Some Newbie Questions

[Civilizationist]

Hello everybody, I just have a few questions to ask (I'm relatively new so pardon the newbie dyslexia).

Question#1 : When you are playing Civilization III PTW on a single player game and you have MORE than 7 OPPONENT Civilizations (making it a Total of 8 players or more) HOW EXACTLY are you supossed to be able to request an Audience with the Civilizations whose Leaders DONOT appear under the Foreign Advisors Screen (only allows room for 8 pictures there) ????

I know they (meaning the missing Civilization Leaders can request an Audience to you, But I don't see how to Request one back to them when I want too.

Question #2: I have heard of the Stack Command but how exactly do you get it to work ?? I hav seen the AI move groups of units at a time as a Team DESPITE the fact they are not formed into ARMIES. It would be nice to move MORE than 1 unit at a time, say for when you are Building up a force to Attack or Defend.

I also wish to know how you have a ship, say a Battle Ship escort, a Transport Unit of any kind across the Ocean, for protection purposes. I have seen the AI do it repeatedly.

Question #3: In regards to the Civilization Editor, I was wondering if when you create a New Map if there was a way to have the Humans Civilization begin with SEVERAL Cities like the AI Civilizations do?? I have not seen that option under the Scenario/Players Properties or under the Edit Rules List.

Question #4: I have seen the option that allows you to change the number of times a Unit can Move, BUT how do you MODIFY the NUMBER of TIMES the unit can ATTACK ??? For Example, increasing the number of Moves for Mechanical Infantry DOESNOT make it ATTACK more than OCE.

A) Incidentally, am I right in thinking any changes made in Civ Editor affects all Civilizations and their Units ?? Is there not a way to restrict certain modifications to specific Civilizations ?

Question #6: There is an option in the Editor that talks about Roads and they have a number associated to them, I think its supossed to mean the number of turns it takes to cross on them, am I right or wrong? What is that number was set to 0 ??

Thanks goes out to all who take the time to answer these questions in detail.

 

[Gainy]

1) Alt + D, or right click on one of their units, or double click on one of their units, or click on the button at the top left hand side of your F4 screen which says "More Civs" (or something like that), then choose the civ ye want.

2) "J" for all units, "Ctrl + J" for units of a specific type

3) Yes, click "Set active player" (looks like a wee shield icon), choose the Civ you wish, and all the other settings etc. More icons should appear now allowing you to add cities/units for that Civ.

A) There is, just choose that only specific Civilisation(s) can build that unit -- if you're modifying existing units, then you'll probably have to create new ones. Don't ask me how to do this

6) No... It means how many moves 1 unit point converts to when on a road. I have no idea what would happen if you set it to 0, you probably woudln't be able to go on them.

I haven't really answered in Detail, so don't thank me

 

[Chieftess]

1 - Type alt-d to go to the diplomacy window. Also, F4 takes you to the FA window, where you can shift-rightclick a leaderhead to change it. Double click to activate the diplomacy window.

2 - Use J to move all units in 1 stack. Use shift-J to move units of the same type (i.e., all archers). You can move ocean units the same way.

3 - First, the AI doesn't start with extra cities. Second, on monarch and higher, the AI gets a bonus in the number of units (settlers included). There no real way to do this except for clicking on scenarios-->custom player data. Then, click the flag icon, and where it says settlers, give yourself however many you want.

4 - You need to select "blitz". In the units tab, you'll see "Unit Abilities". Hold the CTRL key, and click on blitz.

a. Yes, you could do that, but it can be a bit tricky, since you're pretty much adding a new unit. Say you wanted a worker UU that moved 2 spaces instead of 1. Do this:

- Click on "add unit" and give it a name. Call it, "Engineer".
- Give it the same Civilopedia Entry as the Worker (to make your life simple) --> "PRTO_Worker".
- Under "Available To", click on the civ that you want the engineer to be used for. Remember, you have to deselect the old worker for that civ. To do that, click worker, then hold CTRL, and click on the civ that's using the engineer.
- Go to your PTW directory. (Select Start-->Run and type "c:\progra~1\infogr~1\civili~1\civ3ptw\"). Go into "Art" then "Units". You'll need to create a new directory. Right click and select "Make New Directory". Name it "Engineer". Now, go to the worker directory (It's in your Civ3 arts\units folder), and select all of the files in the worker directory. Right click and copy. Now, go back to your Engineer directory and paste. Now, rename (right click --> rename) the worker.ini file to engineer.ini. This probably sounds complicated, but you'll get the hang of it.
- Back in the editor, Give the unit an icon. (you could make it a king unit or something). Give it some icon so you know it's the engineer. (you could use the default worker icon if you want).
- Now, save the scenario as "Engineer" and put it in your scenarios folder.

