SGL from Writing

[budweiser]

I was just playing as the Dutch, standard emporer continents. I researched writing at 100% and I popped an SGL right off the bat! So, I researched Literacy at 100% and, got TGL for free the next turn. It was 1600BC. What a lucky start. And I still had time to get philosophy first.

 

[slightlymarxist]

Ah! You lucky cheese!

 

[budweiser]

So I ended up saving a ton of money. After I got philosphy, I took COL for free and did a 50 turn run to republic. I used the money I saved to pay for embassies and upgrade warriors to swords. TGL got me out of the ancient age before I finished Republic. After I learned republic, I started all out for feudalism. I havent revolted yet because I started a sword rush on my neighbor the egyptians. I share my continent with them and the maya. I find myself fighting the maya now too because egypt payed them to ally against me. I have one resource hooked up but egypt has the only other luxury on the land mass that I can tell and it a good ways away from me.

So, I'm having a pretty easy go of it with the war. If I persist, I think I could run the table and kick both the maya and the egyptians out of the game, or at least reduce them to insignificance. However, I could also make peace, or a separate peace with one of them after I get the luxury I am after and then build up my improvements and infastructure to maximise my GA. The real enemies here are across the sea.

I'm wondering which course of action would be best. Just a reminder, I am playing the Dutch and am 20-25 turns away from Swiss Mercinaries.

 

[Beorn-eL-Feared]

imo, you should at least reduce them to insignificance: I take it from what you wrote that they do not have feudalism and won't have anything tougher than spears for your swords. After you got the lux and they are no longer a threat, I'd pop up GA by going at war again with whichever is the least insignificant of the 2.

Bear in mind I'm just another emperor player, nothing like the local big shots, but swordsmen wars always do me a lot of good, so i think you can get a great deal of advantage out of it..

 

[Peepers]

I had a game where I was India on a tiny map, Emperor also, vs Germany Spain and England. I got one SGL from my first research (masonry), and right after finishing a temple, popped the pyramids (around BC2700.) That started me on my first 20K city win. It was a fun game, but I didn't learn much about 20K victory pursuit. By the time I was done, with Newton's, Copernicus', Lib/Uni/Research Lab, my beaker bar at 100% science extended off into my 7th luxury area! (I wish I had a screenie of that.)

Isn't an early SGL great? A bit too arbitrary for some, but it does make the high diff levels that much worse when the AIs have the most chances to get them.

 

[Norsk_Viking]

TGL? whats it mean
i know MGL=military
SGL=scientific

 

[Tomoyo]

The Great Library (or Lighthouse).

 

[Norsk_Viking]

thanks, now i know

 

[Bagatur]

Yesterday got SGL from Literature )) Just to convert my puny prebuild for GL to aqueduct Imagine how bad it was to prebuild GL in so small city

 

[budweiser]

This really was an easy game. I ended up taking out egypt first with medieval forces. It took a while because I never really built an overwhelming army. After that a second campaing was launched against the maya to shorten the borders and get a bit more land. I had to stop though, WW.

Then I took my army and sailed across the ocean to land on a nice spot of land next to two luxuries. I fought a war with cav, rifles, and cannon to carve a niche. When that was secure, the troops loaded up and sailed on down to zululand. Zululand had six cities and two luxuries that I needed. I used an alliance with a local power and within a few turns the zulu were out. At this time I had a cav army and a rifle army working in tandem with a dozen cannon and about 6 individual cav units.

By now it was mid IA and time to say goodbye to the maya for the last time. Once again the army loaded up and sailed on, this time they landed back on home soil and completed a circumnavigation of the world.

Infantry, artillery, and cavalry made real short work of maya pikes and spears. The war lasted about 4 turns, 8 cities were taken and maya were out.

That's where its at now, I have a bout 40% of the land. The shortest road to a win will be domination so after a short leave, my troops will re-embark and head over to the second continent and get that last luxury from the Hittites. It seems they have a bit of a fur monopoly, and I need luxury number 8.

 

[thetrooper]

I was just playing as the Dutch, standard emporer continents. I researched writing at 100% and I popped an SGL right off the bat! So, I researched Literacy at 100% and, got TGL for free the next turn. It was 1600BC. What a lucky start. And I still had time to get philosophy first.

That's thekind of luck I want. It happened once in one of my 20k games.

 

[Crakie]

I was just playing as the Dutch, standard emporer continents. I researched writing at 100% and I popped an SGL right off the bat! So, I researched Literacy at 100% and, got TGL for free the next turn. It was 1600BC. What a lucky start. And I still had time to get philosophy first.

Research @ 100 % in the early game is a waste of money; if you researched it at 10 or 20 %, I'm pretty sure you would have gotten it in the same number of turns, with some more cash to spare.

 

[budweiser]

Crakie@ I'm on C3C so it's 50 turns on minimum. I'm sure I got writing before turn 50, but I forgot to check the exact date. In this game I happend to have a river(most games do), a coastal town(seafaring), and two cows, plus an agricultural civ. Add all those up and you have a whole ton of force propelling research faster than you would if you just took the minimum.

I'll have to check, but I think you are better off in most cases if you go at research 100% if possible. But, it sort of depends on your first goals. My first goal was going to be writing, to philosophy, to republic. It just happened to change slightly when I got the SGL. I hardly ever do 50 research anymore.

I think in higher level games you want to be wary of having too much cash on hand. It just leads to tribute demands from the ai. That's why I spend off the early cash on embassies and sword upgrades. Even so, I still had a few low cash demands made on me during the game. Sometimes I paid and sometimes I called the bluff since my position was fairly secure throughout.

 

[thetrooper]

Crakie@ I'm on C3C so it's 50 turns on minimum. I'm sure I got writing before turn 50, but I forgot to check the exact date. In this game I happend to have a river(most games do), a coastal town(seafaring), and two cows, plus an agricultural civ. Add all those up and you have a whole ton of force propelling research faster than you would if you just took the minimum.

I'm pretty sure too. All the river tiles and the extra commerce from seafaring should be enough to beat the 50 turns.

 

[Norsk_Viking]

does seafaring and commercial affect in same way?

 

[Tomoyo]

No. Seafaring gives an extra gold to all coastal towns, and commercial gives one extra gold to cities, and three to metropolises.

 

[Norsk_Viking]

oh, is there any civ that is commercial and seafaring? they would get lots of money!

 

[Tomoyo]

England...

 

[greenman1234]

sorry to be rude what is this thread about?

 

[Norsk_Viking]

wait the english are, i just read the civilopedia!