I need help generating Great People optimally

[Liberty Prime]

I had a few quick basic questions regarding GP generation timing for the FAQ but now I have several increasingly complex questions. .

-Do great people become stronger based on the era they're created? or number of turns that have passed? or number of techs you've unlocked?
-It becomes exponentially more and more difficult to create yet another great person after the last; so wouldn't it be better to put off building a Writers and Artists Guild for as long as possible to maximize their benefits?
-Why build and work the guilds as soon as you can/you have some down time in your build order? Why not wait until either at least the Renaissance to start pumping out and "bulbing" Great Writers to burn through Rationalism ASAP? Not only would each GW be stronger in that era (if that's even how it works) but you will generate several strong GWs.
-How many turns does it take to generate each great person for the duration of the game with/without bonuses (Is the Leaning Tower of Pisa worth it or will it not help generate enough GP to make an impact by the time you get it)
-Why is it mysteriously difficult to spam both Great Scientist and Great Engineers? Is it based on each city? Does working Great Scientists in 2 cities work together and it will spawn in a random city?
-Do multiple "Earn Great People 25% faster" bonuses add up to eachother (+25%, +50%) or is it +25% of the 25% (+25%, +31.25%) as many games do for some reason?

 

[Iamteehee]

Writers and scientists produce culture/science equal to the last 8 turns of production. A GW/GS that you produced 100 turns ago will have the same output as one you just made if you bulb them on the same turn. Great Engineer rush grants production based off city size. Great Musician tourism bomb is 10 times your tourism (minimum 100) and is fixed, unlike scientists and writers. Merchants trade missions scale with era, artists don't scale.

Building the Writer and Artist guild early means you have more writers and artists later.

Best time to bulb great writers is 8 turns after winning worlds fair in a golden age.

Great Scientists, Great Merchants and Great Engineers production affects each other. If I produce a great scientist for 100 Great Scientist Points, The cost of the next GS/GM/GE will increase to 200. Great Musicians/Artists/Writers all have completely separate great person counters.

Each city has individual great person counters. They do not "work together"

Great person point bonuses are additive, like most bonuses in the game.

 

[Liberty Prime]

Writers and scientists produce culture/science equal to the last 8 turns of production. Great Engineer rush grants production based off city size.

Wow, that's oddly specific. Is there a UI mod that keeps track of your production for the last 8 turns or other modifiers so it's easier to keep track? Or should I write down my production every turn?

 

[Iamteehee]

You can see how much you will get from a GS/GW bulb by hovering over the button. And in case it wasn't clear, by "production", I mean science generation and culture generation for GS/GW respectively, not production for building in cities.

 

[Redaxe]

The problem with working the writers and artists guilds early is that you have to take a lot of population off growth to work the guilds. &You can offset this with inbound food trade routes, the hanging gardens etc... but it it still a hit to your growth.

 

[aafritz17]

Wow, that's oddly specific. Is there a UI mod that keeps track of your production for the last 8 turns or other modifiers so it's easier to keep track? Or should I write down my production every turn?

I am ROTTEN at remembering to burn the Writer's after the 8 turns. So here's my work-around;

The turn I win the World's Fair I take one of my Writer's off "sleep", and then pause him for just that turn (by hitting the space-bar). Next turn, as I progress through moving all my units, when it comes to him I jot down his culture value for that turn. Then pause him (S-B) again until next turn. This MAKES me NOTICE HIM every turn!) Jot down the value, S-B. Jot down the value, S-B.

You will notice his value increasing every turn. The game I'm playing right now, the increase was something over 200 per turn. Eventually there came a turn for which the increase was only about 50, so that was the turn I burned him, and all the others, too. I reckon the 8 turns was actually the turn before, but, like I said, this is a work-around for a faulty memory device.

