Civilization III

Delacroix · Post by **Delacroix** » Mon Dec 03, 2001 7:19 am

I have a favority civ- France
Industrial-Comercial- Musketeer

Americans(f15) and Persians are also good in my opinion.

Fav Unit- Chivalry

I also use to cancel all victory conditions except by conquest victory. It is very fun. Only one objective-The World.

Pangéia I think is good to play.

Regent or Monarch are my favorite dificult level, especially against lots of civilization as oponents.

F15 is too powerfull. You use it at the end of the game, much more utile than others especial units

THE JAKER · Post by **THE JAKER** » Mon Dec 03, 2001 11:11 am

OK, I got the game yesterday. Played two games so far - no. 1: got butt kicked by germans big time. no. 2: doing good as babylonians, then I kicked the plug and shut off the computer by accident, decided "time to sleep"

I swear the gaming companies should pay for Gamebanshee - this is at least the second game I've bought because of reading threads here. I never played any of the other Civ PC games, but I used to play tabletop Civ - does that make me old skool? I used to stay up all night playing that one too.

Still can't find a copy of Wizardry 8.

ThorinOakensfield · Post by **ThorinOakensfield** » Mon Dec 03, 2001 5:27 pm

Originally posted by THE JAKER:

I swear the gaming companies should pay for Gamebanshee - this is at least the second game I've bought because of reading threads here.

I agree. I didn't realize that CIV 3 had been released till now.

Ha this is great. I took all the Japanese cities with my cultural dominance. I've crushed the Egyptians(they started it

), but the English and the Indians are quite tough. They've spread their area out.

BTW how do you select how many computer opponents you have. I've seem to have forgotten.

My favorite unit**Note i haven't got to the industrial age as yet**: Immortals. They've got the best stats in the Ancient age units. Attack '4', damn!! And decent defense.

I'm playing Iroqouis now. They're pretty cool. Doing well, because its Chefiten Level.

Xandax · Post by **Xandax** » Mon Dec 03, 2001 10:51 pm

Originally posted by ThorinOakensfield:

<snip>
BTW how do you select how many computer opponents you have. I've seem to have forgotten.
<snip>

When selecting the world size you must select a larger size. Each size of maps can hold a max number of opponets. (Huge can of course hold the most)
Then when you select your civ. at the right of the screen there is some drop down menus where you can select more/less civs.

Recoba · Post by **Recoba** » Thu Dec 06, 2001 12:34 pm

After more extensive playtesting I have come to the conclusion that civ3 is fairly hard, and a good game to spend a long time mastering. I have also picked my fav civ - france. Fav unit - probably infantry at the moment.

ThorinOakensfield · Post by **ThorinOakensfield** » Thu Dec 06, 2001 3:39 pm

Thanks Xan.

Civ 3 is alot tougher than the others. Military conquest is almost out of the question. I rely on taking cities via culture, and i have tax collectors and such.

Check your domestic advisor to see where you're losing money. You can't do anything about maintanences cost, but you can bring down the corruption by building a courthouse i every city.
And have a good luxury rate and lower your science tax. I didn't care about finding new things, because you can buy them from others.
With happier people, change some to tax collectors to raise more money. Then with my money i gave some as a gift to the other civs. They came to trust me. Then i did fair tradings, and used methods mentioned above in this topic.
Then when the UN is built you can be elected leader(whatever its called). Thats it, you've won.
Also by having strong diplomatic relations, if one civ insults you, you can get military alliances with the others and let them go kick this one's butt.
Easy.

THE JAKER · Post by **THE JAKER** » Thu Dec 06, 2001 5:08 pm

That sounds like a good strategy Thorin. I was getting punished at this game but now I think I am getting more of a feel for defensive fortifications. I played a game last night where Persia and Russia both declared war on me and attacked me no joke from 30 BC until 760 AD - an 800 year war!

The computer AI is Ok, but it doesn't seem that smart regarding forts - I've been building a lot of forts all around my land. The problem with building the perfect defensive city is that if the enemy takes it, then THEY have the perfect defensive city and you can't get it back.

The same should apply to forts, but the computer doesn't seem to notice them - a computer unit that has taken a fort will leave in for a less advantageous square and let you retake the fort. Using a lot of forts I find myself holding my own and expanding my area (slowly) on warlord setting where before I would get chumped.

One thing I don't know about is catapults - I built a bunch but they don't seem to be doing me that much good - I'll fire four catapults on an enemy city, and the enemy unit will take maybe 1 damage, and I still can't take the city. I guess I'll try like 10 catapults and see if that helps

Xandax · Post by **Xandax** » Thu Dec 06, 2001 10:56 pm

Originally posted by THE JAKER:
<snip>
One thing I don't know about is catapults - I built a bunch but they don't seem to be doing me that much good - I'll fire four catapults on an enemy city, and the enemy unit will take maybe 1 damage, and I still can't take the city. I guess I'll try like 10 catapults and see if that helps

This is because you "Bombard" and are not attacking per se.
Bombardment can be a wonderful strategic tool.
As you have discovered, if successful, bombard will "hurt" a unit/army but not destroy it.
If you bombard cities - you have a chance to "hurt" units inside or destroy imporvments or destroy citizen.
You can also bombard terrain and destroy terrain-imporvments - ei. roads, railroads, mines, irrigation.

