Need help with the tech tree..

[gs12jdg]

How do I read the foldout tech tree that came with the game?
For instance to achieve refining, it looks as though all I need to research is Alphabet--Math-University-Chemistry but refining is not an option when I complete these.

Also can someone tell me the fastest way to research flight (by fastest I mean which Techs could I research that will get me there quickest).

 

[Ace]

Read the key at the lower right corner on the fold-out chart. Many advances have a 2nd Prerequisite in (brackets). For refining, its (the corporation).

 

[Old n Slow]

If I've calculated it correctly, Flight has 41 direct and indirect prereqs -- do you really want the total list? (I set up the tech tree in an Excel spreadsheet.)

 

[MikeLynch]

Go to the Science Advisor screen and select the "Goal" button. Pick a science (in your case, Flight) and it will tell you:
"Then we should research X (or Y)." This is the fastest approach; I never use the tech tree MPS included, or any other external reference.

Test of Time has a wonderful feature called "Auto-Research," though its name wrongly implies similarity to the "Auto-Settler" function. Basically, you pick your research goal as explained above, but then you can hit the Auto-Research button and when you get an advance, the screen where you pick your next one shows which ones lead to your research goal (but you can choose any tech on the list).

For example, say I want Radio. I click "Goal" and it says "Then we should research Flight" and gives me the Auto-Research option. I hit that button, and then when I get whatever I was researching before, the list will have all the sciences available to me, but instead of just saying
Flight
it will say
Flight: Radio

It's a sweet feature and one of the big reasons I recommend ToT to anyone who is willing to learn how to replace its gawd-awful graphics.

 

[ElephantU]

The Civopedia/CivAdvances is accurate for tech prerequisites, and you can drill backwards with a click. Flight requires Combustion and Theory of Gravity, which require Ref+Lit and Ast+Uni respectively. Your "longest leg" is going to be Refining, which requires Chem+Corp, where Corp requires Indust+Econ. Every tech has two direct prerequisites except a few of the "starters" like Wheel.

I don't like the tech poster that came with the game, or the one by Erin Ryan in the CFC Reference section (although it does arrange things a bit better). I use the Civopedia for prerequisites and CIV2PLAN to check on sequencing and tech-hiding.

BTW, welcome to CFC! Check out the Strategy Forum for more threads about tech paths and research costs.