I had a request to make to @Lanzelot. So you have any saves for this game from 4000BC to somewhere about 500BC lying around. If yes, then could you please upload them here. I think I could learn a few things.
Thanks.
I compared our two games with the replay tool and it looks like the following differences were important:
- In the beginning you expanded much faster than I did. Therefore I think you built settlers "everywhere" and kept your towns small? (Probably spitting out a settler as soon as a town reached size 3?!) I first let my cities grow and expanded slower. My guess is therefore that you had lots of small towns, while I had a few big ones, but that my population in total was bigger and closer to the Palace (=> less corruption => higher commerce). And of course my libraries had a better effect: a lib in a big town with 15 bpt gives you more beakers than a lib in a small town with only 4-5 bpt.)
- I built the Hanging Gardens in 130BC, while you never got this Wonder. This sped up my research even more.
- I was the tech leader quite early on, while you say you didn't reach the MA first. Being the leader is important as then you can sell your techs. In the beginning I only got workers and small lump sums of gold for my techs, but later on in the middle ages I got gpt and luxuries for my techs, speeding up research even more.
- We both built Copernicus in the same turn: 260AD... But I built Newton's in 390 AD, while you built it in 530 AD.
- I built Darwin in 670 AD and you in 910 AD. This is probably not a big deal, if we both get the same techs from it?!
- I also built Leonardo, which in your game went to Persia. This allowed my a fast conquest of Celtia and Mongolia for more science farm land.
- Another important factor, which is unfortunately not shown be the replay tool is: when and where did you build the Forbidden Palace?
- It looks like in the end you attacked and eliminated Persia? Not a good idea. I kept good relations with all 3 scientific nations in order to get as many possibilities for freebees as possible. (Even though that didn't work out during the age change into the Modern Age... see below.)
In the end I had a bit of bad luck: I entered the Modern Age in 920 AD and had prepared my Palace-prebuild to complete in that turn, hoping that one of the four scientific nations would get Fission as their freebee. But of course Byzanz got Computers and Germany, Persia and myself all got Ecology!!
(I did not buy Ecology before I got my own freebee, because buying Ecology would actually
diminish the probability of me getting Fission: without Ecology there are 4 possibilities for my freebee: Ecology, Rocketry, Fission and Computers, so a 25% chance of getting Fission. With Ecology there are 5 possibilities: Synthetic Fibers, Recycling, Rocketry, Fission and Computers, so only a 20% chance...)
Fortunately, the Universal Sufferage was not yet built at that time, so I could use that to "drop" 190 shields from my Palace-prebuild: I had about 990 shields in the box at that time, so in the interturn I went into that city, switched to Universal Sufferage, cutting the shield-box down to 800 shields, and immediately switched back to Palace. I then took a few citizens off the hills so that the Palace would now finish in another 4 turns together with my "hand-research" of Fission.
I really don't remember much except what I think was my biggest mistake. I let the research to education run a full 45 turns using the money I gained to build libraries etc. This I think was a major waste.
Yes, in a research game, money should be used for research and the shields for the buildings (libs & universities etc.) Using money for cash-rushing is in general not efficient.
