Rushing Wonders?

[cheshire_cat_sf]

Invariably the only wonder I'm able to build in the early part of a game is the Colossus. Once in a while I'll snag the Oracle, but never the Pyramids or the Great Library. The computer always beats me to it. Is there a way to acquire these faster than the computer?

[AUDoc]

I've only been able to get the pyramids once. My capitol was in a great location, with cows and a river so I didn't need an aqueduct. I think the combination of a higher population than most cities and the good location was enough to let me beat the AI to the pyramids. This was on either Regent or Monarch level, I think Regent.

[Sonic747]

Get leader and rush them. Or just build them in your most advanced cities.

[Mr. Socks]

Well, I almost always get the Great Library because it's my first priority, but I hardly ever manage to get more than one wonder in the ancient era (playing at monarch level).
For me, I found that if I chose one GW to go for from the start, I could usually get it. If I just tried to wing it, I usually got beat out on all of them, until at least the medieval era.
Here's what I do:
-> choose a wonder based on your civ's starting techs -- EG if your civ starts with alphabet, you're a step closer to the G. Lib and the G. Lighthouse, so they're good choices.
-> Designate a production city as soon as possible. More often than not, this is my capital city. If so, you obviously have to build a settler there, but other than that, all it builds is a temple, and if necessary an aqueduct (hopefully you'll have a city on a river though). Defense is shipped in from other cities, unless you have time to kill. Then you let it grow and leave the settler / worker building ot the rest of your cities. Make sure you build mines on all used squares in your prod city's radius as soon as possible.\
-> of course, you can't rush wonders in the normal way without a leader, but you can get a head start with a timed switch from a partially complete project. Check how long it will take to build the biggest improvement available -- say it's a marketplace at 9 turns. When the time left to discover the tech you need for your chosen wonder gets to 8, start building the marketplace. When the wonder becomes available, you'll have an 8-turn head start. Choosing a city other than your capital to be your prod city is an advantage here, as you can start building a palace in it. Make sure you don't accidently complete this project ahead of time! If you suddenly notice that you're ahead of schedule (EG your city grew in the meantime), you can just turn a citizen or two into entertainers to slow it down.

BTW, here's a (somewhat) risky but rewarding strat if you get a leader & want to rush a wonder with it. If you're already building a wonder somewhere, and there's another great wonder available (or will be soon), don't use the leader yet! Save it until your wonder is 1 turn away from being done. Then you can build two GWs in the same turn. The advantage is that you're much more likely to screw everyone else in the wonder race by robbing them of their fallback wonder, forcing them to waste their accumulated shields. You may refer to this tactic as Mr. Socks' Wonder Blitz

[solamnic76]

My recipe to get pyramids is here:

When the game starts, build 5 warrior on the row (be sure you've good starting location(either cows+lux or game and lux))

Then one settler and one warrior. Voila, you've open road. Start building pyramids. I bet you can finish it at regent level.

Those brave warriors dig up all huts and with some conscricp warriors and technology you can propably conquer either workers or cities.

[perryrutherford]

Something I find to work well in the middle ages is building a palace I don't need in anticipation of the discovery of a wonder tech. The one city will get choked by not having the infrastructure but in the long run the wonders are worth it, espesically if you're playing on a larger map. If you play on a tiny map and or an archipelago(sp?) continental wonders basically aren't worth building, but if you play on continents or pangea they are pretty much the cornerstone of success.

[Ripley]

This isn't a way to rush wonders, but it is a way to maximise use of the shields you are producing for them.

When a civ builds a wonder, obviously no one else can. If you were building the same wonder, then on your next turn you will be prompted with the option to change production for that city. Here's the key. If the best improvement you can build (which is automatically prompted) does not require the same number of shields, then the extra shields will be lost. But you will not be told this since there is nothing that can be done about it.

Instead, before moving to the next turn, have a look at what techs you need for your next wonder. Buy them of someone (assuming someone has them, which for me, they usually do). Buy them now. Even if it seems overpriced. Then switch production in the city that was building the wonder to the new wonder.

I have done this often, and found that although I didn't get the original wonder I wanted, I'm often in the position of finishing the next wonder in a surprisingly few number of turns. It could be as little as one turn.

It might seem like a very simple and obvious tip, but it took me more than a few games to work it out.

[eyrei]

Another hint for building wonders in the ancient age is to mine grasslands instead of irrigating. You will get one or two shields and the same amount of food. For a pop 8 city you might have 6 additional shields per turn to build your wonder faster. This IS how the AI does it.