What are your "Forgotten" techs?

[Stalker0]

I'm curious if there are consistent techs that people find "hard to take". I don't even mean weak necessarily, but because of your playstyle or XYZ reason, there are those techs that you just never seem to be able to prioritize, that always seem to flounder until you "have" to take them. What are the ones for you?

For me its going to be:

• Guilds: Plenty to like there, I just always have been higher priorities. Compass and Machinery are very important, civil service can be very good for economic play, etc.
• Fertilizer: Again lots to like here, but always something more important going on. Dynamite and industrilization are game changing, archeology if I'm pushing that race, etc.
• Combustion: Oil often takes a long time to ramp up, so I just have more important things to do, and landships aren't "that" good.
• Refrigeration: Not a lot going on there
• Mobile Tactics: Advanced ballistics contains all the units I "want" to build, I only get these units if I'm scrapping for strategic resources.

 

[ma_kuh]

It's probably a little silly, but I find myself not really wanting to take Sailing (and to a lesser extent Iron Working); they're great and I'm probably playing sub-optimally, but I'm such a sucker for Angkor Wat at Currency and I feel like I miss it if I spend too long on the other side techs.

 

[nekokon]

I think this would be even less clear than the question "what buildings you don't often build ?" previously, since we're can't skip anything going through the tech tree.
At least for buildings there're a few that's not actually needed/can be skipped, but not for tech.
I simply pick whatever on the way of my core techs so anything that's not on the way is "forgotten" maybe ? Until I have to pick a new core techs that needs those prerequire techs anyway.

 

[Stalker0]

I simply pick whatever on the way of my core techs so anything that's not on the way is "forgotten" maybe ? Until I have to pick a new core techs that needs those prerequire techs anyway.

That would certainly be a way to do it, if you find certain techs are so important that everything else outside of those paths is a secondary thought, than yes that would be forgotten techs.

 

[CrazyG]

I can't remember.

 

[CppMaster]

think this would be even less clear than the question "what buildings you don't often build ?" previously, since we're can't skip anything going through the tech tree.

I think the point of the question is which techs you only research for the sake of unlocking other techs, because the tech itself doesn't give much.

 

[pineappledan]

The biggest one I can think of is Architecture.

1 national wonder, 2 world wonders, and a specialist boost is all it has. If I'm not in an easy tech lead then I won't even risk going for it. Porcelain Tower is a nice wonder if you can get it, but Taj Mahal is not a priority wonder for anyone in any game. And if you miss those wonders then this tech is worthless.
The Hermitage isn't even buildable until you research Acoustics, a different T2 Renaissance tech, because it requires an Opera House. Very badly placed.

Architecture is also on the top, so it only is a prerequisite for 1 Industrial tech -- Scientific Theory -- and that tech isn't too great either. Public schools are way too expensive relative to their paltry , but Zoos are okay at least. I often find I'm in Modern Era by the time I finally hold my nose and grab architecture; the sheer repulsiveness of this 1 tech results in me falling behind on the archaeology race.

 

[josh4]

Combustion tends to be a very crucial tech in my games.

For me it has definitely been astronomy but it will change since I switched from playing milae's map to standard continents.

 

[rsc2a]

I play with "No Tech Tree Beelining" set to 2 so I cannot ignore a tech for too long.

However, in early play, I often find Mining, Bronze Working, and Iron Working to be later picks for their eras unless I have a particular reason (e.g. monopoly, UU) to go that route.

 

[CppMaster]

I play with "No Tech Tree Beelining" set to 2 so I cannot ignore a tech for too long

What's that?

 

[rsc2a]

No More Tech Tree Beelining

No More Tech Tree Beelining CivFanatics Download | Steam Download What the Mod Does: Requires all major players to research the technology tree in a 'grouped' approach instead of beelining along the top or the bottom of the tree and ignoring techs in the other half of the tree. With...

forums.civfanatics.com

 

[phantomaxl1207]

I find myself avoiding Acoustics quite often. I tend to go to get Sci Theory and Steam Power as my first Industrial Techs. Architecture would be worse, if it didn't lead to Sci Theory.
+1 for Fertilizer, the other T2 Industrial Techs are much better.
Mobile Tactics is half decent as you can beeline to it from Radar. The movement bonus to Railroads is huge!

 

[stii]

All the top of the tree techs past a certain point in the game. All the military techs are at the bottom and those are the highest impact by miles.

 

[rkkn]

machinery is pretty much always my last medieval tech
and not even by any fault of the tech. just that it's the only one that's not a prerequisite to astronomy or printing press, two major game changer techs that I always rush to get as fast as possible

 

[CrazyG]

All the top of the tree techs past a certain point in the game. All the military techs are at the bottom and those are the highest impact by miles.

You never try to go for a peaceful win?

This is a fun thread because the only techs listed so far that I don't at least sometimes prioritize are Mobile Tactics and Guilds

 

[stii]

You never try to go for a peaceful win?

This is a fun thread because the only techs listed so far that I don't at least sometimes prioritize are Mobile Tactics and Guilds

Not often. Even when you are miles behind from bad start/some handicap you can make tanks and punch through.

There other victory types are much more in flux, sometimes cultural victory is impossible because the AI dwarfs it with culture, science is impossible because techs cost too much or diplo is impossible because AI conquered too many CS. It is pretty rare that it is literally impossible but patches can change things so quickly. (which is a good thing in general) but you can always plow through walls of enemy units even if they flood every hex, it just takes time and can be rather tedious.

I also think the military techs are so much higher impact. Research labs don't add that much science compared to the huge power spike tanks give you. You can beeline bottom techs super hard at that point, far more so than earlier.

 

[CrazyG]

I also think the military techs are so much higher impact. Research labs don't add that much science compared to the huge power spike tanks give you. You can beeline bottom techs super hard at that point, far more so than earlier.

Ah so you mean quite late in the game. Then I mostly agree. I was thinking in like Renaissance or early industrial. I regularly take architecture as my first tech in that column, for example.

Recently I just abandon military heavy games because its tedious and I can finish a peaceful game in the time it takes to play 30 turns of industrial era war.

 

[pineappledan]

I regularly take architecture as my first tech in that column, for example.

I guess you're a big porcelain tower fan, eh?

 

[nekokon]

Recently I just abandon military heavy games because its tedious and I can finish a peaceful game in the time it takes to play 30 turns of industrial era war.

We need a big warfare/combat overhaul !!!! Such a sad sight seeing one of the very few historically inspired with 1upt forgo most of its tactical gameplay in favor of boring debate if it's better to get 1 more food or 1 more gold. Nobody here ever relist on historical moments of the first gatling guns and field artillery decimating formations, or when U-board reversed naval domination, or when triplane opened up 3-dimensional warfare... ?!?!
Never gonna happen but a man can dream.

 

[CppMaster]

Recently I just abandon military heavy games because its tedious and I can finish a peaceful game in the time it takes to play 30 turns of industrial era war.

I'd to test a feature, which lets you command your units with automatic combat. Just like with automatic exploration, AI would decide which tactical move to do. Sure, it probably won't be as good as if a move that you would do, but that would make wars when you win anyways much less tedious. I wonder if tactical AI that we already have could be used here.