New to Forum;Have 2 questions.

[ReikoZ]

Hello everyone, I've been playing Civilization 3:Complete for about a month and a half now and I've learned so much from reading the articles and forum messages on this website

However I have 2 questions which I couldn't seem to find the specific answers for.
I usually play as the Celts or the Germans [not sure if that will make any difference to the answer, and I usually play on the 3rd easiest difficult]

1.) In my cities, how many/if any scientists should I have? I'm not really sure I understand how scientists work. I know they increase scientific output of the city...but I tfind that only the science bar (in the advisors screen) seems to have any affect on how many turns it takes to research a particular advance. So I guess this is 2 questions in 1...How many scientists should I have..and what do scientists do

2.) My second question is this. I usually play under the Republic Government, and when I go to war I occasionally change to communism [but lately I haven,t had the need to switch as they are usually quick wars. But I've read that Democracy is supposed to be better for commerce and production than Republic..but every time I switch to Democracy I always end up losing money..to the point where I have to decrease scientific ouput and end up getting behind. I tend to wait a few turns to see if my commerce will go back up but it never does and I end up loading the game before I switched and continue on with Republic. This has happened to me on numerous occasions.
Is this supposed to happen with Democracy? Or should I just continue with Republic?

Thanks very much

 

[Tomoyo]

Welcome to CFC!

1) Scientists give one beaker to your science output in Vanilla/PTW, three in C3C. You can see the scientists' effect in C3C, but you can't in Vanilla/PTW. If you can afford not to have any scientists in vanilla/PTW, don't hire any. In C3C, scientists are good in corrupt cities. Just hire more if you are missing just a little from completing research one turn sooner or so.

2) In C3C, Republic gives you unit support, so if you have a certain amount of units (up to a certain point, because for an extra unit, you have to pay double), Republic will be better. I almost never use Democracy because the increase in income is negligible.

You are welcome (very much? )

 

[Smartsquid399]

I guess that answers your question.

 

[ReikoZ]

In C3C, scientists are good in corrupt cities. Just hire more if you are missing just a little from completing research one turn sooner or so.

So Scientists will make advances come sooner? Is it better to have a whole bunch in a few cities, or a couple in each?

I almost never use Democracy because the increase in income is negligible.

So there is supposed to be an increase in income? hrmrmrm..How come it drops my commerce significantly then?

 

[Flintlock]

Is it better to have a whole bunch in a few cities, or a couple in each?

It really depends, if you have a city that has nothing better to do with it's extra citizens, like a fishing town for example, then turning them into scientists is a good idea. If you have them all over your empire then they start to become like entertainers in that they could be put to better use producing food/shields/commerce.

From my experience, however, it's better just to build libraries and forget about them entirely

 

[Smartsquid399]

I agree. Also, I wouldn't recommend Democracy if you have a lot of military units, because you have to pay 1 gpt for each one. That's probably how it drops your income.

 

[ReikoZ]

because you have to pay 1 gpt for each one.

ahhhhhh that makes sense...that's probably why then.


So that completely answers my second question and most of my first question.


With the scientists, and since I play conquests, and each scientist produces 3 beakers, what does that convert into? like how many beakers do I need for a scientific advance? One game comes to mind where I was getting so much money from the other civ's (per turn from technology) that my science bar was at 100% and I still had money left over At this point I made a few scientists not really knowing what they did. Would they be useful in that circumstance, or are they mostly for decreasing unhappy citizens? With little to no benefit to actual scientific advances?
Hrmm, Sorry if my question sounds confusing
By the way thanks a ton for your answers

 

[Smartsquid399]

In order to calculate this percisely, you either need a big brain and knowledge of the formula (which I unfortunately don't have, just the formula part though ), or a technology calculator, which you can get in the utilities section of these forums. I wouldn't just forget about the scientists entirely like Flintlock said, because they raise your science funding by 3 gpt (which is a lot in the ancient age). Although Libraries are better in bigger cities, scientists can still be usefull, especially if your'e falling behind in technology. Look at your domestic (sp?) advisor. At the top it should tell you how much glod you lost from science. This is your science funding, or in other words, how much money you spend on a certain advance every turn. Each advance has a certain cost in gold, and as you might have guessed, ancient advances cost a lot less than others. One scientist raises (or should raise) your science funding by 3. Hire a few of them and they could really make a difference. Hope this helps. Cheers!

-SmartSquid399

 

[Smartsquid399]

Is that of any help?

 

[ReikoZ]

Is that of any help?

Yup! that's answers all of my questions completely

You guys are great! Thanks very much!

 

[scoutsout]

If I may add my two cents here...

As a general rule, you don't want to hire specialists in your "core" (more productive) cities. Here is where specialists are powerful - especially in C3C: they are less subject to corruption.

If you scroll through your cities and look at those hopelessly corrupt outlying towns, you'll see that they generally produce 1 gpt for the treasury, 1 gpt towards science (beakers) and 1 shield per turn. If you improve these towns for maximum food (irrigate lots) then you will be able to hire more specialists.... hire some tax collectors and scientists, and these towns will contribute more to the empire.

Another general rule: specialists are more powerful in cities without 'multiplier' improvements. In other words, a productive city with a market, bank, and library will probably generate more gpt if the citizen is working a tile...rather than hiring a specialist.

A "hidden power" of specialists: If you hire a scientist or tax collector, and eliminate the last unhappy citizen, you'll get "WLTKD" (We Love The King Day) which reduces waste and corruption in that city.

 

[Smartsquid399]

Good point.

 

[Swip]

Hey ReikoZ!

Got a few tips for you.

In a unmodded c3c, you can not get a tech faster then 4 turns or slower then 50.
An easy way to get some extra cash in your bank is to drop the slider a few %
when you only have 1 turn to go on our research.
If you ain't in any hurry to get to the next tech, just get 1 or 2 scientists,
and drop your research slider to 0%.
You will still get the the tech in 50 turns, due to 50 is the maximum turns it take to
research a tech.

Hopes that helped you out...........

 

[Hunter Noventa]

Another thing about scientitsts is, that after a point new citizens will not be working any of the tiles and will usually be made into tax collectors. turn these guys into scientists for a nice boost in science.

How many citizens a city has to have beofre none can work depends on how close it is to other cities and if the overlapping tiles are being worked. Assuming no overlap, you can have 21 citizens before they start becoming specialists automatically.