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You may think Civ3 is perfect, or you may be wondering why I could only think of two problems to address. Well, my answer is to both those questions is Civ3 is far from perfect, but it's still a great game. However, there are two things that bug me about it, and I wanted to break them down to their simplist forms, and hopefully give a simple solution for the problem. [Edit] I had to add another fundimental problem with the game. These are problems that can not be fixed with mods.
Colonies:
Colonies have been discussed before and everyone knows the deal with them. Some say there's nothing wrong with them, others think they are a waste of time. The basic problem with colonies is the ease in which they are absorbed. Hisorically, and game-wise, this does not make sense. A colony comes from a worker. If another Civ captured your worker, that would be an act of war. It seems that colonies are almost invisible to the other civs. All they see is the resource underneath, and they simply plop down a city to take it. You should at least get your worker back. The simple fix would be to make it so that a Civ will not put a city where it's starting radius will engulf a foreign colony. Now, if the city grows and then engulfs the colony, that's your own fault for letting it sit too long. At least this will give colonies some chance to be useful.
Tech Trading:
The trading of techs is not the problem in itself. The problem is the ease at which Civs can put the knowledge to good use. Europeans traded guns to the Native Americans, but that didn't mean the Indians could just start manufacturing them right away. I propose instead of trading the techs outright, you instead trade them the ability to research the tech faster. Maybe cut the time in half. So if the English trade gunpowder to the Iriquois, they wouldn't immediately be able to build musketmen. instead, when they go to research the new tech, they could do it in half the time.
AI Attitude:
Gracious, Polite, Cautious, Annoyed, and Furius. What do they mean? They certainly don't mean what a logical thinking person would think they would mean. If I were to apply these terms to the attitude of modern Nations towards the USA, I would say; Great Britian is Gracious, Spain is Polite, Russia is Cautious, China is Annoyed, and Iraq is Furious. Now, if Iraq attacked us, I wouldn't even blink an eye. I can see China too getting fed up and provoking a war. We may one day find ourselves at odds with Russia, but I don't think it will be anytime soon, and I wouldn't expect Spain to send troops our way. War with Britian seems so unimaginable at this point. So my question is? Why in Civ3 would a gracious nation sneak attack me? This just totally doesn't make any sense, and it takes a huge chunk of the fun in the game out. Part of what makes Civ3 fun is the diplomatic dealings that we must undertake. I don't have a quick fix for this one. I don't understand how the AI in Civ3 determines if it hates you or not. But, it would be something like this...
IF AI_NATION_ATTITUDE = "Gracious" THEN DECLARE_WAR = "Never"
Colonies:
Colonies have been discussed before and everyone knows the deal with them. Some say there's nothing wrong with them, others think they are a waste of time. The basic problem with colonies is the ease in which they are absorbed. Hisorically, and game-wise, this does not make sense. A colony comes from a worker. If another Civ captured your worker, that would be an act of war. It seems that colonies are almost invisible to the other civs. All they see is the resource underneath, and they simply plop down a city to take it. You should at least get your worker back. The simple fix would be to make it so that a Civ will not put a city where it's starting radius will engulf a foreign colony. Now, if the city grows and then engulfs the colony, that's your own fault for letting it sit too long. At least this will give colonies some chance to be useful.
Tech Trading:
The trading of techs is not the problem in itself. The problem is the ease at which Civs can put the knowledge to good use. Europeans traded guns to the Native Americans, but that didn't mean the Indians could just start manufacturing them right away. I propose instead of trading the techs outright, you instead trade them the ability to research the tech faster. Maybe cut the time in half. So if the English trade gunpowder to the Iriquois, they wouldn't immediately be able to build musketmen. instead, when they go to research the new tech, they could do it in half the time.
AI Attitude:
Gracious, Polite, Cautious, Annoyed, and Furius. What do they mean? They certainly don't mean what a logical thinking person would think they would mean. If I were to apply these terms to the attitude of modern Nations towards the USA, I would say; Great Britian is Gracious, Spain is Polite, Russia is Cautious, China is Annoyed, and Iraq is Furious. Now, if Iraq attacked us, I wouldn't even blink an eye. I can see China too getting fed up and provoking a war. We may one day find ourselves at odds with Russia, but I don't think it will be anytime soon, and I wouldn't expect Spain to send troops our way. War with Britian seems so unimaginable at this point. So my question is? Why in Civ3 would a gracious nation sneak attack me? This just totally doesn't make any sense, and it takes a huge chunk of the fun in the game out. Part of what makes Civ3 fun is the diplomatic dealings that we must undertake. I don't have a quick fix for this one. I don't understand how the AI in Civ3 determines if it hates you or not. But, it would be something like this...
IF AI_NATION_ATTITUDE = "Gracious" THEN DECLARE_WAR = "Never"
Rock on dude with your views regarding colonies! I agree something must be done to make colonies a more viable and attractive method of getting resources before a city can be placed.
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