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Civilization III

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Omar
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Post by Omar »

:D

Interesting! So far there hasn't been anyone with negative feelings towards Civ3! I saw this game in the stores a couple of days ago but had my doubts about it, perhaps I should give it a try...

Does Civ3 have the same difficulty levels as Civ2? Like, if you can beat Civ2 on Emperor level, you can master the Chieftain level in Civ3 easily or something?

PS Does anyone of you play scenarios?
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HighLordDave
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Post by HighLordDave »

Originally posted by Omar:
<STRONG>Interesting! So far there hasn't been anyone with negative feelings towards Civ3! </STRONG>
I had never played any of the Sid Meier games before, so I wasn't one of the Civ devotees, but it came with lots of strong recommendations from the folks at Babbages. My wife and I like to play city-building games together, so we picked up Civ 3 because it was on sale.

Being the third installment (plus all of the "extras" in the series; ie-Call to Power) of a successful franshise, it appears that Civ 3 is built upon a tried and true engine with all of the kinks having been worked out in previous itinerations, much like Bioware's Infinity Engine. As a result, the game itself is very stable (unlike say, Pool of Radiance: Ruins of Myth Drannor) with no major design flaws. The graphics and sound are adequate, if a little primitive, much like Sierra's Pharoah/Caesar III/Zeus engine.

However, I am more than happy to sacrifice 3-D rendering and texturing for the sake of a good game; how many of us have played games that look fantastic, but play horribly?

Being an open-ended game that is not dependent upon a plot or linear story line (like Icewind Dale), Civ 3 has the potential for infinite replayability, and with sixteen different civilisations to choose from, it offers many different paths to victory.

I have not played with the world editor, nor have I won yet, but I am thoroughly enjoying the game. I have two main complaints about the game, and one is my problem, not the game's.

First, being a newbie to the Civ series, there is a lot of material thrown at players early and the learning curve is very steep. I lost a lot of cities early on because I didn't quite understand how things worked. Again, this is my problem, not the game's, but I think that long-time Civ players take for granted just how much it takes to learn the intricacies of this game.

Second, there is no multi-player (yet). I'm not a big on-line player, but I know there is an audience for this type of feature. I have heard that a multi-player expansion pack is in the works, and I am glad they chose to ship a superb product rather than ship an inferior game just to meet customer demands (: :cough, cough, Ruins of Myth Drannor, cough, cough:: ).

I understand that the game shipped with some flaws and bugs (and what game doesn't?), but the patch silenced most of the gripers. Overall, I am very happy with the game; it truly is one of the best buys out there right now.
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Post by Gruntboy »

Looking at some fansites, there are a lot of disgruntled Civ2 players who are enraged at the combat system, saying its a step back to Civ1!

They say that Civ2 prevented the "phalanx beats tank" problem but this has now reverted. Its no use arguing with the whiney SoB's. They say its hostorically inaccurate and if you try saying "heck, its just a game, maybe the spearman has a molotov ****tail - live with it" they start crying and shooting themselves in the foot ("don't be silly, that's hstorically inaccurate for a spearman to do that, spears can't damage tanks").

Then I return to real life, content to play a good, if historically inaccurate, game. :D
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Post by HighLordDave »

Originally posted by Gruntboy:
<STRONG>They say its hostorically inaccurate and if you try saying "heck, its just a game, maybe the spearman has a molotov ****tail - live with it" they start crying and shooting themselves in the foot ("don't be silly, that's hstorically inaccurate for a spearman to do that, spears can't damage tanks").
</STRONG>
These are probably the same folks who bash Saving Private Ryan for being "historically inaccuarate" . . . sheesh! It's a game--have some fun.

PS--@Gruntboy-I'm at the beginning of the Industrial age, playing the Japanese and my current government is a democracy. The French are encroaching on my territory. I'm loading up my nearest cities with Samurai, Cavalry and Cannons. Any advice on kicking them to the curb without causing war weariness?
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Post by Xandax »

Originally posted by HighLordDave:
[QB<snip>
PS--@Gruntboy-I'm at the beginning of the Industrial age, playing the Japanese and my current government is a democracy. The French are encroaching on my territory. I'm loading up my nearest cities with Samurai, Cavalry and Cannons. Any advice on kicking them to the curb without causing war weariness?[/QB]
Well - luxeries are one of your only choices. Increase the amount of tax going to luxeries and increase the number of entertainers.
Also "provoking" (accidently of course) them to declare war on you will prolong the time (not with much) before warweariness kicks in.
Also policestations will help slightly.
Last resort is goverment change :)

But remember - kick some butt quick :D
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Post by HighLordDave »

Originally posted by Xandax:
<STRONG>But remember - kick some butt quick :D </STRONG>
I'm really not interested in taking territory from the French; I just want them out of "my" land. In this case, would it be better to conquer then burn to the ground the cities that are encroaching on my territory then fight a defensive holding action until the French sue for peace, or should I pursue replaceable parts to get Infantry then go kick the crap out of them? I guess what I'm also asking is if war weariness will kick in if I'm in my territory and not a rivals', or if it starts after XX number of turns of fighting.
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Xandax
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Post by Xandax »

