Other civs and unfair tech trading

[phreakyzen]

Is it normal for other civs to just give each other techs for free?

I had Invention and everybody else had Chivalry. Inca had Chivalry and Theology. The other civs with just Chivalry had no money no nothing. So I decide to trade Invention and 845 gold for Chivalry and Theology with Inca. Two turns later all the other civs have Invention and Theology. Inca still had the 845 gold and no more. Are they just giving techs to each other? Civs never give me techs for free or even at a discount!

 

[Greyhawk1]

Yep. They do but not for free - just a lot less than you pay for them. You can guarantee that 9 times out of 10 a tech you sell will already be sold to all other civs with the means or the prerequisite techs the very next turn. Thats why I sell any techs that I am selling anyway to all civs you can. You might as well since they will all get it anyway.

I suppose its to make the game harder for the player since the AI is incomparably dumb in many other respects.

However it really annoys me. Its one of the things that really spoils the game a lot of the time for me since its nearly impossible to build up a comprehensive tech lead on your own.

 

[Qitai]

Which patch version are you playing. Earlier Civ3 version has quite a ridiculous trading. It is not exactly free, but hugely discounted. If you have 1.29 civ3 or above, then the trading should be okay. Discounts are still given, but within reasonable range. Also, there are a lot of times where there does not seems to be any possible trading item between them, but there may be. Things like trading gpt, luxuries, resources, world map, communication and alliances are all possible trade item. And they maybe trading those items for tech. So, do not just look at the gold and assume it is given for free. They may be trading something else.

@Greyhawk1 - If you learn to trade well, it is not difficult to get the tech lead. However, I have to agree that they design the game forcing you to trade with other civ(which is not necessary bad), yet the interface to help you to trade sucks.

 

[Greyhawk1]

I rarely lag by much in techs in my games but then I rarely go ahead by much either. The AI keeps pace no matter how naff their civ is or how small. I've routinely had the biggest, most powerful civ by a very large margin and still been unable to keep up - even with trading. When you get very small civs a fraction your size keeping pace or going ahead it right cheeses me off.

 

[Qitai]

True. The game is design so that no civ will lag behind too drastically, unless they just happen to stay without contact for a long long time (I have seen myself in modern with AI in Ancient before. But it was because they are left on an island and I reduce them to a single city before they contact anyone).

It makes the game "balance" but it sure takes out the fun for some people. Sometimes, I guess, we just want to get to modern age and wack the ass out of the AI with far superior troops, something which I enjoy doing in the earlier civ.

 

[phreakyzen]

Thanks for the answers. I am using the latest patch for Conquests. There are no maps or communications to trade. Also I know that they do not need resources because I have all of them. If they needed it it would show up as a bargin chip on my side. None of the other civs had GPT when I went to trade the tech. I wanted to make sure Inca wasn't going to trade it. Maybe they free up some GPT amongst themselves with the sliders. As for luxuries if they are trading 1, 2 or even 3 for middle age tech then the game is unbalanced. I guess I just know better now.

 

[Greyhawk1]

It CAN work to your advantage if you find yourself isolated. Putting your tech slider to zero and buying techs can make up for quite a deficit. I've used the max gold/zero tech approach quite a few times when I have fallen hopelessly behind due to isolation.

Its almost impossible to research all the required techs on your own without trading by 2050 I think unless you are a pro or its on Chieftain.

 

[civ_steve]

Once a Tech is researched, the research cost for other civs to learn it is reduced. It's possible that the other civs were nearly finished researching the techs they were missing, and traded amongst themselves.

I think that lowered research cost is instantaneous. The Human player is first in the turn (for SP games). When you learn a Tech, you get the 'Show Me the Big Picture' option, where you can trade your newly learned tech. How many times have you looked at the trade options, decided not to trade for that other tech that civA has, then when the turn starts you find out that civB has your newly learned Tech and traded it to civA for the Tech you were missing. I think that civB's research was benefitted by you having already learned this new Tech and their research time got compressed down to 1 turn. If this is true, then if you've got an important trade to do with your new Tech, you'd better do it immediately with the 'Show Me the Big Picture' option!

 

[The_Unforgiven]

Originally posted by Greyhawk1
Its almost impossible to research all the required techs on your own without trading by 2050 I think unless you are a pro or its on Chieftain.

No it isn't. You'll have all the techs by focussing on science. In the beginning of the game, do a lot of exploring, so you come across lots of free techs. Build libraries and the Great library. Because of your extensive exploring, you'll see lots of the map, so you can determine the ideal locations for the so-called "super-science cities". Build all the other science improvements, and don't forget to develop your territory around the cities!

This works, and not only on Chieftain.

 

[wilbill]

Originally posted by The_Unforgiven
This works, and not only on Chieftain.

On Warlord and Regent it can. At Monarch and up, when the AI discounts kick in it becomes progressively more difficult.

 

[The_Unforgiven]

Originally posted by wilbill
On Warlord and Regent it can. At Monarch and up, when the AI discounts kick in it becomes progressively more difficult.

True, but not impossible. You probably won't be far ahead, but you can manage. Requires micromanagement though...