Totally new to the Civilization games...some questions

[allan14]

How do the graphics look when units fight? I mean is it like Age of Empires or what? The 3-d picture of the city seems pretty cool. How does this work and is there a zoom feature? Thanks.

[Todd Hawks]

I *think* you can compare the fighting graphics to AEO. But I haven't played AOE for quite some time now so I'm not sure.
The 3D-city screen is just there to be looked at. You can see all the buildings you built and some conventional houses and stuff. There is no zoom feature and it doesn't have a real purpose.

Warning: When I look at your questions I have the feeling that you seem to expect a kind of game that Civ3 is not. It's not some RTS with nice graphics. It's something completely different.

Civ3 IS good but maybe not what you expect. Better try it out before buying (unfortunately there is no demo (or did I miss it?)).

[Kassiopeia]

You can switch between the two available views with the "Z"- key.

[Rotten999]

I hope you're not in it just for the graphics. I'd call the "fight" animations stunningly average. The terrain has been called "ugly" by some.