Quick Spaceship Victory?
- Thread starter Pacioli
- Start date
Optional
Deity
It helps being at a high level, where the AI will research quicker. Trade techs with the AI. Being scientific will make a difference, and then there are some trading tricks: http://www.civfanatics.com/civ3/strategy/free_tech.php
I haven't played XOTM games for a while now but I can do fast research. Adding to what Optional has said, it also helps to know what the AI is likely to research so that you can go for the techs they don't favour.
Make sure that your economy is strong and that your empire is large enough to get 4-turn research as soon as you can. Roads, libraries, universities in your core and specislist farms in the fringes should help assist this.
Trading for luxes that you don't have (with markets) should help you spend all your income on research rather than having to use the entertainment slider. That's not to say that you shouldn't use entertainment; it will probably be necessary in the early game especially. Use it to keep your core productive and getting citizens to work the commerce rich tiles. If you can get enough luxes to set it at zero and without the need for temples and cathedrals then you can spend your money on research.
Don't build what you don't need. Cities should not have improvements that cost money unless they need them. For example, barracks will be needed in a number of cities to build a decent army but this won't be every city. Even in your core, some cities can be used to supply arty whilst others supply combat units. I don't tend to build banks in high research games either as tax will be a small percentage so they will cost more in maintenance than they are worth. (I'd rather have 14 cavs than 7 banks in most cases.)
Also watch your unit count via F3. Workers are a must but make sure that your army is not costing you money. If it is, use it to gain more land for specialist farms or disband out of date units that you don't need.
Hope that this helps.
Make sure that your economy is strong and that your empire is large enough to get 4-turn research as soon as you can. Roads, libraries, universities in your core and specislist farms in the fringes should help assist this.
Trading for luxes that you don't have (with markets) should help you spend all your income on research rather than having to use the entertainment slider. That's not to say that you shouldn't use entertainment; it will probably be necessary in the early game especially. Use it to keep your core productive and getting citizens to work the commerce rich tiles. If you can get enough luxes to set it at zero and without the need for temples and cathedrals then you can spend your money on research.
Don't build what you don't need. Cities should not have improvements that cost money unless they need them. For example, barracks will be needed in a number of cities to build a decent army but this won't be every city. Even in your core, some cities can be used to supply arty whilst others supply combat units. I don't tend to build banks in high research games either as tax will be a small percentage so they will cost more in maintenance than they are worth. (I'd rather have 14 cavs than 7 banks in most cases.)
Also watch your unit count via F3. Workers are a must but make sure that your army is not costing you money. If it is, use it to gain more land for specialist farms or disband out of date units that you don't need.
Hope that this helps.
I receive assistance from the aliens, of course.
No, seriously, do you mean for XOTM (Game or Conquest of the Month) competitions or for a game you start up? If you can select your settings (landform, water type, number of opponents), and find a good map, then you can make it easier to get a faster finish and play accordingly. In XOTM competitions, you might have to do some things to win that you wouldn't want to do on a more fast research friendly map (like deal with raging barbarians on a high level). There's some good advice over at the HoF (Hall of Fame) threads for non-XOTM maps, and for an XOTM type map, I'd just check those threads. We have a spaceship game going on in the current gauntlet competition for the HoF, so you might want to pay attention there. We also played a diplomatic game last month, and many of the strategies come out as similarly. If you want your fastest spaceship victory and don't care about difficulty level, this seminal thread will help you get started. Tone has good advice in general for almost any type of game... except you probably won't need barracks on Chieftain or possibly other lower levels.
Do the higher level XOTM games have faster spaceship finish dates than lower level ones? I haven't checked myself. For HoF type games, it actually does NOT help to play at a high level for a faster launch. It helps to play at a lower level, because of several reasons including, but not limited to:
1. Cheaper tech costs
2. Less of a need to build military
3. More land easily settled (it's cheaper to settle than conquer)
4. More content citizens
5. Luxuries more easily settled
6. Wonders more easily built
7. SGLs more readily had
8. Less corruption which implies the luxury slider producing happiness easier, and more cities that can build things easier.
If you play at a higher level, where the AIs can do research, then trading techs intelligently and helping the AI out will certainly make things go faster, as Archphoenix's small Deity SS game very well proved. At lower levels gifting them a luxury or two might make so they have a little more gpt for sale.
No, seriously, do you mean for XOTM (Game or Conquest of the Month) competitions or for a game you start up? If you can select your settings (landform, water type, number of opponents), and find a good map, then you can make it easier to get a faster finish and play accordingly. In XOTM competitions, you might have to do some things to win that you wouldn't want to do on a more fast research friendly map (like deal with raging barbarians on a high level). There's some good advice over at the HoF (Hall of Fame) threads for non-XOTM maps, and for an XOTM type map, I'd just check those threads. We have a spaceship game going on in the current gauntlet competition for the HoF, so you might want to pay attention there. We also played a diplomatic game last month, and many of the strategies come out as similarly. If you want your fastest spaceship victory and don't care about difficulty level, this seminal thread will help you get started. Tone has good advice in general for almost any type of game... except you probably won't need barracks on Chieftain or possibly other lower levels.
Optional said:
Do the higher level XOTM games have faster spaceship finish dates than lower level ones? I haven't checked myself. For HoF type games, it actually does NOT help to play at a high level for a faster launch. It helps to play at a lower level, because of several reasons including, but not limited to:
1. Cheaper tech costs
2. Less of a need to build military
3. More land easily settled (it's cheaper to settle than conquer)
4. More content citizens
5. Luxuries more easily settled
6. Wonders more easily built
7. SGLs more readily had
8. Less corruption which implies the luxury slider producing happiness easier, and more cities that can build things easier.
If you play at a higher level, where the AIs can do research, then trading techs intelligently and helping the AI out will certainly make things go faster, as Archphoenix's small Deity SS game very well proved. At lower levels gifting them a luxury or two might make so they have a little more gpt for sale.
Optional
Deity
That list convinces me I was probably talking nonsense. It's obviously just a personal feeling of mine that I have on lower levels, that feeling that goes; 'AI, for God's sake, please research something at least, instead of letting me do everything myself!' My feeling is obviously not substantiated by fact. 
Excellent answers, Tone and Spoonwood.
Excellent answers, Tone and Spoonwood.
del62
Deity
Choose a scientific civ, free techs are a big help, play on small / tiny maps (quicker tech costs), a pangea is probably the best,
on higher levels i pefer no barb huts, I would just get swamped on tech pace, (less important on low levels)
on higher levels i pefer no barb huts, I would just get swamped on tech pace, (less important on low levels)
Similar threads
