Gaming the age transitions

[PendragonWRB]

My first game I 'gamed' the age transitions to maximize my points for more bonuses next age. It felt 'wrong' but I was going for some achievements along with the extra benefits.
My second game I find myself doing it again, this time because I learned in the first game that any buildings available in Antiquity like say the lighthouse or special quarters would NOT be there next age. I HAVE to get them built now or never get their benefits.
I am wondering what ELSE is a use or lose bonus. Do all the PLUS signs in the tech and civic trees (like siege get an extra movement) carry over? Are all those bonuses (ageless) permanent or not?
Units carry over and get a free upgrade, Commanders keep their promotions.
Cities keep their land but resources 'change'. (Horses go from 'global' to city specific, some city specific go to factory.) Do new resources get added or are the same spots just modified?
I am still playing on lower levels, do the AIs race to age at higher levels denying you bonuses from the current age?
What else am I missing that is affected by age changes?
It kind of feels like three different games rolled into on and the third age was not enjoyable to me on my first game. Antiquity has been very interesting this second game and I am looking forward to Exploration but not sure how I feel about Modern yet.

 

[ProMeTheus112]

My understanding is that, most if not all + signs on the tech trees carry over the next age, and all players get them for the next age even if they havent researched them in current age. But there is most likely at least an exception to that which is the future civics or future tech giving a boost to a random tech or civics next age, I don't think players who haven't researched that get it. But for example the +1 settlement limits, everyone gets it.
Some resources are modified next age, some new ones appear (I think?). Maybe they are only modified I'm not sure actually.
I think when you are winning hard, modern later parts can be less fun, it gets more fun when you increase the difficulty. Also there is something that can ruin your game a bit at the moment which is the Dogo Onsen modern wonder is bugged and gives you +1 pop in all settlements instead of just the 1 settlement where it's built, every time you enter celebration. This makes you snowball into imbalance and also makes you run a long turn making decisions on every town growth at the same time and recurring often if your happiness is high. But for me overall the structure of the game is amazing I just love how much choice you get in developping towards 1 or many objectives, this even in modern I think, and you can even make your custom objectives, and you can't snowball too hard from good performance early on thanks to the age transitions etc I think it's great. Think about how you could make use of a dark age legacy by actually playing around that making your custom objectives in antiquity or exploration there is a lot of possibility given there it's looking great.

 

[Krikkit1]

My first game I 'gamed' the age transitions to maximize my points for more bonuses next age. It felt 'wrong' but I was going for some achievements along with the extra benefits.
My second game I find myself doing it again, this time because I learned in the first game that any buildings available in Antiquity like say the lighthouse or special quarters would NOT be there next age. I HAVE to get them built now or never get their benefits.
I am wondering what ELSE is a use or lose bonus. Do all the PLUS signs in the tech and civic trees (like siege get an extra movement) carry over? Are all those bonuses (ageless) permanent or not?
Units carry over and get a free upgrade, Commanders keep their promotions.
Cities keep their land but resources 'change'. (Horses go from 'global' to city specific, some city specific go to factory.) Do new resources get added or are the same spots just modified?
I am still playing on lower levels, do the AIs race to age at higher levels denying you bonuses from the current age?
What else am I missing that is affected by age changes?
It kind of feels like three different games rolled into on and the third age was not enjoyable to me on my first game. Antiquity has been very interesting this second game and I am looking forward to Exploration but not sure how I feel about Modern yet.

Basically

Can only be built/researched in One Age and Carry Over benefits
Unique buildings/Improvements, and Wonders
Traditions that you get with Unique civic tree
Future Tech/Civics
Legacy Path points

Can only be built/researched in One Age and then go Obsolete... ie little to no benefit next age (or everyone gets them for free)
Unit upgrades (all units upgrade for free at end)
Most buildings
Techs
Civics

Can be built/researched in Any Age and stay active
Commanders
Warehouse buildings
Population (Improvements/Specialists)
Towns

Can be gotten in Any Age but some will be lost at the end
Units
Town->City upgrades
IP/CS investment
Gold/Influence stockpile

 

[Evolena]

any buildings available in Antiquity like say the lighthouse or special quarters would NOT be there next age. I HAVE to get them built now or never get their benefits.

However you only keep a +2 yield, the other bonuses do not carry over (like + Resource slot, +1 yields to this type of Building, ...)

Do all the PLUS signs in the tech and civic trees (like siege get an extra movement) carry over? Are all those bonuses (ageless) permanent or not?

My understanding is that, most if not all + signs on the tech trees carry over the next age, and all players get them for the next age even if they havent researched them in current age.

I think it's more that the new age starts with its own settings, but not directly related to the previous age "+". So you may seem to have keep the +1 Food to Farms, while it's more that this bonus has been incorporated to the Farms basic yields of the age, while the +1 to Food Buildings has not.

Cities keep their land but resources 'change'. (Horses go from 'global' to city specific, some city specific go to factory.) Do new resources get added or are the same spots just modified?

Some Resources disappear, some other are added yes, sometimes to the same spot, sometimes to new available (no rural improvement) locations.

 

[Leyrann]

I HAVE to get them built now or never get their benefits.

You don't have to. You'll lose their benefits (except for a flat 2 yields of their type) no matter what on Age transition, as they're now outdated buildings. So no need to stress about getting them at the end of the Age.

Cities keep their land but resources 'change'. (Horses go from 'global' to city specific, some city specific go to factory.) Do new resources get added or are the same spots just modified?

Some resources disappear, others stay, yet other spots have new resources spawn (so long as they aren't covered by an urban district), and some resources may morph into other resources. Newly spawned resources within your borders are automatically improved, but extant resources that remain across the transition don't get improved if they weren't improved yet. Also, having a resource improved does not guarantee it remains.

 

[vorlon_mi]

Unique Quarters: Right now, I find them fun to build. If my Antiquity or Exploration Civ has a unique quarter, I like to build it as a part of the "something you believe in." I am not yet to the point where I'm doing the calculations, about whether the bonuses are important enough in the present age to justify investing the production. As @PendragonWRB points out, if I want that layer to my history, I must build in during that particular age.
In my current game, I'm trying to get a Maya unique quarter, a Majapahit unique quarter, and a Meiji Japan UQ. I didn't get the Maya one, mostly because I conquered the city and the original AI didn't place the buildings well. In a previous game, I got a Roman UQ and a Norman UQ. The Motte & Bailey have ongoing benefits as a fortified district (yay!) but the AI never really threatened the cities which built them (sigh).

 

[Zaarin]

Unique Quarters: Right now, I find them fun to build.

I find Unique Quarters much more satisfying than Unique Improvements. (This tracks with Civ6, where Unique Districts were generally better than Unique Improvements, which were generally better than Unique Buildings, and anything in the world was better than unique walls. )