bkmail
"I'm having trouble on Regent. I can completely crush the AI on Warlord, but I'm having some real trouble on Regent. First, I used to be able to build all the wonders with no pressure of the AI building any before me, not anymore, I've only been able to get around three. I used to be able to get a full era ahead of the AI, but right now in the game I'm about half an era behind all the power AI's. Now for the questions. How do you research techs faster than the AI in the higher difficulties? I have my research set at 50%, should I raise it or do I need to use the governors of my cities to increase my science output? Does using the governors to make science, production, etc. really work?"
Well Regent is the first level that you are starting out even with the AI. Before that you had a small bonus. This means you will have to do better to stay in the same place.
I would not use governors to do anything. If they worked so well, then why does the AI need so much of a handicap? If this is C3, you should still be able to get all the wonders, with a very good start. If it is C3C, there are just too many ancient wonders to attempt it. You should be able to get your share and select the ones you want, as long as they do not have special requirements (SOZ & Lighthouse).
You may want to start learning to do without them for the next levels though. I would say do a few in the first game or two and them go for only one or two ancient wonders and them do all you want at the other ages.
So the way to out research them is to out produce them. This means expand faster, manage your empire better than they do it. If you have more cities and they each do better, they cannot keep up.
They do it in part by getting trading discounts and making contacts. You need to particiate in that action. You need to improve all worked tiles, as soon as they are worked is best. Hold down wasted worker turns and beaker over runs.
As to the higher levels, in the main you do not out research them for a long time. In fact I often do not out research sid level at all. You eventually can out research them, if that makes sense in your game, it does not always wise do so.
" Also, the AI doesn't really like to trade with me, they almost never want to trade any techs for any amount of gold, I once offered every city and all the gold and resources I had to see if they would accept something and they wouldn't. What do I need to do for the AI to trade with me. I'm playing on a map I made with the editor, it is a huge map with 19 civs on it, 17 now because the Aztecs and Iroquois have been destroyed. I have the most land and the most population, yet the AI, with only a fraction the land mass and number of cities can spit out techs and wonders like it's nothing. What am I doing wrong?"
That is a complex issue. If a tech has a wonder or a units attached to it, the AI does not like to trade it until that wonder is completed. Also if you have a bad rep and try to add a GPT to the deal, they will refuse it.
Cities are special and basically they patched so you can only gift them or demand them for peace. This was to stop the exploiting.
Huge maps make the cost of techs higher and it is lowered for the AI with more civs in the game. So you are getting a double whammy. Eliminating civs actually makes it better for your research and worse for theirs.
"Also, do those settler factory strategies really work? What about military and culture in the beginning? Some of the best wonders are in the beginning yet most of the settler factory strategies dont' build anything but settlers with the occasional improvement. WOW, sorry for the thousand questions. Any suggestions, tips, etc will be much appreciated. "
Pumps are useful on large maps and pangeas with lots of room. They ignore wonders as they are not really needed in most games and land is more important. Now Pyrimids are special, but are hard to come by above emperor and even there you need to focus. This may mean you are better off to not go for it. Especially if you do not start with Pottery or Mason.
Specific help require a save so people can determine what is going on.
