Research: How do I catch up that quick?

[Veteranewbie]

I have a serious question on science.
In most of my game (regent), I always fall behind in researching. but as I get up into later game, my research get faster with reduce science spending i.e. 14 rounds for chemistry on 70% research but 4 rounds for electronics on only 40% science spending. Why can i spend less money for a faster research in the future tech (I think it costs more money for later age tech, but even for future tech i can only spend 10% for a 5 turns? Also, why can the people beat AI in researching even in deity level (in late game when they do it by researching themselves, not buying)?

 

[Angmar]

You probably have built more science buildings ( libraries / universities and research labs ) by the time you hit electricity. The cost of research is also affected by how many other civs have that tech. So if you are first to get the tech it will have cost your more science beakers than if you are 10th to research it.

It is fairly usual for the player to lag behind in techs at the start. The AI will swap techs with each other for a discount compared to you. This means that the AI almost works "together" to get techs. This is much more pronounced in the beginning when no one has any real research ability and most techs are in the 30-40 turn range.

 

[Gothmog]

Other infrastructure helps too. If you have Stock Markets in all your cities you don't need much to cover your expenses and make some gpt. The rest you can afford to spend on research. Same goes for cathedrals vs. lux slider.

 

[satchel]

For me (Monarch) my research doesn't really get off the ground until I get Democracy. I then head straight for railroads, and railroad up all my tiles. That is the point at which my economy really takes off. I usually don't take the tech lead until the industrial era.

To answer the other part of your question, I think you will find that most players do not have a tech lead on Deity level. Perhaps in the very late game it is possible to maintain a slim lead. I don't play Deity, but from reading this boards I get the impression that Deity victories don't usually involve technological leads. Even a spaceship victory may require a strategic late war to destroy a competitor's capital.

 

[Bamspeedy]

On deity, the AI will almost always have a tech lead until the industrial ages (unless the map conditions severely limit AI expansion/contact with each other). So players will run at 0-10% science and just buy techs from the AI (or beat it out of them)early in the game. Build marketplaces and banks to support a high income. Then build libraries and universities, so that when the industrial age hits and the AI falls behind (usually because of wars and having to go to communism), you can crank up research and pull ahead.

In this game, I pulled ahead when I got Nationalism as the free Scientific tech.
http://www.msnusers.com/BamSpeedysC...ttlersgotm14.msnw?action=ShowPhoto&PhotoID=71

 

[Gothmog]

As satchel says, most of the time you do not have the lead when playing at Diety. Late in the game with universities and stock markets in all of you cities you can research about as fast as an equivalent AI, then it is down to how many AI opponents you have, how much they are trading vs. fighting, and how large they are. The way many Diety players gain the lead in the first place is to prebuild the Theory of Evolution, buy into Scientific Method - a cheap tech (here again your non-scientific infrastructure is critical) then take atomic theory and electronics (both very expensive techs). If you can also prebuild Hoover, this manuver can really act as a slingshot. With Hoover you can easily build research labs and SETI/the internet and really exploit your lead. Also selling atomic theory for lots of gpt tends to cripple AI research efforts.