I'm just wondering if anyone can give me a few different suggestions/tips/tricks on winning a science victory on diety.
Best Civs?
Babylon, China....
Best Wonders?
Besides the obvious Great library....
Best Strategies?
Is it worth moving your first settler next to a mountain for the observatory in the late game?.... Other points/strategies you use for a quick science victory?
Best Civs: Babylon, Korea. Babylon is easiest, because you get a triple-whammy of 50% faster GS, free GS with Writing, and double-strength Walls to keep out warmongers. Korea's much more versatile, because they get more science from ALL GP tiles and specialists, but they don't ram it right out the gate on turn 10 like Babylon.
Wonders: Porcelain Tower, Hanging Gardens, Tower of Pisa. You don't need any of them, though; you'll probably be a whole era behind most of them, and you'll only get Porcelain Tower if nobody went Rationalism.
Strategies: Easiest way to do it is tall, peaceful 3-4 city tradition into Freedom (if forced to go Order, you're still fine). Get trade routes up ASAP and keep them up, because each one is worth 5-6 science per turn on Deity, and they will easily catch you up. If at all possible, don't put all your routes in one civ unless they are very friendly and very scientific. Finish Nat College ASAP too. Beeline all the science techs and ignore all else if possible. If not possible, do what you must. Biggest factors in what will win the game is whether or not there's a warmonger nearby, whether or not there's coal nearby, and whether your culture neighbor is also planning to go tall freedom. Any of those three things not lining up will mean you have to spend resources on army/deals/culture, which will slow you down.
Key rule #1 for any Deity game is
DON'T PANIC! This isn't like Immortal, where you might get even or pull ahead at some point. On Deity, you will almost always be way behind, and because of this, you will be tempted to quit. Unless you're still in industrial by the time someone finishes their SS booster, you're not done yet. The AI being in Renaissance while you're still in Classical is perfectly normal, and that will scare you the first dozen or so times it happens, because if that was happening on Immortal, you did something terribly wrong, but on Deity, you'll see turn 100 AI Renaissance every other game. That's just how Deity goes.
If you do pick Babylon, you don't have to be perfect, don't have to get a good start, or even get any wonders, you just have to play competently. Babylon is so good at Deity SV, it'll FEEL like Immortal once you get the motions down. You will lose the first few times, though. Don't lose hope. You'll do it eventually, and once you know how it's done, you'll be confident enough to do it again with Japan or Germany. That, too, will take a few dozen tries, but it's in your reach. You just have to work at it.