Thus Bombardment can weaken a army or units so much that they are easily destroyed.
Or you can all but eleminate a citys moral by eventually destroying all imporvements(precision bombing can allow your planes to attack specific improvements in cities to ei. attack Cathredrals

- although this is bugged, it should be corrected in the patch)

Or by destroying roads you can cut of the supply of strategic resources to cities, so these cities can't build a specific unit it that city, or by destroying mines - you can slow production (I generally go after mines on gold

)

I did this is a long war with the germans in the modern age, where I due to my bomberplanes could cause civil disorder in cities, I removed their supply of rubber by bombing the roads, and I removed mines on gold.

BTW - patch information: [url="http://apolyton.net/news/011205.shtml"]http://apolyton.net/news/011205.shtml[/url]

[ 12-07-2001: Message edited by: Xandax ]

THE JAKER · Post by **THE JAKER** » Fri Dec 07, 2001 10:52 am

Xan - I did a little more work w/ the catapults - they just bug me because when you bombard a city you will get no apparent result like 3 out of 4 times. What I did was have 7 catapults bombarding, and tried that for a couple turns and the stormed in, that worked. Good idea about targeting the improvements. I noticed that the patch was going to address precision bombing and I thought of you

.

I tried Thorin's strategy of not researching science myself, but just hoarding cash and then buying the science off other countries - it works really well! A lot easier for me, and I got some stuff for cheap. My people are a lot happier too.

My strategy of building forts (and roads) everywhere continues to rule - I advance with defensive units and a bunch of workers, clearing building forts and roads as I go. Even against war elephants a fortified spearman has a fighting chance. Now get this: in my current game (~1500 AD) I got NO iron or saltpeter, and the germans have both!

ThorinOakensfield · Post by **ThorinOakensfield** » Fri Dec 07, 2001 6:49 pm

I don't get catapults either. THey were one of the best units i could get until musketeers. Really good offense.
Now i don't really like them.

I've realized that Persians get the biggest advantage in the game, atleast in ancient times.
They can have immortals which are the best unit in the Ancient world. Good for taking cities and then defending them.

Turn off the option to win via space launch when you use the no science strategy. ALthough you're foreign minister and sciene minister may push you to heighten it, don't do anything to the science rate.
If you want military conquest put that thing as high as you can, because you want to have the most modern units.

THE JAKER · Post by **THE JAKER** » Sun Dec 09, 2001 6:07 pm

Oh lord, this game is so addictive

I am so absorbed I can't even remember to get up and get a beer. I had to set up a TV next to my computer (wanting to do that for awhile) so that I could play during the commercials when The Matrix was on.

I've been reading the book, getting a lot of info which has helped my resource management out a lot.

The most frustrating thing in the game is the resources - the last game I played my boundaries had no iron, then it turned out I had no saltpeter, then no coal

Really makes things hard, and the other countries don't seem too eager to part with any either. The game I'm playing now I got iron, but then no saltpeter or coal, so I am going to forced into a war to get these resources from a country that has them and therefore has superior units.

I would recommend the Romans to anyone having trouble with the game, as long as you have iron you can build the legionaries and get an early golden age, and the legionaries stand up well in battle until the industrial age at least.

Gruntboy · Post by **Gruntboy** » Mon Dec 10, 2001 3:25 am

Civ3 has quickly overshadowed my love of Civ2. Awesome.

Starting afresh with the Romans, I am having much fun carving an empire with Legions.

Some of the adapted rules take some getting used to and I am having trouble holding my own at Regent level! Those God-damned French just won't die.

HighLordDave · Post by **HighLordDave** » Mon Dec 10, 2001 5:57 am

I have a quick question from a Civ newbie:

If there is gold outside of my city, can I mine it or is it just going to sit there and taunt me? With gems or other luxury items, you can build a road and establish a colony to get the resource, but can you do the same with gold?

Thanks in advance.

Mr Sleep · Post by **Mr Sleep** » Mon Dec 10, 2001 6:09 am

Just out of interest, can you do the old CIV 1/2 trick, where you start in Europe, research Chariots quickly then wipe out all of your opponents with just that single chariot unit, that was so much fun

Gruntboy · Post by **Gruntboy** » Mon Dec 10, 2001 6:16 am

HighLordDave - you can mine it or not and just use the resaource square in the city screen. That way it is added to your city production.

However, in order for gold to become a luxury available to your civ, you have to build a road to it.