Originally posted by HighLordDave:
<STRONG>I'm really not interested in taking territory from the French; I just want them out of "my" land. In this case, would it be better to conquer then burn to the ground the cities that are encroaching on my territory then fight a defensive holding action until the French sue for peace, or should I pursue replaceable parts to get Infantry then go kick the crap out of them? I guess what I'm also asking is if war weariness will kick in if I'm in my territory and not a rivals', or if it starts after XX number of turns of fighting.</STRONG>
It is always a good thing to burn down some cities, but be careful, the computer does the same :) .
Weariness will always kick in, if yolu conduct a solely defensive war (protecting your cities) then it is slower, but if you attack a lot (and IIRC even in your own land) it will go faster.
As for what course to take, i'd say it depends on the power of the french.
If they are more or equally powerful, wait until you get the infantry, if they are less - then do it quick, so they don't become more powerful :cool:

Last time I played - when I started a war, I suddenly had 2-3 nations against me, and then 50 tanks were placed within on turn on in my borders, so be careful :D
(Luckily I had mordern armour, and kick the commen sence out of their tanks in the next turn, although some cities in my mainland was left undefended due to the number of troops I had to pull to the borders :D )

[ 12-21-2001: Message edited by: Xandax ]
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Post by Gruntboy »

I'm finding problems with war weariness too. Are your opponents democracies? They will have the same problem too - so when you are all tired you can sue for peace!

If not, the luxury rate a luxury goods trade may be your only help (along with cathedrals, police stations and the like).

Taking the war to them and burning a few cities, or just wiping out their attacking force may be enough to bring about peace.
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Post by HighLordDave »

Okay, I just won. I was playing the Japanese, but I didn't win by meeting any of the "normal" victory conditions. Basically, time ran out; the clock clicked 2050 and the game is all over.

My question is this: How many folks get to Alpha Centauri or deep into the Modern Era before the game ends? I finished at the beginning of the Modern Era (and in fact still had the Advanced Flight and Amphibious Warfare technologies left in the Industrial age) and I was just wondering if this was standard or if people were actually finishing before this. It also kind of peeves me that I was only rated as "Tokugawa the Foolish" on the Civ-o-Meter at the end. Still, I'm loving the game and can't wait to try a different civ.
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Post by ThorinOakensfield »

Originally posted by Gruntboy:
<STRONG>Consider it done! Damnable Pharoahs.

I'm having some roaring arguments with people over at civfanatics.com

I'm not calling on help. Its great fun though, there's some complete morons. :D

It was flaming hot for a while but I think I grilled 'em good.

I love the smell of Troll on the morning. :D </STRONG>
What name are you registered under. Gruntboy? haven't seen it.
Oh well you can guess my name although i only have 3 or 4 posts. BTW its not Thorin.
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Post by ThorinOakensfield »

Originally posted by HighLordDave:
<STRONG>
My question is this: How many folks get to Alpha Centauri or deep into the Modern Era before the game ends? I finished at the beginning of the Modern Era (and in fact still had the Advanced Flight and Amphibious Warfare technologies left in the Industrial age) and I was just wondering if this was standard or if people were actually finishing before this. It also kind of peeves me that I was only rated as "Tokugawa the Foolish" on the Civ-o-Meter at the end. Still, I'm loving the game and can't wait to try a different civ.</STRONG>
I played a game with the Zulus. I was using cavalry in the 1900's. :D

My enemies had pikemen and spearmen.

@Grunt- You're right about all those @55S whining about how bad the game is. I really hate those guys.
civfanatics has tons of topics started by those @55s who are whining about that there is no cheat mode.

IMO Civ3 is great. I have Civ2 and had played Civ1 numerous times at my friend's house when we were about 9. (Then that game was amazing, i couldn't imagine anything better :D ).

I really suck at the game at difficulties above warlord. Its tought!

Anyway i reccomend people pay a visit to civfanatics because you can download some very good earth maps from there. Look for the one by Marla Singer. Its size huge and is slow on my computer, though.

