Situation makes it impossible to level up tech?

[FinnegansFather]

This situation looks odd to me:
I have admin tech level 5, with a lot of progress towards 6. But due to my being 90% ahead of time, I would need 1135 admin points to level up. Yet I see I can only "save up" 1074 points, making it impossible for the time being.
Is this working as intended, essentially a hard cap on how far you can get ahead? (I would add that I am not crazily ahead of the competition. I am one of six nations currently at level 5.)

(I understand that leveling up tech may not be the best use of those points in any case. But I am surprised that it is not a choice, and, if that is really the case, really do not like the design decision.)

 

[Badesumofu]

If it costs more points than you can currently have then it's out of reach for now. The game mechanic is a mixture of a soft-cap (you can tech up ahead of time if you want by paying extra) and a hard cap (the ahead of time penalty when large enough will put the cost of the tech out of reach).

It is a choice, you just don't have the capacity to enact it yet. Removing the cap on monarch points would be utterly game breaking so you'll just have to live with it, I guess.

 

[FinnegansFather]

Well, no one asked for my opinion, but I would think the cap on saved monarch points ought never be higher than what you need to level up, however high that hurdle is set.

Saving points beyond what you need is, I am sure, open to exploits. But it seems to me the ability to level up earlier than historical fact is in itself no more an exploit than territorial expansion that is further than historical fact. The game creates lots of hurdles to make the latter goal increasingly difficult, and I have no problem with the game making for the former goal increasingly difficult. However, in a game that has no formal win conditions, it seems just as legitimate to try to gain insurmountable advantage through technology as through land acquisition.

 

[Fanstar1]

Well, no one asked for my opinion, but I would think the cap on saved monarch points ought never be higher than what you need to level up, however high that hurdle is set.

Saving points beyond what you need is, I am sure, open to exploits. But it seems to me the ability to level up earlier than historical fact is in itself no more an exploit than territorial expansion that is further than historical fact. The game creates lots of hurdles to make the latter goal increasingly difficult, and I have no problem with the game making for the former goal increasingly difficult. However, in a game that has no formal win conditions, it seems just as legitimate to try to gain insurmountable advantage through technology as through land acquisition.

how about no? sometimes it is best to save up

 

[Zephyrum]

Personally I agree the cap is a bit silly, no one in their right mind would invest past a certain cost anyway - but it's probably healthier in Multiplayer to prevent 1550ish arms races in which people stop expanding to save up points to get ahead.

 

[Logist]

If you're a beginner at the game, a good rule of thumb is never tech at more than a 5/10 percent penalty. There are situations where it's worth it (some mil techs or to open an idea group) but they're rare. If you hit the cap, look for other places to invest your points.

 

[CrazyZombie]

Play as Eastern European tech group - and you won't have such problem.

 

[Mr0Santan]

There are lots of ways to reduce tech cost. In my recent Japan Game with Shimanzu Ideas, Full innovative and 2 other admin groups filled, I was able to tech up on Admin tech at 8 years ahead of time for less than 500 points. If you want to be super ahead of time, you need to work for it, not just stockpile points.

 

[Aythne]

If I build enough boats, I should be able to march troops across the Atlantic ocean. Sure, there might be no reason to do so and it was never done historically, but boats have a finite length and so does the ocean; ipso facto, the game should let me do it.

 

[iquabakaner]

I don't think you should tech up when you're 9 years ahead of time.

 

[SirGregMac]

If for some reason I reach the upper 800s or 900s on Monarch Points, it's a matter of spending some to develop my country (CS DLC) or create new generals to drill my armies (CoC DLC). There is a cap for gameplay reasons, as the devs have said the game stops being historical the moment you unpause the game to start your campaign.

 

[IndraSunrise]

You aren't the research and design team of your country.
You are adopting a technology that is spreading naturally, not assigning teams of white coated scientists yo look for the cure to cancer.
As a technology becomes more widespread and we'll known, it becomes easier and easier to get your peasants to understand and follow it.
This isn't Civilization, where the goal is for India to nuke the world in 1200 AD.

 

[Daniel Halachev]

Lol. I hardly make tech research (newbie here, playing his second game as Byzantium after 30-ish restarts) and expand simultaneously! Is it because of bad Byzantine leaders in the beginning of the game or... I suck?

 

[qwertzuiop]

Lol. I hardly make tech research (newbie here, playing his second game as Byzantium after 30-ish restarts) and expand simultaneously! Is it because of bad Byzantine leaders in the beginning of the game or... I suck?

As long as you don't fall behind on military tech at the start of the game everything should be alright. If you don't have enough points to tech up admin or diplo that's okay, it happens often especially with the harder starts in the game. It's entirely possible to have something like military tech 6 while still being at admin and diplo tech 3.