How can I push science harder?

[yodavomit]

The AI is always faster in scientific research than I am. I maxed out the science tax and the AI is still beating me.
The only way I found to increase science output is to go into EACH city and increase the number of scientists in the 'Specialists' tab. It's a little bit annoying and time consuming, especially if you want to switch gears (from production to science, for example) in a hurry.
The Mayor option doesn't do much. Even setting each city to 'science' research is still slow.
Anybody has a better way to do this? Any global, government setting I am missing?
Or do I just have to pick up enough geeks per city and reasearch and build the right things to enhance science output?

Thanks

Yoda

[Truman]

quote: Originally posted by yodavomit on 12-04-2000 01:38 PM The AI is always faster in scientific research than I am. I maxed out the science tax and the AI is still beating me. The only way I found to increase science output is to go into EACH city and increase the number of scientists in the 'Specialists' tab. It's a little bit annoying and time consuming, especially if you want to switch gears (from production to science, for example) in a hurry.

Yes, it's a little time consuming, but the good thing about it is that, no matter how long you take at it, you can still switch them all in one turn.

quote: The Mayor option doesn't do much. Even setting each city to 'science' research is still slow. Anybody has a better way to do this? Any global, government setting I am missing? Or do I just have to pick up enough geeks per city and reasearch and build the right things to enhance science output?

Try getting into research pacts with as many civs as possible. Even the ones technologically behind you might stumble onto an advance you may have skipped over. Then you can trade one advance to three different civs and attain different advances from each in return, giving you three advances for the price of one.



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"Let me know the instant we have nukes!" ~Harry S. Truman

[Rollo Tomasi]

- Build Aristotle's Lyceum, Galileo's Telescope, The Internet, and the Field Dynamics lab. Also, build all the science improvements in all your cities, even if this means foregoing happiness and production. The most important things are trade and science.

- Always have the max science rate. Always have the lowest wages. You can make up for the happiness drop by increasing rations or lowering workdays.

- Once you near the end of the tech tree, just go all out. Change everyone in your cities to scientists, but not enough to starve. You should be pumping out advances every other turn. I usually start when I get Radio.

Generally, I play a tech game. I don't really go for military conquest; I just expand until I've settled all the available land, and make just one or two defenders per city, to stop the random barbarian or bombard unit. If one of my cities gets taken, then I quick buy an army and take back that city, take one of the enemy's, then offer a cease-fire and try to build back relations with that civ. If you've been pumping out the advances quickly enough, you could probably have machine gunners and artillery before they can even get pikemen.

The fastest I've gotten all the advances is 1940. Anyone else go faster?

[yodavomit]

quote: Originally posted by Truman on 12-04-2000 04:12 PM Try getting into research pacts with as many civs as possible. Even the ones technologically behind you might stumble onto an advance you may have skipped over. Then you can trade one advance to three different civs and attain different advances from each in return, giving you three advances for the price of one.

Interesting suggestion.

Thanks!

Yoda

[MrFun]

Geez guys!

For me, science moves TOO fast for the human player! And I don't even have specialists assigned as scientists either! How can I SLOW down research without suffering towards the game victory?

I just don't like it when I get Ironclads in 1000 AE.

[Sarxis]

What level are you playing at MrFun?

Makes a difference. In one of the game data .txt file (advances.txt I'm sure) there is a 'cost' listed for each advance- try adding to that value for slower research. Or try editing the science bonus/penalty for the various forms of governments.

(These suggestions have not been tested, of course ;¬D so use at your own risk.)

[MrFun]

I play at Medium level. One game, I underestimated the AI that was my immediate neighbor and they attacked with multiple stacks of 3 to 5 units and actually took one of my cities!

Before this, I thought the AI would never attack anyone in the entire game, so I only kept two defense units in each city. Boy, was I wrong.

[Bonsei]

I'm pretty sure that the computer cheats. In my last game (on 'hard' difficulty level), I had about 40 cities of size 30 or so, my government was technocracy, I had built all the science improvements, plus all the science wonders (it was by then late in the game). I also had about 5 scientists in each city, and the science rate on 100%.

On the other side were the French, they had 8 cities, most of them smaller, I'm not sure what government, with an economy that must have been about 10% of mine. Still, they discovered new advances faster than I ever could (about every three turns or so)!! Luckily, I had a research pact with them, so that I got the advances as soon as they did, for free . When we reached the end of the tech tree, we were so far ahead of everyone else that they were still in the modern age.

There is no way that they were able to generate more science points than I was, so I think that the AI cheated, perhaps to keep the game interesting? In any case, after the gaia controller had become possible, they started to build it, so I had to wipe them out to keep playing .

[wheathin]

Check DiffDB.txt for the bonuses and penalties that the AI gets for each level. AI bonuses vary not only by level, but also by age of the game. On a hard level, by the modern or genetic age, the bonuses can be very substantial - the AI may be getting as much as 50% more science.

[Dragonfly]

Because Research is a function of your Gold income, another way to drive research faster is to get Trade routes to friendly AI cities as far away as possible. I'm doing it now in my Hard game, and every trade route I have is going to the AI cities, most for anywhere from 110 to 150 Gold per turn. Yowzah !