Laying the foundation for a science victory

[MightySpice]

Maybe a bit of context. I play civ since version 2. I skipped 6, because i found it pretty boring, so i got stuck on 5 for a long time.

I am trying to figure out what is an optimal way to play the game to achieve a science victory. Starting with the first era: antiquity.

Game setting: tiny map, sovereign, crisis of, game speed standard, continents.

After starting the capital i focus on getting to know the map and finding locations for at least two towns. I build a small army (5 or six units) discover pottery and animal husbandry first. In the capital i focus on hammers and in towns i focus on food.

After that i try and discover mathmetics as soon as possible, leaving the masteries for later.

On a tiny map 3 - 5 settlements is pretty much all that is room for, so after my initial three settlements i try for a 4th or a 5th one, but sometimes i get stuck on three. I want to end the first era with the best possible start for the next era science wise, so i imagine all towns need to be converted to cities one time or another because i want as many academies as i can. What do i do with my towns untill that moment? What is the best focus for towns? Should i buy buildings?

On sovereign getting the Great Library complete is not that hard, but getting to future tech is! Anyone a tip? Is future tech possible with 3 - 5 settlements?

Oh and what about civics? I am bit lost there. I go for literacy because of the wonder with the codex, but that's pretty much it strategy wise.

Any thoughts? Tips? Suggestions?

 

[Acken]

Don't forget science city states for free techs and building bonuses.

Writing 2 is a very good mastery to get for higher science. It contains a codex and +1 science for libraries. Additionally it enables tech spying which is a way to convert influence into science at a good ratio.

Make great libraries with adjacency and put a specialist there with currency.

 

[Lord Yanaek]

There's a lot of variations based on what Civ/Leader you play and even your starting location so it's hard to be specific and generic at the same time. It's particularly hard to suggest Civics without knowing which civ you play as their unique trees are not all equal as far as science is concerned (they are usually all good to take, but when varies a lot).

In addition to what Acken already posted :

• Try to get your towns to pop7 as quickly as possible so you can start sending food to your cities, buying a Granary/Fishing Quay not only helps you produce food but also adds an urban population immediately
• Currency is a high priority tech so you can start using specialists
• Don't overlook Research Endeavors, especially early they can make a big difference (propose or support)
• Use wonders strategically to boost the yield of important quarters (especially if you have unique quarters, and double especially if you have science unique quarters)
• Play as the Maya
• Play as Confucius
• Plays as Confucius of the Maya
• When you run out of room for expansion don't forget that what armies are for

 

[MightySpice]

What government would you choose? Despotism seems the obvious choice?

 

[Acken]

Unless I play a culture civ, I typically need the culture more than the science to reach late antiquity wonders like Angkor Wat and Nalanda and therefore would pick the culture government in that case.

 

[MightySpice]

I am (althought the latest game exactly in the last turn) pretty much allways get the amount of codices needed. But getting to future tech is pretty hard. How many cities are needed at the end of the first era?
I played Amina with Egypt and had 4 cities and 2 towns.

 

[Acken]

Without a great civ/leader I at best get 1 future tech in antiquity on standard age length. Amina and Egypt are not going to get you there easily.
4 cities is usually whereI end up yes. But I typically have more towns than that.
Exploration on the other hand it's easier to quickly reach the end of the tree because you can start very quickly on grabbing the city states.

 

[MightySpice]

How many settlements can one have? I have gotten not past six.

 

[Fluffball]

I barely focus on science anymore. Try to find a science CS asap and befriend it first. (Try to take a culture CS second in antiquity for free civics). Take the free tech for befriending CSs then focus on befriending every CS you can.

Once you run out of CSs use your influence to steal techs and civics.

I do this every game and in every era and always fill out the tech and civic trees. I usually ignore masteries unless it has settlement limit or something really good, heading for researching future tech with me getting mysteries from all the free techs I get.

I do the same for civics also.

I am getting 2 or 3 future techs/civics each era.

I usually have 3 cities at the end of antiquity and the rest are towns. This is more than enough. Unless a town has no connections i always pick hub town for influence to feed all the free techs/culture from CSs and tech/civic stealing.