I played the Germans and using some steps provided by Marla i got all the civs in the right posistion. The game's going okay. I'm falling behind in score. Both the Egyptians and Americans are ahead of me. But thats also because i have a small empire.
I started in Europe with the Romans, Greeks, Russians, English and French and its very crowded. And when i sent my settlers eastwards i found that the Persian, babylonians and chinese had inhabited alot of that area.
Anyway i have good diplomatic relationships with everybody. I'm most technologically advanced in the world. I have sent 6 settlers to South America which is mostly uninhabited.
My grand scheme is too start creating panzers as soon as possible. Its already the 17th century and i've just entered the industrial age(which historically is pretty close). I'm going directly for motorized transportation(panzers). I plan to make tons of them and the my enemiesm who at best will have just pikemen, maybe musketmen will fall easily. At the time i have the smallest army.
I'll probably cause my relations with the Japanese to crash and have my good friends, the chinese and french and indians go and attack them. They'll crush the Japanese. Next i'll go at the Egyptians (who are very powerful). I'm not going at the Americans because they are too far, and i have cities in South America which the Americans can take easily. The Egypitians are relatively close, but they have to go through Greece, Rome, France, Babylon. Plus the Zulus who greatly admire me, will probably gladly fight. I have to make sure the Egyptians don't make right's of passages. This will be a big battle. The Romans, French and Greeks are weak and would fall easily. The egyptians can't touch my cities because my riflemen are too powerful but they can destroy improvements. The Zulus will be able to cause some trouble. I'll ask the Americans for aid, and if they do, they'll send caravels. I might get the whole world on Egyptians and i'll force them to give up cities. Chinese will be next because they are very advanced and have to be destroyed. This will be a really long war because the Chinese have a large empire, but not too powerful all though i doubt my allies's horsemen stand much of a chance against Chinese pikemen. I'll get the Indians on them too. At that point i'll launch a massive campaign on my allies when they are about to destroy the Chinese by sending their whole army in. The European nations will fall easily. The Zulus will still love me. The Indians will decalre war, but they'll have alot of land to go through. Meanwhile i'll call the Americans and Zulus again. I'll probably fight in this too.
At this point, India, China, Eygypt, Japan, Russia, France, Rome, Greece should be fairly weak. I'll still have the very powerful Americans to deal with and also the Aztecs and Zulus. I'll bribe the Americans and have them fight the Aztecs while i send reinforcements to my South American cities. The Americans should overrun the Aztecs. The Americans have much larger army than me, but are not nearly as advanced. My ironclads should make short work of their frigates. Transports will land panzers in America. Americans will attack with Cavalry and leftover swordsman. I'll proobably lose alot of units here, but they're musketmen stand little chance against my guys. :D

This is a large plan which probably won't work, but at the moment i can't really fight a direct war with anybody.

I have no access to saltpeter and can't make cavalry even. My best offensive unit is the knight.
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HighLordDave
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Post by HighLordDave »

One more thing, if I want to subjugate someone, do I have to conquer their empire city by city or can I make a break for their capital and take the entire empire at once?
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Post by Bloodstalker »

They will just move the Capital yo another city if you take it. besides, it's more fun to level everything, of course much more dificult now too... :rolleyes: :cool:
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Post by HighLordDave »

I'm in a pretty good position right now; I'm playing at the easiest level (Hey, give me a break; this is the first time I've every played the game) and I've got mechanised infantry and tanks while everyone else still has longbowmen and spearmen. I am just hoping to be able to conquer the Babylonians without having war weariness kick in.
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Post by HighLordDave »

Another Civ question:

Is it possible to commit genocide against another civ? I decided to go the warmongering route the second time through while playing the Russians. I ran into some neighbours (the Japanese), promptly overran their only city, and razed it. I assimiliated their workers and I thought wiped them all out. However, Japanese warriors keep popping up and attacking my workers and cities. Will they continually spawn throughout the game (like barbarians) or is it possible to completely eradicate them?
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Post by Bloodstalker »

You can completly destroy a civ, I have taken out the Chinese last night, but they have an annoying tendency to settle new cities just as you kill their old ones. I thougt I had killed the Chinese prematurely, and found out they had one tiny city all the way on the other side of the continent. So I'd say you'll just have to find them.


Hope that helps.
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Post by Vicsun »

Originally posted by HighLordDave:
<STRONG>Another Civ question:

Is it possible to commit genocide against another civ? I decided to go the warmongering route the second time through while playing the Russians. I ran into some neighbours (the Japanese), promptly overran their only city, and razed it. I assimiliated their workers and I thought wiped them all out. However, Japanese warriors keep popping up and attacking my workers and cities. Will they continually spawn throughout the game (like barbarians) or is it possible to completely eradicate them?</STRONG>
Have you played Alpha Centauri? It was the same thing there. Whenever you raise a Civilization for the first time their leader "escapes" and a random city of is placed somewhere.
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Post by ThorinOakensfield »

Ofcourse when the Civ runs off, and try to rebuild their empire they start from the beggining i believe and you can probably find them and eradicate them easily.
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Post by THE JAKER »

I was playing a game as Babylon last night and China (who got the sweetest placement on the map and is obviously going to be the winner) and Egypt ganged up on Russia. They managed to completely wipe Russia out, and the portrait of Katherine disappeared off the diplomacy screen.

I got a rather limited amount of land to myself, but one nice thing is that I got a little hilly zone with 6 incense squares. I want to say to everyone: snatch up those luxuries, other civs will pay through the nose for them later in the game.
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Post by Vivien »

I played through the Civ III turorial last night and am now in love with the game :) I didn't actually fight anyone, but just had fun learning how to handle the other Civ's and try to make money. Only six cities, but culture was very high! Cheers :)
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