New to the civ games

[PaulLaverty]

I am really new to this game and play direct online with a mate who is more experianced.

How can I get my research done quicker as he always seems to be able to get more techs much faster than me

Cheers in advance

 

[Sisiutil]

Welcome to CFC and to the wonderful world of the Civ games!

This is a much more complex question than you may first realize. Check the articles in this site's War Academy for details.

Beyond that, here a few basic tips.

• Early in the game, look for the tribal villages, a.k.a. "goody huts". These will sometimes "pop" for technologies. If you can get to more of them than your buddy, you have more chances of getting a free tech. You may also get gold, which will allow you to research at 100% for longer. Choose to play as a civilization that starts with Hunting and your first unit will be a Scout rather than a Warrior; Scouts get 2 moves to the Warriors' 1, allowing them to explore more territory faster, and they get slightly better results from huts (no barbarians, basically).
• Try to work tiles that bring in more commerce (coins). Some of your commerce goes to research, and more commerce also allows you to run your research "slider" at a higher percentage.
• As the game goes on, you'll need to have your Workers improve tiles with cottages (required tech: Pottery), and you'll need to assign citizens in the city screen to work those cottages. These will grow and bring in more commerce over time. Now, this may be a moot point in multi-player, where human players tend to just build units and go to war with one another ASAP. But if your buddy's early game playing style is more peaceful, cottages are the way to go.
• If the game lasts long enough, research Alphabet early on. This allows you to tech trade with other civilizations.
• If you have a marble resource tile near your start, settle near it, put a quarry on it (required tech: Masonry), and build the Oracle (required tech: Priesthood), which will give you a free technology. The two most popular free Oracle techs tend to be Metal Casting and Code of Laws. But in multi-player you may prefer the cheaper Iron Working or Construction--so you can build Swordsmen, or War Elephants and Catapults, and go conquer your friend's cities.