What changes do you like to play with?

[Dom Pedro II]

Well, I don't think that making changes automatically means that the game is less competitive. True, you can use tweaking to make it easier, but on the other hand you can make it a lot HARDER too! Most of my changes are for historical/economic realism's sake.

Some of my changes make it harder. Militarily speaking, I've made it somewhat harder. I made it harder for my bombers to make successful runs when the AI has fighters. Increased boat movement was just for aggravation's sake because I never thought it should take me 20 years just to move a boat from one continent to the other, and I actually reduced Ironclad movement as I said. But anything I do to strengthen units isn't really an advantage to me because the AI can build them too. Only the artillery make the difference since the AI never uses artillery effectively, but I figured if I should be wasting the time to build the stupid things, they should at least work 10% of the time as opposed to those ridiculous Catapults which almost NEVER worked.

And giving all foot units population costs isn't an advantage. It makes it more costly to take over your enemies. Those cities you use for cranking out units just get smaller and smaller...

Faster border expansion is a double-edged sword because while it causes your borders to get bigger, faster, it also forces the player to build cities much faster since the AI cities expand just as fast.

I think I'm going to make a few more changes with upgrade paths though:

A) A Catapult should not be able to be upgraded to a Cannon. It makes no sense. It's not like you can send a catapult in for repairs and come out with a cannon.

B) Swordsmen and Longbowmen should be upgradable to Musketeers or something. Machinery can't be upgraded, but you can take away a guy's sword and give him a gun for 40 gold or so!

C)Maybe allow them to upgrade to Marine... or upgrade Cavalry to Marines since the old dragoons become pointless after Replacable Parts. I mean, train the men, shoot the horses, and all for the low low price of 40 gold...

[Anti Spectator]

I was considering Raising the amount of food consumed by citizens to 3, and increasing the food benift of every tile by 1
Result - Hills/Tundra/Plains arent that useless anymore!!

Also, I'd make specialists better, so that there is an advantage of having huge metro's, just like in real life...

[Minuteman]

What changes I make to the game via the editor depends on what sort of game I want to play.

I almost always increase the attack & bombard strength of warships. e.g. Batteships: 19,12 (10), 5

In addition, I usually modify the stealth fighter to be an interceptor (14,10,8).

Being as wantonly jingoistic as I am, if I intend to play as any other civ other than the Americans, I'll create (rename) a new civilization in their place....usually to the Spanish, making the Explorer (renamed to Conquistador) as the UU for Spain (5,2,1).

I'll then rename the F-15 (America's UU) to Advanced Bomber, strip away its intercept capabilities, and give it a bombard strength of 10, and make it available w/ advanced flight (available to all civs) and allow for bombers to upgrade to this unit.

I suppose if I were a little bit more adventurous, I'd install a good mod like Plutarck's LCW mod, which seemingly changes everything, but to each is own.

[Optimizer]

I have made many changes, so I'll just mention one of them:

The Gurkha Tweak
Changed War Elephants to:
4/1/1, 30 shields, Warrior Code, Elephants (new resource), all civs
Created new unit Gurkha:
5/6/1, 80 shields, Nationalism, alpine, India only

Might add more later.

[Munroe]

And giving all foot units population costs isn't an advantage. It makes it more costly to take over your enemies. Those cities you use for cranking out units just get smaller and smaller...

Not to flame but I would have to say that this change would give any human player a huge advantage. The AI, IMO, wouldn't know how to handle this and would most likely just build units in the same fashion thus crippling their cities to smaller pops. The AI will always defend cities with ample units and have a bunch of others wandering around. Where as a human can get away with leaving one or even none if happiness isn't a problem. (thats at least my play style against the AI.. no need to defend well where they cant attack) Of course I am just guessing here and I have never tried this out, so any comments how it worked would be thankful because it does sound like an interesting twist to the game which I am always looking for.

