Science *cheat*

[WildFire]

I was just wondering. When you are about to get say radio your next turn, do you turn down your science all the way down, as far as it can go without it being 2 turns? I've been doing this a while because when its at say 70% i put it down to 10% if it lets me. If this is in the modern ages, that could equal up to around 600 gpt. even if it only goes down about 20% it still more money that you would of had.

Has anyone else here ever done this?

 

[Eliminator]

Yep....if i dont forget

 

[DaDoo]

I hardly call this a cheat. It's just good micromanagement.

I do it as much as I can remember to change it. Sometimes I'd forget to crank it back up after I discovered the tech tho

 

[Allemand]

Ha. That happens to me, too. Then I wonder why I have so much money.

 

[Evincar]

Hey, hope that is not a cheat . I do it all the time, except when I forget..

 

[Hades]

It is hard to turn it any lower than 0%.

 

[XOVER]

What you're describing is not a cheat -- it's the correct and proper way to play the game.

 

[WillJ]

As others have said, it isn't really a cheat. And I try to do it every tech.

And also, I don't just do it on the last turn of researching the tech. Every turn, if I can remember, I look at the science slider and put it on the % that gives me the most money while still researching the tech in the number of turns that I want it to. I'm pretty sure that you can make even more money if you do it like this instead of just waiting until the last turn. Or, since I guess you would be able to move the slider down further in the one turn if you waited until the last turn, would moving it down on the last turn give you the same benefit as checking it every turn?

 

[Evincar]

Well WillJ I think you save the same amount of gold. There is an advantage in doing it they way you do, though: You get the money earlier.

 

[Yoda Power]

Originally posted by willj
As others have said, it isn't really a cheat. And I try to do it every tech.

And also, I don't just do it on the last turn of researching the tech. Every turn, if I can remember, I look at the science slider and put it on the % that gives me the most money while still researching the tech in the number of turns that I want it to. I'm pretty sure that you can make even more money if you do it like this instead of just waiting until the last turn. Or, since I guess you would be able to move the slider down further in the one turn if you waited until the last turn, would moving it down on the last turn give you the same benefit as checking it every turn?

Hey willj me too!

 

[Grey Knight]

What's needed are hotkeys to change the science rate without having to go to the advisor screen and clicking the buttons....

Cheers,
Shawn

 

[Shabbaman]

Even better:

You've got to put an amount of gold into a tech: if you don't change science rate, excess money is still put into this tech. It would be fair if you got this money refunded, or that it would be invested in the next tech that you'd research.

 

[royfurr]

Originally posted by DaDoo
I hardly call this a cheat. It's just good micromanagement.

I do it as much as I can remember to change it. Sometimes I'd forget to crank it back up after I discovered the tech tho

Absolutely No Doubt. It's good management. Shame that the game makes us do this though. I'd perfer the fractional amounts of gold to roll automatically into the next tech, although some wouldn prefer the automatic deposit into ones treasury. OTOH, if it worked this way, the AI would get the benefit of that too- I presume that currently it does NOT. Of course, it .... might. In that case, failure to use this technique to squeeze out that "bonus" gold means your placing yourself at a disadvantage! Best to seize the chance and pull in the gold.

 

[klambert]

If you don't do this, you will be at a disadvantage. It is definitely not a "cheat".

 

[Thrawn]

I do this when I don't forget. Like practically everyone here I suppose.

 

[Gothmog]

I think you can get a bit more gold by doing this before the last turn, as willj says. It only makes sense in that it allows you to get closer to the minimum amount for the tech. The key is to be as close to the total tech cost as possible, because you can only increment in 10% chunks per turn you can only get so close using only the last turn as an adjuster. If you start adjusting sooner you should be able to get closer to the desired total. Even better if you then adjust again every subsequent turn. Now thats MM!

 

[TheNiceOne]

Here's the math:

First, assume that the total number of turns for a tech is equal to, or less than the initial research rate in 10%. I.e, if you will research the tech in 6 turns, the initial research rate must be 60% or higher.

If this is true, then you get the same amount of cash whether you adjust the research rate each turn or the last turn only. To be exact, the amount may vary a bit due to rounding, but it will vary with only a few gold, and it's just as likely to favour the last turn adjustment as adjustment every turn.


But if the number of turns are higher than the initial reserach rate, you may need to check before the last turn to get most out of your trade. I.e., if you research for 6 turns with an initial reserach rate of 50%, you may gain some money by adjusting the second to last turn as well as the last.


All this assumes that your income and research effectiveness (libraries etc.), as well as the reseacrh cost stay constant. If some of these changes, then you may gain something by checking before the last turn.