BTB
Warlord
- Joined
- Nov 24, 2006
- Messages
- 119
Edit: you can now find the completed version of this modpack at http://forums.civfanatics.com/uploads/105170/civ3mod.zip
Introduction
A little while back, I was considering some minor tweaks to the rules to make the game more entertaining, as well as more realistic. Well, I finally made them. I'm not one to make drastic changes unless I honestly feel they need to be made, so the majority of my changes are conservative tweaks rather than significant changes. Then again, I've made numerous tweaks accross the board, so I'll let everybody else be the judge of the final product, which I now humbly present before the group.
This is version 3.0 of my mod, which is essnetially version 2.0 with a large list of updates primarily inspired by a similar mod created by player1fanatic. And as with my last update, I've gone back and removed a few of my previous tweaks for one reason or another. Be sure to check out my brand spankin' new Version History section near the end of this file for the full scoop. Although my mod is designed to work with version 1.29f of Vanilla (unexpanded) Civilization III, it will apparently work just fine with Play the World or Conquests. Merely load the ruleset as a scenario and play away. Please note, however, that anything present in either expansion will be missing when playing my mod. Additionally, I do not know at this time how to properly work the mod so that the Civiliopedia will be accurate in such a situation. If anybody reading this can provide me with such information, please see my contact information at the bottom of this file and let me know. You will be credited for your efforts.
The mod is comprised of three files that replace their respective counterparts in your Civilization III directory. As with any mod of this sort, you will probably want to back those files up prior to the installation of this mod. The files replaced are the Civ3mod.bic file in the main directory (which effectively changes the rules of the game) and the Civilopedia.txt and script.txt files in the text subdirectory (which make the game's help files and interface acknowledge many of those changes). To install the mod, simply copy its contents into the Civilization III directory and allow the appropriate files to be overridden. This, of course, will be different if you have either expansion installed.
Changes to the Tech Tree
By far the most prominent changes made by my mod are those to the tech tree. Specifically, the optional techs are now prerequsites unto themselves. This means that although you have the option of putting off researching them, you will need to do so in order to research more advanced optional techs down the road. This helps prevent things like having to go back and research Monarchy in 2048 AD because you had no need to research it prior to that. It also makes the optional techs that much more appealing, especially considering that the optional tech branch ends with the highly important Ecology/Recycling modern tech path.
Very few changes have been made to techs aside from that, however. While many changes have been made with regards to what techs are required to do or build specific things, those will all be discussed in their respective sections. The only changes that have been made to the tech tree itself aside from the changes mentionend above include the deletion of a few techs and the subsequent absorbption of those techs' abilities by other techs. Also, there have been some very minor rearrangements based on the afformentioned deletions (including Democracy being moved to the Industrial ages). Lastly, the names of some techs have been slightly renamed in order for their full names to fit into their respective display boxes in the tech tree without using ellipses. Below is a listing of all the changes that have been made to the tech tree, including a listing of the new optional tech tree path.
- Music Theory has been removed.
- Espionage has been removed.
- Amphibious Warfare has been removed.
- Economics is now required for era advancement.
- Navigation is now required for era advancement.
- Printing Press is now required for era advancement.
- Sanitation is now required for era advancement.
- Advanced Flight is now required for era advancement.
- Horseback Riding is now optional for era advancement.
- Chivalry now requires Horseback Riding and Monarchy in addition to Feudalism and Monotheism.
- Military Tradition now requires The Republic and Chivalry in addition to Metallurgy.
- Free Artistry now requires Banking and Printing Press instead of Democracy.
- Nationalism now requires Free Artistry and Military Tradition.
- Communism now requires Industrialization in addition to Nationalism.
- Democracy now requires Nationalism instead of Banking and Printing Press.
- Ecology now requires Communism and Democracy.
- Ceremonial Burial has been renamed to Ritual Burial.
- Theory of Gravity has been renamed to Gravity Theory.
- Scientific Method has been renamed to Science Method.
- Motorized Transport has been renamed to Motorization.
- Integrated Defense has been renamed to Integrated Def.
Changes to Resources & Terrain
The other major change made by this mod is the way that the game treats bonus, luxury, and strategic resources. Realistically speaking, what makes the game's tradable resources (luxury & strategic) so valuable is not only their inherent usefulness, but also their scarcity. Countless other resources are considered invaluable to the human civilization, but are rarely an issue merely because of how easy they are to come accross. In the game, such resources should be (and for the most part are) represented by the shields harvested by just about any terrain square. Only what comprise the most sought-after and fought-over resources and naturally-occurring luxuries that have been considered as such throughout the entire course of human history should achieve the status of appearing individually on the map. This is a concept that the makers of the game handled relatively well, but there was most certainly room for improvement.
Several resources have been removed, primarily because they just did not fit in with the rest of their respective counterparts and did a whole lot to decimate one's suspension of disbelief. Saltpeter, for example, is far easier to come by than many of the game's strategic resources. The game will even acknowledge this by not requiring it for any firearm unit past the Middle Ages, citing that Saltpeter became common enough that a strategic stash of it was no longer necessary. Another example is Dyes, which are not only not difficult to come across, but are also very easily artifically reproduced in modern times, which makes them somewhat invalid as a legitimate naturally-occurring luxury resource. This is opposed to, say, Gems, which have always been and will always be highly prized (at least by women).
On the flip-side of that coin, Coal is the only resource that has been removed primarily because there just wasn't a whole lot that it was useful for. The resources that are left, however, tend to see a much higher degree of usefulness. The requirements for strategic resources have been reworked to actually make a tiny bit of real sense. For example, under the original game rules a Battleship did not require Iron to build. This and many other things have been fixed in my rules, which streamline the game's various resource requirements into a much simpler system. Any sort of armored, naval, artillery, or vehicular unit now requires Iron to build (Iron is now required to build a LOT of units), anything with an engine or propulsion system requires Oil (this includes missiles and the space ship), anything with tires requires Rubber (the original game rules were actually pretty good on this one), anything that flies requires Aluminum (this one, too), and anything that produces an unnatural explosion requires Uranium (no changes to this one). I pray I don't have to explain Horses.
The specific changes to which resources are now required to build things will be explained later in the appropriate sections. This section will now list the changes that have been made to the resources & terrain system itself, as seen below.
