Most important technology? (All eras - grand final)

[Nick723]

Now the dust has settled and the votes are counted, we have our winner and runner up for each era:
- Ancient: Bronze Working Pottery
- Classical: Currency Alphabet
- Medieval: Civil Service Philosophy
- Renaissance: Rifling Liberalism
- Industrial: Assembly Line Steel
- Modern & Future: Mass Media Radio

But which is the most important technology overall? Let’s crown our winner. This time you get just two votes.

 

[Tecumseh1]

I feel pottery pays for itself the most over the whole game. Cottages and granaries are just so powerful. It almost has to be an ancient era tech because of the time it has to accumulate value. I'd say Alpha is pretty good too on higher levels since you can catch up with AI tech speed.

 

[Nick723]

I went for Bronze working (most important tech for the player) and Rifling (most important tech for the AI)

 

[antimony]

I have been valuing alpha higher lately, I have been on a few maps where research really takes off once you can build it, and currency is much more expensive to reach.

 

[Marla_Singer]

I feel pottery pays for itself the most over the whole game. Cottages and granaries are just so powerful. It almost has to be an ancient era tech because of the time it has to accumulate value. I'd say Alpha is pretty good too on higher levels since you can catch up with AI tech speed.

Pottery is definitely a tech to have as early as possible, particularly to grow cottages soon. Yet it's also a pretty early tech that isn't that hard to develop. The thing however is that I don't know if it's me playing wrong but I never succeeded to make my cities really profitable without marketplaces, which makes of them a prerequisite for further expansion. And considering it takes a much longer time to get currency, I would argue that it makes of it a more important tech to focus on.

 

[Tecumseh1]

Pottery is definitely a tech to have as early as possible, particularly to grow cottages soon. Yet it's also a pretty early tech that isn't that hard to develop. The thing however is that I don't know if it's me playing wrong but I never succeeded to make my cities really profitable without marketplaces, which makes of them a prerequisite for further expansion. And considering it takes a much longer time to get currency, I would argue that it makes of it a more important tech to focus on.

Fail gold from wonders can help until you have currency. Esp if you have the resource which gives the 100% bonus.

 

[ArchGhost]

Well clearly coming down to BW and Currency. Either offers a massive shift in the dynamic of the game from there on out, and while it's definitely possible to play ignoring their effects, doing so usually requires playing a specific gambit where Slavery or build wealth/trading gold aren't useful...which in the general case, are narrow scenarios. Eventually even these major changes to the gameplay are thrown by the wayside later in the life of a game as more land and better civics are unlocked, but they have the most profound influence for the largest span of time in any typical game played in a "meta" style.

All military techs are fleeting in the grand scheme -- and if you can win at one military tech breakpoint, you could win at any of them. Rifling is a large spike to the AIs staying power though, while Steel is the the most powerful spike for players (at least until Nukes, if/when you ever get them).

Liberalism is far too specific and has a time limit enforced by the tech pace anyway. Extremely powerful when you are or can get ahead. Nearly useless if you aren't.

Development techs like Pottery (cottages) and Civil Service eventually pale to the greater mass of land controlled and better civics -- BW is more powerful than either in its own window (which can extend all game if you never adopt hammer economy!), though CS has the greatest staying power into late game in general terms for the ability to spread irrigation. There is a lot to be said about Pottery(granaries) which directly empowers BW(slavery) even further, but it's not nearly as critical as food techs or BW itself early on. Cottages are for recovering REX and strengthing the economy with the land you have -- far more important to GET it first.

Assembly line can literally divide the game into distinct eras -- pre and post AL -- but it's quite late by comparison, and it's entirely impossible to ignore transitioning to hammer economy and just slave your heart out all game anyway, whether you push to win before AL or not.

Many of the later techs past Assembly are fluff unless planning for space or culture -- though I freely admit I am quite bad at both of these victory types, and I understand that for example Culture is more easily won earlier anyway.



Honestly IMO only Philo could even compare to BW and Currency in this short list, and it's even later and more specific in usage than those or even CS. It's just extremely powerful due to bulbing mechanics so it's very abuseable on a conducive map (you need food, after all) and with a conducive field to trade with.

 

[sampsa]

Well clearly coming down to BW and Currency.

To me, pottery and BW is the clear answer. Not just cottages, but granaries! I don't think currency changes the dynamics of the game really. Well, maybe resource/tech selling is what you have in mind.

 

[Henrik75]

you can play a game without currency just fine, just have to be a bit more careful. you can still build research, still sell things for gold if others get currency.
if you don't have pottery you're playing like 3 difficulties higher; no cottages, no granaries, long term growth divided in half and your raw commerce is a fraction of its potential. currency only adds a couple beakers per city.

playing without bronze working (or just slavery) is another very extreme challenge, and with bad land its practically impossible to win.

you can win without rifling just fine, use the cuirassier or the cannon or engineering sweep. But the AI definitely can't rifling is def the no.1 most important tech for AI. Sometimes they jump from longbows straight to infantry as you dow with cannons because they finally tech it and its like, ah shoot here we go again.

