The Great Library is the best early Wonder!

[The diplomat]

I believe the GL is the best Wonder in the Ancient era. I think it is the best because it provides the best way to catch up in tech.

-Researching ancient techs yourself is too slow.
-Trading techs is good but the other civs might refuse to trade or they might propose a deal that is too expensive.

-The GL gives you the techs for free!

If you play as the Egyptians, try the following:
Have you capital build a warrior/temple/settler/Great Pyramids
With the settler, build your second city. Use the second city to cranck out more settlers. Let your capital grow in pop so that it can produce things more quickly.
Make a beeline for Literature. Research it yourself. Crank science rate to max.
Then make contact with as many civs as possible.
Once you get Literature, switch the Pyramids over to Great Library.

You should have the GL in a few more turns. This strategy gets me the GL fairly quickly.

Every game, I've played as the Egyptians, this strat works beautifully.

When I completed the GL, I racked up every single other ancient tech, and moved on to the next era, before 0 AD.

[Arrian]

The GL is very valueable, particularly with the changes made by the 1.29 patch. The Egyptians are indeed one of the best civs for building the GL (any industrious civ will do, actually) because they start with masonry and have those fast workers. I would build one or two more settlers first though.

In games where I play the warmonger, I like having the GL to catch me up in techs (though I can just beat the tech out of the AI if need be) and to keep it out of the AI's hands.

In "builder" games, I use it as a money-making machine. Great Library + Republic = development frenzy. I rushbuy all sorts of things while riding the GL to techs. By the time I get Education, my empire should have libraries, courthouses, marketplaces, aqueducts, harbors, cathedrals, colosseums, etc. That allows me to crank up my own research and blow past the AI.

-Arrian

[Lord Merciless]

For a Warmonger, you can use your Great Leader to hurry your Great Library. Very effective and low risk.

[steven8r]

Agreed. Library is the best. In one game it allowed me to catch up then surpass the AI's in techs from almost an entire Age behind.

If you're not too far behind, it can keep you caught-up.

If you're ahead, it will keep you that way and you can research techs that the AI's don't normally soot for.

Just keep in mind during the Middle Ages: Research everything EXCEPT Education. When the AI gets Education the GLib will self-destruct (well... sorta). It will work itself out of a job--make itself obsolete, etc.

[JohnM2433]

A little off topic here...

I remember being surprised to earn Education from the Great Library. I thought that it would become obsolete as soon as someone discovered Education. In Civ II, as I recall, a Wonder became obsolete when any civ discovered the tech needed to make it obsolete. That seems fair to me, since otherwise a civ could forestall its Wonder's obsolecence by not researching that tech. But apparently, this is not how it works in Civ III(?)

[DrFell]

Yeah, you need to discover the tech yourself to make the wonder obsolete. But I think that all of the techs that make wonders out of date are on the mainstream tech path, so you will have to research them eventually if you wish to stay even in the tech race. This sorts out an old problem which occured in civ2... say a civ on the other side of the world you have no contact with researches metallurgy and makes your great wall obsolete. Clearly this makes no sense as you shouldn't in theory even know of the existence of the civ.

[Ribannah]

I'd rather complete the Pyramids.
The extra growth is often enough to get the Great Library as well but if I miss it, no problem. There is always diplomacy.
Or, as in my present game (GOTM #10), I have the Great Library but I still have to do all the research myself, because the others are simply too puny.

[DrFell]

Aye, on monarch level games the GL isn't really worth it. I'm also playing GOTM 10 (my first one) and I have had a tech lead right through the ancient age

[Purple]

The GL is great for its contribution to your culture, too. In my mind that's its best feature, since it does become obsolete, unlike other WOWs like the Pyramids and Art of War.

And of course, if you happen to be stuck on a landmass by yourself or with only one other civ, the GL won't give you squat until you can go exploring. Even then, you may not be able to reach another civ without the Lighthouse.

So, as usual in this game, geography is destiny!

[Catt]

Originally posted by Purple
The GL is great for its contribution to your culture, too. In my mind that's its best feature, since it does become obsolete, unlike other WOWs like the Pyramids and Art of War.

I definitely agree. Since the GL is usually built in BC, maybe early AD, it pretty quickly (in game "turns") reaches 1,000 years old and starts generating 12 culture per turn. This can be a huge boost to maintaining a cultural lead or cultural parity with AI civs, a situation that pays significant rewards with respect to culture flipping, especially in later wars.

Catt

[delsolsi]

Originally posted by JohnM2433
A little off topic here...

I remember being surprised to earn Education from the Great Library. I thought that it would become obsolete as soon as someone discovered Education. In Civ II, as I recall, a Wonder became obsolete when any civ discovered the tech needed to make it obsolete. That seems fair to me, since otherwise a civ could forestall its Wonder's obsolecence by not researching that tech. But apparently, this is not how it works in Civ III(?)

That happened to me one time. I was one turn away from education when I found the civs on a different continent than I was, I got education and then six more techs past it.

[Ribannah]

Note also that when the AI has the Great Library, you can still trade them a tech they will get anyway on the next turn from the GL!