6 - It doesn't allow you to put in a movement rate of 0.

 

[Civilizationist]

I wish to thank those people who responded to my post. The information was very helpful and resolved the questions I had then. But now having created a Map with a total of 12 players and ran it on Monarch Difficulty some other issues have shown up.

Question #7: I was playing as Caesar against 11 other Civilizations in Civilization III, and although I had set in the Scenario Properties to give all techs to Player 1 (that being Rome/ Me) and I could verify that all TECHNOLOGIES were researched for ALL AGES on the SCIENTIFIC ADVISO screen, I STILL COULDNOT get ANY WONDERS to appear beyond the Colosseum and Colossus!

A) I was also unable to build more modern units, ALTHOUGH I had all the necessary Technologies AND Resources!! It took i don't know how many turns before I got to be able to produce Rifleman for example.

B) I also noted that Although on one of the F screens I could see a display of the Cities and their Cultural Values plus all Impovements to them like Wonders, Palaces, Temples ETC, the game would still Display those SAME Improvements, that WERE ALREADY BUILT, for those Cities!!

C) Also although I set the Map to start in the Ancient Times for all Civilizations (this despite the fact I gave Player 1 all the Technologies from the get go, and also gave many Technologies from the Middle Ages, Industrial, Modern Times, etc to the Other Civilizations) I could clearly see the Foreign Advisor talking about the Japanese built the Hanging Gardens or the Babyloninans the Sun TZu Art Of War, or the Russians Universal Suffrage, or the Egyptians Magellans Voyage etc, right from the get go!!!

1) If we start in the Ancient Eras how can the AI Civilizations start building THOSE WONDERS SO FAST, while all my Metropolis Citites with all the Technologies and Wonders ALREADY in PLACE, CANNOT DO THE SAME???!!?!?

2) I am aware that several Wonders or Research Items (Military Tradition, Manhattan Project, Interballistic Defense, etc etc Triger the Appearance of more Powerful and Modern Units or Projects to appear as SELECTABLE ITEMS in the Cities Drop Down Lists. But in my case it seems the Game forgets I have all Research, Wonders, ETC already accomplished.

Question #8: Although I was more advanced than the other civilizations I saw them exapnd Super Fast several cities in a matter of turns and they getting to the most Modern Era to build Tactical Nukes, ICBM's, Satellites and even build all parts for the Shuttle WHILE the ROMANS were NOT even being allowed to do anything!

Question #9: I have found Land Bombardment from Sea Vessels to be rather INEFFECTIVE against Land Units (not talking bombarding a city directly). Many times the Aegis cruiser and Battleship Bombardment fails REPEATEDLY Most of the time as if to say the ODDS to land a sucessfull strike are VERY LOW!

Question #10: Could my issues with the map noted above have to do with FAILING to select certain options in the Rule Editor for Player 1 Rome ????

I appreciate any help i can get on this. I am kind of new to Civilization III so more detail is appreciated

 

[Legator]

argh ! a command to move stacks ? LOL damnit - that costs me always alot of nerves

thx for that question and more thx for the reply lol !

 

[Zier]

Well, making it easier on yourself by adding extra techs, cities and units for yourself at the start of the game isn't gonna help improve your gameplay. If you can't win at monarch w/o cheating then just start at chieftain. Also, the AI doesn't get free cities at start, he just gets more settlers and other starting units then you on the higher difficulty levels.

A lot of your questions are about why you cant build certain units/wonders even tho you gave yourself all techs at the start of the game and the AI can though? I never had this problem, just play the game as it was supposed to be and dont try to cheat like this and you wont have this problem. THe AI cannot build wonders without the needed tech, you can build any unit if you have the tech and resource, that is if you dont use those cheats.