- Strategic resource Aluminum now requires Flight to appear on the map instead of Rocketry and can be found in mountains instead of hills.
- Strategic resource Uranium can now be found in tundra instead of forests.
- Strategic resource Saltpeter has been removed, and everything that required it to build no longer does.
- Strategic resource Coal has been removed, and everything that required it to build no longer does.
- Strategic recource Rubber now has a shield bonus of 1 in addition to the +2 commerce bonus.
- Strategic recource Horses now has a shield bonus of 1 in addition to the +1 commerce bonus.
- Strategic resource Iron now has a shield bonus of 2 instead of 1.
- Luxury resource Incense now has a commerce bonus of 2 instead of 1.
- Luxury resource Ivory has been removed.
- Luxury resource Dyes has been removed.
- Bonus resource Gold has been removed.
- Cleared forests now yield 25 shields instead of 10.
- Clear Pollution worker ability now requires Sanitation.
- Build Railroad worker ability no longer requires Iron or Coal.
Changes to City Improvements, Wonders, & Small Wonders
Moving on to the changes made to the game's various City Improvements, Great Wonders, & Small Wonders, we have a variety of tweaks and changes that are for the most part self-explanitory and do not merit any further intorduction. One thing I will note, however, is that perhaps the most controversial of my tweaks lies in the removal of several militaristic small wonders: Military Academy, Pentagon, and Battlefield Medicine. While Battlefield Medicine's effects have been absorbed by the one remaining military-minded small wonder (Heroic Epic), the effects of the other two are deliberately absent from the game. Not only did I feel that having more than half of the game's small wonders geared towards war was a bit lopsided, I also felt that the ability to churn out armies at will was too much of an open invitation to ridiculously inbalance the game. While some may disagree with this choice, I stand firmly by my decision to disable them in the game's rules.
With that being said, here is a list of the various changes made to this portion of the game's rules.
- The city capital may no longer be moved by building another Palace (the ability to build another Palace has been disabled).
- Walls now cost 40 shields instead of 20 to build.
- Marketplace now gives 1 culture per turn, and cost was lowered from 100 shields to 80 (the same as a Library or Courthouse).
- Library now gives only 2 culture per turn instead of 3.
- Bank now requires 2 gold for upkeep instead of 1 (note: this was an apparent error in the original game that was never fixed by any patch)
- Courthouse now requires The Republic instead of Code of Laws.
- Police Station now requires Democracy instead of Communism. It also requires an existing Courthouse in the city it is built in.
- Research Labs no longer pollute or generate culture.
- Airport now requires Oil and Aluminum to build.
- Solar Plant now requires Aluminum to build.
- Manufacturing Plant now requires Aluminum to build.
- SS Fuel Cells now require Aluminum to build.
- SS Engine now requires Oil to build.
- SS Life Support Now Requires Recycling instead of Superconductor.
- SS Stasis Chamber now requires Genetics instead of Synthetic Fibers.
- SS Docking Bay now requires Synthetic Fibers instead of Space Flight (in version 2.0 of the mod, it required Satellites).
- SS Cockpit now requires Robotics instead of Space Flight (in version 2.0 of the mod, it required Superconductor).
- The Pyramids now expire with the discovery of Sanitation.
- The Oracle now makes one unhappy citizen content in every city in addition to its normal effects.
- The Colossus no longer triggers a golden age for Religious civs.
- The Sistine Chapel has been removed.
- Universal Suffrage has been removed.
- Longevity has been removed.
- J.S. Bach's Cathedral now requires Theology instead of Music Theory.
- Shakespeare's Theater now may trigger a golden age for Commercial civs.
- Magellan's Expedition no longer triggers a golden age for Commercial civs.
- Theory of Evolution may now may also trigger a golden age for Religious civs as well as Scientific civs.
- United Nations now reduces War Weariness in all cities in addition to its normal effects.
- United Nations may now trigger a golden age for Militaristic civs as well as Commercial civs.
- Cure for Cancer now grants a Research Lab in every city instead of its normal effects.
- Cure for Cancer may now trigger a golden age for Expansionist civs as well as Scientific civs.
- Heroic Epic now requires Literature to build and has the effects of Battlefield Medicine in addition to its normal effects.
- Forbidden Palace now requires Military Tradition to build in addition to its normal requirements.
- Wall Street now requires Economics to build in addition to its normal requirements.
- Intelligence Agency now requires Communism to build instead of Espionage.
- Iron Works now requires Industrialization to build in addition to Iron in the city radius (since Coal has been removed, only Iron is needed).
- Satellite Defense now requires Aluminum and Oil to build in addition to its normal requirements.
- The Pentagon has been removed.
- Military Academy has been removed.
- Battlefield Medicine has been removed.
Changes to Units
As with the previous section, there is not much to be said for the changes made to the game's units. In an attempt to balance the game, nearly every unit in the game has undergone at least some form of change, albeit the majority of them are fairly minor. Most of the changes made to the units concern implementing an upgrade path that plays a little better than the previous one did and enforcing strategic resource requirements in a much more sensible manner than before (in other words, a crapload more units require Iron and Oil to build now). Many more changes are present in version 3.0 of the mod, but again none of them are very major. Without further ado, here are the changes made to the game's units.
- Mounted units (Chariot, War Chariot, Hosemen, Mounted Warrior, Knight, War Elephant, Rider, Cavalry, & Cossack) may no longer be airlifted.
- Artillery units (Catapult, Cannon, Artillery, & Radar Artillery) may now be airlifted, but may not move through Mountain or Jungle tiles without a road.
- Armored units (Tank, Panzer, Mech. Infantry, & Modern Armor) may not move through Mountain or Jungle tiles without a road.
- Armies may now be airlifted and may also pillage.
- Scouts can now build colonies in addition to their standard abilities.
- Leaders, Settlers, Workers, Explorers, & Scouts may now be airlifted and transported via helicopter.
- Swordsmen, Legion, & Immortals now require Warrior Code to build (in addition to Iron, of course) and upgrade to Riflemen instead of Musketmen.
- Warriors now upgrade to Longbowmen instead of Swordsmen.
- Chariots are no longer available to the Aztecs or Zulus.
- Bowmen no longer have "defense" AI flag.
- Longbowmen now require 30 shields instead of 40.
