Any point in hoarding technology?

[tomlouie]

Is there any point in hoarding technology? In my gameplay, I'm trying to gain a tech lead over the other players. However, the game has many aspects that seem to prevent one civ from gaining too much of a tech lead:

1. the Great Library Wonder allows lesser-tech civs to gain techs for free
2. civs will trade techs with each other
3. techs known to other civs tend to be cheaper to research
4. civs can use Espionage to steal techs

The best I can do, it seems, is to maintain a slight tech lead and have a massive lead in economy, so that even though we can both build Mech Infantry, for example, I can pop them out faster and cheaper than they can.

I guess with a small tech lead I can try spot modern resources sooner (uranium, rubber) and try to hoard resources.

Any thoughts?

Tom

 

[Jabba Jr]

I've noticed the same. However, if you play a high difficulty level, the comp seems to have no problem getting a huge tech-lead on you. And, they are reluctant to trade you any tech unless it's at a completely riddiculus price.

The way to solve this is by being the one who's brokering communications and techs first, or wage extensive war. However, war is difficult when the enemy has better units than you.

Sometimes I get really pissed and wish I could cheat as the comp does. [punch]

 

[kb2tvl]

In the game I am in now, I am playing the Germans on Emporer level. I waited the whole game for war and once I got the Panzer, I really cleaned up.

But to get there I had to buy tons of tech and to do so I bought it from the weakest civs. This kept them alive and the battles raging. When I hit my GA, everything goes up. I was able to keep pace and exceed the computers ability to produce. So when I develolped computers, I succesfully got the SETI program. From here on I have had tech parity or a slight lead.

That said, I wont trade techs in the modern era for reasons of what those techs could do: synthic fibers, space flight, computers... Those three could cause you real troubles.

 

[Jimcat]

For the reasons described in the initial post, I've found that it's more profitable to sell techs as soon as possible than to hoard them. The money you get from your rivals can fund your R&D to get the next tech just ahead of them, thus continuing the cycle.

About the only time I've found it useful to hoard a tech is when it gives me a few turns' lead in building a key Great Wonder. Nothing more frustrating than to see you've been beaten to Bach's Cathedral or the Hoover Dam by one turn.

 

[MAS]

How to get a big techlead!

1: in the start, make contact with all civ's ASAP!
2: still in the start, Trade! but make sure you end up with all the gold at the end of a big brokering sesion, and they have only the tech's (which you have aswell!)
3: a bit later on, use your gold to make alliance and start some warring (you don't necessarly need to do anything yerself.) but make sure you don't get a bad reputation!
4: keep this going untill they have pissed each other off so much they will continue warring each other even if you make peace with everyboddy! (still make sure you keep a good reputation!)
5: now pump up your research spending and watch!

 

[Wombat_Hair]

I agree with MAS.
Especially trading down Techs for Gold works well.
The only Techs that I will not trade are those that enable a GW that I am planning strategy around.

 

[tomlouie]

So it sounds like it's near impossible (or impractical) to play a peaceful, isolationist civ with a massive tech lead?

Tom

 

[Jandor]

It is, try playing on a an archipelargo (sp?), when you come across a civ thats had no contact with the outside world and your in the Industrial ages they'll often be in the late middle ages, once ive seen them in the early middle ages, it was funny battling there pikemen, knights and swordsmen with cavalry and infantry

 

[Mozenwrath]

I think the reason firaxis put in measures to keep civs fairly equal techwise was to preserve a bit of realism, i mean you just dont get nations being that far ahead scientifically in real life. Well, at least not from the late middle ages onwards...

 

[tomlouie]

Originally posted by Mozenwrath
I think the reason firaxis put in measures to keep civs fairly equal techwise was to preserve a bit of realism, i mean you just dont get nations being that far ahead scientifically in real life. Well, at least not from the late middle ages onwards...

Esp, since just seeing a more technologically advanced unit must inspire researchers to copy the newer technology.

Stars! had a feature where if you won a battle against more technologically advanced units, you had a small chance of gaining the techs that they had that you lacked. Thus, if you had a technologically advanced flagship, you'd be reluctant to use it to hold off a backward civ's SoD.

Tom

 

[BCLG100]

umm you do kinda
compare africa in the middle ages to Britain big tech lead

 

[smallstepforman]

Go into the Civ editor, and reduce the Ai-AI trading bonus to 100% (ie. even up the trade bonuses the AI have when trading amongst themselves to a level the human would get). Suddenly, the game isn't a tech-trade fest on the human's behalf, you can now actually consider hoarding techs because there is *suprise* a tech or two or more to hoard. With the rates at 160% for Diety, its impossible to play - the human will never be able to trade for techs.

