Ridiculous

[ZomgK3tchup]

About this one - I'd rather suggest using the AI method - put all of your money in 1 tech section (leaving some to minting if needed), that way the research is WAY faster and you can allocate all that money to another sector or higher tech level quicker, without having the slow-ass steady build-up of every tech level. It's very slow and ineffective to research all at once (well, in the end the result is same, but you can quicker unlock a specific tech's bonuses by pouring all the money into it and then go to other techs from highest priority to lowest so you can get all your needed stuff as early as possible).

This is very circumstantial since you'll want to keep up with government for ideas, production and trade for buildings, and navy once you actually have a need for a navy. While I agree, yeah, allocating a majority of your research points to one tech (land) is a good idea, it's not a blanket rule.

Also, that isn't what the AI does. The AI allocates a huge amount to minting to the point that it will have 30 inflation at a time and will be several techs behind in everything as a result. It makes itself dependent on minting in such a way that by 1600, you should be ahead of France of Spain, even as an Eastern European state.

 

[gela1212]

About this one - I'd rather suggest using the AI method - put all of your money in 1 tech section (leaving some to minting if needed), that way the research is WAY faster and you can allocate all that money to another sector or higher tech level quicker, without having the slow-ass steady build-up of every tech level. It's very slow and ineffective to research all at once (well, in the end the result is same, but you can quicker unlock a specific tech's bonuses by pouring all the money into it and then go to other techs from highest priority to lowest so you can get all your needed stuff as early as possible).

If you don't like doing this, at least do it for land tech 18. Please. I beg you.

 

[cacra]

This is very circumstantial since you'll want to keep up with government for ideas, production and trade for buildings, and navy once you actually have a need for a navy. While I agree, yeah, allocating a majority of your research points to one tech (land) is a good idea, it's not a blanket rule.

it is almost always good, you should try and get national ideas and new buildings (especially production and land ones) as fast as you can. the only time i can think of not researching on tech is like tech 50 and even then i would rather max land tech asap

 

[Ricox]

If you don't like doing this, at least do it for land tech 18. Please. I beg you.

wat? Was it meant to be a reply to me or wut?

This is very circumstantial since you'll want to keep up with government for ideas, production and trade for buildings, and navy once you actually have a need for a navy. While I agree, yeah, allocating a majority of your research points to one tech (land) is a good idea, it's not a blanket rule.

Also, that isn't what the AI does. The AI allocates a huge amount to minting to the point that it will have 30 inflation at a time and will be several techs behind in everything as a result. It makes itself dependent on minting in such a way that by 1600, you should be ahead of France of Spain, even as an Eastern European state.

And I'm not sure what's wrong with your games, but when I play with inflation, the AI rarely screws up THAT bad with inflation. And the AI does it, even if it is minting hard - it still concentrates on 1 tech section and then switches over to the next one in their priority list as that one is leveled up. That way, as I already noted - you can get what you're looking for way faster, since the steady build-up of researching all at once is very slow and ineffective, and gives edge to those who pick tech by tech (since they can get their desired ones faster and the steady build-up will research almost all at the same time, so you'll end up falling behind in some tech and then getting back up as everything is researched, then fall back and then get back up and this cycle will keep on going the whole time unless your income is so massive you manage to get a tech advantage).

 

[gela1212]

wat? Was it meant to be a reply to me or wut?

No, I just didn't feel like re-typing the concept so I quoted your explanation of tech rushing to add my note on to.

 

[Orlov Kruskayev]

Am I allowed to say I laughed out loud at this rant?

Because I did.


Also, indeed there is no explanation to Bohemian endless supply of manpower other than a crack straight to hell in Prague, and unholy deals with Satan by their evil monarchs.
I think I will play the Teutonic Knights right now with the sole objective of shattering the Unholy Roman Empire for good, and annexing all of Bohemia to exorcize the plague.

 

[ggsimmonds]

wat? Was it meant to be a reply to me or wut?



