djb-4: "Mac v. PC Tech Rate Evaluation"

[Txurce]

Given that we played this game to become familiar with 1.29-style monarch level, what conclusions have we drawn? To me, the immediate ones are that it's hard to research faster than at the minimum rate in the ancient era - and yet we are maxing research late in the medieval. This seems to imply that the main difference is early, has to do with lack of gold, and thus could be best overcome early with harbors, roads, river tiles - and big cities. Granaries would mean more than ever. So do workers.

What do others think?

 

[Zwingli]

It looks like this game has served its purpose now, and will likely end since the other players will probably want to test the 1.29b patch (I can't until I'm done with GOTM ). The impression I get about the 1.29 tech rate is that researching, although more expensive than before, is also more important. Even if forced to run 40 turn research gambits in the Ancient age, these efforts are more likely to succeed since the AI research rate has also been slowed (minus their production bonus), and the benifits from researching a tech first are also much greater (they are more valuable and will bring in more goods from trading). Researching cheaper ancient era techs such as Pottery and the Wheel would probably take much less than 40 turns even for an underdeveloped civ, and might be more attractive than giving another civ more gold.

Early growth and road building are definitely the way to go to jack up the research rate, or tech extortion by early war would get techs without speeding up the overall world research rate. I believe that tech depreciation (due to more than 1 civ knowing about a technology) has been decreased in 1.29, making buying tech when all other civs possess it far more expensive than before. A common approach to tech trading in 1.29 is to wait for trading opportunities where you can buy one tech (say banking) and sell it to a different civ to purchase a second tech (say gunpowder). This is helpful because in 1.29 (much more so than in 1.21), the AI will hold off on selling a new tech around because the tech is more expensive and other AIs cannot come up with the necessary gold.

 

[dojoboy]

I've noticed in the beta 1.29 that civs are more likely to give techs for luxuries & wm, I wondering if this has been just specific to m game or an added incentive to the AI to trade tech?

 

[Txurce]

I doubt the AI has more incentive to trade tech - if anything, they value it higher. It's probably your game.