Other civs know tech multiplier
- Thread starter oyzar
- Start date
iamnleth
Warlord
I never even knew -- you get a bonus when researching a tech that the AI already has?
@Trv016 - yes, you do. If you are researching a tech no one else has it will cost the full amount. You get a discount for every other civ that has learnt it. That's why metal casting costs an arm and a leg at the beginning of the game but is 10 times cheaper later, even though you aren't producing 10 times as many beakers. To the OP, I don't know the answer to your question. Someone should test this out. I can't atm unfortunately, away from gaming comp.
obsolete
Deity
I don't understand why there is no official release notes like every other patch that NORMAL developers would include.
Firaxis seems to mostly make its clients use a guessing game by trial & error to figure out everything.
Firaxis seems to mostly make its clients use a guessing game by trial & error to figure out everything.
Refar
Deity
- Joined
- Apr 10, 2005
- Messages
- 4,608
DaveMcW
Deity
- Joined
- Oct 8, 2002
- Messages
- 6,489
It's just you.
The known tech multiplier is extremely small, and is almost never worth considering in your overall strategy.
morchuflex
Emperor
Can you be more specific? Are we talking 1 or 2% per AI civ? Or is it a bit more? And does it scale with the map size and the number of civs included?
morchuflex
Emperor
So, if, say, 13 out of 17 other civs know the tech, and I have met all of them, I get a 30x(13/18) = 21.66% discount?
That DOES seem worth considering to me. Especially on a pangea (where you meet everyone rather soon), or a mid-to-late archipelago game.
As Dave points out, it's rarely worth waiting for an important tech. Also, it's much easier to trade for a tech that lots of people have, which is usually the best way to get it. That said, there are certainly times when it makes sense to adjust your tech order based on this bonus. If a bunch of civs are researching a tech you could start now but don't plan to use right away, you might as well wait. If there's a tech that helps you right away, of course, you should get it immediately, and if there's a very important tech that you're beelining to, that probably outweighs taking advantage of the bonus.
The main time I utilise the bonus is early game, when I'm scooping up the basic improvement techs I don't need right away for my capital. You need them all eventually, but there's no reason not to maximise beaker efficiency by going for the ones others started with first for the bonus. It'll be a while before trading really takes off, anyway.
The main time I utilise the bonus is early game, when I'm scooping up the basic improvement techs I don't need right away for my capital. You need them all eventually, but there's no reason not to maximise beaker efficiency by going for the ones others started with first for the bonus. It'll be a while before trading really takes off, anyway.
right, but on the other hand, it makes long beeline tactics quite effective.
You pay the full price for your long beeline, but then you can research all those things you didn't care for in the beginning with a huge bargain.
Maths needed here :
Is it better to go (example):
- agri, AH, writing, alphabet, then go back to fishing, wheel, pottery, mysticism, meditation, priesthood, hunting (you're bound to have something in the list, but I don't care)
or
- agri, fishing, wheel, pottery, hunting, AH, myst, med, priesthood, writing, alphabet
?
IMHO, above monarch, the first way is better. A lot better, because of the trade opprtunities.
OTOH, the second way is certainly better on settler.
Other than those 2 level situations, I have no clue.
You shouldn't have a tech path that you always stick to. You're not a good player if you use one. It's the same with people who have to play with a certain civ/leader to win. A good player can adjust his tech path and playing style by looking at the number players, number of Ai's, map type, other civs and leaders, bordering civs, relations, trades, other diplo stuff etc.
morchuflex
Emperor
While this observation may be valid in itself, I always find it funny when someone with 31 posts suggests that a veteran with almost 6,000 posts is not a good player.
Granted, numbers aren't everything. But still... 
While this observation may be valid in itself, I always find it funny when someone with 31 posts suggests that a veteran with almost 6,000 posts is not a good player.
I'm not quattromaster yet, I need one more game
.However, he was right, although misunderstanding me.
My point was to show that in one given situation you could either reduce your beakers cost by taking all the prereqs or you could reduce your beaker cost (less, but still) by waiting for the AIs to research the prereqs.