And I'm not sure what's wrong with your games, but when I play with inflation, the AI rarely screws up THAT bad with inflation. And the AI does it, even if it is minting hard - it still concentrates on 1 tech section and then switches over to the next one in their priority list as that one is leveled up. That way, as I already noted - you can get what you're looking for way faster, since the steady build-up of researching all at once is very slow and ineffective, and gives edge to those who pick tech by tech (since they can get their desired ones faster and the steady build-up will research almost all at the same time, so you'll end up falling behind in some tech and then getting back up as everything is researched, then fall back and then get back up and this cycle will keep on going the whole time unless your income is so massive you manage to get a tech advantage).

I would have to check their inflation figures, but all of Europe (including France and Spain) are several tech levels behind me. It hasn't always been like this though. They started lagging behind at around tech level 20. Right now my techs are around 25 while theirs are typically near 21. I seem to recall France having inflation sitting at around 21, but I would need to double check

 

[brifbates]

I would have to check their inflation figures, but all of Europe (including France and Spain) are several tech levels behind me. It hasn't always been like this though. They started lagging behind at around tech level 20. Right now my techs are around 25 while theirs are typically near 21. I seem to recall France having inflation sitting at around 21, but I would need to double check

The ai is pretty bad about inflation in the vanilla game. A lot of mods take this into account and put in events and modifiers to help counter this. I think the difficulty settings also do this so higher difficulty levels the ai will have lower inflation numbers.

 

[fenisnad]

How high is your infamy? The AI factors infamy in when deciding to DOW or not.

As for AI inflation, I find they are pretty prudent in that regard. A few nations tend to overdo it - Portugal and Spain especially - and if they're failing or warring a lot, it happens.

 

[Viperswhip]

I actually started playing with inflation only from gold back when I played Castille. I was super hungry for gold provinces so I had to manage inflation but the AI suffered none. It's advantageous to me in my Byzantium game, but just an even playing field really. That's the best setting, because as brifbates noted, the AI sucks at managing inflation.

 

[ZomgK3tchup]

w==And I'm not sure what's wrong with your games, but when I play with inflation, the AI rarely screws up THAT bad with inflation. And the AI does it, even if it is minting hard - it still concentrates on 1 tech section and then switches over to the next one in their priority list as that one is leveled up. That way, as I already noted - you can get what you're looking for way faster, since the steady build-up of researching all at once is very slow and ineffective, and gives edge to those who pick tech by tech (since they can get their desired ones faster and the steady build-up will research almost all at the same time, so you'll end up falling behind in some tech and then getting back up as everything is researched, then fall back and then get back up and this cycle will keep on going the whole time unless your income is so massive you manage to get a tech advantage).

Play a whole game. The further you go, the further the AI will lag behind. The reason is a combination of its incompetence (using minting to support itself instead of simply having a smaller military and reducing spending) and the player's ability to game for tech advantages such as always having good tech advisers and adjusting your sliders to negate tech penalties.

By the end of the game, you can be at least 20 techs ahead of most of the other western AI states, no matter how big you are.

Concentrating on one and switching is also inefficient since the more you concentrate on one, the "more ahead of your time" you'll be with that tech and thus get penalties for research. Concentrating on a few (preferably land and either government or navy) and then turning up others (production and trade) when you need them makes you less likely to be researching things that will give you penalties.

 

[brifbates]

Concentrating on one and switching is also inefficient since the more you concentrate on one, the "more ahead of your time" you'll be with that tech and thus get penalties for research. Concentrating on a few (preferably land and either government or navy) and then turning up others (production and trade) when you need them makes you less likely to be researching things that will give you penalties.

You focus all your investments in the tech of your choice until you gain a level. You then check to see if it is now ahead of time, if it is you shift everything somewhere else for a few years until it is no longer ahead of time. You don't want to just dump it in a tech and forget it because, as you note, you potentially end up overspending horribly.

