question on whether or not to buy CivIII

[CoCoIchibanya]

I know this is the fanatics page, and so your all pretty into the game, but I read the reviews and they're pretty mixed. It seems that most people who reviewed liked the game if they've played civilization before, and that most who haven't played civ before found that it's really complicated and not worth buying. so I was wondering whether or not civilization III is a good buy for someone who hasn't played civilization before.

 

[werdhertz]

You come to a civ3 fan forum,and ask whether you should buy civ3 or not...

 

[Shabbaman]

Originally posted by CoCoIchibanya
It seems that most people who reviewed liked the game if they've played civilization before, and that most who haven't played civ before found that it's really complicated and not worth buying.

Please don't mix up civ 3 with play the world. Civ3 has very high ratings, it's a great game even compared to civ2. If you liked earlier civ versions, you could buy it. It should come pretty cheap these days.
About PTW, that's a different discussion.

 

[ukrneal]

CoCo:

It all depends on you really. If you like strategy games and long games, I would recommend this game. It has a lot of strategy, though military will be a crucial component of this.

In general, the game concept is easy: You start with a settler (that makes cities), a worker (who builds road, irrigates, etc to give your cities more income, production, or food), a perhaps a scout to explore your new world. The idea is to build a civilization from this. Your cities can produce units, buildings, and special constructions called wonders. As your civilization grows, you will be faced with choices on how to deal with your neighbors: attack them, trade with them, steal, blockade, do nothing, etc.

One of the interesting components is research. As you make scientific discoveries, you are allowed to build better and stronger buildings/units. Or, you can do NO research and buy the discoveries from neighbors who have already discovered them.

I would advise trying to see a demo or something first. Yes, it is complicated, but this should be a plus if you like that sort of thing. It is easy enough, I think, to play even if you have never played before. But you MUST play the tutorial game first. This is important as it will walk you through all the basic components of the game. Personally, I bought civII knowing nothing of civI and had no problems. CivIII doesn't really add TOO MUCH that is new, so I don't think learning it would be a problem.

I hope this helps. If you have more specific questions, post them.

 

[dojoboy]

At $19.99 .... why not?

 

[Yoda Power]

You should notice that playing civ is like taking drugs, you get addicted.

 

[sabo]

Trust me CoCoIchibanya, if your not a die hard real time or first person shooter gamer buy it!! It's kept me busy for 9 months now on a daily basis, well worth the money. Learning is not that hard, you always have us for tips.

 

[Neomega]

and the customization is user friendly and dynamic.

 

[Phantom Lord]

Buy it.

It's one of the best games I've ever seeen. Unless you fear to get addicted - and you probably will.

 

[Adm. Hunter]

A few month ago I had the choice to buy Civ3 or Empire Earth. I chose the latter and wound up wasting money on it because I didn't like the AI programming at all, and the game does not play like I thought it would/should. I played the game for a total of 2 hours at most. 2 months ago I picked up Civ3 and I have not played any other game since.

 

[rjmaia]

I´m a strategy fanatic, i admit it. RTS and TBS, i played alot.

Played CIV I, II and III.
Played Alpha Centauri.
Played CTP and CTPII.

If you like TBS then, buy it. It's easy learning although the AI has some tricks (cheats) in the harder levels. But in time, you'll get to know the ways to dealing with it. And i assure, for the price, it's well spent.

 

[task48]

good place for me to make my first post-

back in November I was waiting intently for master of orion 3 and had overlooked civ 3 completely, but decided to buy it to pass the time until christmas. This turned out to be a great move ( was low on cash and could only make a few purchases during the holidays... ) well, moo3 never got released.... and I havent really cared- ive been playing civ3 intently for the last couple of months, it is definately worth the money and the best turn-based game ive bought in years.

 

[Melanic Sheep]

The question is not whether or not to buy it... The question is why have you waited so long?

 

[alamo]

Don't let bad reviews influence your decision too much. Most of them are (rightly) chastizing a premature release. The support has been solid from the start. Over the long haul the support is more important than the initial release, even if the reputation gets hit.

