strange cavalry who dont have a chance against the friking legionaries.

However, I feel this gap could mean my destruction. They have more modern units to easily kill my units. This sure aint good. So I better go for the small ones?