- Marines now have attack of 10 instead of 8 and now require Advanced Flight to build
- Paratroopers now have attack of 8 instead of 6, defense of 10 instead of 8, operational range of 8 instead of 6, and no longer require Oil to build.
- Helicopters may now transport 2 foot units instead of 1.
- Frigate now upgrades to Ironclad.
- Ironclad now upgrades to Destroyer.
- Transport now requires Iron to build in addition to Oil.
- Destroyer now upgrades to AEGIS Cruiser and requires Iron to build in addition to Oil.
- Carrier now requires Advanced Flight to build and requires Iron to build in addition to Oil.
- Battleship now has 3 movement instead of 5 and requires Iron to build in addition to Oil.
- Submarine now has attack of 10 instead of 8, upgrades to Nuclear Sub, and requires Iron to build in addition to Oil.
- AEGIS Cruiser now has 12 defense instead of 10 and requires Iron and Oil to build in addition to Uranium.
- Nuclear Sub now has attack of 10 instead of 8, cost 120 shields instead of 140, and requires Iron and Oil to build in addition to Uranium.
- Bomber now upgrades to Stealth Bomber.
- Catapult & Artillery now require Iron to build.
- Cannons now have ROF of 2 instead of 1 and cost 60 shields instead of 40.
- Radar Artillery now has 2 movement instead of 1 and requires Iron, Rubber, and Oil to build instead of Aluminum.
- Tank & Panzer now require Iron to build in addition to Oil & Rubber.
- Mech. Infantry no longer has "offense" AI flag, and now requires Iron to build in addition to Oil and Rubber.
- Modern Armor now has a defense of 14 instead of 16 and now requires Iron to build instead of Aluminum and in addition to Oil and Rubber.
- Cruise Missile now has ROF 4 instead of 3, bombard range of 4 instead of 2, and now requires Oil to build in addition to Aluminum.
- Tactical Nuke now requires Superconductor instead of Space Flight and also requires Oil to build in addition to Aluminum and Uranium.
- ICBM now requires Oil to build in addition to Aluminum and Uranium.
- Musketeers now have an extra movement point instead of an extra attack point over standard Musketmen.
- Samurai now replace Pikemen instead of Knights and have an extra defense point over standard Pikemen.
- War Elephants now have an extra defense point over standard Knights.
- War Chariots now have two extra movement points instead of an extra attack point over standard Chariots.
- Man-O-Wars now have an extra defense point in addition to their extra attack point over standard Frigates.
- Cossacks now have two extra defense points instead of just one over standard Cavalry. They also no longer have "defense" AI flag.
- Fixed bug where AI would build Paratroopers instead of armored units by increasing operational range of armored units.
- Fixed bug where Cruise Missiles could not be loaded directly onto ships from cities by adding a proper load flag.
Miscellaneous Changes
Lastly, we have all of the changes I've made to the game's rules that just did not seem to fit anywhere else. The big ones here are changes to the team colors, and some notable changes to corruption under Despotism and Monarchy. With regards to the former, I don't know who on Earth at Firaxis was smoking all that crack when they were assigning unique colors (or the lack thereof), but I went ahead and fixed the mess that that crackhead made by assigning each civ one, and only one color (none of which are migrane-inducing like some of the previous ones were).
Speaking more on the issue of corruption, however, we have perhaps the most prominent change to be made in version 2.0 of my mod. Corruption is very much a big problem in Civilization 3- far moreso than it was in the previous two. There is absolutely nothing wrong with a system that is put in place to make a game challenging, but it reaches a point in Civ 3 where you have cities that aren't even that far away from your capital reduced to complete ineffectiveness due to total corruption. Something had to be done to at least somewhat alleviate this problem, and my ultimate decision was to lower the levels of corruption for Despotism and Monarchy. This decision was a stone that killed two birds, seeing as I was also trying to think of a way to make Monarchy more competetive with The Republic.
In that same vein, however, The Republic was given a little bit of free unit support in the 3.0 update of my mod, which helps make it a far more interesting government choice versus both Monarchy AND Democracy. I do not feel this unbalances it, especially considering that The Republic was afforded such abilities in the Conquests expansion.
And now, please note the last of the specific changes made to the rules of the game.
- Golden Ages now last 25 turns instead of 20.
- The output of taxmen and scientists (city specialists) have both been doubled.
- Initiate Propaganda now has a base cost of 60 instead of 100.
- Steal World Map now has a base cost of 5 instead of 1, and is now available to Diplomats as well as Spies.
- Republics now offer 1 free unit per town, 2 per city, and 4 per metro.
- Communism now gives 150% worker speed bonus.
- Lowered Despotism corruption levels from Rampant to Problematic.
- Lowered Monarchy corruption levels from Probelmatic to Nuisance.
- Barbarian combat bonus lowered to 400% for Chieftan, 200% for Warlord, and 100% for Regent.
- Optimal city percentage raised to 150% for Chieftan, 125% for Warlord, 100% for Regent, and 90% for Monarch.
- Japan now starts with Warrior Code instead of The Wheel.
- Babylon's AI is significantly (2 spaces) less aggressive.
- England's AI is slightly (1 space) more aggressive.
- Japan's AI is slightly (1 space) more aggressive.
- Color for Rome: bright red (unchanged)
- Color for Greece: bright green (unchanged)
- Color for Egypt: yellow (unchanged)
- Color for France: light purple
- Color for England: orange (unchanged)
- Color for Germany: blue (unchanged)
- Color for Russia: dark brown (darker than the original)
- Color for America: sky blue
- Color for Aztecs: dark green (unchanged)
- Color for Iroquois: dark purple (unchanged)
- Color for Babylon: olive green
- Color for Persia: pastel blue (the original "alternate" color for this civ)
- Color for Zulus: black (the original "alternate" color for this civ)
- Color for India: tan
- Color for China: dark blue (Babylon's original "alternate" color)
- Color for Japan: dark red (Babylon's original standard color)
Version History
1.0 - Initial release
2.0 - See readme
3.0 - The following changes have been made since 2.0:
- Fixed bug where AI would build Paratroopers instead of armored units by increasing operational range of armored units.
- Fixed bug where Cruise Missiles could not be loaded directly onto ships from cities by adding a proper load flag.
- Mounted units (Chariot, War Chariot, Hosemen, Mounted Warrior, Knight, War Elephant, Rider, Cavalry, & Cossack) may no longer be airlifted.
