Binary Research

[amanbe]

What is binary research? Why is it necessary? What are the best practices of binary research?

 

[Jerrymander]

Binary Research International (BRI) is a provider of Software Support Services and solutions. Our Head Office is in Glendale, Wisconsin, USA and we have a branch located in Canterbury, England. Incorporated in September 1997, BRI was a wholly-owned subsidiary of Binary Research Ltd. of Auckland, New Zealand - the company that developed the world’s first software Cloning utility, Ghost™.

http://www.binaryresearch.net/about_bri

 

[Cam_H]

I'd just be paraphrasing; this thread, so I won't.

 

[LL_LordOmega]

I have recently started using it. It truly makes your research much better, and you get to build up some emergency gold when you are at 0%, e.g. upgrading units after a back stab. I was able to get by without it up to Emperor, but now on Immortal I find it quite necessary.

 

[Kid R]

What is binary research?

Testimony to poor game design in Civ 4

Hope that doesn't sound like trolling. It's just annoying that the user interface (sliders) is set up to make it so awkward to do something which should be so simple - save up for techs, buy them when you can afford it, arrange conditions for the best deal before you buy. Not to mention the default position the slider is in for the new player is the worst possible one. Yeah thanks for that UI designers.

 

[kaltorak]

I never liked the mechanic. Not bc beeing bad, but bc I think that's not how it should work. But it doesn't bug me, I just don't use it. I mean constantly, I still run 0% and 100% sliders some turns for specific things, which is fine.

 

[budweiser]

Many times you can get a tech in x number of turns regardless if the slider is at 80% or 90%. So, lately I have been sliding down to collect the extra cash, constantly adjusting so that the reseach turns remain the same, but I collect extra gold. You can build up a fortune this way.

 

[Kid R]

^ Doesn't that just cut down the amount of overflow into the next tech?

 

[budweiser]

^ Doesn't that just cut down the amount of overflow into the next tech?

Yeah, you never get overflow, but you work the slider every turn you do research. It's kinda hard to explain in words.

Lets say you are at 80% with 2 turns left. You can often crank it down and still arrive in 2 turns, but you can generate hundreds of extra gold that would have went to overflow. You can adjust all the way through the research term, not just at the end because your economy should always be getting bigger, giving more research per % of slider. This can be turned into gold or espionage or culture on a per turn basis.

 

[TheMeInTeam]

Testimony to poor game design in Civ 4

Hope that doesn't sound like trolling. It's just annoying that the user interface (sliders) is set up to make it so awkward to do something which should be so simple - save up for techs, buy them when you can afford it, arrange conditions for the best deal before you buy. Not to mention the default position the slider is in for the new player is the worst possible one. Yeah thanks for that UI designers.

I'll +1 this, and I'll show some rare restraint by NOT adding 2-3 paragraphs in supporting arguments .

 

[obsolete]

Testimony to poor game design in Civ 4

Hope that doesn't sound like trolling. It's just annoying that the user interface (sliders) is set up to make it so awkward to do something which should be so simple - save up for techs, buy them when you can afford it, arrange conditions for the best deal before you buy. Not to mention the default position the slider is in for the new player is the worst possible one. Yeah thanks for that UI designers.

Believe me, if you want to complain about Firaxis' crappy gui, I am the first to agree with you. But you may be a bit too harsh on here. While you have some points, their tech gui is generations above the really crappy one they had in Civ III. You do remember when all over-flow was LOST right? That caused the most and the worst MM ever for techs. At least someone finally had two braincells this time around to decide OF for tech should be added.

BTW, I suspect tech OF was only added because the AI was getting too nerfed by not knowing how to pre-adjust ahead of time. The more I think about it, the more I am sure of it.

 

[TheMeInTeam]

Believe me, if you want to complain about Firaxis' crappy gui, I am the first to agree with you. But you may be a bit too harsh on here. While you have some points, their tech gui is generations above the really crappy one they had in Civ III. You do remember when all over-flow was LOST right? That caused the most and the worst MM ever for techs. At least someone finally had two braincells this time around to decide OF for tech should be added.

BTW, I suspect tech OF was only added because the AI was getting too nerfed by not knowing how to pre-adjust ahead of time. The more I think about it, the more I am sure of it.

What pains me is that when I make this argument, SOME people say that the micro is a good thing, that the game should be about controlling everything.

Apparently, some people adore inefficiency outright .

 

[NihilZero]

Slightly off topic here, but I haven't found a better strategy game than Civ IV, despite it's somewhat cumbersome UI. And I have tried.

 

[TheMeInTeam]

Slightly off topic here, but I haven't found a better strategy game than Civ IV, despite it's somewhat cumbersome UI. And I have tried.

You mean turn-based, correct? Because if you delve into RTS, then you get games like starcraft/warcraft II which were far better balanced and had a more refined MP experience by far.

In TBS, Heroes of Might and Magic III was excellent (IV had bad reviews but I didn't play it, V was decent).

It also depends what you're going for. Civ has a lot more depth and challenge potential than most other games (unless you're playing DEMON'S SOULS, but that's no turn-based strategy game . And yes, I beat it, cheaply), but it sorely lacks game balance and its coding for performance is AWFUL.

 

[Kid R]

Yeah I was in a bad mood this morning, I take it all back

Civ 4 is excellent in most ways and it's given me more game hours than any other game. Easily topping that list now, even more than Missile Command back in the arcade. And the hope of discovering a new loophole or something keeps it interesting. The devs throw all these game mechanics together and trying out the weird combinations is part of the fun.

I've looked at Civ from both sides now (as Joni Mitchell reputedly sometimes sings live these days).

 

[budweiser]

Slightly off topic here, but I haven't found a better strategy game than Civ IV, despite it's somewhat cumbersome UI. And I have tried.

The Original Master of Orion is or was available for free download on the internet. Its just as good as original civ for a turn based strategy.

 

[barbertje]

Many times you can get a tech in x number of turns regardless if the slider is at 80% or 90%. So, lately I have been sliding down to collect the extra cash, constantly adjusting so that the reseach turns remain the same, but I collect extra gold. You can build up a fortune this way.

If you collect a fortune this way, it is still at the cost of your research. You know that extra beakers overflow into the next tech? If you tune it so there's no overflow, at some point the next tech is going to be slower, unless you spend your cash again by putting the slider at a value where you lose money.

 

[Tyrael]

If you collect a fortune this way, it is still at the cost of your research. You know that extra beakers overflow into the next tech? If you tune it so there's no overflow, at some point the next tech is going to be slower, unless you spend your cash again by putting the slider at a value where you lose money.

That's exactly what you do, because it's beneficial. If you make a habit of doing this, you'll have:
- More money in the coffers temporarily to protect you from random events
- Possibly more libraries/universities so that the higher slider later goes through more multipliers
- Less research wasted toward the tech if you suddenly need to change. If you realize you NEED RIFLING NOW halfway through something else, you have fewer beakers invested in the original tech and more money available to deficit research rifling faster. (Yes, this is minor.)

All at no cost in research time.

 

[sveint]

Drawback: leaves you open for demands for cash from the AI

 

[kaltorak]

unless you're playing DEMON'S SOULS

I bought that game and returned it 5 hours later.

I like hard fights. But I hate harsh death penalties. This game would be so cool with checkpoints and 20% souls lost on death maximum.