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#104 MICRO FOCUS IN CIVILIZATION KILLING CIVILIZATION III Jason Beaudion surfaces to share his thoughts on micromanaging in Civilization. #105 PORTRAIT OF A WEBMASTER DanQ responds to eight of the most sought-after answers from the Apolyton administration. #106 A LITTLE ADVICE FOR CIVIII AND CTPII Sirotnikov dispenses his advice on how to make CivIII and CTPII better than their predecessors. #107 STRATEGY OR SIMULATION? Alert from Glak: why he believes that the style of Civ games is not strategy at all. #108 DEATH OF A GAME korn469 asserts that both Firaxis and Activision can learn from some invaluable lessons from MicroProse as what NOT to do in terms of product support. COLUMN ARCHIVE

It's hard to define how I see CivIII. I think, for all of us, CivIII is an important game. We post ideas, we summarize, we work our butt's off because in the end, we care how the game comes out. I think that our help is even more important now to Firaxis, or at least to make sure civIII, with all the recent upheaval and struggle at the company.

But still, how do I see CivIII? How do we all?

People have a lot of ideas to the sequel, and every person has a totally different look planned for the game. But probably one of the few points we all agree is that diplomacy requires expansion. Requires, demands, and cry for. No other word for it. For years, we have been bombarded with poor AI, especially in diplomacy. They kept demanding silly tribute, declared wars for no apparent reason, and from time to time just decided to go ahead and break a century worth of alliance.

Things have been improving slowly over the years. It got to the level that some people (yes, they exist, I saw those posts) really think that SMAC diplomacy was good enough, "maybe just a few more options". Does people have no imagination, and no understanding just how far you can go with politics. It's hard to list everything one can put in a Diplomacy menu. My summary tries boldly, but I stopped updating it. It got to big. But the possibilities are staggering.

Think of converting captured nations to Autonomies. Think of your enemies conspiring beyond your back with the captured, now allies, AI to suddenly have it declare nation-wide revolt. Imagine using spies to sneak in goods to captured cities. Take caravans to assist cities that were just hit with a random disaster for extra reputation. Have a nationality view: where the people see themselves. See cities switch ownership new civ emerge from a disgruntled sector. See a multitude of minor nations compete one another, and a now fallen empire sink to that degree. Use spies to gain information on your enemies. Gain intel on illegal atrocities he committed, and present them to the UN, to publicly harm him. Or better yet, use that intel as a bribe or leverage.

Cast embargo on nations. To multi-sided diplomacy as you ask one side to talk with the other side. Be a part of several-sided peace meetings. Use covert operations to a full array of items of destruction: steal, jam, disrupt and destroy the enemy buildings, units and wonders. Trade anything with other nations, resources, money, techs, cities and what not. Draw elaborate agreements with other nations. Shape forces to a sudden alliance and declaration of war on a now beloved, soon to be hated enemy. Be a part of a UN, or High Council, with a lot of power and intervention ability. Donate, or be a part, of a multinational force to bring peace and enforce the UN views. Sign a hugh variety of treaties: buy labor force to get extra workers on your cities, built a wonder with an ally, sell and loan your military units for another side. Be the middle-guy at trade agreements and get a cut...

The list just goes on and on and on.

CivI, CivII, CtP, and just this entire genre got the rule of the leader all wrong. The leader is not a demi god, caring about the construction of every structure. The leader job was mainly to deal with politics, with other nations. The external struggle should keep you busy all the time. Have nuance in the dialog that portray the enemy hidden words and motives. Pick your replay from a variety of possible answers, each has a different meaning. Be explicit, or covert.

All in all, CivIII has a possibility to give life to an area that is now just a cold "response level". We should have more, a lot more.
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About the author: "Diplomacy and economics TM right here at Apolyton".

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