Age transition strategies.

[dominatr]

I think one of the hardest things for me is keeping a lead in technology. No matter what i try, they always seem to catch up to me after awhile. AIs ask for a lot of money for the first tech in any of the last 3 ages, what is your approach to getting back ahead of the AI and staying there?

 

[GamezRule]

If you are not in republic, get into it. The commerce bonus will help. That is not necessary, but helpful. Also, if you are only a couple techs back, research techs the AI doesn't research. You can easily get a monopoly and trade for the techs you need. If you are farther behind, the tech cost will be cheaper to buy, so make sure all core cities have market's/banks. Turn off research except for maybe a single specialist gambit. Buy what you need. Don't be afraid to spend GPT for a tech, it will boost relations. Try to find who offers the cheapest prices. Usually it is a low aggression civ. India is usually a good trading partner.

 

[Raliuven]

I think that GamezRule hints at this, but the real problem you may be facing is simply gold. If you are playing at Monarch or lower, then you should have no problem being the tech leader for most of the game. The AI usually receives a bonus in the AA with goody huts - that is how it keeps up. You should leave the AI behind in the MA. I tend to be a monarch player, but that is not to disagree with GamezRule's position on republic - monarchy just suites my playing style better most of the time (and I've never been accused of setting any records for the fastest game play/win).

As a generalization, if you can't keep up on Monarch or lower, then you are probably overbuilding (or not building the right things). Markets are at the core, but sometimes it is wiser to build libraries and universities before banks (if you are running a constant high research rate). Assess each city's needs. Avoid things like temples, cathedrals and colluseums (for the most part). Don't over produce units - build what you need (or up to the maintenance limit) - but don't be stingy with the workers. Expand, expand, expand. Make sure you have enough space for a full core (or two cores if PTW or less). Make sure everything is roaded (roads add gpt). Control happiness with luxuries when possible to reduce the cost of the luxury slider.

Also - research horizontally, not vertically whenever possible.

If you are trading a tech for the first time, trade it to all the Civs at once to gain the most for the tech. Otherwise the other Civ will do it for pennies on the dollar and then keep the change.

And of course there is also the time-honored point stick research if you can get away with it.

 

[vorlon_mi]

GamezRulez's advice applies to nearly all difficulty levels. Although you didn't say what level you are playing at, I'm going to assume it is Regent or lower.

For lower difficulty levels, the human player gets a productivity bonus. If you couple that with a more efficient use of your terrain and more science from your cities, you should be able to get the techs you need. You don't have to sustain a huge tech lead, but you should be able to keep ahead of the AI. Try selling a luxury resource to the AI for gold per turn.

For the higher difficulty levels (or so I am told), you can't tech faster than the AI. They get the productivity bonuses, and they trade amongst each other. You can benefit from the Great Library until it expires, but then you will need to rely on clever diplomacy and better warfighting skills to keep up, and wear them down.

 

[MysteryX]

Another problem you have keeping a tech lead is that the AI trades techs easily among each other. You may have two techs no one else has, but if one AI opponent researches one, another AI opponent researches the other, they trade and now they are caught up.

That problem is exacerbated if you have multiple AI opponents with the Scientific attribute, because they get bonus techs upon advancing in a new age. I just played a game where that took me by surprise. I was far ahead of my two nearest opponents (Byzantines and Persians) at the close of the Industrial Age. When I hit the Modern Age, neither had either Magnetism or Theory of Gravity. So I figured I would easily be able to pick up the Wonders I wanted (with United Nations first on the list). However, in just a couple of turns while I had started on researching Fission, the Persians and Byzantines each had Fission and Ecology. My guess is that when I hit modern age, one must have been close to Magnetism, the other close to Theory of Gravity, they hit them at the same time, traded, sending them both into Modern Age where they get their bonus techs, one chooses Fission the other chooses Ecology, and they trade. As a result, despite my initial big lead going into the Modern Age, the Persians aced me out of the United Nations.

The AIs are always going to be able to trade their way into catching up, so you may as well just extract money from them by selling them your techs (as long as they are offering up something worthwhile). They only fall behind when they get into extended wars that screw up their ability to research and buy others' techs. Now, if your AI opponents aren't offering up anything worthwhile for your techs, they probably don't have anything worthwhile to offer other AI opponents either, so you can leave them behind. The only time to stop trading your techs and try to lean on your tech lead is if your nearest AI competitor just doesn't have any viable trading partners left among the remaining AIs.