- Artillery units (Catapult, Cannon, Artillery, & Radar Artillery) may now be airlifted, but may not move through Mountain or Jungle tiles without a road.
- Armored units (Tank, Panzer, Mech. Infantry, & Modern Armor) may not move through Mountain or Jungle tiles without a road.
- Leaders, Settlers, Workers, Explorers, & Scouts may now be airlifted and transported via helicopter.
- Armies may now be airlifted and may also pillage.
- Longbowmen now cost 30 shields instead of 40.
- Cannons now have ROF of 2 instead of 1 and cost 60 shields instead of 40.
- Swordsmen, Legion, & Immortals now upgrade to Riflemen instead of Musketmen.
- Samurai now replace Pikemen instead of Knights and have an extra defense point over standard Pikemen.
- Bowmen & Cossacks no longer have "defense" AI flag.
- Mech. Infantry no longer has "offense" AI flag.
- Helicopters may now transport 2 foot units instead of 1.
- Submarines and Nuclear Subs now have attack of 10 instead of 8.
- Nuclear Subs now cost 120 shields instead of 140.
- AEGIS Crusier now has 12 defense instead of 10.
- Modern Armor now has 14 defense instead of 16.
- Marine now has 10 attack instead of 8.
- Paratrooper now has 8 attack and 10 defense instead of 6 attack and 8 defense. It also has operational range of 8 instead of 6.
- Cruise Missile gets ROF 4 instead of 3, bombard range of 4 instead of 2
- Tactical Nuke now requires Superconductor instead of Space Flight.
- SS Life Support Now Requires Recycling instead of Superconductor.
- SS Stasis Chamber now requires Genetics instead of Synthetic Fibers.
- SS Docking Bay now requires Synthetic Fibers instead of Space Flight (in version 2.0 of the mod, it required Satellites).
- SS Cockpit now requires Robotics instead of Space Flight (in version 2.0 of the mod, it required Superconductor).
- Plant Forest worker ability has been reinstated.
- Clear Pollution worker ability now requires Sanitation.
- Initiate Propaganda now has a base cost of 60 instead of 100.
- Steal World Map now has a base cost of 5 instead of 1.
- Diplomats may now Steal World Maps.
- Communism now gives 150% worker speed bonus.
- Republics now offer 1 free unit per town, 2 per city, and 4 per metro.
- Barbarian combat bonus lowered to 400% for Chieftan, 200% for Warlord, and 100% for Regent.
- Optimal city percentage raised to 150% for Chieftan, 125% for Warlord, 100% for Regent, and 90% for Monarch.
Tech Support & Frequently Askled Questions
Q: What does this mod do? How do I install it?
A: This mod edits the base rules for Civilization III by replacing three files in the Civilization program directory. The first is civ3mod.bic, which is the important one since it is what actually makes all the changes to the rules. The other two are files located in the text subdirectory and edit the Civlopedia and game interface to acknowledge those rule chnages.
Q: Does this mod add any content to the game or make any drastic changes?
A: No. This mod simply alters the game's rules and was created using nothing but the Civ 3 Editor and lots of coffee. There is nothing in this mod that cannot be found in the original game and the vast majority of the changes it makes are conservative tweaks as opposed to radical overhauls. That being said, there are at least a few rule changes made by this mod that are controversial to some, so be sure to read the rest of this file to see what all has been updated.
Q: What version of the game does this patch require, and how can I upgrade my game?
A: This mod requires version 1.29f of Civilization. This is the version of the game that is present in the Complete Civilization III that includes both expansion packs, but this mod is not compatable with them. Odds are that if you purchased Civilization III as a standalone product, you will need to manually upgrade it to the latest version. You can find the patch at http://civfanatics.com/civ3/patches/ Please note that several users report an error after installing the patch that the game is no longer able to detect the Civ III CD in their drives. This is a common issue and is best fixed with a "No-CD Crack", which is a Civilization III executable file that is just like the one that you use to start up the game except that it does not search for the CD and therefore allows the game to play as normal. While I am not allowed to officially endorse a tool of priacy, please feel free to contact me in the event that you are experiencing this issue (my contact information is located at the end of this file).
Q: Will this mod work with Play The World or Conquests? (UPDATED!)
A: According to my friends over at CivFanatics.com, yes it will. However, it must be loaded as a scenario due to its differing file type from the standard ruleset used by those expansions. It will also remove any features added by either expansion, reducing the gameplay to that of Vanilla Civ3.
Q: Why did you take away the need for Iron to build a Railroad?
A: This is the one issue I simply did not feel prepared to deal with appropriately. Aside from the fact that Iron is now required to build so much more than it was before, I've disagreed with the game ending its transportation development with railroads ever since Civ 2. By rights, the railroads should be replaced by concrete roads that instead require Oil, Rubber, and Iron to build and maintain. But rather than try to implement and deal with such a complex system, I chose to just let it slide altogether.
Q: Why is Iron required to build so much stuff now? Most stuff is made out of steel these days.
A: Steel is an alloy of Iron. You need Iron to make steel. Luckily, Iron is one of the most easy to come by strategic resources (along with Horses).
Q: How did you make optional techs in one era prerequisites for techs in the next era? When I try that in the editor it won't let me do it!
A: It was very hard to do, given that the editor resisted nearly every attempt I made to implement my system. But after awhile, I was able to figure out how the editor thought, and subsequently how to fool it into doing what I wanted it to do. It ended up working a lot like a brain puzzle I used to have as a child, appropriately entitled "The Brain Puzzle". Look it up online if you're curious to see what I'm talking about.
Q: I don't like the changes your mod makes to the rules!
A: ...then don't use it.
Closing & Credits
And that's really about it. I'd like to thank the fine folks at civfantics.com for all of their support and their hosting of my mod. Also, thank you to Virote Considon of civfanatics.org for answering my questions regarding how this mod applies to expanded Civ games. I would also like to thank player1fanatic, whose excellent mod was the inspiration behind the 3.0 update of my mod. And, of course, I thank you, gentle reader, for taking the time to check out my work.
If you have any questions, comments, or feedback, feel free to email me at BTB_Enterprises@sbcglobal.net, or post in this thread and I will reply to you.
