How can I tell if a Wonder is obsolete?

[TheBaumer]

Here is the situation...I am alone on an island and can not reach the mainland with my Galleys...I am playing pangaea, so I am pretty sure that the other Civs are already aware of each other and trading. So I am at a pretty big tech disadvantage and so I build the Great Library.

Okay now it is built and I am not recieving any techs....I am a newb so I go back and look to see what the problem might be...seems I only get techs when two KNOWN Civs have them and there is also the possibility that the GL is already obsolete? How can I tell if it is obsolete if I have no contact with other civs?

Is this game screwed? ....and yes I have sent many a ships on suicide missions to try to reach the mainland.

 

[thetrooper]

The GL is obsolete the turn after you discover education.

 

[TheBaumer]

Really? Hmm maybe I can salvage this game after all...I am completely new to Civ3 but I am pretty sure the GL expired when any Civ found a certain tech back in either Civ1 or Civ2....I guess you have to relearn the game after taking so much time off from playing it

 

[thetrooper]

You must meet other civs to get the benefits tho.

 

[TheBaumer]

You must meet other civs to get the benefits tho.

Yes I guess the "Death March of Galleys" will continue until I get lucky enough to cross the ocean

 

[predesad]

Yes I guess the "Death March of Galleys" will continue until I get lucky enough to cross the ocean

while i am sure someone will argue i am wrong, but when trying a suicide galley across the ocean i usually stack 3-4 of them at a time and go all at once, seems like i get better results that way than sending one out at a time to watch them sink. with 3-4 most times some sink some dont. if you have more than a one turn trip you might even think about raising the number to 6-7. with the GL built i would recommend you turn research off completely and dedicate all your resources to reaching the mainland.

 

[Tomoyo]

Increasing the amount of Galleys is no better than sending them as soon as you can. Simple as that. Sending a lot at once gives you a psychological feeling that it is more likely to survive.

 

[HamaticBabylon]

Wow you should start over because if your still in the ancient era...they mite be in early industrial age...what a bad start you have...not only that but you will be invaded as soon as you discover another civ...Just look at what happened to the Aztecs!

 

[DBear]

Ah, but Europe was sending out the ships. This would be like Cortez finding the Aztecs were in the industrial age.

Baumer, check out the link in my sig "Catch Up if We Can". This is a succession game where we deliberately started off on an island. Lucky me made a suicide run and was able to contact the rest of the world before navigation.

 

[wilbill]

Wow you should start over because if your still in the ancient era...they mite be in early industrial age...what a bad start you have...not only that but you will be invaded as soon as you discover another civ...Just look at what happened to the Aztecs!

I totally disagree. If you're building your empire properly, building your military, etc., you'll catch up quickly once you meet the other civs and catch up in technology. I've picked up 12 -14 techs in one turn before by capturing the GL. You can even get techs well into the Industrial Era if the others are that far along. Your game could be very winnable at this point.

 

[predesad]

Increasing the amount of Galleys is no better than sending them as soon as you can. Simple as that. Sending a lot at once gives you a psychological feeling that it is more likely to survive.

see, i knew someone was going to disagree with me. I agree that overall each individual galley has the same chance of surviving whether sent out by itself or a lot of others, but i would rather have the RNG roll the dice several times on one turn than to spread it out. in my experience i have had more successful trips this way, but i never said there was actually a better chance at surviving.

 

[Frollo]

Wow you should start over because if your still in the ancient era...they mite be in early industrial age...

Sure, they might be, but as soon as he meets two other civs, he gets ALL of their techs.

So it's no hopeless situation at all!

 

[classical_hero]

I am You are playing pangea and you are stuck on an Island. It does not quite add up.

 

[Frollo]

I am You are playing pangea and you are stuck on an Island. It does not quite add up.

Some, or perhaps most pangea maps may have one or two islands. The same is true for continent maps.
Most of the time those islands are too small for the game to assign a starting position to them, but sometimes it happens anyway.

 

[TheBaumer]

Wow thanks for all the great replies and input! Well after piling up bodies in a watery grave I was finally able to get two galleys across the great divide and found the Germans. I had to rush out - so I couldnt explore their terrirotry completely but they seem to be in even worse shape than me! Looks to be an island half the size of mine and covered in mountains and hills - which is actually a good thing - my island has no iron or horses

Hopefully one of these two heroic galleys can find the mainland and contact the rest of the Civs...I am quite sure they are far ahead of me in techs and size (based on the Wonders they are building) and while the game may or may not be winnable it is certainly interesting -- so the adventure will continue!

 

[Frollo]

Good luck!

 

[LulThyme]

see, i knew someone was going to disagree with me. I agree that overall each individual galley has the same chance of surviving whether sent out by itself or a lot of others, but i would rather have the RNG roll the dice several times on one turn than to spread it out. in my experience i have had more successful trips this way, but i never said there was actually a better chance at surviving.

So what ARE you saying?
You are contradicting yourself.
As you said yourself, your chances are no better if its on the same turn or not, its just psycological.
But waiting to assemble a group is counter-productive so your strategy is in fact inferior.