Xandax · Post by **Xandax** » Mon Dec 10, 2001 7:37 am

Well AFAIK you can only use gold in the city-squares (the outlined area in your city view).
Building roads to it like luxeries will AFAIK not work - it is a resource like grain, not strategic like iron or a luxery like gems.

HighLordDave · Post by **HighLordDave** » Mon Dec 10, 2001 7:50 am

Originally posted by Xandax:
Well AFAIK you can only use gold in the city-squares (the outlined area in your city view).
Building roads to it like luxeries will AFAIK not work - it is a resource like grain, not strategic like iron or a luxery like gems.

So in other words, I have to build more cities to get to the gold and then build mines increase production, right?

Gruntboy · Post by **Gruntboy** » Mon Dec 10, 2001 8:44 am

I kinda figured it was like the rest of the resources?

Ah! Isn't it consumable? I.E. it will run out if you mine it long enough on the city screen? Like elephants and things?

I've only been playing 2 days.

Xandax · Post by **Xandax** » Mon Dec 10, 2001 11:13 am

Originally posted by HighLordDave:
So in other words, I have to build more cities to get to the gold and then build mines increase production, right?

To use gold you need them to be inside the "citybounds" - and mines will not increase "commernce" from them (roads and railroads would IIRC) but "production"/"shields" so they are useally a good idea

And @ Grunt - Gold mines dosen't AFAIK run out - they never have in any of my games - again they are resource like ei. grain.

ThorinOakensfield · Post by **ThorinOakensfield** » Mon Dec 10, 2001 3:49 pm

Originally posted by Mr Sleep:
Just out of interest, can you do the old CIV 1/2 trick, where you start in Europe, research Chariots quickly then wipe out all of your opponents with just that single chariot unit, that was so much fun

Actually they've made chariots pretty bad. Not any better than horsemen.

Some more tips.
When choosing your civ and checking what advantages they have(science, religion, commercial etc. and special units), don't bother with the special units you get towards the end of the game. I find in Civ 3 it is impossible to make a spaceship and win because you have to keep the science rate low to make money and please your people.
So Americans and Germans lose out there. F-15 is one of the last units, and in those times 1 more point in offense or defense isn't as big of a deal. Same applies with Germany which gets Panzers(they get extra movement).
So in that area i would reccomend getting the Romans, Zulu(impi's are pretty good), Russians, Persians(immortals have amazing attack), French, and Japanese.

Also if you plan to take over the world with military take the Romans or Zulus.
I find that the most important things are industrious, religion(keeps the people happy), and science.

Anyway i decided to play as the Zulus. Took a tiny map with the Americans, English, and Aztecs.
I quickly built settlers and made cities. Then i decided to take my impi warriors and attacked London. I must have wasted atleast 50 units over the course of the game trying to take London. The spearmen wouldn't fall. So i retreated, and signed a peace treaty. Then i continued to expand. Made more cities.
The Aztecs were to my south, the English to the west, and the Americans a bitter further on. I spent a few centuries building wonders, improving my cities. Then i discovered horses and swordsmen, and marched against London again. Here is where i lost about 20 units. The English had pikemen, and my horsemen lost really badly against them. So i waited a bit longer. Had my units hang around at the borders. I discovered gunpowder and then later on made the cavalry. I upgraded my horsemen, and made about 50 more in my other cities, and we led a massive attack against London. The problem was that the English pikemen were elites because they had spent so much time fighting my horesemen. THe cavalry eventually beat them. After taking London, i made a military alliance with the Americans. The English had a few more cities that fell easily to my cavalry units. The Enlish had 3 more cities left on an island, but i couldn't be bothered. BTW my diplomatic relations were very bad. I attacked the backwards Americans next. They weren't much of a challenge. They had only a few pikemen in their whole empire. So they too retreated to the island with the Brits. I noticed the Aztecs to the south were up to something. They moved their units into my territory so i attacked. Their jaguar warriors(so backwards) managed to take one of my cities, because i forgot to upgrade my impis to musketmen. After a short siege i took the city back. My cavalry went on and attacked thier capital. They were well garrisoned, and had several musketmen that i could barely beat. The other cities fell too. The whole continent was mine, but all 3 of the civs had retreated to the small island. I took my galleons and filled em' up with cavalry and set sail. I lost a whole galleon and 6 cavalry to a frigate that attacked. I managed to get my other ships on land, and i took the Aztecs with no trouble. Then the Americans. I managed to get a leader, and had him make a wonder for me. I got another one later, and got him to make an army. I didn't get how it worked, so i wasted it. My cavalry made short work of the Americans and Aztecs and destroyed their civs. The English fell next without any trouble.
All in all, an easy game, but that was Chieften level, and on a tiny map.

The only problem i faced was when my saltpeter ran out and i couldn't make more cavalry and was having trouble taking London.