civ3 strat versus civ2 strat

[TCO]

Do people in Civ3 strat do the kind of detailed mathematical compariosns that Odoe, Slow, et al do over here?

How much do people move betweent the two forums?

[Smash]

Yes they do.

I had no major problems with civ3 playing the civ2 war mongering expansionist.Pretty high frustration factor with culture flipping and outdated combat system though.Tedious as unit numbers grow.

Isolationist is harder due to tech caps and no real way to accelerate the process....ie caravans and SSC.

I did not find it any harder or easier than civ2.Just different.Too different

[Marquis de Sodaq]

I've found I spend far more time browsing the CivII forums than the Civ3 forums. The latter still have plenty of whining, pointless threads, and such (in fairness, nobody knows the game as well yet, it will come in time). The former have better discussions and strategy ideas, and I have a number of virtual friends with whom I regularly post.

As for analysis; Some players have already developed complex strategies for Civ3 - some of those threads were very interesting and have helped my game. For instance, someone has posted a detailed breakdown of corruption, a la our number crunching here.

[TCO]

thanks. You guys "rawk".

[DrSpike]

Formulas are beginning to surface, but there wont as much to discover as with civ2, because oedo years and tech gifting et al seem to me just to be laziness on behalf of the programmers.

I am one of the relatively few civ2ers to post regularly on the civ3 forums, though more seem to be since 1.21. Civ3 General gets tedious at times, but strat is mostly ok.

Civ3 has its place. It will never be as deep as civ2; some have described it as civ lite, which seems appropriate. IMO it's not as bad as some civ2ers/SMACers make out though.

[La Fayette]

I have been playing about 1/2 civ2 and 1/2 civ3 in 2002 and I had been previously one of those who spent hours in their 'civ2 lab'. Frankly, I don't feel like doing the same with civ3 YET, because there is a new patch every other month...
It is true that there was a lot of complaining and whining on civ3 forums in 2001, but I guess those who preferred whining to learning the game have now retired. There are fewer posts now, but generally more interesting.

[Marquis de Sodaq]

I suspect another reason for less Civ3Lab activity is that many elements of the game are carried over from CivII. Combat, for instance, seems to be identical in many respects - just some new modifiers and the loss of hp/fp.

I've been playing Civ3 occasionally, at least once a week. I have some games started on huge maps, and they take forever. I've yet to actually finish a game... Still, I've found some strategy ideas on the forums.

[rah]

It doesn't help that each patch is changing things, including some of the equations. Why put it a lot of research when it's just going to change. And the game is still on the new side. With CIV II, a lot of the calculations weren't done until a few years later.

[rah]

Oh, and I almost forgot the most important issue.
ALmost every successful strat/exploit of the rules seems to be eliminated in the next patch. That is the most frustrating part.

They seem to be more interested in keeping the game near impossible than producing a well balanced enjoyable game.

MP will bring a whole new dimension but also add stability because the AI will be out of the equation. That is when I'll start to play it again. (or right before to start practicing )



RAH

[Tuberski]

I am at the opposite end of the spectrum. I don't like or see the need for all the number crunching. How does it help strategy? I mean a tank is going to win the majority of it's battles...period.

[DrSpike]

Originally posted by rah

MP will bring a whole new dimension but also add stability because the AI will be out of the equation. That is when I'll start to play it again. (or right before to start practicing )

RAH

This is getting interesting actually, as the latest reports suggest there will be a turn based system, a simul and a turnless mode. I thought the turnless mode would be a hopefully well implemented simul game, but they are specified differently.

[rah]

Yeah, we'll see.
If history is a guide, it will take a patch or two before it works.

But I am sort of excited about it. At least it's on the horizon.

RAH

[Marquis de Sodaq]

Originally posted by Tuberski
I am at the opposite end of the spectrum. I don't like or see the need for all the number crunching. How does it help strategy?

I can't speak for others, but had fun relearning all the math necessary to verify tests and suspicions. I never actually use the forumlas while playing. The most I'll do is probably what you do - hmm, tank vs musket, easy win... Or for trade, send it to a foreign continent if possible, but never actually calculate which city would optimize my return.

It's just fun to do if you enjoy math.