Speeding up Science Victories?

[CivAddict2013]

Hey, CivAddict2013 here. I play on King difficulty and no matter how hard I try; I can't get a Science Victory before around Turn 465. I'll have a high population; tons of research agreements and tons of great scientists; but I can't seem to get a science victory before Turn 465.

I'll be way ahead in tech of the AI; but still slow.

I hear about people getting Science victories on Turn 250 and Turn 300. How do they do it?

What am I doing wrong?

 

[stormtrooper412]

Probably so much that it can't fit in one post

alright, just kidding, you may or may not know that 250-300 science wins happen on Standard speed. If you cranked it up on Marathon, then yeah, around 500 I suppose

 

[CivAddict2013]

Probably so much that it can't fit in one post

alright, just kidding, you may or may not know that 250-300 science wins happen on Standard speed. If you cranked it up on Marathon, then yeah, around 500 I suppose

Well I play Standard Speed on a large map. But I can't seem to win at anywhere near 300 turns.

 

[joncnunn]

Large map size by itself also increases science costs (from 110% of Small to 120%), and so you need to sign a few more RAs to make that up. It's actually easier to make that up on Huge Map size (despite science costs being still higher on Huge)

NC as soon as practical, always run all science slots, academy with early GS, bulb late GS, Rationalism, prioritize techs unlocking science and growth buildings, and RAs are the keys to science.

 

[lockandload]

If only there was a tower, a shimmering tower of white, a beacon to tell all the world you were shooting for the moon.

 

[reddishrecue]

^Are you talking about pantheons?

 

[vorlon_mi]

If only there was a tower, a shimmering tower of white, a beacon to tell all the world you were shooting for the moon.

Made of porcelain, perhaps?

 

[vorlon_mi]

Large map size by itself also increases science costs (from 110% of Small to 120%), and so you need to sign a few more RAs to make that up. It's actually easier to make that up on Huge Map size (despite science costs being still higher on Huge)

NC as soon as practical, always run all science slots, academy with early GS, bulb late GS, Rationalism, prioritize techs unlocking science and growth buildings, and RAs are the keys to science.

I can attest to Jon's comments about great scientists. I had been using them to build academies in both my top science city and second science city, figuring that the extra beakers over time would pay dividends. Last game, I planted one but parked the rest on safe hexes near the capital until I had built the Apollo project. Then I started bulbing them to get the key techs for spaceship parts quickly.... wow! The grind through those last few techs became a walk, and I just needed to make sure that I built the parts as efficiently as possible. Save a bunch of turns off my SV.

 

[BigChiefLizzy]

I hear about people getting Science victories on Turn 250 and Turn 300. How do they do it?

What am I doing wrong?

My thoughts, but I don't think I have ever got an SV before turn 250, can get before 300 on emperor/immortal.

1) Probably playing higher difficulty levels than King, so the AI researches faster so if you have met them any techs you have not researched but they have will be cheaper/faster for you to research yourself. Also, as they will have higher science (beakers) per turn any research agreements you can get will give you more science.

2)When do you finish NC (National College)? Before turn 100 is recommended.., and education + universities by about turn 120.

3)Don't build too many cities; capital + three more seems about ideal. Need to have a large a population in each as you can sustain. I think every city you found increases research costs by 5% (or was this an old patch/expansion?)

4)If you can avoid most of the lower part of the tech tree to start, after education get scientific theory ASAP, then Plastics, and build/buy the buildings as soon as you can.

 

[Tarbos]

There is a guide for that: http://forums.civfanatics.com/showthread.php?t=534745

 

[LeeS]

Also, wherever you find a half-way decent spot to plop a city next to a mountain, do so. By half-way decent I mean a spot that will allow that city to grow to a largish size. Placing a city next to a mountain just to be next to a mountain does no real good if the city can never grow much beyond size 6 or 7 because there aren't enough good tiles that allow for growth of the city. Then beeline that city for the Observatory. And keep actively working to enhance any city so positioned because of the cumulative effect of increased pop = increased science = increased Observatory effect. And in such cities prioritize Library, University, Public School, Research Lab.

Same general thing applies to plopping a city near a largish number of Jungle tiles, so long as there are also enough tiles nearby that you can improve with Farms and such to speed the growth of the city. Because it really is hard to beat the effects of a largish city + University + lots of nearby Jungle tiles improved with Trading Posts.

Plus, Rationalism Social Policy Branch.

As mentioned earlier, plan the placement of each city you found, and don't found more cities just because you can. You should be able to state in your head one, two, or even three reasons why you need to found every additional city you found and why you need to place it where you are placing it.

 

[killmeplease]

use cargo ships to feed your cities
find cities in food rich locations
ally maritime citystates

it seems running food routes and allying maritime CS is more effective than RAs

 

[reddishrecue]

use cargo ships to feed your cities
find cities in food rich locations
ally maritime citystates

it seems running food routes and allying maritime CS is more effective than RAs

You could do that but make sure that you get enough happiness to keep your civilization working. An unhappy civilization gets everythingto suffer even the units if uunhappiness is that severe.