What year should it be when you enter the modern age?

[neoruski]

What year should it be when you enter the modern age? I want to know what an acceptable year is.

 

[DaveMcW]

If you have a well-developed empire and a few wars I would say 1700-1800 AD.

Of course, this can very greatly depending on difficulty and the number of world wars.

 

[RX2000]

It definitely depends mostly on difficulty levels. I have seen some Diety games get to the modern age in the 800-900s, while some Chieftain games wont get there til the 2000s.

In my last game, on Regent with 8 other civs and a huge map, I hit the modern era like 1750-1800 AD or so.

 

[Yndy]

I would say 1500 - 1600 for a well played game. I expect to be able to launch the SS around 1750.

 

[Darkness]

Depends on the difficulty level, but probably between 1600 and 1700 AD is good enough for me...

 

[Chieftess]

Depends. On chieftain, it's around the 1900s-2000AD. A good rule of thumb is 100-200 years earlier for each difficulty.

 

[satchel]

Originally posted by DaveMcW
If you have a well-developed empire and a few wars I would say 1700-1800 AD.

Of course, this can very greatly depending on difficulty and the number of world wars.

I play on Monarch level, and I enter the modern age around 1750, give or take, so I agree with Dave's assessment. But if you play on easier levels it will be much later, and on harder levels, earlier. This may seem counterintuitive but it is a direct result of the AI's research bonus/penalty on harder/easier levels.

If you are playing harder levels, and trading with the AI as you should be, you should advance more quickly, indirectly taking advantage of their bonuses. Coversely, if you are playing easier levels, you will be the research leader but there is a limit to how fast you can advance researching everything by yourself.