[Vanilla] Tips for a science victory

[alsie27]

Hi! I am looking for tips on winning the science victory.
The last time I tried I played on a low difficulty level as America and by the end of the game I had researched multiple Future techs, so my science was obviously fine, but I ended up losing the game to Germany in Time victory because I didn't have all the parts built before time ran out, and think I would have lost the science too if there had been more time, though it was close. Does anyone have good tips on what to prioritize in winning the science victory, or know where I could find such tips? (maybe this has been discussed, or there's a guide somewhere? Sorry if I have missed it.)

I bought this game like a day after it first came out but it turns out I haven't played all that much, partly because I find the game difficult to learn, so I would often get bored quickly. I've recently started playing again after a long hiatus and would like to learn more. I don't really have an interest in spending hours learning the mechanics of the game outside playing it. I know the basics but I feel there's a lot that I still don't quite get. Is it just me or is this game more difficult than some of the previous games? I played a lot of CIV V and knew that pretty well. I've also played CIVs II to IV but honestly don't really remember what those were like anymore. (And maybe I should be the first to admit that I'm just busier now that I am much older so it's more difficult to learn than back in the days of those earlier games...)

 

[Trav'ling Canuck]

Civ 6 is pretty confusing, and the rules are likely less clearly explained than any past version of Civ.

The good news is winning is easier than it has been in any other version of Civ. Not as easy in Vanilla as it is in R&F, but still easier than Civ 5, for example.

In Vanilla Civ 6, production is the choke point for winning a science victory (for R&F, it's science). The fastest way to get the space components built in Vanilla is to use the Great People who give boosts to space component construction, in combination with chopping. So your ideal Space Port city is one you've just founded, with lots of choppable trees/stone that you use to chop in the Space Port and then use Great People together with additional chops to finish the components.

The slightly more intuitive (and slower, but still fast enough to beat the AI) approach is to put your Space Port in your highest production city instead of the city with the most choppable stuff. Getting Great People who boost space part construction is still very useful for cutting down on the number of times you hit "End Turn". EDIT: in this approach, make sure the city is within 6 hexes of a Factory and Power Plant, is working lots of mines, and has all of your trade routes running out of it to the cities that give the most production per route.

Since Great People are so important to finish off those expensive space race components, it's really useful to have a lot of gold, which you can use to buy the right great person when they become available. Big Ben is the easiest way to get that gold. Chopping copper and crabs helps a lot, too (especially if you can do it just before completing Big Ben).

Note that all of the above only applies to Vanilla. Completely different strategies work better in R&F. For that same reason, don't get caught up in R&F science strategy advice articles, as they'll lead you astray.

 

[alsie27]

In Vanilla Civ 6, production is the choke point for winning a science victory (for R&F, it's science). The fastest way to get the space components built in Vanilla is to use the Great People who give boosts to space component construction, in combination with chopping. So your ideal Space Port city is one you've just founded, with lots of choppable trees/stone that you use to chop in the Space Port and then use Great People together with additional chops to finish the components.

Thanks for your reply! That's really useful. I hadn't even realized some of the late-game Great People help the Space Race but now I went ahead and looked for a list of them. They can do so many different things so I never seem to be aware of all that they can do. I had also not paid much attention to the ability to purchase Great People - I've seen it's there but I don't think I've ever used that option.

 

[Hactar]

Thanks for your reply! That's really useful. I hadn't even realized some of the late-game Great People help the Space Race but now I went ahead and looked for a list of them. They can do so many different things so I never seem to be aware of all that they can do. I had also not paid much attention to the ability to purchase Great People - I've seen it's there but I don't think I've ever used that option.

It’s definitely worth buying some of the great people. Adam Smith (in Vanilla) comes to mind. An extra policy slot is huge. Especially if you have the Mausoleum of Halicarnassus, some of the engineers / admirals start to look pretty good too. For example the one that gives you a free Ironclad. If you get 2 promoted Ironclads when everyone else still has Quadriremes and Galleys...

Even some normally crappy ones like the GS Hildegard of Bingen can be worth it. I had a game recently where I had a Holy Site next to Eyjawhatever giving +10 faith I think (with Aurora pantheon). With Hildegard and the double HS adjacency card that HS also generated +20 science, which was huge in the early / mid game.

It’s always worthwhile to check the great people screen regularly to see if a good one comes up.

 

[Leathaface]

It’s always worthwhile to check the great people screen regularly to see if a good one comes up.

This is very sound advice. When I started playing Civ VI, I only very occasionally checked the great people screen. Now I check it a fair amount and it does help. Knowing what great people will appear, and when.

 

[Disgustipated]

Make sure to build 2 or 3 campus districts and get a library and university in them. You are at a lower difficulty so you shouldn't need much more than that. Put in research labs after researching chemistry. This should help not losing to time victory.

The other thing mentioned above is production. He is correct that production is the bottleneck in vanilla civ6. At lower difficulties as you are learning the game I wouldn't worry so much about complex strategies of chopping forests and even the great people aren't necessary to win. Though Korolev (engineer) and Sagan (scientist) are the ones that give lots of production lump sum style, and there are a couple that speed up space part construction. As you are learning the game you can discover their usefulness. But more importantly it's good to learn how to get productive cities. Easiest way is to build an industrial zone surrounded by as many mines and quarries as you can. A lot of people may criticize industrial zones, but as you are learning the game they are the best way to get productive cities without more complex strategies. Make sure to build workshop, factory, and power plant in that industrial zone. I won't go into industrial zone overlap here, for now I just recommend building spaceports in cities with industrial zones and with lots of hills with mines on them. 2 spaceport should be enough. One can build one Mars project while the other builds another. By the time one finishes you should be finished researching the tech for the last space ship part. Also if you lack a lot of hills for mines, lumber mills on woods next to rivers aren't bad for production.

 

[alsie27]

Thanks all! Production was indeed why I lost my previous game. I had industrial zones and some of the zone buildings in the cities that were trying to finish the space ship projects but that didn't seem to be enough. But maybe I didn't pay enough attention to the zones' placement or other details. And campuses I had built in most cities early on because I wanted to emphasize science but maybe I overemphasized it with regards to production in the end.

And the advice to pay attention to the Great People is good too, I haven't paid much attention to who's available thus far, though I would check it occasionally just to see if I was close to earning any of the Great People.

 

[Hactar]

Thanks all! Production was indeed why I lost my previous game. I had industrial zones and some of the zone buildings in the cities that were trying to finish the space ship projects but that didn't seem to be enough. But maybe I didn't pay enough attention to the zones' placement or other details. And campuses I had built in most cities early on because I wanted to emphasize science but maybe I overemphasized it with regards to production in the end.

In Vanilla, one of the biggest gains in production is from the Globalization civic, E-Commerce policy card. +5 per trade route. Make sure you have decent culture output to get there in time, and assign all your trade routes to your spaceport city.

 

[alsie27]

In Vanilla, one of the biggest gains in production is from the Globalization civic, E-Commerce policy card. +5 per trade route.

Yet another detail I had overlooked! Thanks. The Civics are another thing that's a lot to learn in this game.

 

[alsie27]

Thanks for the tips by the way! I was able to win my first science victory last week and did learn a lot. I am now trying for a domination victory. I don't recall having won one before, though I may have in the beginning. I only have vague memories of having achieved cultural victory.