[Willem]

Originally posted by planetfall

herairoi22: added units? didn't think this was possible outside mod paks. I need more experience before mod paks. Also I don't bother with explorers. It is easier and cheaper to buy world maps from other civs for a bit of gold.

Get the MultiTool, you can make copies of existing untis, then change thier stats in the editor. No experience required.

[Willem]

Originally posted by Munroe


Not to flame but I would have to say that this change would give any human player a huge advantage. The AI, IMO, wouldn't know how to handle this and would most likely just build units in the same fashion thus crippling their cities to smaller pops. The AI will always defend cities with ample units and have a bunch of others wandering around. Where as a human can get away with leaving one or even none if happiness isn't a problem. (thats at least my play style against the AI.. no need to defend well where they cant attack) Of course I am just guessing here and I have never tried this out, so any comments how it worked would be thankful because it does sound like an interesting twist to the game which I am always looking for.

I tried that as well and I discovered that in the early game I was getting left in the dust expansion wise. It seems the AI either doesn't bother much with military units in the early stages, or when it sees a population cost, it will make a settler the priority over a military unit. Either way, I was ending up with a puny empire compared to the other civs, so I dropped the idea. It might be something for the later eras though, after the main expansion is over. I've been meaning to try that, but I keep getting sidetracked and haven't had the chance yet.

[exeter0]

I have been experimenting with increasing Hitpoints for Veterans & Elite by one.

This means there is a gap of 2 between reg & veteran units. I think this is realistic and emphasises the requirement for training (barracks)... I'm not sure if the AI knows this though.

[kimmygibler]

"changed the resources so that they can't appear and disappear from the map"

Did this one. Also increased corruption on tiny and small maps.

[Dom Pedro II]

Well, I've only tried population cost for military units in one game, and I found myself with huge leads over the AI, but... the AIs I went up against were also in really bad positions. It is a large island, and the Germans started off in the north, but very close to my core, so I pinned them in with only a few cities up there. The English on the other hand got stuck deep in the arctic, and I took over all of the arable land before they even had a chance to start. I haven't seen any other Civs in this game yet, so I dunno whether I'm way ahead of them or not.

I think that the population costs will only wreck AI strategy in certain cases. The only AI civs that will pay dearly will be the Zulus and possibly the Germans, but those are exactly the civs I mean to hinder. The reason is that they just build troops and ignore city improvements and things, and any country with a military like that should find deficiencies in how it functions. I mean, they already have to pay for the unit upkeep, but I think this makes it even better.

For the player, it proves deadly in the early game. I had several cities in my game that I was unable to build military troops in areas of high-production and low-food supply. It makes good sense. It's not for everybody, but I think it makes it more challenging in some ways, but at the same time gives a builder civilization player the relief of not having aggressive states pouring in seemingly endless hordes of troops into their borders. And it makes the militaristic player have to work harder to produce as big an army.

[planetfall]

Higher hit values

exeter0: would be interesting to hear what you thought of game play with higher hit points. I started one game following someone's suggestion of increasing the difference between each unit from 1 hit point to 2HP. It messed up the play of the game.

With barracks and SunTzu giving veteran power, it might be interesting to just increase the HP gap for Elite from 1 to 2. Then HP would be based on actual combat. Might make the AI more aggressive. Would be an interesting experiment. Anyway, what was the game play like with Vet and Elite HP gap of 2 instead of 1?
What differences did you notice in game play?
Did the increase help AI or human better, or was there not advantage, just different play?
How did the difference between Reg and Vet change battle outcomes?
Did the increase help BS knock out ironclads?

[Yodasplat]

I like the game as is but I couldn't resist the temptation of tweaking modern weaponry a little bit:

I doubled armor and attack strength and movement of all modern troops. So now if I'm attacking a city protected by a spearman my tank is just going to roll over him.

With the original settings there was a possibilty that my tank would get killed but a strong spearman.

