I've played Civ III for years, and I didn't like Civ IV out of the box. I came to this forum to see if I'm in the minority and should give it another chance. From the sounds of it, Civ III is the better match for me. Yes, there are some annoying features in Civ III -- culture flips are my pet peeve -- but some of the things that people seem to like about Civ IV would turn me off big time. I do like the Civ IV feature that allows your units to become experienced and specialized. Other than that, the map seemed small, the graphics were overdone and confusing, and the leaders were cartoonish. Civ III has a reaslitic feel to it. I lose 95% of the Civ III games that I play because I like a challenge and play on either Emperor or Demi-God. I played Civ I and Civ II, as well, and think that Civ III is the best of the lot. Frankly, it's the only game I play.