U.N. Wonder?

[jpps1]

Is the UN Wonder's only function to get yourself elected Secretary-General and win the game, or does it have more important functions as well, like in Alpha Centauri?

[shogobunky]

Yeah, that's probably the most disapointing feature of this game to me...

I was sooo excited when the option to set up the U.N. was available. I was looking to dirty cutthroat backstabbing and under-handed tactics to get elected general so I could have bonuses over the other civs. I was looking forward to the worl altering voting that could take place, like lifting any sort of ban on nukes. I wanted all the cool features that made the SMAC diplomacy so damn fun. After building it, however..

The Queen of England won and all of a sudden the game was over...

Pretty lame.

[Delbert]

The U.N. Wonder

My first game I lost to another civ because of the U.N. wonder.

If you don't want anyone to win this way just turn off the diplomatic win rule at the start.

Delbert

[Apockoffork]

I like the U.N.

I was originally attempting to win by culture but after i found out how hard it was i decided to win by space ship. But when it came to the year 2030 and it said i had 20 more years i decided i would just give up and have fun for the next 20 years. I knocked all my money off research and was getting around 1500 gold a turn. I wanted to buy some cities but what do you know it cost over 11000 to buy a pop 1 city and i never did get enough to buy even 1. So around 2036 i hear a message "The greeks are building the U.N." Elaited about this method of victory i had forgotton I instantlly bought the tech for 6000 gold . I then set my 98 shield producing city building it would be done 2048. I thought i would have all this political stuff to go through when i built it instead what happened was bland box saying do you want to vote for the title i can't remeber. I decided to hit yes thinking it would be like the Governer in Alpha Centauri. Well Suddenly it popped up you win. Everyone voted for me except the Greeks who voted for themselves. I don't know what caused it. I had a 40,000 culture but i was only medium sized and score wise i was 4 out 7 right in the middle. I had never gone to war since it would have been impossible for me to fight. I started on an island on the left side of the world with about room for 8-10 cities. I didn't even find another civ until the 1600 when i somehow got a galley half way across the world to find that the only other landmasses in the world were a small island which had the Germans who knew nobody and a large continent which had everybody else packed on. I was halfway across the world and it sucked bad but what can one do. Oh well so i won in the last second and i didn't even mean to.

[Chuckles]

That's a very funny story. It sounds like the kind of game that people would normally give up on except civ3 is new so who cares. And you end op winning. Cool.

[Trachmir]

Yeah, the UN is both a big dissapointment and victory/loss is just way to easy... actually it IS the easiest way to win or lose the game. At least, if they don't add any real options (als smac) to the UN, you should have the chance to ignore the UN's ruling and go to war with everyone who adheres to it (likewise, as in smac, your enemies may ignore your victory and you'll need to finish them off with your new allies). But a few options like 3+ way embargos and war pacts... and demands peace between two civs plus the obvious nuke ban would be nice. Also, unless a civ really likes you (or you give them a BIG bribe) it should always vote for itself or abstain!

[kimmygibler]

UN doesn't make sense!?! Aren't the ai civs trying to win the game? Why would you ever vote for anyone but yourself? Why does the ai do this? Are they tired of playing, or do they just not really know the function of the UN like me when I first built it?

I finished building it and it says "do you want to hold a vote?" So I say yes. Then a list of names comes up, I don't really know what the point of it is, so I abstain. Well a couple ai civs voted for england and the game was over. What the hell? Why does the ai intentionally lose. If I knew this is what the UN did, I would always vote only for myself.

The next game I built the UN, but when they asked if I wanted to vote I just said no. Then it asked again the next turn. I say no again. I just want to continue the game! But it keeps asking me *every* turn! What is that?!? I'm not gonna put up with that much clicking, so I just quit. Note to self, turn off diplomatic victory...

[The Templar]

Or the UN is the easiest way to lose the game. I was the Americans - most powerful civ on the planet. Moving quickly through the modern age while my surviving rivals - the brits and persians were struggling in the industrial age. I have F-15s, ICBMs, and modern armor galore. Then I built the UN - in New York of course. The screen popped up - do you want to elect secretary general? I said yes, and the Brits and Persians quickly elected Elizabeth. I thought - "I'll resist like in MOO2 and SMAC, and launch all of my ICBMs next turn. No such luck. Urg. I wish the UN did all of the cool stuff it did in SMAC. Oh well, that's my only real disatisfaction with the game so far.