Usually just doing science/culture projects in all cities for a while at the end of the era. Used to just spam military as I was filling both science and civic trees anyway but AI is so passive it just seems pointless after a point and cost gpt to maintain so I just try to max as many futures tech/civics as I can.



For exploration era focus on happiness to get social policy slots from celebrations and slot all the additional gold/food/science/culture/happiness adjacency bonus cards and you will generally get science legacy without specialists...I usually end up using some specialists as I run out of tiles to work in cities in exploration era.



Hardest part of science victory in modern is you have to actively stop yourself winning by any of the other 3 victory conditions for the game to last long enough for a science victory.

 

[MightySpice]

What level do you play?

 

[Fluffball]

Done that all the way up to diety.

With civ 7 and the era reset it doesn't matter really if the AI gets ahead as your only goal is to achieve the era goals before the era ends.

Only time science/culture really matters is the culture legacy in antiquity as wonders are a limited resource but once the AI starts getting bonuses no one can get 7 wonders. The AI doesn't focus them enough and you can't get the requirements before the AI most of the time. Everyone usually has 2-4 each.

AI is nort very aggressive either, especially if you get a decent military...never been DoW'd once I have a half decent military, always me declaring on them...and with the era reset your units are never really that underpowered even if you are behind.

Most games/eras I don't upgrade a single unit. If I am at war or going to DoW I might upgrade the small.number of front line units which are going to be actually fighting.

 

[Acken]

How many settlements can one have? I have gotten not past six.

I usually reach 9-10 by the end of Antiquity. All civs should have a limit of 6, some go up to 8 and most will be at 7. Then you add 1 to 3 on top of that depending on happiness.

 

[MightySpice]

I play a tiny map. Does that have an impact on the number of settlements one can have?

I now succeeded (on a standard map btw) to get to 40 yields on one tile, so i am on to the modern age with my uni's.
I got the feeling the game is not that difficult to win.

 

[vorlon_mi]

@MightySpice , it's your choice to play on a tiny map. It will limit the number of settlements you can found with settlers, compared with a standard sized map. If you want more settlements, you will need to conquer them.

I agree with the other suggestions. Here are a few comments, based on your desire to improve your chances for a science victory.
Working our way backwards ...

In Modern, the science victory comes from completing projects: Trans-Oceanic Flight (unlocked with Flight), Break the Sound Barrier (Aerodynamics), Launch Satellite (Rocketry) and finally Crewed Space Flight. Each of those projects will require some production as well as science to unlock the required techs. Yes, you will want to have science buildings in Modern (Schoolhouse, Laboratory) that should overbuild something from Exploration. You will also want to have some Factories (or IronWorks) to ensure that you can build the projects. I believe (please correct me) that only cities with an Aerodrome can build the projects, so that may also be a prerequisite.

In Exploration, you will want to secure your land and get a foothold in Distant Lands. Yes, build some science buildings and convert some towns to cities. I usually end Exploration with 3-4 cities and 6-8 towns (with half of them on islands or the other landmass). Strictly speaking, you don't have prerequisite science techs in Exploration that directly lead to the science victory. You'll transition to Modern whether you achieve all the techs or not. Exploration (for me) is mostly about gold from Treasure Fleets; gold can be used to buy buildings /quarters to improve your science. Note (latest patch) that all of the CS you befriended in the previous age reappear, in roughly the same place, as friendly IPs. If your civ has a unique quarter, consider building it. If you're planning to stay peaceful, use your influence to do Endeavours that benefit your science or gold.

In Antiquity, the goals are to claim your land so that you will have space to build Universities (Exploration), Laboratories and Aerodromes (Modern) . Yes, befriend some IP into city-states, but don't neglect your neighbors. My experience is that a leader who starts hating you in Antiquity or Exploration never really gets over it. As noted above, you will still transition to Exploration even if you don't get all the techs or all of the codexes / codices. Increasing your science is good in the early game, but hostile IPs can also be a pain to deal with.

 

[MightySpice]

What i meant was: is the actual limit on settlements on a tiny map lower.

 

[Acken]

What i meant was: is the actual limit on settlements on a tiny map lower.

No