When to Techbulb? (early GP Usage)

[goodolarchie]

I like to think I have my GP usage optimized pretty well in most of my mid/late game, but I'd like to move up from emperor to immortal and this is one of the places I'd like to refine my early game. Lately I've been playing HC for the early rush and ability to cherry pick wonders with out much concern. My last game I got both stone and marble near my start and snagged pretty much any wonder worth a damn for S&G's

I only build stonehenge if I plan on founding an early religion in a good commercial capital/2nd city that I intend to spread. I use the prophet for holy city. If I have stone and industrious I usually go for pyramids to run rep and foster a nice SE. On skinny fractal maps I like to get GLH, use the GM to bulb metal casting & build Colossus. Still, these cases are pretty rare, more often than not my first GP is the scientist that comes in right after Alphabet. This is where my dilemma begins.

http://www.civfanatics.com/civ4/strategy/greatpeople_tech.php (for reference)

So my goal is to bulb philosophy, for alphabet trades on things like iron working, monotheism etc. My tech path is usually:

Ag+AH? (cow, pig, chariot rush?) > Fishing (seafood) >
mining+BW > Wheel > masonry? (stone/marble+IND) > Writing > Alpha >
(trade for sailing, myst/med/poly, hunt/arch)
Priesthood (oracle currency?) > CoL > Bulb Philosophy/metal casting >
(trade for monotheism/theology/iron) > Paper > education >
(trade for CS, Machinery, aesthetics, music, drama)
Liberalism + nat'l
(game over?)

So is first bulbing philo/metal casting there the right route there, and is my order good in general? I've been able to keep a tech edge in most emperor games this way. The "darkest hour" is always the writing > alphabet stretch where I'm usually busy rushing a nearby opponent with Quechas, Immortals, War Chariots, etc. I feel like maybe I should chop/whip a library (esp with philo, or pyramids) and bulb alphabet while getting priesthood+oracle sooner. I usually capture 2-3 good cities/capitals which means my slider ends up around 30% (or rather 100% 3/10 turns), alphabet can take anywhere from 30-40 turns this way (epic speed).

 

[iggymnrr]

Tech path looks reasonable through writing save for the omission of pottery. Roads kind of diverge at this point in the game. I've grown a wee bit skeptical of ag if immediate farming isn't on view especially if I start with hunting. AH can be pretty valuable even if it means getting there faster by researching hunting first. Of course you need to be looking at pasture resources.

Philo is definitely a good choice for a bulb as are settling/academy depending on the game. Off hand, I'd say maybe cut down on the wonder building. This will probably be a better guide through the tech tree.