How come all the AI civs get techs so fast. I play with the babylonians, so i get a free tech at each age and have very short anarchy. Like in my game right know i was ahead by a good 4-5 techs but now that we are getting in hte late industrial age they are catching up. I admit they do have more cities than me but i am number one in population so i know that i am producing than they are. also i have scientific research on 80% and they all have theres on 40% so i should be well ahead of them. Admittley i have been known to trade techs but i am very careful what i give them and normally try and get a tech i passed up. Does anyone have a good explanation to why they always catch up or is it just how its programmed so human players dont get to far ahead.
Science
- Thread starter ses777
- Start date
steviejay
Now in Black and White!!
cause they've sold their souls to satan???
The AI civs catch up with tech because they do a lot of trading among themselves. All you have to do is trade a tech that none of them has (and do this frequently), gaining gold and, with luck, techs and enough gold per turn in order to put your science to 90 or 100%, while lowering theirs. Do this every once in a while - check what the richest nation will offer you - and the game will be yours. This strategy begins to pay off in the late Medieval/early Industrial eras, as it is when the AI civs will be fairly developed.
Keep in mind to save one or two techs for yourself, so if anyone declares war you will be able to bribe others to join you, and try to always sell first the techs that don't allow better units, Wonders or an increase of production; however, if you must, sell them also. You'll probably be more powerful than the others anyway.
Oh, and don't forget to sell the same tech in the same turn to every civilization, or else they will. Even if the most backwards only pay you their map and 20 gold, it's still yours and not for the others.
I hope this will help.
Keep in mind to save one or two techs for yourself, so if anyone declares war you will be able to bribe others to join you, and try to always sell first the techs that don't allow better units, Wonders or an increase of production; however, if you must, sell them also. You'll probably be more powerful than the others anyway.
Oh, and don't forget to sell the same tech in the same turn to every civilization, or else they will. Even if the most backwards only pay you their map and 20 gold, it's still yours and not for the others.
I hope this will help.
I have 37 cities, most of which have Libraries and Universities in them as I'm playing the Ottoman's who are Scientific. However Babylon, who have 17 cities are researching at the same rate as me.
I have at most a two turn tech lead in front of them, I dont know how they're doing it! I've seen them gain a tech from trading before even though I tried trading that same turn and they had zero gold
I have at most a two turn tech lead in front of them, I dont know how they're doing it! I've seen them gain a tech from trading before even though I tried trading that same turn and they had zero gold
It's a little difficult to keep a tech lead in civ3, because once one civ has already researched a tech (that being you), the price in beakers comes down for all the others. So there's a built-in bias against letting any civ get too far out in front. (Note that this can also work *for* you if you are behind.)
Some tips to maintain a lead:
- build roads everywhere; you get one extra commerce for every roaded tile your citizens are working
- switch to republic and/or democracy; these governments give you one more commerce for every tile that's already producing commerce
- build marketplaces, banks, stock exchanges (PTW only), Wall Street (all of these will increase your available cash, which means the same 80% research setting actually gets you more research)
- build libraries/universities
- build happiness improvements to allow more of your citizens to be productive and/or get bigger cities
- build harbors in your coastal cities (this allows more citizens to work ocean tiles by increasing the food you get from them; each ocean tile produces three or two commerce) in PTW build commercial docks
- build courthouses and police stations in towns that are marginally corrupt; this will allow more of the commerce they produce to actually make it into your coffers
Many wonders are useful for research too. Copernicus/Newton's are self-explanatory - try building them in a city that's already producing a lot of uncorrupted commerce. Pyramids/Sun Tzu's/Smith's reduce maintenance costs, therefore freeing up more cash for research. Pyramids also helps your growth rate. Oracle/Hanging Gardens/Sistine/Bach's all keep more citizens happy, which means fewer entertainers and/or a lower luxury slider, which also means more cash. Leo's can be useful, too, in the 'more free cash' category, especially if you have a largeish military that needs a lot of upgrades.
Finally, check your city screens to see how many of your citizens are entertainers. If it's a large number, you may be able to get better productivity by putting them all back to work and using the lux slider instead to keep them happy.
Good luck!
Renata
Some tips to maintain a lead:
- build roads everywhere; you get one extra commerce for every roaded tile your citizens are working
- switch to republic and/or democracy; these governments give you one more commerce for every tile that's already producing commerce
- build marketplaces, banks, stock exchanges (PTW only), Wall Street (all of these will increase your available cash, which means the same 80% research setting actually gets you more research)
- build libraries/universities
- build happiness improvements to allow more of your citizens to be productive and/or get bigger cities
- build harbors in your coastal cities (this allows more citizens to work ocean tiles by increasing the food you get from them; each ocean tile produces three or two commerce) in PTW build commercial docks
- build courthouses and police stations in towns that are marginally corrupt; this will allow more of the commerce they produce to actually make it into your coffers
Many wonders are useful for research too. Copernicus/Newton's are self-explanatory - try building them in a city that's already producing a lot of uncorrupted commerce. Pyramids/Sun Tzu's/Smith's reduce maintenance costs, therefore freeing up more cash for research. Pyramids also helps your growth rate. Oracle/Hanging Gardens/Sistine/Bach's all keep more citizens happy, which means fewer entertainers and/or a lower luxury slider, which also means more cash. Leo's can be useful, too, in the 'more free cash' category, especially if you have a largeish military that needs a lot of upgrades.
Finally, check your city screens to see how many of your citizens are entertainers. If it's a large number, you may be able to get better productivity by putting them all back to work and using the lux slider instead to keep them happy.
Good luck!
Renata
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