Soon as I get the tanks (and I usually do that before anyone else) I unleash hell. By the time they get them too my industrial base is so big that I can slaughter them with the sheer mass of my empire.



Yeah Yeah I know... I am a megalomaniac.

[exeter0]

planetfall : It is a bit early for me to tell. I am playing a game with only 9 Civ on a huge map. I have only had conflict with one Civ... and it does spit out a lot of regulars. So it's not as if the AI is saying 'Ok, if I build a barracks I will get 2 extra HP's'.

But this is not really indicative as I am bulldozng this Civ (it only has 5 citites left) so it may not have the luxury of time to build barracks.

I hope to see that when I run into the other CIV's that I will only see veterans or above.. as none of the other Civs have been at war together to force them to quick produce inferior troops.

But if not I would think your points are valid and I will return Veteren to normal level but increase Elite as you suggested.

I have the feeling that the AI is not smart enough to take advantage of this but I will repost an update.

[Ultraman]

Homeworld

Here's my two cents' worth. Just created a mod, here's the readme file:

Have made changes to the game that you might or might not agree with, but I'm putting the file up for you to try out. It is designed based on probably the best earth map available, kudos to Marla Singer. Civ placement tool is not included, however. New city names have been added, thanks to Sevorak for his mod, added a few more Leaders of my own. Thoughts from various postings on forums have been included; however, units, civilizations, governments and technologies have not been added. Feedback very welcome. Enjoy!

I love Civ3, but I do have a few pet peeves. These are, in order of peeve-ness: corruption, leading to slow growth of large empires, pollution, no matter how many recycling plants and mass transits you build, less than sterling combat experience on land, piss poor air power, near useless sea units, slow tech growth, slow gameplay especialy on big maps, and war weariness.


GENERAL, TERRAIN AND RESOURCE CHANGES

The optimal number of cities for this map has been boosted to 200, to reduce corruption. Which also means that your Forbidden Palace is available after the 101st city, about when you would have broken into the Euro-Asian landmass from the Americas, or vice versa. Incredibly, the original setting is only 50.

Tech rate has been boosted to 120, the setting for a standard map, from 180.

Diplomats can now initiate propaganda. Waiting for the Spy to come along is a bit too late to be of much use. Historically, dirty tricks in diplomacy is as old as diplomacy itself. Chance of successful propaganda has also been adjusted upwards very slightly.

Seems the best way to speed up the game is to reduce the number of cities that the AI will build. Deserts no longer produce any food or shields, instead of one each, and cannot be mined or irrigated. Tundra no longer produces one shield, nor can you plant forest or build mines. Cities are therefore viable only along the coast or near resources. This should also encourage the use of colonies, which is I think as the game intended.

Forests now produce one food more, hoping that the AI will keep more forests and stop building strip mines everywhere.

Uranium and oil have been increased by one commerce point, and gold by one shield. Better reflecting reality, I feel.


CITY IMPROVEMENTS AND WONDERS

Several of the improvements and wonders have been modified to reduce corruption, pollution and war weariness, as appeared sensible to do so. These are:
Barracks: Reduces corruption, war weariness
Temple: Reduces corruption - people more moral
Courthouse: Reduces war weariness
Bank: Reduces corruption
Cathedral: Reduces corruption - people more moral
Factory: 1, not 2 pollution
Manu Plant: 1, not 2 pollution
Recycling Centre: Reduces both popu and bldg pollution, not just bldg
Hydro, Nuke and Solar Plants: Reduces bldg pollution
Airport: 50% luxury increase. Airports don't do that much for their cost, and this benefit doesn't seem to be used by any other improvement or wonder. Go figure.
Police Station: Resistant to propaganda. Cops catchin' the malcontents.
Hoover Dam: Reduces bldg pollution with city.
Heroic Epic: Reduces war weariness within city.
Iron Works: 1, not 2 pollution
Forbidden Palace: Reduces war weariness within city.
Military Academy: Reduces corruption, war weariness within city.
Pentagon: Reduces corruption, war weariness within city.
Intelligence Agency: Reduces corruption, war weariness within city.


