non-tradable advancements tech

[Ozymandias]

Yeah you can make certain techs untradable, but how do you make that clear when playing the game.

It's easy, for the Player, of course, by putting it in the 'Pedia, let alone right there on the Tech Tree, but why would the AI need to "know?" The AI will research whatever it can: all you can do is "constrain" its choices by using Era Zero Techs, or use simple math to "steer" the AI to research certain Techs first. The AI's preferences for what to research next are well known. My (rarely used) trick is to make up a resource - "Unobtainium" - and stick it where it cannot be reached, and weight the AI's choice by 70 points by "offering" up a Defending Unit which requires Unobtainium.

And I think that's all that can really be done.

I also agree with you, to a point, about Map Trading: I only allow it much farther into the game, as I'm not certain if that will make the game too unbalanced for the Player.

As an aside, I also never enable ROPs.

 

[Theov]

It's easy, for the Player, of course, by putting it in the 'Pedia, let alone right there on the Tech Tree, but why would the AI need to "know?" The AI will research whatever it can: all you can do is "constrain" its choices by using Era Zero Techs, or use simple math to "steer" the AI to research certain Techs first. The AI's preferences for what to research next are well known. My (rarely used) trick is to make up a resource - "Unobtainium" - and stick it where it cannot be reached, and weight the AI's choice by 70 points by "offering" up a Defending Unit which requires Unobtainium.

And I think that's all that can really be done.

I also agree with you, to a point, about Map Trading: I only allow it much farther into the game, as I'm not certain if that will make the game too unbalanced for the Player.

As an aside, I also never enable ROPs.

I am also thinking of putting rop after the medieval age.

 

[Ozymandias]

It's just too easy a cheat for a human player: ROP directly followed by DOW. If territorial access is desired, then ally.

 

[timerover51]

I do not use Right of Passage treaties, especially with some of the AI civilizations. I think that I might simply disable that particular item.

 

[Theov]

P

I do not use Right of Passage treaties, especially with some of the AI civilizations. I think that I might simply disable that particular item.

Perhaps should be pushed back down the tech tree ...

 

[SayHayKid]

I am currently play-testing my mod, C3C Enhanced. I have the first row of techs untradeable. With other tweaks to terrain and resources, the Ancient Era and Middle Ages have been playing out most excellently. I am loving how it plays. The ancient units are getting their time to shine. With changes I made to terrain/terraforming/etc. the cities are growing at a slower steady pace. At first, I thought it might be going too slow, but it is playing really well. I hate the rushed early game of standard Civ. Expansionist Civs are doing just fine. At first, I tried to give them a boost with half-priced settlers, but they didn't need it. With goody huts they can advance to the second column quicker and be first tech traders.

It also allowed for more steady AI growth and took me longer to "catch up" with tech trading (Era 2). Also, each trait gets its own starting tech and benefit giving each Civ a "unique" start tied to their trait. And since the first techs can't be traded, each civ has a more unique playstyle at that start.

 

[SayHayKid]

After another test, it seems that having the first row of techs in the ancient era untradeable actually helps the Expanionist Civs rather than hinders them. Some of this probably is due to other changes I made (mining at bronze working, irrigation at pottery, etc.). By popping techs from huts they can often start improving their cities sooner. Also, by getting techs from huts they can move into the second column of (tradeable) techs sooner, becoming early traders.

I also made all techs in the Modern Era non-tradeable ala CCM, but I haven't made it to the Modern Age to test. I either had bugs to fix or I got wiped by a rival Civ (most recent game).

I am thinking about making government techs untradeable, mostly to slightly slow down the transition to the Middle Ages, but also the AI values government techs highly. The human player can trade "up" really fast getting Monarchy or The Republic. The AI always seems to overpay. However, it can also be helpful to get the human "caught up" if they are behind from the first row of techs being untradeable. So, I don't know.

 

[SayHayKid]

I made all of the Modern era techs non-tradable as suggested by Civinator. So far I like it. Before, it was just a mad dash through the tech tree to launch into space or finish the domination. Modern units didn't have much time. Without tech trading (and a couple of extra techs) there is much more time for Modern warfare. I will have to bring some units forward and add some additional units. For example, I am thinking Tank -> Main Battle Tank -> Modern Armor. With the longer Modern era, there was too much time between tanks and modern armor.