Trading techs with other civs

[jerVL/kg]

How do you trade techs with other civs? When my 1st caravel made it to India ½way round the world, he offered me Astronomy and Chemistry for some wimpy techs I had, and like an idiot I DIDN'T ACCEPT IT!!! (although I truly madly deeply thought I did, must have hit the wrong button by mistake! Ah well, 18 hours straight of CIV-ing will do that to ya) Now whenever I dial him up, he doesn't offer those techs anymore!!!

I did notice that the little circle-y arrow icon (which says you're on the trade network, I guess) isn't there anymore...but I'm trading silk & horses with him just fine, I think. Is that important? How do you get it back?

I NEED THOSE TECHS!!! I'M STUCK ON PRINTING PRESS!!!!

 

[jerVL/kg]

OK apparently it was Egypt, not India, who has those techs, but they are redded out and I can't trade for them. How do I get Hap-whatever to change his mind? And actually, India might have those techs too...but there's no trade route to them yet. How do trade routes work, anyway?

Note that both these civs are 1/2 way round the globe on an entirely separate continent, the only way I met them was sending a few caravels with explorers & missionaries inside. (Stinkin' boats won't carry settlers, dammit...how come we're so deep into the middle ages and don't even have proper BOATS?? That doesn't seem right!)

And did I mention I'm a Civ4 N3wb? Perhaps it's obvious. Or maybe I just too much.

 

[Sybot]

You don't need trade routes to trade techs or gold. Just click on their name on the bottom right corner of the map or open the foreign advisor with F4 and right click their image. Trade routes only mean you can trade resources and get money from their cities.

 

[Tourmalyn]

When you declined to trade with Egypt, you were probably penalized for it wrt how they felt toward you. So, when you attempted to trade with them in the future, they were no longer friendly enough with you to be willing to trade the techs.

I don't know what level you are playing on, but that is certainly a killer on Emperor. Other civs will want to trade with you, and NEVER give you a fair trade. (ex They will give Sailing in exchange for Literature and 200 gold from you.) If you accept, you have given away a lot of tech and gold for an ancient tech. If you decline, they will be upset at you leading closer to war. Rock and a hard place for sure.

 

[jerVL/kg]

When you declined to trade with Egypt, you were probably penalized for it wrt how they felt toward you. So, when you attempted to trade with them in the future, they were no longer friendly enough with you to be willing to trade the techs.

I don't know what level you are playing on, but that is certainly a killer on Emperor.

Well, bollocks. How do I get her to like me again? (I'm playing on Chieftan btw...or the one right above Settler, whatever it's called.)

 

[Tourmalyn]

Gift them gold if you have spare. Or gift them a resource. Ultimately, they will be happier with you if you accept deals that they propose. If they are at war with someone, they will often request your assistance (ie you declare war on their enemy). If you accept, it will make them more pleased with you. If you decline, you will get a "-1 - you refused to help us during war" modifier added to their attitude toward you. If you hover your mouse pointer over their name on the right of your screen, you can see what each civ things about you and why.

 

[Errata]

Stinkin' boats won't carry settlers, dammit...how come we're so deep into the middle ages and don't even have proper BOATS?? That doesn't seem right!

Well if you had taken the trade for Astronomy you'd have proper boats. The techs give you a lot of flexibility to rewrite history by progressing far down one avenue of research, so its quite easy to get real ships either earlier or later than actually happened, depending on your choices. But Europe didn't start colonizing the Americas until the 16th century, so its realistic that it takes quite a while to achieve the technology.

 

[jerVL/kg]

What really blows is that I thought for sure I had accepted that deal...I remember going "WOOT! WOOT!" when offered Astronomy because my science was bogged down in a beeline for Railroads (those spaghetti-like road maps are FUGG-LY!) and after that Democracy (for the Statue of Liberty wonder...picked an Industrious civ for a reason, lol) but now I'm not sure when I'll even get that much, having dropped research down to 20% while rebuilding in the aftermath of the Persian Blitzkrieg. (It only now got back to 60%.) So those Egyptian tech gifts came as a real godsend...but imagine my chagrin when I realized I must have hit "Farewell" instead of "I accept" by mistake!!!!!

