[BNW] When to assign specialists in mid-late game

[Athenaeum]

Lately I've been having trouble deciding when it's optimal to assign specialists to universities (and sometimes guilds and workshops).

If you do it too early the opportunity cost may be the food you miss out on from not working growth tiles instead. This is not the case when you re-assign citizens from zero-food tiles (such as hills), and this can be a no-brainer in times where having lots of production is not a huge priority (such as times of peace and when you're not racing for a wonder or something else really important).

However, I like to play as tall as possible most of the time and this means that I'm usually not working hills or low food tiles in times of peace (and no wonder racing) anyways, so working specialists almost always comes at an opportunity cost of food/growth to me, which I figure may cost me in science later on in the game.

Does anyone have any advice for this?


Also I have heard countless times that the science bulbing from scientists gives you the sum of science you acquired over the last 8 turns, but I have done the calculations over periods where my science increased dramatically and the amount of the science bulb barely increased at all.

 

[phillipwyllie]

For SV it's maximum science after you build labs as progress through the later techs is due to bulbing. I try to have maximum growth(especially if city is in WLTKD) until 30 then it is maximum science. Before labs I see no point building a guild unless you are going to work it, and it usually gets work constantly.

 

[joncnunn]

Under standard Tradition:
Always run all science slots unless you have a good reason not to; (such as city less than 10 pop and starved for growth) ; never run merchant nor engineer slots unless there's no risk of it accidentally spawning a merchant / engineer. (In practice, this usually means unless you have a (non capital) city with a lot of ocean tiles it probably shouldn't be running anything other than scientists until the Rationalism policy that gives extra science from all specialists.
The capital probably shouldn't be running anything other than scientists + guilds until that same policy given how many world wonders had a side effect of giving a great merchant point. Post Rationalism, it's ok to run more just monitor the situation, but don't run so many that you slow down growth too much (if you go Freedom, there's a tenet that will reduce food needed for specialists.)

It is frequently the case if you've made Education a high priority and run all scientists the moment the capital got a University that the very first GS born will be born will be worth forming an academy between the science yields of the academy (that increase over time) and that any academy worked for the past X turns (8 for standard; don't know other speeds) increases the science produced by the ones that bulb.
Min-maxing suggests that all other GS should be saved until Labs; however beware the overflow caps. (Only a few turns worth past what finishes the current tech get saved; I think 5 for standard speed; I don't know other speeds). There is actually some complex math involved if you wish to max out the bonuses from overflow (it provides interest) without hitting the hard cap.
It might be possible for there are good reasons to take a bulb before then (unblock more expensive tech for Oxford; get a tech unlocking science buildings 8 turns earlier; advance to Industrial era earlier so your accumulated faith can be used on great people; advance to Modern era earlier if you don't have coal nearby to unlock tenets.)

As to where to plant the Academy: Top priority usually goes to a Pasture resource in which the pasture itself is only providing 1 food within the NC city (almost always the capital) ; and it's very okay to replace an existing pasture, especially if the city has stables. The other high priority is a farming bonus resource that doesn't have fresh water (and its very okay to replace an existing farm)

 

[psparky]

Regarding the final question in OP, I can confirm that a bulb is worth the science over the last eight turns. Note that only science classified as produced from cities counts, so none of 10% from rationalism, science from city states or from trade routes count. If your relevant science went from 500 to 600 (both stable), the bulb value would increase by 100 per turn for eight turns, from 4000 to 4800 (at standard speed).

I believe that it is always the last eight turns that count (so X is always 8 in above post), but at other than standard speed, a multiplier is applied. At quick speed, for example, the multiplier is 0.67, so you get 5.36 turns of science, but it's still based on the last eight turns. (This means you effectively have to wait longer to benefit from a gain in science at quick speed, but get the benefits sooner at slower than standard speeds.)

 

[peterabc1995]

Universities and Guilds：When you have specialist slot，assign it.
Workshops and Factoties：When you unlock Secularism and Civil Society，assign it
Markets，banks and Stock exchanges：When you want to“bulb” your GS，assign it for 8 turns（Standard Speed）
If you think you're lack of food，use your Caravan to trade it.