What science rate do you choose when you start a game of civ 2?

Alex 14 · July 11, 2001, 01:08

What science rate do you choose when you start a game of civ 2? Personally, i choose 60%.

Scouse Gits · July 11, 2001, 05:14

Can there be any serious dissent??

I'd love to hear the rationale behind any other choice...

Juggler · July 11, 2001, 06:07

At the beggining I usually leave it as it is, otherwise I have 50% or 60% (depends on the my finances and a bunch of other factors).

Paul Hanson · July 11, 2001, 07:30

I just leave it as it is, and allow myself to get overrun by the computer.

Marquis de Sodaq · July 11, 2001, 09:32

Getting out of despotism is the game's first priority! Set those wise men to work!

Winston · July 11, 2001, 10:30

I don't think people will be able to disagree much on this one. I'm Mr. 60% myself.

The priority is to get Monarchy and then Trade ASAP, so no need to set yourself further back than necessary sciencewise.

Vlad Antlerkov · July 11, 2001, 12:56

Well, I can see high school students and college students afraid of science class intentionally selecting a low science rate...

Has anyone tried setting it to 0% at the beginning and keeping it there until they discover Invention (at which point, I believe, you can no longer get techs from huts)? It could make for an interesting challenge in SP... though I doubt it would impede some of the people in the Civ2-Strategy forum who can manage pre-500 AD landings

Six Thousand Year Old Man · July 11, 2001, 13:14

I have science set as high as it will go, until I get into Republic. No exceptions.

STYOM

Winston · July 11, 2001, 14:48

Quote:

Originally posted by Vlad Antlerkov
Has anyone tried setting it to 0% at the beginning and keeping it there until they discover Invention (at which point, I believe, you can no longer get techs from huts)? It could make for an interesting challenge in SP... though I doubt it would impede some of the people in the Civ2-Strategy forum who can manage pre-500 AD landings

You'd have to rely heavily on huts, trade bonuses from Caravans (big time) and tech gifting/trading with the AI. It'd be a different game in terms of the strategy applied, but in the end, I doubt it will make much of a difference as to the outcome - you'd leave the AI civs comfortably behind you. In OCC, you already get a significant proportion of your discoveries this way. Plus, you'll gain a nice amount of cash for bribing and rushbuying in the process (from Caravans and from the taxes that substitute for the science rate).

But you're right, it'd be interesting to try out.

War4ever · July 11, 2001, 20:08

Quote:

Originally posted by Six Thousand Year Old Man
I have science set as high as it will go, until I get into Republic. No exceptions.

STYOM

actually with alot of cities it can be wiser to use 20% lux and 20% tax with 60% science in monarchy.... especially if you have lots of cities....

better to use luxuries than waste workers on elvises

fittstim · July 12, 2001, 03:09

Quote:

Originally posted by Scouse Gits
Can there be any serious dissent??

Correct me if I'm wrong here, and I could very well be wrong, but does the ratio of tax/science/lux really make a huge difference during the early stage of the game?

I've experimented with boosting the science up to 60% but usually it makes no difference what-so-ever until several cities are established and the capital has grown to at least size 3.

And if you have any city improvements which cost gold or plan on speed buying items, then you better have some allocation towards gold.

I have determined that the 10% that usually goes to lux at the beginning plays no role what-so-ever. You can lower it to zero without any negative effects. However, there are no positive effects either. And this holds true for quite some time during the early years.

But I must admit that I check often the allocation ratio and try to maximize the science while maintaining a positive income. And once I get Monarchy I usually go up to 70%.

NOTE: I had the unfortunate experience of keeping my science high after I had successfully conquered the other civs. I watched my score skyrocket as I racked in the future techs. That is, until I had 255. Then it goes back to 1 and lost all those points. Ouch!!!

Six Thousand Year Old Man · July 12, 2001, 11:00

Quote:

Originally posted by War4ever

actually with alot of cities it can be wiser to use 20% lux and 20% tax with 60% science in monarchy.... especially if you have lots of cities....

better to use luxuries than waste workers on elvises

If you're talking about deity... I can see that. Or if you didn't manage to get HG built, definitely. I don't play MP and I usually play on Emperor unless I'm playing ICS (I keep my cities small) - and I always build HG

The trade-off between setting luxuries higher and using elvii is interesting. Normally I get to Republic quickly and I find it practically impossible to get along without 20% luxuries there, at least until MC is built. But in Monarchy, I find that more than half of my cities don't need an elvis, and for those that do, I try to take the worker from a square that isn't producing any trade arrows. In the early going I'd rather lose food or shield production than arrows.

STYOM

DaveV · July 12, 2001, 12:06

Quote:

Originally posted by War4ever

actually with alot of cities it can be wiser to use 20% lux and 20% tax with 60% science in monarchy.... especially if you have lots of cities....

better to use luxuries than waste workers on elvises

Is this at double production or something? My typical crummy city is lucky to generate 3 or 4 trade arrows under monarchy, so a 20% luxury rate has no effect. I need about 70% luxuries to get two cups and have any happiness impact.

fittstim · July 13, 2001, 06:46

Just a additional comment on this poll because I don't know if anyone caught it:

The default rate for science IS 60%!!!

At least it is for me but maybe this is only a emperor/deity-level thing. My games always start out 30 (tax) 60 (science) 10 (luxury).

And if I drop the luxury to 0 it doesn't have any effect on the gold I get or the number of turns to the next achievement. This holds true for the first couple thousand years...

EOL · July 13, 2001, 13:53

Mine always starts at 40% tax, 60% science so I don't need to change a thing. Still voted for 60% though.