Luckily I've got a Great Merchant on a looong pilgrimage to Delhi (via stinkin' Caravel...grr! How many units do the bigger boats carry?) plus I'm working on a culture bomb to dominate the last remaining spare land near the Arctic Circle, and Montezuma's got a few cities encroaching on my borders that look mighty tasty...naw, this game ain't addictive, I swear I can quit anytime I want!

But Europe didn't start colonizing the Americas until the 16th century, so its realistic that it takes quite a while to achieve the technology.

Certainly there's gotta be room in the game for Kon-Tiki type tech.

 

[jerVL/kg]

Ok, this is really weird. I think I need serious help on exactly how this game works.

Apparently, what happened was I met Asoka (India) while pullin' a Magellan 'round the world, and she offered me Astronomy/Education for Printing Press and/or Gunpowder. (I don't remember if it was equal or 2:1 or what...keep in mind this was late in an 18-hour session and the was getting pretty thick.) Since I'd just learned P.Press and had a monopoly on Gunpowder (at least on my own continent) and hadn't learned the suckitude of Caravels yet I declined, thinking I could just go back and trade them later.


Instead I made this deal (Asoka = Me):
Silk (1 of 1) = Banana (1 of 3)
Corn (1 of 2) = Ivory (1 of 7)
Wine (1 of 1) = Rice (1 of 9)
Pig (1 of 2) = Spices (1 of 2)
7 gp = Horses
Open Borders

The N3Wb in me thought this kind of trade would butter her up so I could call her up later and get a sweeter tech deal. I didn't care about Ivory/Horses because they're nearly outdated on my continent, and while I didn't have any of hers I didn't really need them that much (except the 7GP since money's tight...in fact that was twice what I'd gotten for a single resource thus far!)

Fast forward to NOW...I can still offer P.Press/Gpwder, but her Edu/Astr is redded out. She's offering NO resources (not even the ones from before!!) and all I can give her is Dyes (3), Marble (2), Wheat (3), Sugar (3), Gold (3). We can also trade World Maps or I can offer a Defensive Pact (but only one-way...hers is redded out.) Oh, and I can also ask her to adopt Pacifism...not sure what that's all about.

I gave her Marble, Dye & Sugar, and even a World Map...she just says thanks and goes away. Next turn, she DEMANDS that I stop trading with Kublai Khan, her mortal enemy! (Everyone seems to hate the Mongols, for some reason!) Now, all I'm getting from Kublai is 1gp/turn which I extorted from him the first time we met. Like I said, everyone seems to hate poor Kublai. BUT -- Here's the weird part -- I can't cancel the trade!! Every click on it gets me the msg: "This trade cannot be cancelled at this time." I tried cancelling Asoka's trades too, and get the same message! (And I'm not showing the option to "Stop Trading" in my trade window, either!) WTH?!?!?

Do resources/techs only show up randomly on the trading window? George Washington, for example, I can offer totally different stuff: Marble (2), Stone (2), Dye (3), Ivory (7!!!) plus totally different techs: Guilds, Divine Rite, Paper, Engineering, Optics. He offers me NO techs! (In fact, nobody else has techs for sale anymore!) And I have no trouble cancelling the earlier trades, either.

(Forget what I said about Egypt, apparently I'm getting them both confused because...like I said...)

As for gifts to India, all I can give her now is GP (up to 72gp/turn...!!!) or a free tech. Is any of this worth trying???

 

[Tourmalyn]

I think it will only show resources that are not already available to the person you are trading with. Conversely, it will only show you resources on their side that you don't already have.

 

[kb2tvl]

To improve your relations with other civs you need to build up your military and open your borders. Trading luxaries helps also. On the level you are playing I would just build and tech yourself.

 

[jerVL/kg]

I think it will only show resources that are not already available to the person you are trading with. Conversely, it will only show you resources on their side that you don't already have.

Ahh...THAT EXPLAINS IT! Don't know why I didn't see that before...

Ok, more trade options came up so I gave her Gunpowder. (My explorer just went through that whole continent and saw NO units stronger than swords & longbows. I guess they're still backwards militarily.) Still no dice, but later I got more techs to trade away (Military Tactics & Chemistry). Chem is at the top of my Tech Tree so I wanna hold onto it, but I'm thinking of gifting Mil.Tact so we can sign a Defensive Pact...maybe she'll declare on Kublai, and I'll be able to declare also since Kublai's an ocean away and can't touch me. Think that'll work?

Still can't cancel the "trade" I extorted from Kublai...what's that about?