Strategy Thread - for quick strategy questions and answers

[WilliamLP]

Why do you need to calculate tech costs like that? The beakers needed for every tech are shown on the F6 screen.

The part that depends on prereqs and known tech bonuses is really important though.

[DaveV]

Hmm, I read somewhere that I should be looking at iNoTechTradeModifier. Do you know what that one does? And thanks!

As explained here:

Sets a percent modifier for an AI, that determines how many techs a rival can get by trade, before the AI thinks he is becoming too advanced.

[Catwalk]

William, because I need to work out my micro plan before PB17 goes live Thanks Dave!

[Fintourist]

Why do you need to calculate tech costs like that? The beakers needed for every tech are shown on the F6 screen.

The part that depends on prereqs and known tech bonuses is really important though.

I did some C&D in PBEM45 and I enjoyed turning it into some statistics about the current game situation (such as how many beakers people have generated during the game so far). There it was a lot faster to just copy the formula than check the cost of every single tech in-game. Also if I ever want to do it again or know a cost of certain tech in some game I just need to change the selected game settings. Illustration below:

[Catwalk]

Love that spreadsheet Fintourist, I need you to dedlurk me sometime

I have another question. This assumes a fairly conventional map, 12-15 tiles to next player and all on same continent.
- All other things being equal, would you always spend one turn to get a PH start instead of a flat one?
- Would your answer change if you start on a GH?
- Would your answer change if either tile is a forest?

[SevenSpirits]

- All other things being equal, would you always spend one turn to get a PH start instead of a flat one?

Yes.

In most cases I think it's worth at least 2 quick speed turns or 3 normal speed turns. 1 turn is a no-brainer.

[Catwalk]

3 turns on Normal speed? Wow, I did expect that you'd give up 1t for it but 3t is a big surprise. Thanks!

[T-hawk]

The PH hammer cuts the worker from 15 turns to 12, so in foodhammer (non commerce) terms it's strictly worth at least 3 turns of movement if the locations are otherwise equal. And the extra hammer comes to an extra turn of 4 foodhammer production after just 4 turns of operation, so it's virtually always worth at least a fourth turn and perhaps even as many as five. (Beyond that, the start quality is more determined by whatever other resources you added or forewent by moving.)

[NobleHelium]

And the extra hammer comes to an extra turn of 4 foodhammer production after just 4 turns of operation.

Uh...what?

[RefSteel]

And the extra hammer comes to an extra turn of 4 foodhammer production after just 4 turns of operation.

Uh...what?

I think the idea is that the plains hill is still providing extra hammers after the first Worker is produced. Until the first farm/pasture/whatever is complete, a "normal" capital will still being making 4 food-plus-hammers per turn, while a "normal" plains-hill capital will be making 5. So by the time a normal-speed farm is complete, the plains hill plant will already have contributed "four turns' worth" of normal-capital hammers (if you count post-first-worker, pre-food-resource food as ~= to hammers) even though it only sped the worker itself by three turns. I don't think those numbers support the argument though, even discounting 40 critical early beakers, because taking four turns to move to a plains hill means delaying the worker by a turn over settling in place, and therefore delaying the first food resource (and every future worker action) too.

Three turns is acceptable if the start is not beaker-limited and if other considerations ("Am I moving toward or away from key opponents and/or my back lines?") don't come into play, because the extra hammer-per-turn in the capital for the rest of the game probably makes up for the early commerce and the imprecision of the calculation above, but note that "if."