Let's talk Ancient Great Wonders

[Theov]

For a total reference go here:
http://civilization.wikia.com/wiki/List_of_wonders_in_Civ3

I wonder what you think about the Ancient Wonders.
Do you build them? How can they be improved?

The Statue of Zeus (free units): there are many reasons to love this Wonder and as many reasons to hate the Civ that has built it and you got to fight against.

The Colossus (+commerce): it has his place in this game. It can make your important city even importanter.

The Great Library (+tech): great when this is your tactic. (0% research and ride the wave)

The Great Lighthouse (+ naval movement): great when this is your tactic. (become a naval power, outrun enemy ships, meet everyone)

The Pyramids (free granaries): great if you're on a lot of water and a lot of land.

The Great Wall (+vs Barbs and walls in every city). I don't build it, but maybe if I add something it would be worth it?

The Hanging Gardens (3 happy in city, and 1 in every other): it's a better version of the Mausoleum for 100 shields extra. I don't build it much, but I think it's a good Wonder.

The Oracle (double temples): an ok Wonder if you build Temples? But who does? Which brings us to...

The Temple of Artemis: ... maybe worth its value when you also have the Oracle. Maybe.
Should these 2 be maybe one wonder, split in half, both half their price??

The Mausoleum of Mausollos: I guess it's nice if you're playing higher higher levels. To keep your capital going at least? I dunno, I don't remember ever building it. How could this one be better??

 

[timerover51]

I have the Great Wall build walls in every city, which helps me a lot as I have my nasty breed of barbarians running around, and if playing Play the World with my Test of Time mod, lots of nasty dinosaurs.

With the Oracle, Temple of Artemis, and Mausoleum, I have those generating extra income in each square that generates income, as they were money generators from Day 1.

As for the Great Library, that was as much a research center as a library, so I have it with Double Research for the city, plus free libraries in every city, and it does not go out of date.

 

[tjs282]

The Great Wall (+vs Barbs and double walls): I never build it, maybe it should be like Civ1 where it put walls on every city?

Huh? Your list appears to be referring to the Vanilla (and PtW?) GWall effect. Your suggestion, is what it (already) does in Conquests -- at least for towns up to Pop6. That's why the GWall bug (now) exists, whereby bombard-units try (and fail) to destroy the 'invisible' free Wonder-walls (as programmed), and instead end up destroying another building (which could be a GWonder, or even the Palace).

As for the GLib, rather than "get tech known by any 2 Civs", free Libs in every settlement seems reasonable (= scholars from all corners of the owning civ can consult the GLib), but (I think) it should still go obsolete (maybe with Printing rather than Edu though), otherwise it seems a little OP. Changing that would also kill the 'steal/(re)capture the GLib before researching [obsoleting tech], catapult from the (early) Medieval to the late Industrial/early Modern in 1T' exploit.

(Internet should also give free Libs, rather than ResLabs -- which also shouldn't give Culture. And and and...)

 

[Theov]

You're right, the Great Wall puts a wall in every city. I forgot about that one (I never build it and don't encounter it much).
And... so I start up a new game, the Celts run away from most of the world in the Ancient Age and I want to steal some cities to slow them down and what do they have to slow me down? The Great Wall.
Aaargh. I'm happy I got their town that has Tzu's war, so I start with a barracks in my beachhead and they don't have barracks everywhere.
This will be a hard egg to crack.

 

[timerover51]

I found this on Project Gutenberg with respect to the Mausoleum at Halicarnassus. The date is 1861, so I am not sure how well this has held up.

http://www.gutenberg.org/files/53578/53578-h/53578-h.htm