Introduction
A little while back, I was considering some minor tweaks to the rules to make the game more entertaining, as well as more realistic. Well, I finally made them. I'm not one to make drastic changes unless I honestly feel they need to be made, so the majority of my changes are conservative tweaks rather than significant changes. Then again, I've made numerous tweaks accross the board, so I'll let everybody else be the judge of the final product, which I now humbly present before the group.
This is version 3.0 of my mod, which is essnetially version 2.0 with a large list of updates primarily inspired by a similar mod created by player1fanatic. And as with my last update, I've gone back and removed a few of my previous tweaks for one reason or another. Be sure to check out my brand spankin' new Version History section near the end of this file for the full scoop. Although my mod is designed to work with version 1.29f of Vanilla (unexpanded) Civilization III, it will apparently work just fine with Play the World or Conquests. Merely load the ruleset as a scenario and play away. Please note, however, that anything present in either expansion will be missing when playing my mod. Additionally, I do not know at this time how to properly work the mod so that the Civiliopedia will be accurate in such a situation. If anybody reading this can provide me with such information, please see my contact information at the bottom of this file and let me know. You will be credited for your efforts.
The mod is comprised of three files that replace their respective counterparts in your Civilization III directory. As with any mod of this sort, you will probably want to back those files up prior to the installation of this mod. The files replaced are the Civ3mod.bic file in the main directory (which effectively changes the rules of the game) and the Civilopedia.txt and script.txt files in the text subdirectory (which make the game's help files and interface acknowledge many of those changes). To install the mod, simply copy its contents into the Civilization III directory and allow the appropriate files to be overridden. This, of course, will be different if you have either expansion installed.
Changes to the Tech Tree
By far the most prominent changes made by my mod are those to the tech tree. Specifically, the optional techs are now prerequsites unto themselves. This means that although you have the option of putting off researching them, you will need to do so in order to research more advanced optional techs down the road. This helps prevent things like having to go back and research Monarchy in 2048 AD because you had no need to research it prior to that. It also makes the optional techs that much more appealing, especially considering that the optional tech branch ends with the highly important Ecology/Recycling modern tech path.
Very few changes have been made to techs aside from that, however. While many changes have been made with regards to what techs are required to do or build specific things, those will all be discussed in their respective sections. The only changes that have been made to the tech tree itself aside from the changes mentionend above include the deletion of a few techs and the subsequent absorbption of those techs' abilities by other techs. Also, there have been some very minor rearrangements based on the afformentioned deletions (including Democracy being moved to the Industrial ages). Lastly, the names of some techs have been slightly renamed in order for their full names to fit into their respective display boxes in the tech tree without using ellipses. Below is a listing of all the changes that have been made to the tech tree, including a listing of the new optional tech tree path.
- Music Theory has been removed.
- Espionage has been removed.
- Amphibious Warfare has been removed.
- Economics is now required for era advancement.
- Navigation is now required for era advancement.
- Printing Press is now required for era advancement.
- Sanitation is now required for era advancement.
- Advanced Flight is now required for era advancement.
- Horseback Riding is now optional for era advancement.
- Chivalry now requires Horseback Riding and Monarchy in addition to Feudalism and Monotheism.
- Military Tradition now requires The Republic and Chivalry in addition to Metallurgy.
- Free Artistry now requires Banking and Printing Press instead of Democracy.
- Nationalism now requires Free Artistry and Military Tradition.
- Communism now requires Industrialization in addition to Nationalism.
- Democracy now requires Nationalism instead of Banking and Printing Press.
- Ecology now requires Communism and Democracy.
- Ceremonial Burial has been renamed to Ritual Burial.
- Theory of Gravity has been renamed to Gravity Theory.
- Scientific Method has been renamed to Science Method.
- Motorized Transport has been renamed to Motorization.
- Integrated Defense has been renamed to Integrated Def.
Changes to Resources & Terrain
The other major change made by this mod is the way that the game treats bonus, luxury, and strategic resources. Realistically speaking, what makes the game's tradable resources (luxury & strategic) so valuable is not only their inherent usefulness, but also their scarcity. Countless other resources are considered invaluable to the human civilization, but are rarely an issue merely because of how easy they are to come accross. In the game, such resources should be (and for the most part are) represented by the shields harvested by just about any terrain square. Only what comprise the most sought-after and fought-over resources and naturally-occurring luxuries that have been considered as such throughout the entire course of human history should achieve the status of appearing individually on the map. This is a concept that the makers of the game handled relatively well, but there was most certainly room for improvement.
Several resources have been removed, primarily because they just did not fit in with the rest of their respective counterparts and did a whole lot to decimate one's suspension of disbelief. Saltpeter, for example, is far easier to come by than many of the game's strategic resources. The game will even acknowledge this by not requiring it for any firearm unit past the Middle Ages, citing that Saltpeter became common enough that a strategic stash of it was no longer necessary. Another example is Dyes, which are not only not difficult to come across, but are also very easily artifically reproduced in modern times, which makes them somewhat invalid as a legitimate naturally-occurring luxury resource. This is opposed to, say, Gems, which have always been and will always be highly prized (at least by women).
On the flip-side of that coin, Coal is the only resource that has been removed primarily because there just wasn't a whole lot that it was useful for. The resources that are left, however, tend to see a much higher degree of usefulness. The requirements for strategic resources have been reworked to actually make a tiny bit of real sense. For example, under the original game rules a Battleship did not require Iron to build. This and many other things have been fixed in my rules, which streamline the game's various resource requirements into a much simpler system. Any sort of armored, naval, artillery, or vehicular unit now requires Iron to build (Iron is now required to build a LOT of units), anything with an engine or propulsion system requires Oil (this includes missiles and the space ship), anything with tires requires Rubber (the original game rules were actually pretty good on this one), anything that flies requires Aluminum (this one, too), and anything that produces an unnatural explosion requires Uranium (no changes to this one). I pray I don't have to explain Horses.
The specific changes to which resources are now required to build things will be explained later in the appropriate sections. This section will now list the changes that have been made to the resources & terrain system itself, as seen below.
- Strategic resource Aluminum now requires Flight to appear on the map instead of Rocketry and can be found in mountains instead of hills.
- Strategic resource Uranium can now be found in tundra instead of forests.
- Strategic resource Saltpeter has been removed, and everything that required it to build no longer does.
- Strategic resource Coal has been removed, and everything that required it to build no longer does.