As a stand-alone game, Civ3 AND Ptw are GREAT. Granted, the patches are indespensible, but they are there and will make most gamers completely happy (happy like 'we love firaxis day').

I can't speak for the multiplayer. I need a better connection and a way to get rid of the wife and kids for a few hours, days, weeks,...

Overall I'd say you WANT this game and you NEED this game, you just can't handle the TRUTH!

(Jack does such a great crazy guy doesn't he Officer?).

 

[Oddible]

Civ3 Rules.

PTW Rules.

Bad reviews aside - a both the original and the single-player version of the expansion have endless hours of gameplay and variability. I've never played the same game twice. Diplomacy with the AI is even far more advanced in many ways than previos version.

As far as multiplayer goes - its much better. If you've got DSL or a fast connection, the Simultaneous mode is way fast and no more waiting like in previous version. A crash happens now and then, but everyone just gets out and logs back in and its fine. Hopefully this will be less and less an issue as new patches come out, but even so - its not a regular thing - you can get a full game in without a crash now.

 

[Aggie]

Don't listen to most of the previous posters...they are all madly in love with Joan of France . Just buy it.

 

[taper]

Make sure you get the 1.29 patch right away too. It can be downloaded from this site or the official site, and makes managing units and cities less tedius.

 

[pompeynunn]

If you've never played any Civ game before - WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN!!!! Without a shadow of doubt, go out and buy a copy of Civ 3 straight away (and also make sure you patch it using the 1.29 patch).

PTW on the other hand - unless you become an addicted civ fanatic (like me) or desperate for multi-player, I wouldn't bother with it straight away. Try out Civ 3 for a while first.

 

[planetfall]

Originally posted by CoCoIchibanya
It seems that most people... who haven't played civ before found that it's really complicated and not worth buying. so I was wondering whether or not civilization III is a good buy for someone who hasn't played civilization before.

It depends on what you are looking for. I feel like a late comer to the civ community. I never played civ until I got the game for Christmas a year ago. If you are looking for an interesting game, civ has it. If you are looking for a game you can quickly master and win, such as, checkers or hearts, this is not the game for you. Here is my experience:

Disappointments with initial playing of the game:

1- it takes forever to end a game.
Expect 7-14 days for one game.

2- it takes awhile to learn balance
There are so many build/move options sometimes it can get confusing. Many of the key good play concepts take awhile to learn and it is easy to get excited about one part of game and forget other parts.

3- The game manual and strategy guides are not very helpful.


Best resources:
1. this forum
2. poly forum: apolyton.com
3. info center on civfan
4. war academy on civfan

Recommendation for learning game:
1. get both CivIII and PTW so you have more single player options
2. play at world size between tiny and standard, I think that is small
3. play with only 4 civs
4. use editor to set corruption to 90% until you learn the game
5. Don't wait to ask questions. Both forums are great in helping new players. No question is ever treated as too dumb or simple.

What's fun about the game?
1. the race for technical advances which allow you to build new things
2. even if behind, usually there is hope for coming out ok
3. non-warring, i.e. "builders", and warring players, i.e. "war mongers" can both enjoy the game.
4. it is possible to win either with no wars or always at war, but most are somewhere between.
5. There are regular milestones you get involved in working to obtain. You might race to be the civ to build the pyramids, or you might pass on that race and instead race to build a lighthouse so you can move further on water.

Finally,
remember reviewers are reviewers and not players. They only play for a short period of time and thus have a limited perspective on the game.

This game as not as hard as chess, but like chess there is always something new to learn.

Has any of our responses helped you?

-- PF

 

[Padma]

Just to add my two cents worth: Planetfall offers much good advice. In the War Academy, pay special attention to cracker's Improving Your Opening Play Skills.

Also, if you want to see how others play the game, check out the Succession Games. Players "share" one game, each taking a specified number of turns, and post the results in the forum. It's a fun way to play, and is a good learning experience.