UNITS

Units have been tweaked to enhanced gameplay while balancing with historical reality:

Marines and Paratroopers now treat all squares as roads - which is more in line, I feel, with the physical performance of elite units. The drop range of paras has also been increased.

Rifleman and Infantry can now do amphibious attacks and have been oriented as offensive units. Historically, even Greek hoplites under Alexander were used as Marines, but I thought that was going a bit far for Civ3.

All units including UUs, have upgrade paths to modern units. My favourite Legionary, for example, becomes Rifleman - Infantry - Mech Inf. Your battle-hardened elite and veteran units now don't need to be disbanded but can trade in their spurs for tracks.

Several land and sea units now have ZOC, so expect to be fired upon more when you move. Hey, makes sense that if you move next to an enemy, they're gonna take a potshot.

The movement points of all sea units have been greatly enhanced. Makes no sense for sea units to take several turns to get anywhere. More of a gameplay issue to balance the speed of land units with railways.

Bombardment power of several units have been boosted. Air units should have something of the correct impact on especially pre-modern troops; in balance, the chance of a successful air intercept has been increased to 75%.

Battleships, Frigates, Men o War, and Privateers can now carry one foot soldier unit. Carriers can carry troops or aircraft (not sure if this one works as hoped yet). Privateers can also now bombard. Frigates, Men o War, and Privateers are now dangerous all purpose units. Should be interesting.

All sea units have enhanced fighting as well as blitz capability. Made no sense to get a Destroyer next to an enemy convoy, and only take out one ship per turn.

Some units like the Battleship and Radar Artillery, have longer bombardment ranges.

Radar Artillery now has two movement points. Hey, it's an MLRS after all.

The movement points of Tanks, Panzers, Mech Inf and Modern Armour have all been increased by one point each. Makes no sense that a Tank is slower than Cavalry, and with only two movement points, Tanks cannot carry out a proper blitzkrieg into enemy territory.

Changed unit statistics:

Marine: All squares as roads.
Paratrooper: All squares as roads. Op range 8, not 6.
Swordsman: Upgrades to Pikeman.
Horseman: ZOC.
Longbowman: Upgrades to Musketman.
Knight: ZOC.
Musketman: ZOC.
Rifleman: Amphibious. Offensive, not defensive. ZOC.
Cavalry: Upgrades to Tank.
Infantry: Amphibious. Offensive, not defensive. ZOC.
Tank: Moves 3, not 2.
Mech Inf: Moves 3. not 2. Offensive, not defensive. Blitz. Draft capability removed - too powerful a unit.
Modern Armour: Moves 4, not 3.
Catapult: ZOC.
Cannon: ZOC.
Artillery: ZOC.
Radar Artillery: ZOC. Range 3, not 2.
Galley: Moves 5, not 3.
Caravel: Moves 7, not 3.
Frigate: Moves 9, not 4. Attack Str 3, Defend 2, instead of 2 and 1. Carries one Foot. Bombard Str 5, not 2. ZOC. Upgrades to Ironclad.
Galleon: Moves 8, not 4.
Ironclad: Moves 10, not 4. Attack Str 5, not 4. ZOC. Blitz. Bombard Str 6, not 4. Upgrades to Battleship.
Transport: Moves 10, not 5.
Carrier: Moves 10, not 4.
Submarine: Moves 9, not 3. ZOC. Blitz.
Destroyer: Moves 12, not 5. ZOC. Blitz. Bombard Str 8, not 6. Bombard range 2, not 1.
Battleship: Moves 10, not 5. Bombard str 12, not 8. Bombard range 3, not 2. ZOC. Blitz. Carries one Foot.
AEGIS Cruiser: Moves 12, not 5. Bombard str 8, not 4. Bombard range 3, not 2. ZOC. Blitz.
Nuke Sub: Moves 10, 4. Attack str 12, not 8. ZOC. Blitz.
Fighter: Bombard Str 6, not 2. Op. range 6 not 4.
Bomber: Bombard Str 10, not 8. Op. range 8, not 6. Upgrades to Stealth Bomber.
Helicopter: Range 6, not 4.
Jet Fighter: Bombard Str 10, not 2. Op. range 8, not 6.
Stealth Fighter: Bombard Str 8, not 4. Op. range 8, not 6.
Stealth Bomber: Bombard Str 12, not 8.
Legionary: Upgrades to Rifleman.
Immortals: Upgrades to Rifleman.
Cossack: Upgrades to Tank.
Man o War: Moves 9, not 4. Attack str 4, Defend 3, instead of 3 and 2. Bombard Str 6, not 3. Carries one Foot. Upgrades to Ironclad.
F-15: Bombard Str 10, not 4. Op. range 8, not 6.
Privateer: Moves 6, not 3. Attack Str 3, not 2. ZOC. Carries one Foot. Now Bombard Str 3.