- Strategic recource Rubber now has a shield bonus of 1 in addition to the +2 commerce bonus.
- Strategic recource Horses now has a shield bonus of 1 in addition to the +1 commerce bonus.
- Strategic resource Iron now has a shield bonus of 2 instead of 1.
- Luxury resource Incense now has a commerce bonus of 2 instead of 1.
- Luxury resource Ivory has been removed.
- Luxury resource Dyes has been removed.
- Bonus resource Gold has been removed.
- Cleared forests now yield 25 shields instead of 10.
- Clear Pollution worker ability now requires Sanitation.
- Build Railroad worker ability no longer requires Iron or Coal.
Changes to City Improvements, Wonders, & Small Wonders
Moving on to the changes made to the game's various City Improvements, Great Wonders, & Small Wonders, we have a variety of tweaks and changes that are for the most part self-explanitory and do not merit any further intorduction. One thing I will note, however, is that perhaps the most controversial of my tweaks lies in the removal of several militaristic small wonders: Military Academy, Pentagon, and Battlefield Medicine. While Battlefield Medicine's effects have been absorbed by the one remaining military-minded small wonder (Heroic Epic), the effects of the other two are deliberately absent from the game. Not only did I feel that having more than half of the game's small wonders geared towards war was a bit lopsided, I also felt that the ability to churn out armies at will was too much of an open invitation to ridiculously inbalance the game. While some may disagree with this choice, I stand firmly by my decision to disable them in the game's rules.
With that being said, here is a list of the various changes made to this portion of the game's rules.
- The city capital may no longer be moved by building another Palace (the ability to build another Palace has been disabled).
- Walls now cost 40 shields instead of 20 to build.
- Marketplace now gives 1 culture per turn, and cost was lowered from 100 shields to 80 (the same as a Library or Courthouse).
- Library now gives only 2 culture per turn instead of 3.
- Bank now requires 2 gold for upkeep instead of 1 (note: this was an apparent error in the original game that was never fixed by any patch)
- Courthouse now requires The Republic instead of Code of Laws.
- Police Station now requires Democracy instead of Communism. It also requires an existing Courthouse in the city it is built in.
- Research Labs no longer pollute or generate culture.
- Airport now requires Oil and Aluminum to build.
- Solar Plant now requires Aluminum to build.
- Manufacturing Plant now requires Aluminum to build.
- SS Fuel Cells now require Aluminum to build.
- SS Engine now requires Oil to build.
- SS Life Support Now Requires Recycling instead of Superconductor.
- SS Stasis Chamber now requires Genetics instead of Synthetic Fibers.
- SS Docking Bay now requires Synthetic Fibers instead of Space Flight (in version 2.0 of the mod, it required Satellites).
- SS Cockpit now requires Robotics instead of Space Flight (in version 2.0 of the mod, it required Superconductor).
- The Pyramids now expire with the discovery of Sanitation.
- The Oracle now makes one unhappy citizen content in every city in addition to its normal effects.
- The Colossus no longer triggers a golden age for Religious civs.
- The Sistine Chapel has been removed.
- Universal Suffrage has been removed.
- Longevity has been removed.
- J.S. Bach's Cathedral now requires Theology instead of Music Theory.
- Shakespeare's Theater now may trigger a golden age for Commercial civs.
- Magellan's Expedition no longer triggers a golden age for Commercial civs.
- Theory of Evolution may now may also trigger a golden age for Religious civs as well as Scientific civs.
- United Nations now reduces War Weariness in all cities in addition to its normal effects.
- United Nations may now trigger a golden age for Militaristic civs as well as Commercial civs.
- Cure for Cancer now grants a Research Lab in every city instead of its normal effects.
- Cure for Cancer may now trigger a golden age for Expansionist civs as well as Scientific civs.
- Heroic Epic now requires Literature to build and has the effects of Battlefield Medicine in addition to its normal effects.
- Forbidden Palace now requires Military Tradition to build in addition to its normal requirements.
- Wall Street now requires Economics to build in addition to its normal requirements.
- Intelligence Agency now requires Communism to build instead of Espionage.
- Iron Works now requires Industrialization to build in addition to Iron in the city radius (since Coal has been removed, only Iron is needed).
- Satellite Defense now requires Aluminum and Oil to build in addition to its normal requirements.
- The Pentagon has been removed.
- Military Academy has been removed.
- Battlefield Medicine has been removed.
Changes to Units
As with the previous section, there is not much to be said for the changes made to the game's units. In an attempt to balance the game, nearly every unit in the game has undergone at least some form of change, albeit the majority of them are fairly minor. Most of the changes made to the units concern implementing an upgrade path that plays a little better than the previous one did and enforcing strategic resource requirements in a much more sensible manner than before (in other words, a crapload more units require Iron and Oil to build now). Many more changes are present in version 3.0 of the mod, but again none of them are very major. Without further ado, here are the changes made to the game's units.
- Mounted units (Chariot, War Chariot, Hosemen, Mounted Warrior, Knight, War Elephant, Rider, Cavalry, & Cossack) may no longer be airlifted.
- Artillery units (Catapult, Cannon, Artillery, & Radar Artillery) may now be airlifted, but may not move through Mountain or Jungle tiles without a road.
- Armored units (Tank, Panzer, Mech. Infantry, & Modern Armor) may not move through Mountain or Jungle tiles without a road.
- Armies may now be airlifted and may also pillage.
- Scouts can now build colonies in addition to their standard abilities.
- Leaders, Settlers, Workers, Explorers, & Scouts may now be airlifted and transported via helicopter.
- Swordsmen, Legion, & Immortals now require Warrior Code to build (in addition to Iron, of course) and upgrade to Riflemen instead of Musketmen.
- Warriors now upgrade to Longbowmen instead of Swordsmen.
- Chariots are no longer available to the Aztecs or Zulus.
- Bowmen no longer have "defense" AI flag.
- Longbowmen now require 30 shields instead of 40.
- Marines now have attack of 10 instead of 8 and now require Advanced Flight to build
- Paratroopers now have attack of 8 instead of 6, defense of 10 instead of 8, operational range of 8 instead of 6, and no longer require Oil to build.
- Helicopters may now transport 2 foot units instead of 1.
- Frigate now upgrades to Ironclad.
