advantages/disadvantages of early/late golden age?

Tjoepie · September 20, 2001, 06:10

Will the golden age last for 25years or 25 turns?

This was a question I asked myself when I was thinking about the advantages of choosing a civ with early special units to get an early golden age or a late one. Yep I'm allready choosing my civ for my first game

, I can't wait , I feel

This is crucial since if it lasts less turns if you get it early it might become better to save it by choosing a civ with a more modern special unit.

I guess it will not be 25years since that would only make it last a few turns early in the game if years pass by as in earlier civ games. But the crucial thing is will it last as many turns at 2000BC as it does at 2000AD?

I consider it will last the same amount of turns:

The advantage to have it as soon as possible for me seems to be that your get a jump start on any nearby civ that could threaten you and thereby "influence" that civ ( in whatever way

) so you can settle the territory you want early on in the game by using the extra production and special units.

Later in the game I guess you will be better prepared to use the golden age to its full advantage since you can prepare yourself.

Does anyone know more about this or have a favourite civ yet?

General Ludd · September 20, 2001, 07:20

I think I am the only person who feels this way, but I don't look at golden ages as a part of the strategy, I consider it to be an event that happens when it happens, I couldn't care less when.

Then again, I always play games in a roleplaying style, maybe that's why.

Tjoepie · September 20, 2001, 09:54

Maybe you'r right ...

BTW how do you post a picture next to your name? In the control panel ?

Tjoepie · September 20, 2001, 09:55

Maybe you'r right ...

General Ludd · September 20, 2001, 10:06

Somewhere in the profile editing page, you can't use a custom picture untill you have 500 posts though.

Tjoepie · September 20, 2001, 10:24

Thanks m8 !

Buck Birdseed · September 20, 2001, 11:07

Actually, YOU can. Because you have been registered here more than six months. It's under Control Panel -> User's Profile -> (Avatars) Change... Good luck.

Tjoepie · September 20, 2001, 11:41

Great , thanks alot!

hetairoi22 · September 20, 2001, 11:56

*hehe*

I got an Avatar now, too!

BTW, I voted for "I don't care" (no. 3?)

Nikolai · September 20, 2001, 12:47

It's the same for me...!

I don't care so much about that. I will play all the civs no matter what!

Admiral PJ · September 20, 2001, 14:43

I'd do golden age quite early on, but not too early - when i've got a republic though only if my cities aren't always going to revolt. I'd make sure i was at war with 2 or 3 strongest civs (to a point) before going golden , to make war and use the production advantage when capturing new cities to rebuild their defences.

The golden age trade/science bonus is important and would work better early on i think, as the tech's take much less time to research so you'd get say 6 techs maybe with your GA, unlike a modern era where you might just get 3 techs as they need an awful lot more science.

Admiral PJ · September 20, 2001, 15:00

pressed send by mistake DOH

Also before going GA i'd like to have a couple of factories built so you double the amount of production taken in those cities from the bonus!
So long as my new production isn't going into waste (need lawcourts and republic for that)

I doubt i'd wait till I was industrial though, i'd want banks and universities to make the best use of the trade bonus.

Another Question/Thought: what would u do if the other player/computer nation went to a golden age?
I would quickly declare war and get others to declare against them, and try and lay siege to their production squares to stop them getting some of the bonuses perhaps.
Perhaps you can force an enemy to go GA by setting up one of their special units to attack yours (though hopefully the rules forbid this, letting you choose when an attack triggers a GA)
I'd sabotage their production of big units(worth risking spy resources), and likewise destroy their factories, banks and universities. An easy tactic could be to make their cities revolt(stop production etc) by destroying happiness buildings/ capture their michelangelos chapel wonders etc.
A tactic if your being beaten senseless by a GA civ is to go GA yourself (keep a special unit back to do this)

PJ

jdd2007 · September 20, 2001, 18:04

I don't care , I just want a cool special unit.

Roman · September 21, 2001, 02:46

Each has its advantages...

Skanky Burns · September 21, 2001, 05:48

Id treat it as a 'bonus' and not a game-winning strategy. IMHO i think resources will play a much larger part in your strategy than increased trade/production.

However, i voted for 'early GA', as that fits in well with my strategy

Adm.Naismith · September 21, 2001, 07:47

In Single Player I'll chose "Early GA". For me, AI usually is stronger at the game start (max effect of any cheat the programmer let it have, less complex map to manage - few units, few cities, etc.), not to mention the random advantage of a better start position.

If I can manage to survive and start a decent development early, I usually pile on early fundation and take off my Civ powergraph by middle game.

Modern era is usually a boring race to discover every tech, build every wonder and repel every silly AI civ that try to attack me with its weak army.

Of course the Civ III AI strenght is still to be checked, so I can be wrong.
I never played MP, so I don't know for sure. May be there is more room for a late GA, to catch every human player leading the race or leave them back on the dust with your greatly enhanced production.

Gramphos · September 21, 2001, 07:50

Quote:

Originally posted by Snapcase
Actually, YOU can. Because you have been registered here more than six months. It's under Control Panel -> User's Profile -> (Avatars) Change... Good luck.

No, you can't as the Upgrade wiped out that part of Mark's code.

DonJoel · September 21, 2001, 09:20

Ofcourse it will be better with a late GA, especially if it last for a fixed number of turns.
Early in the game 25 turns might be played out on 15 minutes, in the late game 25 turns might take 2 hours! think for yourself

And I never wage war early in the game anyway...

PGM · September 21, 2001, 09:31

It depends... rather than simply deciding if GAs should be early or late, I think they should be activated... at the right time. And that varies in every game. Sometimes your opposition won't be that strong and you'll want to wait until your empire (cities, units, wonders, ...) is ready to maximize the boost. Other times the opposition might be getting ahead and you might need to spend the GA in a defensive way, to catch up.
Also, it depends on the specific civilization you are playing with. There's just too many variables and not enough knowledge of the game yet to vote on this.

DonJoel · September 25, 2001, 09:27

Since you wont be able to ICS (since settlers take 2 population points and worker1) and that golden age wont give any food bonus it seems better to have golden age late since the speed of which you will be able to expand is the growt speed of your cities and not the produvion advantage you get from golden age.