I suck at Civ 3!

[Raion]

One can always turn off some 'Win' Conditions. I take off the Domination win, as it may help to keep some land free, but then the 'Conquest' win was also on, so the Civ's will probably expand to all the land.

It's mass mayhem and confusion.

One can just leave on the 'Build a Spaceship to leave this Planet' win condition on, but then if you play SMAC (Alpha Centauri) then you end up on -- "Planet". Splat!
Splat! Splat! with the other factions.

[Ethelred]

SMAC (Alpha Centauri) then you end up on -- "Planet". Splat!

That was one of my problems with Alpha Centauri. NO ONE would call the planet "Planet". It made it hard to read the manual. I never got around to installing it.

Hello what planet are you from?

Planet.

Yes thats what I was asking, what planet are you from?

Planet.

Its a bloody Abbot and Costello routine waiting to happen.

[vmxa1]

Ethelred, if you still have SMAC, you should give it a shot, I suspect you will enjoy it. I got burned out and no longer play it, but it was fun.

[Chemical Ollie]

Originally posted by vmxa1
Ethelred, if you still have SMAC, you should give it a shot, I suspect you will enjoy it. I got burned out and no longer play it, but it was fun.

I saw SMAC at NICE PRICE in the supermarket for about €8 (same in $). Is it worth it, now that I have CIV3?

[Solomyr]

SMAC is a fun game, i played a bunch last summer...some of the game play issues would piss me off now if i were playing it, like the fact that troops are still suported by individual cites, but the game itself is good fun.

[Dis]

Smac is great. Yeah I guess troops still are supported by individual cities. But oh well. It is much easier to play as a builder in that game.

And maybe I suck at civ3 now. I almost got my ass handed to me. No I didn't lose all my cities. But my normal conquering of the continent didn't go as planned.

Just for a change I decided to play as "random" since I seen other people do it, and I play the aztecs too much. I ended up as the americans. And waging early war was tough. I actually needed a golden age but couldn't get it. And I left culturally linked starting positions on. My first enemy was the Iroquios. I thought I could run right through them even with their mounted warriors. I was wrong. I took one of their cities then they took one of mine and their original city back. I managed to get my city back, but I had to give it back to them to sue for peace because they got the aztecs and Indians to declare war on me. I was not expecting them to declare war on me and I lost a couple of cities.

I didn't lose, but there is little chance I can win. Maybe when I get into the industrial age and get something to overcome the Iroquios uu. but until then...

I just retired . I hate the americans.

So part of the game is what faction you play and who your neighbors are. Geography also plays a roll. I was in a bad spot, and had too many areas to defend. Against one enemy that is fine, but against 3, I cannot defend that much territory.

and I thought anarchy would never end. I missed religious

[vmxa1]

Originally posted by Dissident
And maybe I suck at civ3 now. I almost got my ass handed to me. No I didn't lose all my cities. But my normal conquering of the continent didn't go as planned.

I doubt that you suck at civ3. You posted a viable strategy awhile back. I bet if you work on getting more out of your empire, you would be whacking civs at regent. Look at CFC thread by cracker on opening moves.

SMAC came out at a very good time as nothing much was around for TBS players as I recall.

[Dis]

yeah I was just trying to play the Americans like the aztecs, plus my starting position sucked.

But I never restart if I have a bad starting position. I almost always try to play it through and see what I can make of my empire. It can be challenging as it was today.

[Mattaba]

Dissident, I think because the Iroquios used their UU, they triggered their golden age, so that made them have higher production, if you fight a long war then they will win.
You could have won if you had enough troops to wack them in just a few turns.

[Aias]

Firstly, thank you to everyone who has taken interest in my plight!

I've played a game and I discovered the Japanese rather quickly. With 8 warriors, I quickly took their only city (however, I didn't get a message that I has distroyed them. Much later in the game, I discovered that they had a small group of cities on the opposite side of the 'globe'!). The area that they origionally had turned out to have tons of resources, especially later ing the game. This pretty much set me up as the superpower, so now I have everyone ganging up against me!

However, I tried this strategy in another game. I didn't conquer them straight off. So, while I was fighting the Egyptians, the other civs had boxed us in!

I'll have to read all of the replies to my post (I have been out of town for a while) and try some of the strategies out!

Thanks again

[vmxa1]

Note that if respawn is enabled and you put a civ out early in the game they will given new life somewhere.

[Sarxis]

Sorry you suck. Wanna play some PBEM?

[star mouse]

What you do early has a bearing on the whole game. Here's how I start.

• Don't be afraid to restart if you've got a cruddy starting position. Being placed in the middle of the jungle or desert isn't good for your long-term prospects.
• You may need to walk your settler around to find a good spot for your first city. For example, if you're near a river, build your city right next to the river, so you don't have to build an aqueduct. But if you have to take more than 1 or 2 steps, restart. Usually, your start position should be fine as it is.
• When you build your city, choose Bronze Working as your first science to research so you can get Spearmen. Then set your tax slider so your science is progressing as fast as possible without running a trade deficit. If you start with Bronze Working, research stuff like Iron Working, Warrior Code, The Wheel and Horseback Riding, so you can get good military units early. Then beeline for Literacy so you can get the Great Library.
• What you do with your first worker is important. You need to place a road in the square that the citizen in your city is working. This gives you 1 extra trade so your science is researched faster. Good squares to work early are those that generate 2 food and 1 shield on their own, such as a shield grassland, a cow. If the square has a river next to it, the better because this gives a +1 trade bonus. You need to identify the best 3 squares and set all of them up with a road and a mine. Once the three squares are roaded and mined, your size-3 city will be a good producer.
• The map is uninhabited and unexplored. You need to fix that, and fast. The first thing to build in your city is a Warrior to defend it. Then build another Warrior to go exploring (skip this if you have a Scout). Your build queue should be something like Warrior, Warrior, Settler, Warrior, Settler, etc. Adjust as needed. A size-2 city that will produce a Settler in 6 turns but grow in 8 should not be producing a Settler, because that's 2 turns of production wasted. Instead, produce a Warrior first. Keep churning out cities as fast as possible, and defend them with Spearmen when you are able to build them.
• Your exploration goal is to find good spots for your future cities. Look for resources and build your city near them. By researching the Wheel and Iron Working first, you get to find the crucial Ancient-age resources of Iron and Horses early so you can claim them.
• Keep expanding, but make sure all your cities are defended. Don't let settlers wander around unescorted.
• When you meet the AI, trade techs with them. Keep trading techs when you can. One tech acquired through trade is one tech that you don't have to research.
• Best techs to trade are those that nobody else has. The AI tends to research techs evenly. To get a tradeable tech, drill down through the tech tree, for things like The Republic, Navigation, etc.
• You can gain a headstart on Wonders by starting to build something else a few turns before you get the Wonder tech, then switching.