- Ironclad now upgrades to Destroyer.
- Transport now requires Iron to build in addition to Oil.
- Destroyer now upgrades to AEGIS Cruiser and requires Iron to build in addition to Oil.
- Carrier now requires Advanced Flight to build and requires Iron to build in addition to Oil.
- Battleship now has 3 movement instead of 5 and requires Iron to build in addition to Oil.
- Submarine now has attack of 10 instead of 8, upgrades to Nuclear Sub, and requires Iron to build in addition to Oil.
- AEGIS Cruiser now has 12 defense instead of 10 and requires Iron and Oil to build in addition to Uranium.
- Nuclear Sub now has attack of 10 instead of 8, cost 120 shields instead of 140, and requires Iron and Oil to build in addition to Uranium.
- Bomber now upgrades to Stealth Bomber.
- Catapult & Artillery now require Iron to build.
- Cannons now have ROF of 2 instead of 1 and cost 60 shields instead of 40.
- Radar Artillery now has 2 movement instead of 1 and requires Iron, Rubber, and Oil to build instead of Aluminum.
- Tank & Panzer now require Iron to build in addition to Oil & Rubber.
- Mech. Infantry no longer has "offense" AI flag, and now requires Iron to build in addition to Oil and Rubber.
- Modern Armor now has a defense of 14 instead of 16 and now requires Iron to build instead of Aluminum and in addition to Oil and Rubber.
- Cruise Missile now has ROF 4 instead of 3, bombard range of 4 instead of 2, and now requires Oil to build in addition to Aluminum.
- Tactical Nuke now requires Superconductor instead of Space Flight and also requires Oil to build in addition to Aluminum and Uranium.
- ICBM now requires Oil to build in addition to Aluminum and Uranium.
- Musketeers now have an extra movement point instead of an extra attack point over standard Musketmen.
- Samurai now replace Pikemen instead of Knights and have an extra defense point over standard Pikemen.
- War Elephants now have an extra defense point over standard Knights.
- War Chariots now have two extra movement points instead of an extra attack point over standard Chariots.
- Man-O-Wars now have an extra defense point in addition to their extra attack point over standard Frigates.
- Cossacks now have two extra defense points instead of just one over standard Cavalry. They also no longer have "defense" AI flag.
- Fixed bug where AI would build Paratroopers instead of armored units by increasing operational range of armored units.
- Fixed bug where Cruise Missiles could not be loaded directly onto ships from cities by adding a proper load flag.
Miscellaneous Changes
Lastly, we have all of the changes I've made to the game's rules that just did not seem to fit anywhere else. The big ones here are changes to the team colors, and some notable changes to corruption under Despotism and Monarchy. With regards to the former, I don't know who on Earth at Firaxis was smoking all that crack when they were assigning unique colors (or the lack thereof), but I went ahead and fixed the mess that that crackhead made by assigning each civ one, and only one color (none of which are migrane-inducing like some of the previous ones were).
Speaking more on the issue of corruption, however, we have perhaps the most prominent change to be made in version 2.0 of my mod. Corruption is very much a big problem in Civilization 3- far moreso than it was in the previous two. There is absolutely nothing wrong with a system that is put in place to make a game challenging, but it reaches a point in Civ 3 where you have cities that aren't even that far away from your capital reduced to complete ineffectiveness due to total corruption. Something had to be done to at least somewhat alleviate this problem, and my ultimate decision was to lower the levels of corruption for Despotism and Monarchy. This decision was a stone that killed two birds, seeing as I was also trying to think of a way to make Monarchy more competetive with The Republic.
In that same vein, however, The Republic was given a little bit of free unit support in the 3.0 update of my mod, which helps make it a far more interesting government choice versus both Monarchy AND Democracy. I do not feel this unbalances it, especially considering that The Republic was afforded such abilities in the Conquests expansion.
And now, please note the last of the specific changes made to the rules of the game.
- Golden Ages now last 25 turns instead of 20.
- The output of taxmen and scientists (city specialists) have both been doubled.
- Initiate Propaganda now has a base cost of 60 instead of 100.
- Steal World Map now has a base cost of 5 instead of 1, and is now available to Diplomats as well as Spies.
- Republics now offer 1 free unit per town, 2 per city, and 4 per metro.
- Communism now gives 150% worker speed bonus.
- Lowered Despotism corruption levels from Rampant to Problematic.
- Lowered Monarchy corruption levels from Probelmatic to Nuisance.
- Barbarian combat bonus lowered to 400% for Chieftan, 200% for Warlord, and 100% for Regent.
- Optimal city percentage raised to 150% for Chieftan, 125% for Warlord, 100% for Regent, and 90% for Monarch.
- Japan now starts with Warrior Code instead of The Wheel.
- Babylon's AI is significantly (2 spaces) less aggressive.
- England's AI is slightly (1 space) more aggressive.
- Japan's AI is slightly (1 space) more aggressive.
- Color for Rome: bright red (unchanged)
- Color for Greece: bright green (unchanged)
- Color for Egypt: yellow (unchanged)
- Color for France: light purple
- Color for England: orange (unchanged)
- Color for Germany: blue (unchanged)
- Color for Russia: dark brown (darker than the original)
- Color for America: sky blue
- Color for Aztecs: dark green (unchanged)
- Color for Iroquois: dark purple (unchanged)
- Color for Babylon: olive green
- Color for Persia: pastel blue (the original "alternate" color for this civ)
- Color for Zulus: black (the original "alternate" color for this civ)
- Color for India: tan
- Color for China: dark blue (Babylon's original "alternate" color)
- Color for Japan: dark red (Babylon's original standard color)
Version History
1.0 - Initial release
2.0 - See readme
3.0 - The following changes have been made since 2.0:
- Fixed bug where AI would build Paratroopers instead of armored units by increasing operational range of armored units.
- Fixed bug where Cruise Missiles could not be loaded directly onto ships from cities by adding a proper load flag.
- Mounted units (Chariot, War Chariot, Hosemen, Mounted Warrior, Knight, War Elephant, Rider, Cavalry, & Cossack) may no longer be airlifted.
- Artillery units (Catapult, Cannon, Artillery, & Radar Artillery) may now be airlifted, but may not move through Mountain or Jungle tiles without a road.
- Armored units (Tank, Panzer, Mech. Infantry, & Modern Armor) may not move through Mountain or Jungle tiles without a road.
