A couple of questions

[bhinso]

I play at Emperor level on Civ 4, and win usually (providing I get a good start). First question is, I have found that by far the most useful use of Espionage is to steal Techs.
However, the option for my spy only appears sometimes (often when I have used a great Spy to infiltrate), then disappears completely later on in the game. Presumably this is something to do with my EP and the ratio between my and AI EP
My question is, Is there a way of predicting when the option to steal tech will be available for my spy? Otherwise I'm reduced to checking every turn to see if it appears, rather than just letting my spy sleep in enemy city

Second (and unrelated), is there a Civ 3 mod available with the Civ 4 style of city maintanance (to stop ICS)? That would then combine the best parts of both games for me.

 

[Jewman]

check the espionage advisor screen and it will tell u,


idk about that.

 

[Bushface]

The espionage screen will tell you the cost of stealing a tech if you are able to do this but not if you can't, which may be because you don't have enough EPs or perhaps there are none available (I don't think you are allowed to steal a tech which you cannot yet research, nor can you steal a tech not known to your target). All you can do is to note the EP cost of stealing a tech when that option is available, and assume that that figure will be higher next time. I don't know if the cost of stealing a tech varies from city to city, but the costs of other missions do.
Rather than a mod to alter the game-crippling corruption in Civ3, I'd prefer a mod for Civ4 bringing back the ability to transfer production between cities and dispose of unwanted buildings and units for some slight recompense.

 

[Charonicus]

I think it does vary from city to city. I was looking through stealing techs off Hannibal a few games ago and noticed one city had a far higher cost than the rest. :S

 

[UWHabs]

It depends on all the usual factors (distance to your palace, how long your spy has been stationed there, etc...), so if you have spies that have been sitting in their cities for a while, and one you just moved there recently, the one without the stationary bonus will cost more (especially if it's further from your capital).