 

[Pewt]

Play a whole game. The further you go, the further the AI will lag behind. The reason is a combination of its incompetence (using minting to support itself instead of simply having a smaller military and reducing spending) and the player's ability to game for tech advantages such as always having good tech advisers and adjusting your sliders to negate tech penalties.

By the end of the game, you can be at least 20 techs ahead of most of the other western AI states, no matter how big you are.

Concentrating on one and switching is also inefficient since the more you concentrate on one, the "more ahead of your time" you'll be with that tech and thus get penalties for research. Concentrating on a few (preferably land and either government or navy) and then turning up others (production and trade) when you need them makes you less likely to be researching things that will give you penalties.

Going ahead of time isn't that bad before 20-30 years, and is manageable before 50ish. Better than teching useless trade/production/naval levels.

 

[unmerged(463662)]

Going ahead of time isn't that bad before 20-30 years, and is manageable before 50ish. Better than teching useless trade/production/naval levels.

Landlocked countries shouldn't even be able to research naval tech.

 

[gela1212]

Landlocked countries shouldn't even be able to research naval tech.

If they get port cities, why are they suddenly building 200 year old boats instead of modern technology?

 

[unmerged(463662)]

If they get port cities, why are they suddenly building 200 year old boats instead of modern technology?

Because the elite won't have any expertise with naval stuff, and neither would any of their forebears. ships are things that other countries have always built. why would they even care:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JGyJOX5wFFg

 

[grommile]

Because the elite won't have any expertise with naval stuff, and neither would any of their forebears. ships are things that other countries have always built. why would they even care:

Because now they are subject to the Blockade war exhaustion and war score penalties.

So, logical as your idea is, it turns out to be terrible.

 

[unmerged(463662)]

Because now they are subject to the Blockade war exhaustion and war score penalties.

So, logical as your idea is, it turns out to be terrible.

Not really.

I never bother to build any ships as Brandenburg. It works out just fine.

And besides, blockade war exhaustion and war score penalties are very rarely crippling.

 

[Hiram_Maxim]

Attrition you may say? Well you're wrong, that won't work, because with their vast riches taken from the poor souls suffering eternal damnation they can just build more as it fits them. So whatever demons that are cast back to hell come right back through the crack in Prague and fight my heavenly knights and send their souls to heaven regardless. Attrition would be even more unthinkable, when it will gut my economy and kill my manpower. Which Bohemia seemingly has plenty of.

What exactly, I am supposed to do?

Set all your technology funding to zero and your minting slider to the max. Build manufactories in all your provinces. The neighbour and manufactory bonuses to tech will let you keep pace in technology and since you are minting at the maximum rate, you can raise armies well beyond your force limits. Use them to crush any country that angers you.

 

[LegacyCWAL]

You focus all your investments in the tech of your choice until you gain a level. You then check to see if it is now ahead of time, if it is you shift everything somewhere else for a few years until it is no longer ahead of time. You don't want to just dump it in a tech and forget it because, as you note, you potentially end up overspending horribly.

Obviously overdoing it is bad, but that goes for a lot of things. But focusing in general is still good.


Here's an example: say you want to gain 1 more level in each tech, and each one would require 1 years' worth of research investment. If you divide the research evenly (20% to each tech), you wind up with the 5 tech levels after 5 years. However, if you focus on one of them for a year, then a second for a year, and so on, then at the end of five years, you'll have your five tech levels...but in the meantime, you get the benefits of the earlier ones you researched.

So which is better...having five levels' worth of benefits five years from now, or having one levels' worth of benefits in one year, two levels' worth of benefits in two years, and so on until you have the five techs after five years anyways? Especially if one of those techs gives you a big jump like a new idea or new unit or something in the meantime.

Now, obviously it won't be cut-and-dried like that, but the concept is still the same. You can always quit focusing on one and switch to another when you start hitting ahead-of-time penalties.