Great Library : does it actually work ?

[Bloog]

In my last game I conquered the Great Library.

The map contains 2 large continens. One of them is mine (my Immortals ran over 3 other civs) and one of equal size is occupied by 4 more civs. My score is more than theirs together.

A few turns after I conquered my continent, the tech advisor reported "construction obtained from Japan and Babylon". Strange for two reasons:
1. I conquered their last cities a few turns ago.
2. I already had construction researched

And that was the only tech I ever got. Because I had the Great Library, I decided to head for Military Tradition and win by domination. Sooner or later Education would pop up anyway. Why research it ?

30 turns later. when I was about to get Metalurgy, I established contact with the other continent. To my surprise they already had researched Monotheism, Monarchy and alike but I never got those techs via the Great Library. Maybe the Great Lib only works for ancient techs but Monarchy is an ancient tech and I even didn't get it when I established contact and embassies.

The Lib seems to work after being conquered as I sort of got one tech for free.

 

[Taxi Driver]

Bloog,

The Library can only get you advances from Civs that you are already in contact with. Get communications with the civs in question, and at the beginning of the next turn you will get the appropriate advances.

 

[Bloog]

But..

after I contacted the other civs, still I didn't get more techs. They all had knights and I could buy Monarchy from any of them yet I didn't get any tech from the great Library.

 

[Bamspeedy]

Post a save, this may be a bug. But, like Taxi Driver stated, you would get the techs after you end your turn after you established contact with the other civs. You should get the techs after you spent 1 full turn knowing 2 or more civs that have the same tech. Also, do you have the latest patches installed (1.29f for Civ3, and either 1.14f or 1.21f for PTW).

 

[Taxi Driver]

Are you sure no one's discovered Education? That cancels the Library's effect.

If you're VERY lucky, (like I was, I have no idea how this happened), two civs will discover education on the same turn and you'll get Education for free right before the Library breathes its last

Edit:

Maybe it's not luck. Perhaps the AI civs make a point of exploiting the "minimum research cost" of 40 turns and keep their science set very low..

 

[Bäver]

Maybe you always get Education from the Great Library...

 

[Taxi Driver]

...hmm yeah, that's a possibility too!

Just off the top of my head Bloog.. I'd say that by the time anyone is researching metallurgy, someone has already discovered education.

 

[Bamspeedy]

You can even get techs beyond Education if the AI happens to be far ahead of you and you just don't happen to make contact with them before YOU get education (i.e. island maps with vast oceans and higher difficulty levels). If the AI is up into the industrial ages when you finally contact them, you'll get all the way up into the industrial ages (try to buy contact, so you aren't stuck happening to meet the 2 most backward civs and missing out on some other techs). The Great Library expires the turn after you got education and were rewarded the techs of the civs you just met.

 

[Taxi Driver]

I thought that the effect of the GL was canceled by *any* Civ's discovery of education?

If not that's kinda neat.. but sounds difficult to exploit.

 

[Speaker]

Nope, it isn't cancelled until you discover Education.

 

[TheNiceOne]

The Great Library's effect has been stated incorrectly again and again, but speaker gets it almost right though:

1) It only gives you techs that is known by at least two other civs that you have contact with.
2) It works any turn that its current owner didn't start the turn with Education.

So 1 civ you know and 10 other you don't know may have education, and GL still works. On the turn you get contact with those 10 other civs, you will get education and any other techs at least two of them know, including techs that can only be researched after education. This is because you didn't start the turn knowing education.

Also if the civ owning TGL knows education, but then its city is conquered by a civ that don't have eductaion, then TGL will start working again.