early game science

[Enforcer Talen]

hey, I'm playing diety, and while I have prolly enough cities to win the game at this point, I would prefer in the next one to have a better tech advantage - I didnt get to the super science city, 20 turns for one tech level, and I'm scraping towards gunpowder. its going to be messy.

so, in future games, how do I get the tech rate better?

 

[insurgent]

Just build libraries when you can and build the different other scientific improvements generally. I never did like that super science city thing. Just keep the science rate at 30-40% while having scientific improvements in most of your cities.

 

[funxus]

Trade
You get the same amount of science beakers as gold when delivering a caravan.

 

[cliff]

Yes trade, especially combined with one or a couple of big cities. Deliver caravans from the city with most trade arrows to distant ai cities on other continents. Use the gold you get to rush buy new caravans and science stuff.

One thing I like to do early is to build Marco Polo's and chat with the other players and exchange technology and maps. This way you get more techs early and you also know where to deliver those caravans.

 

[Enforcer Talen]

heh, the computer never trades maps with me on the high levels, even when their worshipful.

caravans are a thought, but I'd need to spend 20 turns getting trade. meh. libraries I could build pretty easy.

 

[ElephantU]

To trade maps, you and the AI civ need the Maps tech. Then you need to goose the AI civ up to at least Cordial, preferably Enthus or Worsh. Giving them techs is the best way (you probably have to give them Maps anyway...), and extra techs slow down THEIR research too. When they feel good about you they are more likely to give tribute, too...

Trade, caravans and MarcoPolo are the most powerful single tech achievement in the game. Caravans allow you to store production and turn it into Wonders or Gold. When you "cash in", you get equivalent research beakers as well. Never build a Wonder in less than one turn - build caravans instead, and when you have enough, start the Wonder, pile them all in, and it is done. You can save the caravans for a Wonder you have not discovered yet, or you can deliver them for gold and beakers. When you use a caravan to build a Wonder it sometimes causes its home city to switch to a better-paying commodity. Also, building caravans keeps your production from being tied up for 20-40+ turns. And MarcoPolo allows you to turn the AI civs into research and gold slaves for yourself, as well as getting their maps to guide your caravan deliveries better.

The Super Science City is a powerful tool too. It works because the combination of science Wonders and City Improvements is cumulative. You should try to get Colossus, Copernicus, Newton, Library, University, and ResearchLab all in the same city, along with three good trade routes. In one of my recent games I had 165 trade arrows and around 800 beakers every turn in once city! All of the science boosters work off of the trade arrows, so anything you can do with the terrain to get more trade helps too. Later on SuperHighways is a big boost as well.

There are several threads in the Strategy forums about Science and Trade, both here and over at Apolyton.Net. Read up, then check out some of the GameOfTheMonth logs to see how people like Starlifter and Smash get through the tech list by 1000AD with only one city. I recently saw one where the person only used a single city of size 1!

 

[funxus]

One more thing about collecting caravans for a wonder, it's cheaper if you buy them then buying a wonder. $)

 

[Enforcer Talen]

I build a super science city once. amazing thing. like 200 sheilds and 1200 science beakers.

but my empire was shrunken because of it, and I couldnt pull off global domination.

I like building the thing, but my science rate isnt good enough to get the prereqs in time. in the future I'll build libraries early, grab trade, and set up caravans.

 

[Ren]

I'd put libraries early second to settlers for land development. Expansion is important too, but roads & irrigation are often forgotten for city building. Don't forget that a few river squares is even preferable over a special when selecting a spot for a SSC, also a hill is handy for those extra shields Get trade up and running asap so you can use the extra $$$ to get your wonders first. What year is your game at? Not much over 0 AD I'd hope.

How are you going with military? Are you supreme? You could try the pet civ method, in which you find your 'corresponding' civ (the one your science rate is governed by) and give them all your techs. This will increase your science output. I'd like to know how you are going for Gunpowder without Trade, Trade should be 2nd on your list of techs-to-get after Monarchy

 

[Enforcer Talen]

yeah, I build settlers first or second, and then roads. dont irrigate usually tho, no time. I'm not sure what yr it is, I play on a friends' computer, and I'm not supreme. lol. 3rd on the scale, I think, and expanding peacefully, about to expand war. attack my weakest neighbor with gunpowder. ..yes!

uhm, I'm getting it by fumbling. lol. if my strategy works on king, it works on diety, right? lol. . .

 

[funxus]

No irrigation
Then I suggest irrigating your cities. More irrigation means more food, which means either growth or that you can work squares giving you more shields and trade. The larger the cities are, the more trade they generate, the more money and science you get. Effectively giving you techs more often than one each 20 turns

 

[Enforcer Talen]

how do I balance expanding the borders while irrigating the interior?

 

[funxus]

I build settlers in my cities until I feel it has built enough settlers, then I build one more. Enough is when I feel the city is in the interior of my empire, when I can't expand more or if I need a wonder. The extra settler I then use for improving my cities, mining, roading an irrigating. There's no need to irrigate when under despotism, and it takes some time before I consider a city to have done it's part of the expansion.