Originally posted by Civilizationist

Question #10: Could my issues with the map noted above have to do with FAILING to select certain options in the Rule Editor for Player 1 Rome ????

I

The answer to this would be yes then.

 

[Chieftess]

Question #7: I was playing as Caesar against 11 other Civilizations in Civilization III, and although I had set in the Scenario Properties to give all techs to Player 1 (that being Rome/ Me) and I could verify that all TECHNOLOGIES were researched for ALL AGES on the SCIENTIFIC ADVISO screen, I STILL COULDNOT get ANY WONDERS to appear beyond the Colosseum and Colossus!

First, if you give yourself all the techs, this makes some wonders obsolete, so you won't be able to build them.

A) I was also unable to build more modern units, ALTHOUGH I had all the necessary Technologies AND Resources!! It took i don't know how many turns before I got to be able to produce Rifleman for example.

Not quite sure what you mean, but make sure the resources are connected to your cities (and capital!), and are INSIDE your culture border. If not, then make sure you have a colony on it. If you mean the production is slow (i.e., 40 turns), then that's normal. A Rifleman is 80 shields, and if your capital is only producing 2spt (shields per turn), then it's going to take you 40 turns.

B) I also noted that Although on one of the F screens I could see a display of the Cities and their Cultural Values plus all Impovements to them like Wonders, Palaces, Temples ETC, the game would still Display those SAME Improvements, that WERE ALREADY BUILT, for those Cities!!

Not sure what your question is here...

C) Also although I set the Map to start in the Ancient Times for all Civilizations (this despite the fact I gave Player 1 all the Technologies from the get go, and also gave many Technologies from the Middle Ages, Industrial, Modern Times, etc to the Other Civilizations) I could clearly see the Foreign Advisor talking about the Japanese built the Hanging Gardens or the Babyloninans the Sun TZu Art Of War, or the Russians Universal Suffrage, or the Egyptians Magellans Voyage etc, right from the get go!!!

That's normal if you give the AI many wonders right from the start. The AI loves to build wonders.

1) If we start in the Ancient Eras how can the AI Civilizations start building THOSE WONDERS SO FAST, while all my Metropolis Citites with all the Technologies and Wonders ALREADY in PLACE, CANNOT DO THE SAME???!!?!?

Ancient wonders are MUCH, MUCH cheaper than the industrial and modern ones that you can build. On chieftain, it can take the AI over 150 turns to build a wonder, so you have a GREAT head start. However, on Monarch, the AI starts to get a production bonus, so it's a little easier for them to build a 400 shield pyramids in just 360 shields. It'd be nice if you uploaded a game save for us to look at, too.

2) I am aware that several Wonders or Research Items (Military Tradition, Manhattan Project, Interballistic Defense, etc etc Triger the Appearance of more Powerful and Modern Units or Projects to appear as SELECTABLE ITEMS in the Cities Drop Down Lists. But in my case it seems the Game forgets I have all Research, Wonders, ETC already accomplished.

You still need the correct resources connected by roads and/or a colony, just not in your border. It would be best to look at your save file. You should be able to build them, given the required resources.

Question #8: Although I was more advanced than the other civilizations I saw them exapnd Super Fast several cities in a matter of turns and they getting to the most Modern Era to build Tactical Nukes, ICBM's, Satellites and even build all parts for the Shuttle WHILE the ROMANS were NOT even being allowed to do anything!

Again, what level is this? On higher levels, the AI gets more units (bonuses). The AI also trades with eachother too, and since you gave some AI certain techs, they're just going to trade them.

Question #9: I have found Land Bombardment from Sea Vessels to be rather INEFFECTIVE against Land Units (not talking bombarding a city directly). Many times the Aegis cruiser and Battleship Bombardment fails REPEATEDLY Most of the time as if to say the ODDS to land a sucessfull strike are VERY LOW!

Which units are you attacking? I find them to be quite effective, actually.

Question #10: Could my issues with the map noted above have to do with FAILING to select certain options in the Rule Editor for Player 1 Rome ????

Can you upload your scenario and save file? And yes, making changes in the editor can have unforseen effects.