 

[LoneRebel]

-It becomes exponentially more and more difficult to create yet another great person after the last; so wouldn't it be better to put off building a Writers and Artists Guild for as long as possible to maximize their benefits?
-Why build and work the guilds as soon as you can/you have some down time in your build order? Why not wait until either at least the Renaissance to start pumping out and "bulbing" Great Writers to burn through Rationalism ASAP? Not only would each GW be stronger in that era (if that's even how it works) but you will generate several strong GWs.

I usually do not build the guilds as soon as I'm able, but something about the logic of "put them off as long as possible" strikes me as flawed. Hard to explain, but let me put it like this: Every great person as you said costs more than the last, so it's best to start producing them earlier. You can only ever have up to two writer/artist/musician specialists, so there's effectively a cap on how fast you can create GWAMs. Early Great Writers can be used to create great works to increase your culture, even if you do not plan to go for cultural victory. As for early Great Artists, I do the same - although some players might say if you're not going for cultural victory, then use them all for golden ages.

I do tend to postpone the Musicians' Guild. I can usually get Broadway even on higher difficulties, and I want to make sure I can get the theming bonus. Have to get three Great Musicians in one era. Sometimes I screw up and don't manage to do it before leaving the Modern Era.

Now, Great Scientists/Engineers/Merchants are all on the same counter. Depending on how your tech path is, you will probably get a market before a workshop, and definitely before a university. Make sure you don't get a Great Merchant first since they're the least useful type, IMO. Later on I guess you could allow yourself to get a Great Merchant if, for example, many city-states are requesting you get one.

Might be a mistake on my part but I only "bulb" Great Writers after the World's Fair and in the late game when my culture per turn is in the high hundreds to even over a thousand. The output from "bulbing" just seems too low in the early-mid game for me to do it, even if policy costs are lower as well. I would not bulb several GWs in a row to finish Rationalism. I actually like to delay finishing Rationalism a bit to slingshot to the Modern Era by researching Radio using the free tech, or researching some other late-game tech. Not saying this is efficient, since I'm delaying the policy that increases science from universities, but it's my habit.

 

[LoneRebel]

-It becomes exponentially more and more difficult to create yet another great person after the last; so wouldn't it be better to put off building a Writers and Artists Guild for as long as possible to maximize their benefits?
-Why build and work the guilds as soon as you can/you have some down time in your build order? Why not wait until either at least the Renaissance to start pumping out and "bulbing" Great Writers to burn through Rationalism ASAP? Not only would each GW be stronger in that era (if that's even how it works) but you will generate several strong GWs.

I usually do not build the guilds as soon as I'm able, but something about the logic of "put them off as long as possible" strikes me as flawed. Hard to explain, but let me put it like this: Every great person as you said costs more than the last, so it's best to start producing them earlier. You can only ever have up to two writer/artist/musician specialists, so there's effectively a cap on how fast you can create GWAMs. Early Great Writers can be used to create great works to increase your culture, even if you do not plan to go for cultural victory. As for early Great Artists, I do the same - although some players might say if you're not going for cultural victory, then use them all for golden ages.

I do tend to postpone the Musicians' Guild. I can usually get Broadway even on higher difficulties, and I want to make sure I can get the theming bonus. Have to get three Great Musicians in one era. Sometimes I screw up and don't manage to do it before leaving the Modern Era.

Now, Great Scientists/Engineers/Merchants are all on the same counter. Depending on how your tech path is, you will probably get a market before a workshop, and definitely before a university. Make sure you don't get a Great Merchant first since they're the least useful type, IMO. Later on I guess you could allow yourself to get a Great Merchant if, for example, many city-states are requesting you get one.

Might be a mistake on my part but I only "bulb" Great Writers after the World's Fair and in the late game when my culture per turn is in the high hundreds to even over a thousand. The output from "bulbing" just seems too low in the early-mid game for me to do it, even if policy costs are lower as well. I would not bulb several GWs in a row to finish Rationalism. I actually like to delay finishing Rationalism a bit to slingshot to the Modern Era by researching Radio using the free tech, or researching some other late-game tech. Not saying this is efficient, since I'm delaying the policy that increases science from universities, but it's my habit.