 

[Marla_Singer]

you can play a game without currency just fine, just have to be a bit more careful. you can still build research, still sell things for gold if others get currency.
if you don't have pottery you're playing like 3 difficulties higher; no cottages, no granaries, long term growth divided in half and your raw commerce is a fraction of its potential. currency only adds a couple beakers per city.

playing without bronze working (or just slavery) is another very extreme challenge, and with bad land its practically impossible to win.

you can win without rifling just fine, use the cuirassier or the cannon or engineering sweep. But the AI definitely can't rifling is def the no.1 most important tech for AI. Sometimes they jump from longbows straight to infantry as you dow with cannons because they finally tech it and its like, ah shoot here we go again.

If the idea is whether or not you can win without a specific tech, then you're very certainly correct, yet that heavily favors earlier techs as they are necessarily more fundamental. However earlier techs are also pretty cheap (BW is 120 research points, pottery is 80 research points). Therefore they aren't that hard to get and besides forcing upon yourself a challenge, I can't see why you would deliberately avoid them.

Now if you think about planning ahead to get a tech much before you're actually able to get it, the picture may look different.

 

[6K Man]

Computers. No computer, no Civ4.

In game it's still BW.

 

[danjuno]

BW and Alpha.

 

[MilesBeyond]

Man how did Mass Media win for Modern tech? It does nothing for warfare or space, and building the UN yourself doesn't really give you an edge over letting someone else have it, in most cases, so even Diplo players can pass it by. The only reason to tech it is a) if you're going for Diplo and don't want to have to wait for someone else to research and build it, or b) if you're going for culture and somehow haven't won yet.

Uh, or I guess c) You're like me and want to get Hollywood for even more corp tradebait, but I do that knowing full well it's not a very efficient use of beakers or hammers.

Anyway. It's gotta be BW. Currency is really good, so is Pottery, but BW is your one-stop source for early-mid game hammers.

 

[drewisfat]

Well Mass Media had veteran advocates that invested a great deal of time in researching and theorycrafting some rock solid arguments.

Honestly I don't know what most of these techs do. Voted Mass Media because UN = win.

 

[sampsa]

Well, I made it very clear though. From what I know many people who enjoy lower levels don't like to win domination/conquest and building the UN is a nice way to end the game.

 

[NickGabben]

I like Drama because that lets me run the culture slider and annoy my neighbours that way

Not claiming it's anywhere near the best tech, though! Just a personal favourite for flavour. (All those ou are for the West-Atlantians/East-Pacificians )

 

[antimony]

Unlike physics or electricity that would be prioritized for multiple plans, I don't see many cases where you would want to beeline radio unless you are also going for mass media. For space you want industrialism and rocketry first; for late game domination, industrialism also and maybe rocketry and fission for nukes. If anything rocketry perhaps is more deserving of appearing here.

Below deity I think waiting for someone else to research mass media is too slow. Like sampsa said, on immortal for example it's a very straightforward way to win a early (1500s or so) victory without any war, more straightforward than culture for a comparable win date.

 

[MilesBeyond]

Unlike physics or electricity that would be prioritized for multiple plans, I don't see many cases where you would want to beeline radio unless you are also going for mass media. For space you want industrialism and rocketry first; for late game domination, industrialism also and maybe rocketry and fission for nukes. If anything rocketry perhaps is more deserving of appearing here.

Below deity I think waiting for someone else to research mass media is too slow. Like sampsa said, on immortal for example it's a very straightforward way to win a early (1500s or so) victory without any war, more straightforward than culture for a comparable win date.

That makes sense. I guess I undervalue the UN because I see it more as a "Well, I've had my fun, let's end the game, I guess" button than an actual end in and of itself. I suspect the rationale behind Radio is mop-up - using Bombers if a Tank push can't quite clinch the win on its own. Also if by either choice or necessity you decide to do ultra late-game conquering then Eiffel Tower is pretty good.

I agree with Rocketry probably being the most important. If we assume in for a penny, in for a pound then Composites isn't a bad contender either, giving the most powerful ground unit and a spaceship part that you need a lot of. ...I think? Maybe? I don't actually know the math on how many Casings you really need.

Industrialism came to mind for me, too, but it's pre-Modern, and probably comes too late to be one of the most important Industrial techs. It is one of those weird between-era techs. Kind of like how in my heart Horseback Riding and Iron Working are Ancient techs.

 

[Plains-Cow]

Ok, now THIS is where I say Animal Husbandry. The most important technology in CIV IV is the meta-gaming tech that allows you to make the most out of your plains-cow tiles.