 

[Pygzilla]

Originally posted by smallstepforman
With the rates at 160% for Diety, its impossible to play - the human will never be able to trade for techs.

That's kinda the point

Trying to make the toughest level easier is ridiculous. If you can't beat Diety (and I can't yet) play a level that you have a chance at.

I know I modded Deity to Chieften's defaults and now I can beat it.

 

[Tassadar]

Originally posted by MAS
How to get a big techlead!

1: in the start, make contact with all civ's ASAP!
2: still in the start, Trade! but make sure you end up with all the gold at the end of a big brokering sesion, and they have only the tech's (which you have aswell!)
3: a bit later on, use your gold to make alliance and start some warring (you don't necessarly need to do anything yerself.) but make sure you don't get a bad reputation!
4: keep this going untill they have pissed each other off so much they will continue warring each other even if you make peace with everyboddy! (still make sure you keep a good reputation!)
5: now pump up your research spending and watch!

You took the word out off my mouth. i agrre 100% with you. i will just add, stay as republic while you start waring, you can stay into this governement long enough to create chaos into a.i. and without suffering from war weariness. If you are the one who declare war first, you may increase lux slider to 20 % until the war end. Keep a good reputation,sure, declare war with diplomaty, without any ongoing treaty and without any troops in teir border.

 

[hzm]

Originally posted by MAS
How to get a big techlead!

1: in the start, make contact with all civ's ASAP!
2: still in the start, Trade! but make sure you end up with all the gold at the end of a big brokering sesion, and they have only the tech's (which you have aswell!)
3: a bit later on, use your gold to make alliance and start some warring (you don't necessarly need to do anything yerself.) but make sure you don't get a bad reputation!
4: keep this going untill they have pissed each other off so much they will continue warring each other even if you make peace with everyboddy! (still make sure you keep a good reputation!)
5: now pump up your research spending and watch!

And SM says civ3 isn't a war game.

 

[Jabba Jr]

And SM says civ3 isn't a war game.

It most definitly is....

 

[GuangRong]

In very close games, you may want to hold on to techs leading to wonders as long as possible , so you can get a head start on the AI.

Also if you're about to beat AI in Wonder building ,and the AI don't have the tech to build another wonder, Hold on to the tech for one more turn so the AI has to abandon the project and not switch Wonders.

Other than that, there's no point in hoarding more than 2 or 3 techs, since techs get cheaper as more people discovered it.

 

[JollyRoger]

At the lower levels, a huge tech lead is easy. Just beeline to Literature for the libraries and the Republic for the commerce. Build military units to pop huts and meet other civs. You can get all the ancient techs other than the beeline ones through hut-popping, trade, and extortion for peace. It is not generally desirable to hoard tech, though, otherwise you will be doing all the research from the middle ages forward on your own. Gift the other civs into the Middle Ages with you and choose your tech path (I usually beeline toward Educationand then Economics). Some of the other civs will take the military path, allowing trade and extortion to continue. If you don't gift the other civs into the Middle Ages with you, you can exit the Middle Ages while they are still working on the early Middle Age techs. Not a very fun game. At higher levels, I can generally stay at or near the tech level of the AI, sometimes falling temporarily far behind, but never gaining a sizeable lead. My tech strategy at higher levels is to max research until I meet a few civs and then max gold to buy tech. At some point, when my infrastructure is in place, it becomes advantageous to switch to max science as fewer civs are keeping up and it becomes too expensive to buy from the leaders and not profitable enough to sell to the laggers.

 

[Lt. 'Killer' M.]

I managed a half-age tech lead in Empror, and a 5 tech one in Deity, so under the right circumstances it IS possible. I would sell techs from unimportant tree parts (i.e. where I already had the wonders) to keep the AI short on cash while researching new techs...... Works wonderfully - since 1.29

 

[Reboot]

Originally posted by Jabba Jr


It most definitly is....

...and that's one reason why I'm disappointed with CivIII (and Sid). The game almost always leads to war if you want to win. Unless you play Cheftain or Warlord.

Yes, its no use keeping tech lead if its only a few techs ahead. But if you can manage, say, more than 6 techs ahead, it may be possible to jump on the advantage, I think.