acquiring techs from civs that you're killing.

[Draax]

I've seen people mention gaining techs from civs that they're at war with? How do you do this? The only thing I've seen is to offer them a peace treaty in exchange for tech, and I don't want a bloody peace treaty. I want to kill them off and finish my war so I can switch civics and catch my economy back up. The last thing I want to do is extend my "war mode" another 10 turns.


Also, while I'm thinking about it. What purpose does a peace treaty serve? Supposedly it lasts 10 turns, but I've attacked before the treaty ran out. Do you take a diplomatic hit with other civs or something? And what's the difference between peace treaty and cease-fire?

 

[Jantis]

Cease-fire allows you to attack again next turn. Peace Treaty lasts 10 turns and you are not allowed to attack that particular opponent again regardless.

Even if you are engaged in a successful war, resources can get spread out. It is not uncommon for me to initiate a war, take several cities, then demand a peace treaty (with tech or money demands thrown in). Then I use the next 10 turns to reinforce my troops so I can attack again as soon as I'm able. It gives me a breather, lets me maybe throw in a couple of non-war improvements, then move my troops around for War: Phase 2. Oh, and I can often get some goodies for the first treaty.

The Cease Fire has its uses, but they are pretty minimal (or at least have been for me).

 

[Draax]

Gotcha. I must be mistaken about attacking during a PT. Maybe it was a ceasefire instead. Thanks for the tip.

 

[Hergrom]

Well, I've played dozens of games now at Noble, Prince & Monarch, and I have only ever gotten a tech for peace once or twice. Never have I gotten a town/city. I have more luck demanding a tech right before I declare war. 95% of the time I go for domination, so I am in lots of wars...

I almost never raze cities & rarely pillage. I usually aim to eliminate them entirely, but if my ww is too high, or they have a satellite town far away, I will deal peace. They will always give you all of their gold, GPT and world maps, but almost never tech.

Perhaps the AI is more willing to give out techs if you are in a pillaging war, or if you only take a town or two. But I wouldn't know, I guess.

 

[bobsteve]

In the older civs you were able to take a tech from a civ when you gained one of their cities by force. God how I miss that. I wonder if anyone could make a mod for that or do you guys think it might be overpowered? I can remember a time that I would declare war just for the purpose of advancing my tech tree.

 

[eg577]

In every game I have played I have able to get tech(s) for peace, but only very early on. I've only recieved techs that are worth a hundred beakers or two. I think it is a safe bet that the AI values 1 beaker as 1 gold, in which case you can forget about getting any advanced techs for peace (when is the last time you were able to get 1,000 gold for peace?). IMHO, it is pretty stupid.

BTW, if no one breaks a cease fire for 10 turns then a peace treaty is automatically signed.

 

[Dragonlor]

Please stop destroying me! Here, I'll give you this tech that will help you destroy me further if you sign a treaty now!

I wouldn't do it either.

 

[eg577]

It's more like they have 2 cities left and you ask:

Peace for engineering?
No way!

Peace for all your gold, all your gpt, and you have to switch to barbarism?
The offer is a bit light, but we'll take it.

 

[Harry Haller]

I have almost never been able to get technology for peace. In a game that I have right now, I had a huge force of cannon, riflemen, and grenadiers parked outside Montezuma's capital; he had 2 longbows and 2 macemen. The only tech he had that I didn't was drama. Just for fun, I offered him peace in exchange for drama. He wouldn't take it. I don't know whether there is some trick to getting them to give up tech in exchange in peace, but even when faced with destruction, I have found that they won't do it.

 

[colony]

I have found this difficulty with getting Medieval (and later) techs for peace, and I think it is part of the way that a full out warmongering strategy was made harder than it was in Civ 2/3. Especially in Civ 3, where if the AI was down to its last 1 or 2 cities I found that they would give you just about anything for peace. The loss of effectiveness of "point stick research" does make it harder to almost continually be at war with the AI, although the new method that siege units work by can help to balance it slightly (You might not get massive kill ratios in your favour anymore, but with enough catapults you can damage a city garisson enough to take them out with obsolete units, eg Swords vs Longboows).

Although one consequence of the new combat system that I do not like is that I still haven't seen one AI get significantly more powerful than any of the others that haven't already been crippled, which I do miss. Discovering the other continent and finding that most most of it was one colour really did make you stop and think about how best to play after all (Or at least I found that I did).

 

[Hellsing]

If u beat a computer up alot (take/raze many cites) u can usually get some useless tech such as Drama, but they will never give u military tech i dont think

 

[sandman_civ]

I'm sure you guys know that you can get tech from friends, either by trade or asking for it. Of course it's more difficult if you're a warmonger, but here is what I do:
- scout the map asap so that you know who all the civs are, and what their religions are
- make friends with the furthermost civs (or one civ), even if it means converting to their religion. The benefits are many, especially the money from the trade routes will help greatly during wartime, AND you can trade or even get tech as GIFTS from them if they really like you. Helps also if they're 2 or 3 on the table. Make sure you agree to their proposals or requests for gifts as this relationship will be two-way! So while you're beating up your neighbours, show the other civs your crocodile smiles

I think it's correct that the civs you are about to wipe off the earth will not give your their tech or cities. Civ4 IMO maps very well to the reality of history, and kudos to the research time on a very well balanced game.