Civ 3 tech trading ugh! -_-+

[Blood]

is it just me or is there NO OTHER WAY to play civ 3 beside playing tech broker for science on warlord n higher level???
around regent levels n up, the AI bonus is so ridicolous that you end up putting 0% at science n tech broker for sciences. there's just no way for you to out-science AI on higher settings. seems to me, that only way you can really survive n play on higher lvls r by tech. brokerage and the only way till you can gain even footing later.

 

[cgannon64]

Trade or die above Regent.

I think that's accurate to real life.

 

[wilbill]

In my experience, at Regent it's still possible to keep up or even stay a little ahead without much trading. At Monarch, still possible but not likely. Above that trading/buying/selling is the only way to stay close.

 

[Blood]

ok lemme rephrase that.
i meant monarch level n up.
regent level is still doable if you build decent cities and gain large territory. but from monarch n up. like people said, trade or die.
tech broker to survive n winning is ok but its basically the only way you can do it... which takes out a large portion of fun in my view

 

[Sailorstick]

Especially when you have to keep checking nearly every turn to see who has what. They really need a screen telling you immediately what is available and from whom. All this information is already there if you want to spend 5 minutes each turn to check, but a quick screen would be nice. (Maybe in the trade advisor screen where luxuries are already shown, just add techs in)

 

[Zarn]

I can research up to Monarch just fine. It's Emperor and Deity that I usually go to the AI for.

 

[wilbill]

Easier access to trade info - on everything, not just lux and resources - would be good.

Originally posted by Blood
...tech broker to survive n winning is ok but its basically the only way you can do it... which takes out a large portion of fun in my view

Different strokes, I guess. To me being the first to discover a new continent and trading contact with a new civ and ending up with 3 or 4 techs, gpt, and a lux or resource is about as enjoyable as any other part of the game.

 

[timberwoolf]

In Emperor I was able to catch down and then to be the technological leader very quickly, only on Diety it is quite impossible.

I have territory some 4 times biger then England and every 2 turns i conduct Espionaze mission( after puting a spy) and only after stealing some 14 technologies the English are now have the same technologies I have...As soon as they get something I just steal it.( I have a spy and put 0% in sience and 0-10 % in luxury.

Althow I'm shure that after destroying some 2 more civs I will start to overpower the British...

It's only size and infrastructure that metter!
More sityes- more sience...

 

[Pembroke]

Being tech leader in Regent is easy. After all the AI plays by the same rules as you do so the game board is fair there. I can manage a Science strategy in Monarchy, provided I think what I'm doing and optimize my production to squeeze out every last gold I can get. Generally you have to research the paths the AI doesn't and then trade. But that's usually more trouble than it's worth in the fun-o-meter.

Emperor and above it's 0% science and the above mentioned Trade Or Die mentality with the occasional 100% research burst. At least for me.

Here's an idea: the Tech Broker strategy works very well, but it does depend on the fact that the others do the research. _Someone_ has to accumulate the actual beakers. Now, what if the AI was improved to _also_ play a Tech Broker? Or at least some of then? How would this change the game?

If everyone is waiting the others to waste their resources on research then the science wouldn't be going forward by much, would it?

 

[Gainy]

I always research my own techs. This is on Emporer/Deity. You just need to know which ones to go for

 

[JMK]

I will play Tech Broker for science until I have descent cities with 2 cores. However, I will time to time try to research my one Tech at full. So science will be set either at 0 for full.
But According to the level and map I play, I may be down to a full age behind.
The issue is to build enough cities to make enough gold to be able to research by your own. Up to Emperor Level, you can quite easily expend while researching Tech such as Mathematics, Polytheism, Literature or Money.
Once you decide to make your own research make sure you build Library and University in all of your first ring cities (2 times 5/6 cities). Prebuild for Copernicus' Observatory and Newton's University not nesessary in the same city, then go for Theory of Evolution.
Once the AI become to make money, do not hesitate to sell your Tech for GPT to the richest AI.

 

[anarres]

Whilst I do trade a hell of a a lot, I can still get first to a tech (not any tech I want usually, but a tech) by the start of the Industrial Age at the latest. After that I can often get fist to whatever I want. (Deity level).

If you can afford them in shileds Uni's very quickly pay for themselves. Being first to a tech means you get a 50% trade bonus to the first person you sell it to. It also gives you first shot at any wonders.

You must remember to research what the AI won't research until last, and you must trade it around to get any other techs you are missing.

Obviously by this time you have to have had a couple of wars and a decent sized empire with FP or you have no chance of doing it.