 

[ChaosArbiter]

As a generalization, if you can't keep up on Monarch or lower, then you are probably overbuilding (or not building the right things).

Or, for one reason or another, underexpanding.

For lower difficulty levels, the human player gets a productivity bonus. If you couple that with a more efficient use of your terrain and more science from your cities, you should be able to get the techs you need.

Huh? The AI is penalized for building on lower levels - the human doesn't get a bonus.

 

[vorlon_mi]

Huh? The AI is penalized for building on lower levels - the human doesn't get a bonus.

Yes, you're right. It's not that you get anything cheaper, but rather that the AI must pay more for the same unit/building.

The effects are similar (you can be more productive = get more bang for your shield), but the difference is important. Your costs are always the same, but the AI gets either increased costs (low levels) or decreased costs (high levels).

 

[Raliuven]

Or, for one reason or another, underexpanding.

Agreed. That is often the culprit. If you haven't expanded to the point that you have at least a few hopelessly corrupt cities at your boarders, then you haven't expanded far/fast enough. Of couse on high levels and small maps, that might be difficult, just a rule of thumb.

 

[dominatr]

Well i began a game and tackled this problem, and i slaughtered 5 civs on my continent, currenlty destroying the last one, and i am nearing industrial age, and the civs on the other continents are all 2-3 techs behind me, even though they are teaming together to catch up. I have like 60 or so cities, and about 50 of them have libraries and universities. I'm able to have the slider at 30%, get 4 turn techs, and rack up 600 gpt.

I am playing on a mod with reduced corruption, as that is the one thing in this game i cant stand, but alas, i am still impressing myself, im doing better on warlord now than i did on chieftain many months ago.
I guess it sort of balances out since i running without civ traits or UUs.

I was able to solve the one problem i had with Warlord is that the AIs tackle technology much more vigorously, so i should be moving up to regent pretty soon.

 

[Ataxerxes]

Well i began a game and tackled this problem, and i slaughtered 5 civs on my continent, currenlty destroying the last one, and i am nearing industrial age, and the civs on the other continents are all 2-3 techs behind me, even though they are teaming together to catch up. I have like 60 or so cities, and about 50 of them have libraries and universities. I'm able to have the slider at 30%, get 4 turn techs, and rack up 600 gpt.

I am playing on a mod with reduced corruption, as that is the one thing in this game i cant stand, but alas, i am still impressing myself, im doing better on warlord now than i did on chieftain many months ago.
I guess it sort of balances out since i running without civ traits or UUs.

I was able to solve the one problem i had with Warlord is that the AIs tackle technology much more vigorously, so i should be moving up to regent pretty soon.

I think you're set! The game gets easier when you own your own continent. Your improvement in playing more than offsets the difficulty level. I've never used the reduced corruption mod, but I'm sure the teching gets insane, as you indicate. When I trade a tech, I try to trade with the most backwards Civ I can find. I normally run through the leaders to find who doesn't have a couple of techs everybody else does. You sometimes can, although at your tech rate you won't be trading much as your lead increases.

 

[dominatr]

I think you're set! The game gets easier when you own your own continent. Your improvement in playing more than offsets the difficulty level. I've never used the reduced corruption mod, but I'm sure the teching gets insane, as you indicate. When I trade a tech, I try to trade with the most backwards Civ I can find. I normally run through the leaders to find who doesn't have a couple of techs everybody else does. You sometimes can, although at your tech rate you won't be trading much as your lead increases.

i reached navigation, explored, found around 20 contacts, and had a monopoly on techs, contacts, money, and only persia was ahead of me, so i traded with them, and then traded for 2 other techs that were unneeded for advancement. I can probably build a stable lead with getting a tech every 4 turns, and i'm beelinging theory of evolution so i can rush that wonder that gives you 2 free techs, using my military leader i got for wiping out my continent.

I'm planning on sailing across and dropping off a few shiploads of cavalry, and once that happens, my territory will spread like a virus.

and, if you can teach me how to upload scenarios onto the website, i can share the mod with you. Its some major changes in game speed, like workers and settlers move faster, and work faster, reduced corruption, more beneficial resources, longer city lists, different colors, no civ traits or UUs.

I intended it to have some faster paced more agressive games, with civs mauling eachother over resources and expanding rapidly, and i just think is a lot more intense.