Since the AI gets major benefits, don't worry about having a high science rate, in fact, make it 10%. This way you'll be getting a lot of cash, which you have to focus on as the game goes on. With this money you should try to buy and sell techs and maps and such. To do this it would be wise to maybe be an economic and or expansionist civ. As for cities, just try and get as much land as possible, if there are any natural borders like water, use it to your advantage and block off a chokepoint, this way you can have a longer time to colonize the land you blocked off. I usually play on Emperor and try to start some early wars to get more territory. To do this it would help to have a good UU like the Immortal. But all of this depends on your strategy. BTW, I'm not exactly clear on the whole no science all money thing, so if someone could maybe point out some of MY faults, i'd appreciate it.