STRATEGIES

OK, now for two cents' worth of tips. The way I see it, the way to excel at Civ3, is to think laterally.

1. Capture as many enemy workers as possible. You can never have too many. They work for free. What else can they be used for? Trading with other powers, is one. Another is when you capture an enemy city, use a coupla workers, usually your own, to boost the population and reduce the chance of flipping. Eventually, it is very possible to play with no more workers of your own civilization, thus reducing your costs. During an offensive, use masses of workers to lay railway along your line of advance as you capture each city. This ensures that follow on units will be able to move forward without losing any movement points.

2. Build as many cities as possible, even in remote locations. Deny territory and resources to rivals. For some cities really far away that run the risk of being flipped, sell them to a rival. Cities command a premium price; I've had transactions where the other guy gave me all his money and all his tech for one lousy size one city! Here's another one. A city deep in enemy territory that is undefended, will draw hordes of enemy forces when you launch your attack. Time it such that just as the defenseless city is about to be taken, sell it or make peace. Sell too if ****, there's a barbarian horde just next to you that you didn't see earlier.

3. Keep your rivals happy with you by offering as trade first Territory Map, then World Map, every 5-10 turns. Depending on how much your map has changed, you will also get some money out of it. Sometimes all you get is just map for map, which is fine too. They like you more after each trade, however insignificant. Play your cards right and each power you attack will be happy with you until your panzer corps are crossing his border.

4. Always negotiate a peace as soon as you can, generally at the end of your turn, when all your troops have moved and no more conquests can be made - and before war werainess hits you. Hopefully, the victim is willing to negotiate all his wealth and several of his cities. Likely by this point, he is so weakened that you can get even more cities in trade by giving in return a batch of your technology. No worries; he isn't going to be in the game long enough to be able to use that new tech against you. And you've gained cities that are not resisting you.

5. It's OK to leave an enemy city deep in your territory. If there's an offensive unit in there, you'll see it in time. If your culture is strong enough, eventually that city will flip to you - with a nice, strong defensive unit as a bonus.

6. Wage subtle economic warfare. Drain your rivals' treasury as much as possible - the maps, trading resources, sell a lousy city every now and then. If the AL plays fair, this should mean he can't pop rush as much as you can.

7. Use leaders to pop rush a wonder in some remote city, to maximise the benefit in that region in terms of culture.


Ronald Hee
February 2002
ronaldhe@pacific.net.sg

[The Thinker]

Originally posted by Munroe


Not to flame but I would have to say that this change would give any human player a huge advantage. The AI, IMO, wouldn't know how to handle this ....

I've found the AI has trouble with any changes in the rules, and so these changes always favor the player. The bigger the change, the more likely the AI will choke on it.

Rik