Those techs you really one to get to your top 5

[del62]

People will have different ideas of which techs they really want to get to, which give you that little bit extra ummph, and often it will depend on your victory condition

Here are mine

Republic - that new government
Engineering - that ability to move my units more quickly on roads
Steam - rails
Mil Trad - Cavalry
Replacable parts, artillery, faster workers and civil engineers

Obvioulsy to some extent it depends on victory conditions, others might chose IW, the wheel or gun powder, and others education,astronomy, industrialisation and even free artistery

 

[Spoonwood]

Great idea del62!

Hmmm...

Free Artistry
Miniaturization
Sanitation
The Corporation
Mathematics

Alright, so to speak honestly, those aren't necessarily my top 5. I deliberately tried to pick ones that I think will come as less popular choices, but I think really useful for certain games in certain situations. They aren't all for the same victory condition. So, why did I pick each of those 5?

 

[Lord Emsworth]

1. Steam Power
2. The Republic
3. Steam Power
4. The Republic
5. Steam Power

 

[RickFGS]

Feudalism, Military Tradition, Nationalism, Steam Power, Communism.

 

[dominatr]

Steam Power- Rails makes war so much easier
Map Making- Map Trading is so lucrative when you play on big maps with many opponents
Banking- Makes a lot of money
Military Tradition- Cavalry
Scientific Method- ToE is so helpful

 

[scratchthepitch]

bronze working
masonry
pottery
alphabet
the wheel
warrior code

But not necessarily in that order. That's 6, but I cant narrow it down any further than that.

 

[Sparthage]

@dominatr: I assume you're talking about Vanilla. Navigation is the map tech in C3C.

1.) Republic/Monarchy: Whichever government I am using, it's the number 1 in that game
2.) Steam Power: The infinite move rails are soooo powerful.
3.) Military Tradition: Cavalry make war so much easier.
4.) Replaceable Parts: Aside from Infantry and Artillery, the extra food is a boost. Plus, it reveals rubber. You need rubber to be a strong contender in the Industrial/Modern Ages
5.) Flight: Bombers make war easier too.

 

[Spoonwood]

Aside from Infantry and Artillery, the extra food is a boost.

You mean the faster workers which might induce extra food via more rails up I presume?

You need rubber to be a strong contender in the Industrial/Modern Ages

Not in the industrial ages no. So you know I'm not BSing here, if you use CrPviewer and check the final save here, you can see that I don't have native rubber in my core, and I didn't have native rubber until I took it from Persia. Persia did have infantry when I fought them, and in the post here I have an intermediate save which even proves it.

Things do get a little more tricky in the modern age.

 

[Sparthage]

You mean the faster workers which might induce extra food via more rails up I presume?

Not in the industrial ages no. So you know I'm not BSing here, if you use CrPviewer and check the final save here, you can see that I don't have native rubber in my core, and I didn't have native rubber until I took it from Persia. Persia did have infantry when I fought them, and in the post here I have an intermediate save which even proves it.

For you maybe, but for me, things are tricky without it. I usually try to figure out where alot of the rubber and oil would be (large deserts or jungles) and conquer the civ that has them.

And yeah, in the modern age you do want it for the Mechanized Infantry and Modern Armor. In addition, you need the rubber for Marines (unless you're the Vikes, and still have berserks) to take those 1-tile islands.

 

[Ataxerxes]

1. Steam Power
2. The Republic
3. Steam Power
4. The Republic
5. Steam Power

The top 2 for starters, for sure. Here's the second tier of three for me.

Assembly Line - get the rails done faster and get Infantry.
Military Tradition - Cavalry
Motorized Transportation - Put the AI out of its misery with tanks.

If I have Ivory, Mathematics would go somewhere in there. Free Gallic Swordsman with an extra hit point every five turns. When you're not playing accelerated production they really make a difference. Diplomacy becomes simplified with fewer other Civs around.

 

[Spoonwood]

The top 2 for starters, for sure. Here's the second tier of three for me.

Assembly Line - get the rails done faster and get Infantry.
Military Tradition - Cavalry
Motorized Transportation - Put the AI out of its misery with tanks.

If I have Ivory, Mathematics would go somewhere in there. Free Gallic Swordsman with an extra hit point every five turns. When you're not playing accelerated production they really make a difference. Diplomacy becomes simplified with fewer other Civs around.

Did you rename Replaceable Parts "Assembly Line"? How did you get that name?

 

[tR1cKy]

Writing (contacts)
Map Making (maps, boats)
Republic (obvious)
Feudalism (Sun Tzu)
for the last spot i'll pick one between Chivalry (knights) and Navigation (to cross oceans).
all the rest is either optional, rarely needed or just plain useless.

 

[dominatr]

Writing (contacts)
Map Making (maps, boats)
Republic (obvious)
Feudalism (Sun Tzu)
for the last spot i'll pick one between Chivalry (knights) and Navigation (to cross oceans).
all the rest is either optional, rarely needed or just plain useless.

i hope you don't consider rails from steam power useless!

 

[tR1cKy]

i hope you don't consider rails from steam power useless!

of course not, it's just that i almost never reach that stage of the game, so i'd put them among the 'rarely needed' - to count in those science games i play once in a while.

 

[creamcheese]

Writing (contacts)
Map Making (maps, boats)
Republic (obvious)
Feudalism (Sun Tzu)
for the last spot i'll pick one between Chivalry (knights) and Navigation (to cross oceans).
all the rest is either optional, rarely needed or just plain useless.

You must be playing PTW? No contacts and maps that early in C3C.

Mine:
1.) Republic (commerce bonus!)
2.) Steam Power (rails are very powerful)
3.) Replaceable Parts (double worker speed, 2 units, rubber, what's not to like?)
4.) Military Tradition (Cavalry and the Military Academy make war go a lot faster)
5.) Navigation/Magnetism (move/trade over ocean tiles)

 

[del62]

It is interesting no one else has chosen engineering, I think in fast conquest/domination games this tech is underrated.

 

[creamcheese]

It is interesting no one else has chosen engineering, I think in fast conquest/domination games this tech is underrated.

It is certainly a good tech to have, but it doesn't have that game-changing nature like rails or getting out of despotism. You move faster, but not all that much faster if you planned your roads well. Probably makes my top 10 though.

 

[Verarde]

Republic (gold)
Feudalism (Sun Tzu)
Navigation/Magnetism (able to go overseas invading)
Military Tradition (Cavs...duh.)
Steam Power (Rails for all those extra shields/food/gold + quick transport)

 

[tR1cKy]

You must be playing PTW? No contacts and maps that early in C3C.

Yes, it applies to PTW. I never play C3C, i think it sucks big times, although the vast majority of the community is likely to disagree with me here

 

[Ataxerxes]

Did you rename Replaceable Parts "Assembly Line"? How did you get that name?

Sorry, I had been playing CivIV and had gotten confused with the terminology. I'll have to watch it.