Experienced Civ 3 players *HERE*

[Bru|seR]

Right

i need a bit of help.

when you first start the game what do you do..

this is what i do i plant my capital whree my settler is and my worker goes of in the other direction to build roads etc

and then with the cap i start to build a settler
and i research Warrior code

anything wrong?

what do you experienced peeps do?
also do you guys build mines too?


also the AI takes half of the map up and they dominate my teritory so i get so bored then just quit the game any easy ideas on how to control this.. when you build a settler how many spaces do you move the settler from the city or do you corwd the citys together?



Help would be nice as id love to make it to the modern age for the first time!

[Bru|seR]

Also another thing

say i have lots of spearman then research the tech with gives me pikemen..

how do you upgrade your men from one stage to the other (Spearmen to Pikemen - Pikemen to musketeer)

[pchang]

To upgrade, the unit must be in a city with a barracks. Then, you must have enough cash and the requisite resources available in the city.

As for general strategies, search for the strategy threads from Velociryx.

[Ironikinit]

Well, for starters, building a settler straight away will probably slow you down. You want some warriors to explore with. Further, you can't build a settler unless the city is at least size 3, so the city will just sit there with the settler marked to produce next turn, but doesn't produce anything until it reaches a high enough population.

Warrior code as first pick, huh. Personally, I'd go for the wheel or bronze working with an eye to get iron working. Those techs help you see important resources, so you know where to settle.

And yeah, I build a lot of mines. Places where I'll irrigate instead would be cattle on grass, wheat on grass, and flood plains.

Compared to, say, BillChin, I don't think I crowd my cities much. However, I do have overlap. The way I space my cities is hard to explain, but I stole the idea off somebody who had a drawing of it. One of these days I'll draw it up myself. Basically, I go for a core of 6 cities in a ring around my capital, the farthest ones in the ring are 5 tiles away. Obviously, that's not always possible, but it's the ideal. Beyond that ring, spacing becomes somewhat more flexible in order to take advantage of resources or water.

[WoodchuckKing]

Yeah, settlers arent exactly the thing you wanna pump out. I go for Warriors and maybe another worker. Don't go for warrior code first. With tech, you have to think about what you want in the long run. In the ancient era, swordsmen dominate so i'd go for iron working first.

[notyoueither]

I play Roman.

At higher difficulty it's

Capital: Warrior, Warrior, Warrior, Settler, Settler, Settler

First 3 cities: Warrior, Warrior, Settler, Worker, Settler

1 Warrior may be required to maintain each city in production (happiness) until 3 pop.

First tech goal is Wheel. So I can see horses. They are more common than Iron, so I'm more likely to have them. If I have horses, I can go Horseback Riding for Horsemen (one of the Ancient Age potential game winners).

This is a general rule. For instance, on an island by yourself you would not need so many Warriors. And you really need Map Making.

At lower difficulty the capital doesn't need to build 3 settlers.

BTW, you might want to restart again and again until you start on grasslands. The combo of food and shields (those little rocks in the grass) are really effective for an early start. Mine them. 2 food, 2 shields. You can irrigate them later if you have a lot of hills or mountains around the capital.

BTW. Once you have contact with a couple of civs you can turn science down to minimum (or 0) and buy techs for less than they will cost you to discover yourself. Your goal should be to gain the tech edge in the late Medeival or early Industrial period. Until you have several well developed cities (library and maybe university) you will handicap yourself by trying to research yourself.

Hope this helps.

Salve

[Bru|seR]

ahh cheers

but when i tryed that pikemen to musketeer thing (upgrade) i had all the resources but it still remained as a spearman

also whats corruption? :P

[notyoueither]

Originally posted by Bru|seR
also whats corruption? :P

Heh. You haven't gone too far have you?

Don't worry, you'll see it. All too soon, if you are like most of us. AAMOF, one of my first posts to Poly was a b*tch about Corruption. Ssshhhhh, don't tell anyone.

Basically, Corruption is the check against unbridled expansion. Based on the map size and distance from capital, any cities you build after a certain number or at any great distance from your Palace (capital) will see diminished production (shield) and income (gold) capabilities.

Actually, to be pedantic, Corruption applies to gold. Waste applies to shields. But they are two sides of the same coin so everyone just says Corruption, even though Waste is slightly less, percentage wise, than Corruption.

The game will tell you when Corruption and Waste are beginning to get serious. The Domestic Nag will tell you that your people want to build the Forbidden Palace. That means that you have reached the number of cities the game is happy to leave you with. Cities after that will suffer increased Corruption and Waste. You build the Forbidden Palace in one of your cities away from your capital to combat the terrible twins in its immediate area.

BTW, this is way beyond what you seem to need to focus on. Get the basics of rapacious expansion, then you'll need to learn how to combat Corruption.

Ever heard of the 2 friends theory? Your Capital builds 2 friends, then they build 2 friends, then they build 2 friends, then... 4 generations (3rd after capital) gives you 15 cities, the next generation gives you 31.

What difficulty are you playing? If you're too high the AI WILL hand you your head, repeatedly. Don't be embarassed to play lower levels to get the hang of it once or twice before fulfilling your destiny as a divine entity.

Salve

[notyoueither]

PS.

Well, maybe you mistook a Pike for a Spear? Or maybe... you need to be in a city with a Barracks. The city needs access to Iron I think (Iron in hills or mountains connected to the city by road). Then an extra Icon appears for unit instructions (at the bottom of the screen, near Fortify, etc.)

It has a lighning bolt in it. Push that. It will ask if you wish to upgrade to such and such for so and so many gold. Say yes (if you have enough gold, and Feudalism tech). Shazam! You have a Pikeman.

Salve

[Edit] and from Pike to Musket needs Barracks in the city, access to Saltpeter for the city, Gunpowder tech and about, what? 40 gold. [Edit]