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Hello All,
It's funny how things work out. Like an impossibly lengthy book I kept picking up and putting down, I thought I had given up on Civilization III and its add-on Conquests, having played almost exclusively on the "wimpy" Regent level for so long I don't remember having tried anyhting else. I think toward the "end" I finally moved up to Monarch but I never succeeded. My interest finally seemed to ebb when Civilization IV lurked just beyond the horizon, and just like that, it was here.
I bought Civilization IV without even thinking about it, and when it arrived, I installed it and played it for a few weeks. In those early weeks I enjoyed the game and the new features, though I did not enjoy the new resource/memory hungry feature
. My machine while not terminally old, is getting behind the times. It's depressing that even now, Civilization, the one series of game that one could, at least in the past, know for certain would run great on any system... is now bogging my machine down to the point of tears.
Then there were other things. I began to miss certain features from Civ III that didn't make the leap to IV. Or perhaps it was something else.
To make a long story short, I decided to give Civ III one more chance.. I always felt unsatisfied with my ability in that game. How was it that I struggled so much while others sat back and cranked out games at Diety without so much as breaking a sweat. I would be happy merely being 'good' at Monarch.
It's been about a week and a half now, and all I have to say is: Eureka!
Since breaking back into Civ III I've had an epiphany of sorts. I've come to have a key understanding of how the game should be played.
In the past, I've played Civ III much the same way I played the original Civ and CivNet. I built my empire comfortable in the fact that a phalanx or two in a city was enough to repel most invaders, while I brough reinforcements up to the line. Civ III really pushes you to guard your perimeter and key cities. I'd always had an underdeveloped military, and most of my games had me turtling my way into a mediocre space race.
This came about because I hated combat in Civ III. I never had much bloodlust to go out and conquer my neighbors because I detested sending one-or-two horsemen/swordmen/archers against a rival's city only to see them fall one-by-one to the defenses. Thus, I avoided conflict - and I can't recall the last time I conquered a rival city.
My moment of clarity came in understanding how Civ III combat should be handled. In my old Civ days, I was content to send out a lone catapult or elephant to wander and conquer. Sure I might lose one occasionally, but there were a few times where I could take out a few towns in such a way. This is what has frustrated me so much in Civ III. Now I understand that to be successful I need to pump out not one or two, nor three or five, but ten and twenty and thirty plus units with combined offensive/defensive strengths if I want to be successful. Wow! It was staring me right in the face all the time.
Also, I have become better at researching/trading techs. I have learned to not sweat the AI when it builds its wonders, and I don't sweat city placement anymore either. I was such a perfectionist trying to get the full 21 tiles for every city. I finally realize how impractical and time consuming this was.
It's almost like I went through a twelve-step program. I've been coming to Apolyton for the longest time now, but as a member of the community I've been a bit of a wallflower, having only posted once in the past. It's funny cause I've read the forums, and I've read pages and pages of tips and strategies, but I guess it was just a matter of shaking my old habits before I really saw any improvement.
Now I'm playing a Standard sized map as the Persians. I completely conquered my continent away from the Byzantines and the Incas. I built Theory of Evolution followed by a quick sprint to Electronics and Hoover Dam and and now I'm in the process of taking out the Iriquos on the other continent. Who knows. I just may go for a domination/conquest victory..a first for me in any version of Civilization.
This is all on Monarch - a level I've become comfortable with, and one I'm not sure if I'll raise it in the near future, but the important thing is that I'm having fun with it! Civ III is no longer a chore. w00t
Eventually I'll go back to Civ IV. I hope to get a new machine by late spring/early summer, but for now I'm just happy to play Civ III. Too bad I kind of missed out on it when it was still fresh.
So there's my story Apolyton community. Thank you all for making this a great website/forum. Your prodigal son is back. I'm ready to come home.
Mike
It's funny how things work out. Like an impossibly lengthy book I kept picking up and putting down, I thought I had given up on Civilization III and its add-on Conquests, having played almost exclusively on the "wimpy" Regent level for so long I don't remember having tried anyhting else. I think toward the "end" I finally moved up to Monarch but I never succeeded. My interest finally seemed to ebb when Civilization IV lurked just beyond the horizon, and just like that, it was here.
I bought Civilization IV without even thinking about it, and when it arrived, I installed it and played it for a few weeks. In those early weeks I enjoyed the game and the new features, though I did not enjoy the new resource/memory hungry feature
. My machine while not terminally old, is getting behind the times. It's depressing that even now, Civilization, the one series of game that one could, at least in the past, know for certain would run great on any system... is now bogging my machine down to the point of tears. Then there were other things. I began to miss certain features from Civ III that didn't make the leap to IV. Or perhaps it was something else.
To make a long story short, I decided to give Civ III one more chance.. I always felt unsatisfied with my ability in that game. How was it that I struggled so much while others sat back and cranked out games at Diety without so much as breaking a sweat. I would be happy merely being 'good' at Monarch.
It's been about a week and a half now, and all I have to say is: Eureka!
Since breaking back into Civ III I've had an epiphany of sorts. I've come to have a key understanding of how the game should be played.
In the past, I've played Civ III much the same way I played the original Civ and CivNet. I built my empire comfortable in the fact that a phalanx or two in a city was enough to repel most invaders, while I brough reinforcements up to the line. Civ III really pushes you to guard your perimeter and key cities. I'd always had an underdeveloped military, and most of my games had me turtling my way into a mediocre space race.
This came about because I hated combat in Civ III. I never had much bloodlust to go out and conquer my neighbors because I detested sending one-or-two horsemen/swordmen/archers against a rival's city only to see them fall one-by-one to the defenses. Thus, I avoided conflict - and I can't recall the last time I conquered a rival city.
My moment of clarity came in understanding how Civ III combat should be handled. In my old Civ days, I was content to send out a lone catapult or elephant to wander and conquer. Sure I might lose one occasionally, but there were a few times where I could take out a few towns in such a way. This is what has frustrated me so much in Civ III. Now I understand that to be successful I need to pump out not one or two, nor three or five, but ten and twenty and thirty plus units with combined offensive/defensive strengths if I want to be successful. Wow! It was staring me right in the face all the time.
Also, I have become better at researching/trading techs. I have learned to not sweat the AI when it builds its wonders, and I don't sweat city placement anymore either. I was such a perfectionist trying to get the full 21 tiles for every city. I finally realize how impractical and time consuming this was.
It's almost like I went through a twelve-step program. I've been coming to Apolyton for the longest time now, but as a member of the community I've been a bit of a wallflower, having only posted once in the past. It's funny cause I've read the forums, and I've read pages and pages of tips and strategies, but I guess it was just a matter of shaking my old habits before I really saw any improvement.
Now I'm playing a Standard sized map as the Persians. I completely conquered my continent away from the Byzantines and the Incas. I built Theory of Evolution followed by a quick sprint to Electronics and Hoover Dam and and now I'm in the process of taking out the Iriquos on the other continent. Who knows. I just may go for a domination/conquest victory..a first for me in any version of Civilization.
This is all on Monarch - a level I've become comfortable with, and one I'm not sure if I'll raise it in the near future, but the important thing is that I'm having fun with it! Civ III is no longer a chore. w00t
Eventually I'll go back to Civ IV. I hope to get a new machine by late spring/early summer, but for now I'm just happy to play Civ III. Too bad I kind of missed out on it when it was still fresh.
So there's my story Apolyton community. Thank you all for making this a great website/forum. Your prodigal son is back. I'm ready to come home.
Mike
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