- Leaders, Settlers, Workers, Explorers, & Scouts may now be airlifted and transported via helicopter.
- Armies may now be airlifted and may also pillage.
- Longbowmen now cost 30 shields instead of 40.
- Cannons now have ROF of 2 instead of 1 and cost 60 shields instead of 40.
- Swordsmen, Legion, & Immortals now upgrade to Riflemen instead of Musketmen.
- Samurai now replace Pikemen instead of Knights and have an extra defense point over standard Pikemen.
- Bowmen & Cossacks no longer have "defense" AI flag.
- Mech. Infantry no longer has "offense" AI flag.
- Helicopters may now transport 2 foot units instead of 1.
- Submarines and Nuclear Subs now have attack of 10 instead of 8.
- Nuclear Subs now cost 120 shields instead of 140.
- AEGIS Crusier now has 12 defense instead of 10.
- Modern Armor now has 14 defense instead of 16.
- Marine now has 10 attack instead of 8.
- Paratrooper now has 8 attack and 10 defense instead of 6 attack and 8 defense. It also has operational range of 8 instead of 6.
- Cruise Missile gets ROF 4 instead of 3, bombard range of 4 instead of 2
- Tactical Nuke now requires Superconductor instead of Space Flight.
- SS Life Support Now Requires Recycling instead of Superconductor.
- SS Stasis Chamber now requires Genetics instead of Synthetic Fibers.
- SS Docking Bay now requires Synthetic Fibers instead of Space Flight (in version 2.0 of the mod, it required Satellites).
- SS Cockpit now requires Robotics instead of Space Flight (in version 2.0 of the mod, it required Superconductor).
- Plant Forest worker ability has been reinstated.
- Clear Pollution worker ability now requires Sanitation.
- Initiate Propaganda now has a base cost of 60 instead of 100.
- Steal World Map now has a base cost of 5 instead of 1.
- Diplomats may now Steal World Maps.
- Communism now gives 150% worker speed bonus.
- Republics now offer 1 free unit per town, 2 per city, and 4 per metro.
- Barbarian combat bonus lowered to 400% for Chieftan, 200% for Warlord, and 100% for Regent.
- Optimal city percentage raised to 150% for Chieftan, 125% for Warlord, 100% for Regent, and 90% for Monarch.
Tech Support & Frequently Askled Questions
Q: What does this mod do? How do I install it?
A: This mod edits the base rules for Civilization III by replacing three files in the Civilization program directory. The first is civ3mod.bic, which is the important one since it is what actually makes all the changes to the rules. The other two are files located in the text subdirectory and edit the Civlopedia and game interface to acknowledge those rule chnages.
Q: Does this mod add any content to the game or make any drastic changes?
A: No. This mod simply alters the game's rules and was created using nothing but the Civ 3 Editor and lots of coffee. There is nothing in this mod that cannot be found in the original game and the vast majority of the changes it makes are conservative tweaks as opposed to radical overhauls. That being said, there are at least a few rule changes made by this mod that are controversial to some, so be sure to read the rest of this file to see what all has been updated.
Q: What version of the game does this patch require, and how can I upgrade my game?
A: This mod requires version 1.29f of Civilization. This is the version of the game that is present in the Complete Civilization III that includes both expansion packs, but this mod is not compatable with them. Odds are that if you purchased Civilization III as a standalone product, you will need to manually upgrade it to the latest version. You can find the patch at http://civfanatics.com/civ3/patches/ Please note that several users report an error after installing the patch that the game is no longer able to detect the Civ III CD in their drives. This is a common issue and is best fixed with a "No-CD Crack", which is a Civilization III executable file that is just like the one that you use to start up the game except that it does not search for the CD and therefore allows the game to play as normal. While I am not allowed to officially endorse a tool of priacy, please feel free to contact me in the event that you are experiencing this issue (my contact information is located at the end of this file).
Q: Will this mod work with Play The World or Conquests? (UPDATED!)
A: According to my friends over at CivFanatics.com, yes it will. However, it must be loaded as a scenario due to its differing file type from the standard ruleset used by those expansions. It will also remove any features added by either expansion, reducing the gameplay to that of Vanilla Civ3.
Q: Why did you take away the need for Iron to build a Railroad?
A: This is the one issue I simply did not feel prepared to deal with appropriately. Aside from the fact that Iron is now required to build so much more than it was before, I've disagreed with the game ending its transportation development with railroads ever since Civ 2. By rights, the railroads should be replaced by concrete roads that instead require Oil, Rubber, and Iron to build and maintain. But rather than try to implement and deal with such a complex system, I chose to just let it slide altogether.
Q: Why is Iron required to build so much stuff now? Most stuff is made out of steel these days.
A: Steel is an alloy of Iron. You need Iron to make steel. Luckily, Iron is one of the most easy to come by strategic resources (along with Horses).
Q: How did you make optional techs in one era prerequisites for techs in the next era? When I try that in the editor it won't let me do it!
A: It was very hard to do, given that the editor resisted nearly every attempt I made to implement my system. But after awhile, I was able to figure out how the editor thought, and subsequently how to fool it into doing what I wanted it to do. It ended up working a lot like a brain puzzle I used to have as a child, appropriately entitled "The Brain Puzzle". Look it up online if you're curious to see what I'm talking about.
Q: I don't like the changes your mod makes to the rules!
A: ...then don't use it.
Closing & Credits
And that's really about it. I'd like to thank the fine folks at civfantics.com for all of their support and their hosting of my mod. Also, thank you to Virote Considon of civfanatics.org for answering my questions regarding how this mod applies to expanded Civ games. I would also like to thank player1fanatic, whose excellent mod was the inspiration behind the 3.0 update of my mod. And, of course, I thank you, gentle reader, for taking the time to check out my work.
If you have any questions, comments, or feedback, feel free to email me at BTB_Enterprises@sbcglobal.net, or post in this thread and I will reply to you.
just scroll down, and you will eventually scroll through the PTW and then Vanilla scenarios 
You're a genius, though I suspect it may just doen't work in c3c editor, or I'm a noob, but this seems quite amazing and opens up a lot of new possibilities. Anyway, I've found the Brain Puzzle you talked about and still can't figure it out 
Would you be so kind and disclose the secret of cheating the editor?! 
