I must be slow. . .:(

[The Art of War]

I usually play as the Americans on Chieftain. I only have two games going right now, Americans and Germans. Anyway, here's my problem. From what I've heard, you guys get through science fast, but I can barely get through the middle of the modern era by 2050. My science is usually 50 and entertainment 20, and I just can't seem to get my science any faster. I'm worse with the (scientific) Germans. What am I doing wrong?

 

[ButSam]

Build Libraries ASAP, the Universities ASAP. Also build Marketplaces and Banks ASAP because then you can set your science rate higher since you have more income. Newton's University really helps if you build it in a power-science producing city!

 

[Grey Knight]

Actually, with a little careful planning you can get a really mega-science city. Look for a city with a lot of river tiles, and a few hills. The river tiles give an extra trade, and the hills give shields -- for which you use to build wonders. Namely, build Copernicus's Observatory and Newtons University. If you pre-build with a palace, you can almost guarentee yourself getting these.

With a library+university you get a 100% (or is it 125%?) increase in science output from that city. On top of that, both of these wonders double science output, giving you a 700% increase in output from one city.

Also, are you building roads??? I noticed my treasury was low early in one game, and couldn't figure out why. When I noticed I was working tiles with no roads (meaning no trade) the problem became clear! Finally, change governments to either republic or democracy -- both get bonuses to trade, not to mention lower corrruption (meaning you get to actually *use* that trade!). Even going from despotism to monarchy you should net more income due to the lowered corruption.

Cheers,
Shawn

 

[The Art of War]

I build masses of roads and go straight for Democracy from Republic. I thought I built alot of science improvements, but I guess it wasn't enough. Well, I'll just have to build more, thanks, guys.

 

[NY Hoya]

after the ancient age, I never have my science set below 70%. I also never have my lux rate at more than 10% unless I'm at war.
I'm hitting the modern age at around 1100 AD on regent with no research help from the AI, just goody huts.

Try obtaining more luxuries and building more marketplaces. This will allow you to lower both the luxury rate and the tax rate. Trade the excess luxuries for gold per turn and make sure you cancel those deals after 20 turns to renegotiate for more gold out of the AI

 

[Bamspeedy]

On chieftain, you can't expect any help from the AI (except maybe the first few ancient techs that they start with) because they are so slow on research. So you need good infrastructure to do all the research yourself. Get as many luxuries as you can, and build most if not all of the improvements in your 'core' cities. With the luxuries and happiness improvements you can set entertainment expense to 0% or maybe just 10%. Thus allowing you to set science to 70% like NY Hoya. Republic and Democracy is a must for researching techs. Democracy is a little better for corruption, but republic experiences less war weariness.