slow-down research in "marathon mode"

[lead341]

Hi,

I love to play the marathon mode and the slow pace of the game in this mode. Yet I still think that research is simply too fast. For example, I am a big fan of the classical and medieval era and simply would like to stay there much longer - having more battles with spearmen, hoplites and triremes. Is there some way to increase the turns research needs, or expressed differently: to make research "slower"?

greetings,

lead

 

[PRCouture]

I'm with you on this one. I generally prefer to play Epic, because it's not a tedious wait to get construct things. Anyways, that would be really cool if they made a "last age" kind of thing, such as starting in the Ancient Era and you can only go to the end of the classical.

 

[lead341]

Exactly - having a "final age" would be a great thing. But I would like to think that there must be some adjustment for this...maybe in some hidden settings?

 

[I_qua_I]

There is a mod available (I think it's called simply "slower research") that does just this. All tech costs are increased by 50% or something. Try typing in 'research' in the mod browser and see if it comes up. There is also a mod that adds entirely new paces (not just increases the tech speed.) Here is a link - http://forums.civfanatics.com/showthread.php?t=415585

For the record, my experience with the mod in the link is somewhat varied. The AI doesn't seem to perform too well in many of my games. Still, I thought it might be of interest.

 

[El_Machinae]

Modding will have to be the way to slow research. It's really hard to get the research to slowdown just through strategic gameplay.

 

[lead341]

@I_qua_I: I searched for the mod but couldn´t find it. Where exactly do I have to look - Modkiki? Downloads?

I was just browsing google for some results - isn´t there a file somewhere named "gameinfo" or something like that where you can adjust the speeds?

 

[I_qua_I]

There is an in-game modbrowser that lets you view any/all mods people make available. When you are playing the game, select the option called 'mods' on the title screen. Then click on 'browse'. You should now be at the database. There is a search option so type in "research." Scroll through until you find it I guess. There's a bunch of other cool stuff there too to try out.

 

[historix69]

You can easily mod the Tech Costs which are located in "C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\SteamApps\common\sid meier's civilization v\Assets\Gameplay\XML\Technologies\CIV5Technologies.xml".

Create your own Mod with Modbuddy, add a new xml-file and overwrite the Tech Costs. See the Example-XML-Code below. Don't forget to add the obligatory line with "OnModActivated","UpdateDatabase", (name of your xml-file) to the Project Actions. Build your Solution / Mod in ModBuddy and then select it from in-game list of installed Mods.

The code below is from my private Mod where also Buildings, Food, Production, etc. were changed (e.g. Palace : +50% Science, +50% Production). So depending on your Game-Speed (normal, epic, marathon) and selected Mods you may have to adjust values to be able to finish Research before time runs out.

Spoiler :

<GameData>
 	
	<!-- ######################### -->
	<!-- # Change Tech Costs # -->
	<!-- ######################### -->

	<!-- Future -->
	<Technologies>
		<Update>
			<Where Cost="7000"/>
			<Set Cost="20000"/>
		</Update>
		<Update>
			<Where Cost="6500"/>
			<Set Cost="18000"/>
		</Update>
		<Update>
			<Where Cost="6000"/>
			<Set Cost="16000"/>
		</Update>		
	</Technologies>

	<!-- Modern Age -->
	<Technologies>
		<Update>
			<Where Cost="6000"/>
			<Set Cost="16000"/>
		</Update>
		<Update>
			<Where Cost="5400"/>
			<Set Cost="12000"/>
		</Update>
		<Update>
			<Where Cost="4700"/>
			<Set Cost="10000"/>
		</Update>		
	</Technologies>

	<!-- Industrial Age -->
	<Technologies>
		<Update>
			<Where Cost="3100"/>
			<Set Cost="7000"/>
		</Update>
		<Update>
			<Where Cost="2660"/>
			<Set Cost="6000"/>
		</Update>
		<Update>
			<Where Cost="2350"/>
			<Set Cost="5000"/>
		</Update>		
	</Technologies>

	<!-- Renaissance Age -->
	<Technologies>
		<Update>
			<Where Cost="1710"/>
			<Set Cost="3000"/>
		</Update>
		<Update>
			<Where Cost="1560"/>
			<Set Cost="2800"/>
		</Update>
		<Update>
			<Where Cost="1080"/>
			<Set Cost="2600"/>
		</Update>
		<Update>
			<Where Cost="840"/>
			<Set Cost="2400"/>
		</Update>
		<Update>
			<Where Cost="780"/>
			<Set Cost="2000"/>
		</Update>
	</Technologies>

	<!-- Medivial Age -->
	<Technologies>
		<Update>
			<Where Cost="485"/>
			<Set Cost="1000"/>
		</Update>
		<Update>
			<Where Cost="440"/>
			<Set Cost="850"/>
		</Update>
		<Update>
			<Where Cost="375"/>
			<Set Cost="700"/>
		</Update>
		<Update>
			<Where Cost="275"/>
			<Set Cost="600"/>
		</Update>		
	</Technologies>

	<!-- Classic Age -->
	<Technologies>
		<Update>
			<Where Cost="160"/>
			<Set Cost="300"/>
		</Update>
		<Update>
			<Where Cost="105"/>
			<Set Cost="250"/>
		</Update>
		<Update>
			<Where Cost="85"/>
			<Set Cost="200"/>
		</Update>		
	</Technologies>

	<!-- Antique Age -->
	<Technologies>
		<Update>
			<Where Cost="70"/>
			<Set Cost="150"/>
		</Update>
		<Update>
			<Where Cost="55"/>
			<Set Cost="100"/>
		</Update>
		<Update>
			<Where Cost="35"/>
			<Set Cost="70"/>
		</Update>
		<Update>
			<Where Cost="20"/>
			<Set Cost="30"/>
		</Update>		
	</Technologies>


</GameData>

As You may notice I not only increased Tech Costs by 50% - 200% but also increased the gap between ages, e.g. Classic Age 200-300 , Medievial Age 600-1000 . Advancing to cheapest Tech of Medevial Age costs the equivalent of two to three Classic Techs.

