Challenge: Fixed Tech Path

[vormuir]

Here's a challenge that I think has not been done before: play a game with a rigidly fixed tech path.

Obviously there are a lot of ways to do this. Let's try the simplest. Play a game that's totally normal, except for one simple rule:

You must always pursue the LEAST expensive technology.

So, at the start, you have to pursue Hunting or Fishing. You can't chase the expensive Classical techs -- Alphabet, Metalworking -- until you've acquired all the cheap early techs. And so on.

Trading is not affected -- you can trade or buy any techs freely. And hut pops are still good. On the other hand, techs from Liberalism and the Oracle count -- sorry, but there it is. And if two techs are equally cheap, you can choose.

This is trickier than it looks, and is likely to affect your game in some funny way.

-- You're not going to found a religion.
-- You're not going to build the Oracle. (Well, you can, but it won't be worth it.)
-- You're not going to get Liberalism first. Education is one of the more expensive techs of its era.
-- Your early-game teching is going to be weird: Archery before most worker techs, Bronze Working rather late.

It looks like this will make for a tough game -- at least half a difficulty level, and maybe a whole one.

Anyone want to try it?


Waldo

 

[VoiceOfUnreason]

Here's a challenge that I think has not been done before: play a game with a rigidly fixed tech path.

Actually, you can find a number of succession games and challenges based on this general idea (usually expressed as "immediately after founding our first city, we click on tech X (Future Tech, Fiber Optics, etc) and may not change the research priority until that tech is achieved".

You must always pursue the LEAST expensive technology.

This actually looks like it might be easier, since you don't get trapped into weird beelines.

That being said, it doesn't look easy.

It probably wants a list of techs in ascending order of cost (at a minimum, the ancient and classical techs) to give some thought for where things are going to appear, allowing players to judge which Leader is the most likely to have success.

It should be clear to everybody that the "research bonus" that comes from holding pre-requisites is irrelevant, right? Sticker price only, no dickering.

Presumably lightbulbing is still in play? - anticipating what techs are available to be bulbed looks to me as though it may be critical (for instance, it's a nice loop hole to deal with the problem of Education).

Edit: yeah, I'll probably take a swing at this, just to get a sense for how it works.

 

[Cer]

LOL, I bet there's something to be learned from taking that challenge.

Having just won my first game on Emperor, I wonder whether I could even manage Monarch with that restriction. The opposite restriction (must research most expensive tech currently available) would probably be even harder, but it seems closer to the way I actually play the game! Last game, I think I got archery and horseback riding very shortly before guilds, and theology a good while after that.

 

[Elandal]

For absolutely no reason at all I made the following list:

Tech Name	Tech Key	iCost
Fishing	TECH_FISHING	40
Hunting	TECH_HUNTING	40
Mining	TECH_MINING	50
Mysticism	TECH_MYSTICISM	50
Agriculture	TECH_AGRICULTURE	60
Archery	TECH_ARCHERY	60
Priesthood	TECH_PRIESTHOOD	60
The Wheel	TECH_THE_WHEEL	60
Masonry	TECH_MASONRY	80
Meditation	TECH_MEDITATION	80
Pottery	TECH_POTTERY	80
Animal Husbandry	TECH_ANIMAL_HUSBANDRY	100
Polytheism	TECH_POLYTHEISM	100
Sailing	TECH_SAILING	100
Bronze Working	TECH_BRONZE_WORKING	120
Monotheism	TECH_MONOTHEISM	120
Writing	TECH_WRITING	120
Iron Working	TECH_IRON_WORKING	200
Literature	TECH_LITERATURE	200
Horseback Riding	TECH_HORSEBACK_RIDING	250
Mathematics	TECH_MATHEMATICS	250
Aesthetics	TECH_AESTHETICS	300
Alphabet	TECH_ALPHABET	300
Drama	TECH_DRAMA	300
Monarchy	TECH_MONARCHY	300
Calendar	TECH_CALENDAR	350
Code of Laws	TECH_CODE_OF_LAWS	350
Construction	TECH_CONSTRUCTION	350
Compass	TECH_COMPASS	400
Currency	TECH_CURRENCY	400
Metal Casting	TECH_METAL_CASTING	450
Theology	TECH_THEOLOGY	500
Music	TECH_MUSIC	600
Optics	TECH_OPTICS	600
Paper	TECH_PAPER	600
Banking	TECH_BANKING	700
Feudalism	TECH_FEUDALISM	700
Machinery	TECH_MACHINERY	700
Civil Service	TECH_CIVIL_SERVICE	800
Philosophy	TECH_PHILOSOPHY	800
Engineering	TECH_ENGINEERING	1000
Guilds	TECH_GUILDS	1000
Divine Right	TECH_DIVINE_RIGHT	1200
Gunpowder	TECH_GUNPOWDER	1200
Economics	TECH_ECONOMICS	1400
Liberalism	TECH_LIBERALISM	1400
Corporation	TECH_CORPORATION	1600
Printing Press	TECH_PRINTING_PRESS	1600
Chemistry	TECH_CHEMISTRY	1800
Education	TECH_EDUCATION	1800
Nationalism	TECH_NATIONALISM	1800
Replaceable Parts	TECH_REPLACEABLE_PARTS	1800
Astronomy	TECH_ASTRONOMY	2000
Constitution	TECH_CONSTITUTION	2000
Military Science	TECH_MILITARY_SCIENCE	2000
Military Tradition	TECH_MILITARY_TRADITION	2000
Fascism	TECH_FASCISM	2400
Rifling	TECH_RIFLING	2400
Scientific Method	TECH_SCIENTIFIC_METHOD	2400
Communism	TECH_UTOPIA	2800
Democracy	TECH_DEMOCRACY	2800
Steel	TECH_STEEL	2800
Steam Power	TECH_STEAM_POWER	3200
Biology	TECH_BIOLOGY	3600
Combustion	TECH_COMBUSTION	3600
Mass Media	TECH_MASS_MEDIA	3600
Artillery	TECH_ARTILLERY	4000
Physics	TECH_PHYSICS	4000
Refrigeration	TECH_REFRIGERATION	4000
Electricity	TECH_ELECTRICITY	4500
Medicine	TECH_MEDICINE	4500
Railroad	TECH_RAILROAD	4500
Advanced Flight	TECH_ADVANCED_FLIGHT	5000
Assembly Line	TECH_ASSEMBLY_LINE	5000
Flight	TECH_FLIGHT	5000
Rocketry	TECH_ROCKETRY	5000
Ecology	TECH_ECOLOGY	5500
Fission	TECH_FISSION	5500
Radio	TECH_RADIO	6000
Satellites	TECH_SATELLITES	6000
Computers	TECH_COMPUTERS	6500
Industrialism	TECH_INDUSTRIALISM	6500
Superconductors	TECH_SUPERCONDUCTORS	6500
Genetics	TECH_GENETICS	7000
Laser	TECH_LASER	7000
Plastics	TECH_PLASTICS	7000
Composites	TECH_COMPOSITES	7500
Fiber Optics	TECH_FIBER_OPTICS	7500
Fusion	TECH_FUSION	8000
Robotics	TECH_ROBOTICS	8000
Stealth	TECH_STEALTH	8000
Future Tech	TECH_FUTURE_TECH	10000

For exactly the same nonexistent reason I decided I'm not going to try to align the columns in this post..

Anyway - sounds fun

 

[Elandal]

I thought a bit about VoU's post, and indeed there are two ways to define "cheapest". Sticker price (iCost in XML) is one, actual given "turns to research" (not sure how research bonuses are shown - if at all) another. Sticker price gives a list beforehand, while dynamic pricing would most likely be almost the same - but you see actual tech prices and thus which you have to research only at the turn you choose research (the turn you complete last tech).

 

[vormuir]

Lightbulbing -- hadn't thought of that.

Well... you can lightbulb. In the early game, this will give you the tech; in the middle game, it will make it cheap enough that it becomes the cheapest tech. But you still have to finish your current research first.


Waldo

 

[xanadux]

I would say at least a whole difficulty level. And depends on your start too. Have fish, not so bad. At least you will have some food. Only food resources are livestock, trouble.

I normally play emperor, and I think this challenge would be harder for me to win on monarch than the usual game at emperor. It just totally cripples you in the early game. A financial leader would be good for this ... because early research can come from the sea ... fishing and sailing come early. And pottery is pretty early. At prince and below, you can just overcome the handicap with a great economy, be it a more slowly developing one.

Sitting Bull is looking good since archers will be the best unit for a long time. Bowmen and Skirmishers are more powerful too. I like Mansa ... financial plus skirmishers.

 

[Norvin_Green]

i'd like to try it. are you going to set up a save or do we get to select or own? thanks.

 

[Elandal]

I took Elizabeth for a quick spin. Prince, Big'n'small, standard size, epic speed. Got two clams so it was all fine. Built Stonehenge without thinking of all the consequences... Then decided to see about the prophet bulbing path, got Theo and CoL but mistakenly researched Monarchy before third prophet, so didn't get to bulb CS. Oh yes, popped AH and Masonry from huts. Neither much before it would've been researched, but I don't spit on free techs

Lighbulbing is certainly a big factor here.

 

[dutchfire]

Pottery is low enough on that list to make the game winnable. Especially since Iron Working and Horsebackriding are pretty low too.

 

[Elandal]

Winnable - sure. But many normal tactics are out of the window as you can't get the techs you would normally get at the time.

 

[TeraHammer]

Well, we can scrap oracle )