Are Eurekas Making Every Game the Same?

[isau]

The point of the Eureka was supposed to be to have the direction of your civ controlled by your decisions. I am finding with multiple playthroughs that what it's actually doing is making me approach every game start the same way:

- Scout (and search for second continent + natural wonder)
- Builder (try to get Masonry, Irrigation)
- Slinger (and try to kill something to proc Archery)

Simply because that is what is needed for Eurekas. Since Eurekas double your science or culture output, ignoring them is simply not an option. I suppose you could change the order of these starting build items, but so far this seems to be the "best" order for me.

As the years roll on, I find myself building a military to proc Eurekas rather than what I need. More or less the same military every time (luckily promoting units satisfies some of the Eurekas).

It's really making it hard to want to create new games. I feel like the first 50 turns are the same process over and over. Scout/Builder/Slinger while fighting the overwhelming Barbarian horde and praying to randomly trigger the exploration bonuses.

BTW that policy for Recon Units is pretty terrible. Really wish it gave +1 sight to recon units. Or something. Barbarians are so out of control that anything other than that +5 vs Barb policy gets stuck in my military slot for centuries.

If I'm wrong I'm happy to be corrected. I like the game overall, but the Eureka system is draining that enjoyment fast. It seems like Science still rules, but now instead of Science buildings it these hoops that have to be jumped through.

 

[MistyRonin]

IMHO it's the opposite, you can't get all the Eurekas unless you dedicate yourself only to do that. So you simply have to choose which Eurekas are more beneficial to the game you are playing, making each game completely different.

 

[isau]

IMHO it's the opposite, you can't get all the Eurekas unless you dedicate yourself only to do that. So you simply have to choose which Eurekas are more beneficial to the game you are playing, making each game completely different.

I agree that was how it was supposed to work, but I am not seeing it, at least in the early game around Emperor difficulty. The problem is even if you don't "need" something right away it's part of a chain reaction of future Eurekas that you need to start working on to get the ball rolling.

For its part, Archery is at least part of a dead end of sorts. But you probably need a second military unit anyway to satisfy two other conditions: take a barb camp, and kill 3 barbarians. Using a Slinger to do those things procs Archery, then you can very cheaply upgrade Slinger to Archer.

 

[Martinus]

I disagree with the OP. Early game you tend to get most/all eurekas, but in my experience it is almost never in the same order. Late game techs, I hardly get eurekas at all, as they are much harder to get unless you deliberately fish for them.

 

[Kouvb593kdnuewnd]

Trading valuable production for often much less valuable science is not always a good idea. Don't let eurkas control you.

The more science you produce the less you need eurkas, you can simply research what you want and that is very nice thing to do.

 

[Ryika]

I think the most important thing to realize is that you can just swap to another technology once you have reached 50% and get the Eureka Boost later. That gives a lot more freedom early on (assuming you're not playing on a difficulty where almost the only thing you do is spam units 8)), while still gaining nearly all Eurekas. Delaying techs is generally not a problem at that point, because most of the stuff that is being unlocked by those technologies is not useful at that point anyway.

 

[dexters]

No. Definately a huge no.
I'm in a bit of a unique position as I've started about 4 or 5 games yesterday due to a gfx card issue, so I played through the first 50 turns multiple times.

Natural wonders aren't always easy to find
Some Eurekas are predictable if you work at it (build 3 unique districts) or build X or kill X with Y
But many others are up to RNG, and your grand strategy of the day.

It's actually a good balance of having some control, but not total control on activating them.
I have to play more to figure out if I like the overall balance or not. So far, I like it.

 

[moysturfurmer]

I haven't gotten a LOT of inspirations/eurekas

 

[Ulthwithian]

I see what the OP is saying, to some degree. I do think it's part of a 'gotta catch 'em all' mentality which is not quite correct, but I do feel it.

I can say that I almost never feel like I have enough time/production to do everything I want, which I think is good.

The Barbarians are quite annoying, and Trajan is very disappointing.

 

[UWHabs]

I think the most important thing to realize is that you can just swap to another technology once you have reached 50% and get the Eureka Boost later. That gives a lot more freedom early on (assuming you're not playing on a difficulty where almost the only thing you do is spam units 8)), while still gaining nearly all Eurekas. Delaying techs is generally not a problem at that point, because most of the stuff that is being unlocked by those technologies is not useful at that point anyway.

