Trading Tricks? I need Gas Giant Tech!

[Bowden Russell]

Okay, I need to get Gas Giant Technology but don't have the time to research it. How can I assure that I can get it through a trade?

The trick where you offer a stupid AI 3 FG's for a BB works great!!!! Anything else like that work?

Bowden Russell

[Taqwus]

Hrm. I don't do well at tech trades (and versus hostile AIs, I'd rather steal them then trade over my infrastructure/colonization techs -- either via crew insurrection, or outright tech theft, etc), but since you got it to accept a ship deal, have you tried offering, say, the BB it just gave you, for a colony ship (once you find one)?

If you're lucky, it won't consider the true value of the technology on the ship... then all(!) you need to do is get the colony ship back to a shipyard, alive.



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-- The thing that goes bump in the night

[WhiteHojo]

A couple of tricks worked for me a few times.

1) if you have a spare planet somewhere out of the way you might be able to trade it for a colony tech - seems drastic but it's cheaper than researching a tech.

2) If you make a trade treaty w/a race that's lower in score than you, you might be able to get it to give you their tech as a gift - has also worked for me.

3) Offer to trade your tech for theirs - never tried this but I've heard it works

4) conquer a weak race (if the game situation puts you in this type of situation) and you'll get his tech.

[apache]

Straight Tech-Tech trades do not work from my experience. The AI does not see the point (for whatever reason) of trading one colonizing tech for another, even if you are friendly with that AI. However, most of the time, you can demand a gift from a weaker AI which they will usually send unless they hate you. Even stronger ones sometimes send you gifts. However, demanding gifts usually decreases the AI's friendliness towards you.
If you don't care about taking advantage of the AI, then you can probably trade escorts for colony ships, then analyze them. Or trading planets for tech might work too.

[UmberGryphon]

I generally have pretty good luck waiting until the AI asks for a treaty (or until I think the AI would accept a treaty if I offered it one), and offering a trade--that treaty, in exchange for a colonization tech (or any other tech).

It values treaties way more than it values ANY technology, apparently. I've never seen it refuse a tech-for-treaty trade in a situation where it would accept the treaty.

[Taqwus]

Hmmm, that's bizarre. Treaties can be broken, but you can never take back a tech gift.

I could see a *small* tech gift, like some minor weapon tech, or so forth. But colonization tech is both very expensive and very, very useful.

Most of my trading's resource trading, anyway -- e.g. early in the atmosphere conVersion phase of my current game, I badly needed radioactives but had plenty of minerals and organics, so frequently traded in the ratio (5Min + 5Org) : (8 Rad). Not that competitive of a trade (since minerals are so important, usually) but helpful until my Rad production increased.

In a previous game (patch 1 then, if it matters) I frequently traded large quantities in the ratio (5 Org + 5 Rad) : (7 Min) in an attempt to deplete other empires' mineral stocks prior to war. Combine with other aspects of economic warfare (resource theft/destruction, and now anarchy Groups, etc).


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-- The thing that goes bump in the night

[This message has been edited by Taqwus (edited 11 January 2001).]