My laptop resolution is 1280 x 1024 and Civ3 stretches to the point where it's very hard to play. Is there any way to fix this?

By default, Civ3 will resize your screen to 1024x768. If you want to keep it at 1280x1024, you *should* be able to just add the line
KeepRes=1
to your civilzation3/ptw/conquests.ini file.

For more options, have a look here (http://forums.civfanatics.com/showthread.php?t=118126#5).

Problem solved, thanks