Deficit spending a good thing?

[TyranusBonehead]

It seems that in order to keep pace with the AI in advancing your civilization, one needs to push the science slider all the way to 100% in spite of the fact that you wind up loosing a boatload of gold each turn. My question is, should I be concerned about this, or should I at some point start throttling the science slider down, or are there effective ways to offset this thereby counterbalancing the loss of gold each turn?

I'm a major newb when it comes to CivIII. I'm ready to start playing at a higher difficulty setting though since I won my first game America vs. English (I was American). I basically outexpanded the AI and kept a higher population thereby winning on points. I think I'm also ready for a little aggression

Thanks for the tips

TyrannusBonehead

 

[dojoboy]

At the chieftain level, deficit spending is not going to hurt you in the short term. But, in the long run, it will make you a weaker player because you are not learning the skills necessary to become a better player. As you move up in difficulty level, deficits per turn will cause you to lose buildings and units. Now, if you've got a nice fat treasury, losing gpt will not cause any harm until your treasury is depleted. Again, the chieftain level does not penalize the human player for deficits.

 

[Souron]

Also, Lump sum always gives you more gold than gpt, so if you trade a resorce for a lump sum of gold, it is sensible to defisit for a few turns to spend that gold on research.

 

[WackenOpenAir]

If you research at max, you should be researching techs that the ai does not have. Trade the techs you research for techs that the ai has and you dont have. Then sell all your techs for any gold you can get to every AI.

This way, the AI will pay for your upkeep. Last game i played, i researched at 100% science and still had an average of 200 gpt income as i recieved more than my upkeep and unit support costed.

 

[CrackedCrystal]

AT later levels, it is pretty much impossible to do all the research yourself. The best thing to do is learn to barder the techs.

 

[mikehunt]

don't forget to use this "cheat"
when it shows 1 turn left to get a tech move the slider down to the lowest amount of science that still results in one more turn
I usually keep science at 60-70% to keep positive income and then when there is one turn left I can move it to 40% or less and go from 75 gold to 500 or more. turn ends, get the tech and ton of money, then move it back to the normal amount

 

[WackenOpenAir]

AT later levels, it is pretty much impossible to do all the research yourself. The best thing to do is learn to barder the techs.

Note, later later means at least deity here.

 

[Admiral8Q]

don't forget to use this "cheat"
when it shows 1 turn left to get a tech move the slider down to the lowest amount of science that still results in one more turn
I usually keep science at 60-70% to keep positive income and then when there is one turn left I can move it to 40% or less and go from 75 gold to 500 or more. turn ends, get the tech and ton of money, then move it back to the normal amount

Yes, I've been using this "advantage" for a long time. I discovered it on my own too.

 

[TyranusBonehead]

Thanks for the info guys, and thanks Mikehunt for the "cheat"

I'll start using this one right away

TB

 

[mikehunt]

I usually use it but I sometimes forget to check. I normally use monarchy for my gov't and need gold to rush improvements

 

[Double Barrel]

100% is not always effective, either. Play with your sliders to see where the gold you are spending will bring you relative to the time frame of your next tech development. Often, 70% spending is the same time frame as 100%, but a lot less gold. In addition, the difference of 1 turn can cost a lot more, as well.

The cheat mentioned above is excellent! I use it all the time...when I remember it!

 

[Cheeze]

I also "discovered" that cheat on my own.. Not like I'm trying to boast or anything...
Also one thing I noticed in the original post and if anyone has addressed it already I've missed it... Were you only playing against 1 computer civ at a time? Or was it just that they were the only other real power? Maybe it's obvious and I'm missing this, but in case you aren't, play with lots of civs at a time (as long as you are willing to go to war once or twice with any civs that start out very near you).

 

[c0dename_snake]

don't forget to use this "cheat"
when it shows 1 turn left to get a tech move the slider down to the lowest amount of science that still results in one more turn
I usually keep science at 60-70% to keep positive income and then when there is one turn left I can move it to 40% or less and go from 75 gold to 500 or more. turn ends, get the tech and ton of money, then move it back to the normal amount

That's not cheat, it's wise spending. Micro-management pays off!!