It also helps to disable Free Techs from Great Scientists and Buildings and to disable Research Agreements to slowdown Research.

Spoiler :

<!-- ##################### -->
	<!-- # Disable Free Tech # -->
	<!-- ##################### -->

	<!-- Remove Free-Tech-Ability from Scientist -->
	<Units>
		<Update>
			<Where Class="UNITCLASS_SCIENTIST"/>
			<Set NumFreeTechs="0"/>
		</Update>
	</Units>

	<!-- Remove Free-Tech-Ability from Buildings -->
	<Buildings>
		<Update>
			<Where FreeTechs="1" />
			<Set FreeTechs="0"/>
		</Update>
	</Buildings>
	

	<!-- ############################## -->
	<!-- # Disable Research Agreement # -->
	<!-- ############################## -->

	<Technologies>
		<Update>
			<Where Type="TECH_PHILOSOPHY"/>
			<Set ResearchAgreementTradingAllowed="false"/>
		</Update>
	</Technologies>

A third way is to change the Tech-Cost-Multipliers defined in Game-SpeedCIV5GameSpeeds.xml.
(The values in the code below are the original values : 100%, 150%, 300%. Change to whatever you like.)

Spoiler :

<GameSpeeds>
		<Update>
			<Where Type="GAMESPEED_MARATHON" />
			<Set ResearchPercent="300" />
		</Update>

		<Update>
			<Where Type="GAMESPEED_EPIC" />
			<Set ResearchPercent="150" />
		</Update>

		<Update>
			<Where Type="GAMESPEED_STANDARD" />
			<Set ResearchPercent="100" />
		</Update>
	</GameSpeeds>

 

[lead341]

thank you for this very detailed description.
I think the third way is the easiest for me because I got zero experience with mods (and programming).

I just the gamespeed as follows:


<ID>0</ID> <Type>GAMESPEED_MARATHON</Type> <Description>TXT_KEY_GAMESPEED_MARATHON</Description> <Help>TXT_KEY_GAMESPEED_MARATHON_HELP</Help> <DealDuration>90</DealDuration> <GrowthPercent>250</GrowthPercent> <TrainPercent>250</TrainPercent> <ConstructPercent>250</ConstructPercent> <CreatePercent>250</CreatePercent> <ResearchPercent>400</ResearchPercent> <GoldPercent>250</GoldPercent> <GoldGiftMod>75</GoldGiftMod> <BuildPercent>250</BuildPercent> <ImprovementPercent>250</ImprovementPercent> <GreatPeoplePercent>250</GreatPeoplePercent> <CulturePercent>250</CulturePercent> <BarbPercent>350</BarbPercent> <FeatureProductionPercent>250</FeatureProductionPercent> <UnitDiscoverPercent>250</UnitDiscoverPercent> <UnitHurryPercent>250</UnitHurryPercent> <UnitTradePercent>250</UnitTradePercent> <GoldenAgePercent>200</GoldenAgePercent> <HurryPercent>100</HurryPercent> <InflationPercent>10</InflationPercent> <InflationOffset>-270</InflationOffset> <VictoryDelayPercent>300</VictoryDelayPercent> <IconAtlas>GAMESPEED_ATLAS</IconAtlas> <PortraitIndex>0</PortraitIndex>

To summarize: I increased research time to 400, and decreased other values from 300 to 250 in order to accelerate a bit. Do you think that is ok?

 

[historix69]

I'm not familiar with changing the original xml-files in Civ5. I only used mods to change values in the xml-files. Eventually your changes will get lost if STEAM updates the game.

Best way to evaluate your changes :
Start a new game with your changes and check the Tech-Tree if you like the result, e.g. number of turns for early Techs. Play a game and check if you enjoy it. If you don't enjoy it, change values, start new and repeat.

The problem with linear increase of Research Cost is that the first 100-200 turns on Marathon can become even more boring. It might take you 40-50 turns to research an early Tech like "Mining" or "Pottery" .... most Cities need "mines" to increase production to build even basic buildings or units without waiting for centuries. Building worker might take 20-40 turns. Have the worker build a mine will take 20-30 turns. So I usually research "Mining" before "Pottery" and "Writing" to have built up Production capacity to be able to build a library or wonder in an acceptable number of turns ...

Usually you want the early techs to be relatively cheaper than the later techs to speed up early development of your 1-City-Economy and to reduce negative effects from starting in a less ideal place or from choosing a less ideal tech to research.


Modding is quite easy when you have managed to successfully start your first own mod. All the code to change the xml is already listed in the post above so you only have to copy-and-paste the code into a new xml-file you add to your mod-project :

Create your own Mod with Modbuddy, add a new xml-file and overwrite the Tech Costs. See the Example-XML-Code below. Don't forget to add the obligatory line with "OnModActivated","UpdateDatabase", (name of your xml-file) to the Project Actions. Build your Solution / Mod in ModBuddy and then select it from in-game list of installed Mods.