Is extra research wasted when you discover a tech?

[nickciviv]

When the tech slider is about to discover a technology does the extra research get wasted? In many cases, I find that the amount of research is going to well surpass the needed amount in 1 turn. Does the spill off go to the next tech?

Just curious if I should be watching my research closely and lower my research as much as needed to complete the technology in the same number of turns but using less research.

For instance, say it takes 4 turns to discover a technology at 100% research. But it also takes 4 turns to discover the same technology at 70% + 30% of gold or drama. If left at 100%, where does that extra research go?

 

[NinjaGnat]

A change from Civ 3, both production in cities and tech research overflow is used for the next item, so no extra work is lost. Quite nice, and solves the issue of rolling back the science slider every time you discover a tech to get the maximum gold out of it.

 

[Lucas87]

in the case of production it can be minorly manipulated to your advantage. Such as building a lot of 1 turn units in your production city before getting a tech that enables a desired wonder or simply pumping overflow on items on which you get production bonuses so that you can get a couple of free hammers. At least that's how it seems to work for me. I've had over 600 hammers per turn display in my city screen, most of which is coming from overflow. Anyway, I don't think it is actually worth it to spend your time doing this, however I did it just to test that you could build up such overflow and well you can.

 

[salty]

However, it looks like if you use a prophet (prob scientist, too) to rush a tech, any overflow disappears.

 

[calyth]

However, it looks like if you use a prophet (prob scientist, too) to rush a tech, any overflow disappears.

It make sense.
In late game, if you order a GP to help discover tech, it only contributes x amount of research. If it overflows, then in early game, you could get maybe 3 techs. Suppose a GP contributes 2000 research points. Late tech often costs more than that, so the GP couldn't get it done in one turn. Mid game techs are measured in hundreds of research points.

 

[nickciviv]

If another civ discovers a wonder that you are working on, can you have that effort go to another building/unit? The hammers always go to gold for me. However, I dont have anything in my building queue so maybe thats it...

 

[Equisilus]

If another civ discovers a wonder that you are working on, can you have that effort go to another building/unit? The hammers always go to gold for me. However, I dont have anything in my building queue so maybe thats it...

No, it always goes to gold. Unfortunate, especially if you're only a turn or so away from completion when another civ finishes. With Universal Sufferage, you can put that money towards finishing something else, but I don't think the cost balances out.

 

[Thalassicus]

In the early game, getting gold from being beaten to the Parthenon or another likewise wonder can actually be a huge benifit for your research. Honestly, I get production started on any of the more useless wonders that come along (like the Angkor Wat), then cancel it a turn before completion. Some other civ builds it twenty turns later and you get 500 gold!

I once did this in two cities, with the Spiral Minaret. 1 turn to go = cancel production, start it in another city = cancel production. Someone else builds, and voila! Practically a free great merchant.

It can be a bad thing when it happens, but I more often use it to my advantage, so I think it balances out. This might only work when you're playing an industrious leader like Qin, and/or have the resource that doubles production. For five-ten turns' worth of production in a city you get several hundred gold, far more than the hammer-to-gold process could provide.

It might be interesting to see exactly what the conversion rate is. Does it convert every 2 hammers into 1 gold, like Wealth does? Hmm...

 

[Psyringe]

In the early game, getting gold from being beaten to the Parthenon or another likewise wonder can actually be a huge benifit for your research. Honestly, I get production started on any of the more useless wonders that come along (like the Angkor Wat), then cancel it a turn before completion. Some other civ builds it twenty turns later and you get 500 gold!

I once did this in two cities, with the Spiral Minaret. 1 turn to go = cancel production, start it in another city = cancel production. Someone else builds, and voila! Practically a free great merchant.

Wouldn't it be much easier to have your city building wealth? Even if you didn't have Currency when you researched philosophy (to build the Angkor Wat), it shouldn't be far away. Or do you get more gold per hammer when losing a wonder race, compared to simply building wealth?

 

[Thalassicus]

I just tested it, the wonder refund actually converts each hammer production directly into one gold. I set up a test game with a city with 217 hammers of production towards the Pentagon. The next turn I added the Pentagon to a second city, and the third turn that production was refunded (with the overflow added to the next building):

So if you're an Industrious civ and have the doubling resource, this actually produces 4 gold for each hammer, eight times the amount of using the Wealth process.

 

[Psyringe]

So if you're an Industrious civ and have the doubling resource, this actually produces 4 gold for each hammer, eight times the amount of using the Wealth process.

Wow. Interesting find.

 

[Pentium]

Another thing worth menationing here: You get refund for national wonders too. If you start building Heroic Epic in one city, then change the build and remove it from the queue, then build it in another city, you'll get a refund.