Especially with the eurekas, I think they really need to add a decay into partially researched techs. So if you lost, say, 5% of what you've researched per turn the tech sits idle, you can't half research something, and then switch away and assume that you'll discover that second continent before you're forced to go back to it.

But even with that, I'm constantly debating choices. For example, how long do I have to wait to actually find the second continent before I just give up and finish it off?

 

[Stalker0]

I think eurekas in the early game are very easy to get, but past that point you actually have to work at it, and its not always obvious.

Further, I agree that production is king right now. Honestly I could care less about more science, hammers baby....hammers!

 

[Ryika]

Especially with the eurekas, I think they really need to add a decay into partially researched techs.

I was going to answer with "No, I don't want that!", but thinking about it some more... yeah, it's probably a good solution. Prevents having to switch as an optimal strategy (needless Micromanagement that doesn't really add much to the game) while also encouraging a more informed decision of whether to wait for an Eureka or not.

The feeling of missing out on stuff would still be pretty harsh though. =(

 

[Ranbir]

I'm getting Eureka's without thinking about it. Would be nice if there was variation in what determines Eureka-ness.

 

[Kamamura]

I view it as another step in dumbification of modern games. Instead of letting you research what you want, the game basically "nudges" you forward with these bonuses in a direction the developers thought would be beneficial for players to take.

It's just lake salesmen pitching their products: "Dear Sir, I see you have purchased a bottle of whisky, you just HAVE TO buy these nice glasses to enhance your sipping experience, I will give you 10 percent discount". Who would not want discounted merchandise/technology?

 

[Ryika]

I view it as another step in dumbification of modern games. Instead of letting you research what you want, the game basically "nudges" you forward with these bonuses in a direction the developers thought would be beneficial for players to take.

It's just lake salesmen pitching their products: "Dear Sir, I see you have purchased a bottle of whisky, you just HAVE TO buy these nice glasses to enhance your sipping experience, I will give you 10 percent discount". Who would not want discounted merchandise/technology?

That's a pretty weird way of looking at it imho. It's not like you get the stuff automatically (most of it at least), you deliberately work towards it and, in the ideal case, build a strategy around the ones you can get based on your starting location.

If anything, it has increased the number of actual decisions you make while choosing technologies, diversified the paths you take and moved away from the "You always beeline this, then you always beeline that."-tech tree of Civ V.

 

[ExemplarVoss]

I view it as another step in dumbification of modern games. Instead of letting you research what you want, the game basically "nudges" you forward with these bonuses in a direction the developers thought would be beneficial for players to take.

It's just lake salesmen pitching their products: "Dear Sir, I see you have purchased a bottle of whisky, you just HAVE TO buy these nice glasses to enhance your sipping experience, I will give you 10 percent discount". Who would not want discounted merchandise/technology?

Yeah, I disagree. It takes a lot more effort and planning on the players part. It's completely unlike your hypothetical salesmen, who are offering useless things for a bad discount.

 

[CrimsonEdge]

I've found that, by simply doing things that would benefit my overall goal that I get tons of Eurekas without actively going for them.

There are some interesting gambits to be had for sure. I think we will see some gnarly tech slingshots with popping a great person at the right time while having some eurekas ready to go.

I can also see that they tried to make warmongering a cost benefit situation. They have most assuredly made war a much riskier business (those raze penalties can get nuts) but they've also given some insane rewards for it.

In my first game I was two ages ahead of everybody in the world due to my focus on money and war. This combination as Rome is going to be very difficult to beat, imho.

 

[Dracul JOSHI]

I am saying, reduce them to 30%.
What I am seeing is that they are too powerful for what they are supposed to be... bonuses... advantages... nothing more (except for china with their 60% if it remains unchanged, but that would make them an unique playstyle)

 

[Acken]

I don't think so. However they make the tech tree go a bit too fast even without hitting all of them.

 

[ExemplarVoss]

I am saying, reduce them to 30%.
What I am seeing is that they are too powerful for what they are supposed to be... bonuses... advantages... nothing more (except for china with their 60% if it remains unchanged, but that would make them an unique playstyle)

I wouldn't mind seeing them reduced, but keeping China at 60% after changing the bonus would be utterly broken. They have enough unique advantages as is, no reason to make them the undisputed tech leader.