Man does this AI cheat or what?

[casey1966]

I'm sure it's been discussed before,maybe not. I was behind a few techs with other civs, traded assembly line to Washington & caught up with everyone else.only one other leader was below me.

Next turn everyone was 3 techs ahead of me that I had caught up with the previous turn, & this game I'm playing is only on Warlord!!!

Now maybe I'm not comprehending something here...can someone explain what's up? I wish I could research 3 techs in one turn,I'm turning tech trading OFF! CHEATERS!!!!

 

[scienide09]

The AI trades techs. It's that simple. Especially when they're friends, the same religion, or leading the race.
Do you really think the program cheats?

Keep in mind that by turning off tech trading, you'll be slowing your own tech development as well.

 

[Malarkey]

Also don't forget that the AI might have already had those other techs, but since you didn't have the prerequisite techs until you traded, you weren't aware that they were ahead of you to begin with. That would be my best guess.

 

[AvianAvenger]

The solution to the problem is simple trade everthing you have for anything.

When there is no other techs to trade for then trade for gold, it might not seem worthwhile it at first but keeping your research at 100% while your losing 50 gold per turn is worthwhile. I can usually build up a pile of cash of about 5000+ gold... so i can keep the research pounding out till i have enough banks and market & etc.. to support my oversized empire.

By doing this i usually find myself 5 to 10 techs ahead of every other AI player on noble difficulty. As well as i keeping the research going it keeps everyone happy with you... which means no war to worry about + no high upkeep for defenses (i wouldn't try this against a human ).

One thing to watch out for is never agree to go to war or to stop tradeing with someone, if you stop tradeing with someone then thats a possible 5 to 10 gold per turn your loseing.

 

[CivFan91]

I don't know that that's always a winning strategy. Believe it or not, you *can* come out in the lead of a tech race, and tech denial is your only hope. Make them research what you did; don't just give it as a freebie. However, if you are next to a clearly powerful neighbor and he requests a trade, it may be wise to negotiate with him instead of a denial - at least for the time being.

My strategy has mostly to do with the fact that I play Civ mostly like Risk - tactical military domination. I try to go for Culture, or Space, but I run out of time before the space race and I get bored with culture. And diplomacy takes a degree of patience I don't have. I say BOMB THEM TO HECK!!!

How is that relevant? Well, the general who commands a victorious army is the one with the superior technology. Well, deny your potential threats the access to key techs, and you will come out stronger. Sometimes that means damaging excellent relations. Well, tough. That's how the game is played. If you really want to keep a secret, deny the tech, bite the diplomatic bullet and pray they don't ask repeatedly. An ally is someone you can turn your back on when fighting another neighbor. And that's pretty much all they're good for - have you ever seen a coordinated military assistance executed by the AI? Or do they simply just consider it a war on paper? I thought so.

Of course, that doesn't mean that techs should never be traded. You have to consider the fact that to advance, you're going to need a bit of help. The above examples are the exception to the rule - nobody should trade a tech that allows powerful units for that era unless you are on the receiving end. The game doesn't want to play like that? I say, choke 'em until they cough up the tech, then. But that's just me.

And this is what makes the game so utterly dynamic. I play with the cold pragmatism of a military general, but not all people have to play like that. And that's what is going to keep sales of Civ IV up: not only is it capable of good replay value, it's also capable of being played in a multitude of ways.

 

[zeeter]

I'm sure it's been discussed before,maybe not. I was behind a few techs with other civs, traded assembly line to Washington & caught up with everyone else.only one other leader was below me.

Next turn everyone was 3 techs ahead of me that I had caught up with the previous turn, & this game I'm playing is only on Warlord!!!

Now maybe I'm not comprehending something here...can someone explain what's up? I wish I could research 3 techs in one turn,I'm turning tech trading OFF! CHEATERS!!!!

As malarkey said, you can't trade a tech for something that you don't know exists yet. If your neighbor has Railroad but you don't have Steel, then Railroad won't show up in the techs available for trade. You have to wait for the next turn for it to appear. This means that you can't trade for Steel, then immediately go back in and trade for Railroad.

They're not cheating. They're just way ahead of you.