1000 Bad Habits in Civ 3

[splunge the 2nd]

149. Building harbours in beaker farms.

Doesn't the harbor give extra food? Why is this a mistake?

 

[Lord Emsworth]

Doesn't the harbor give extra food? Why is this a mistake?

Because normal sea and coast tiles don't give you any surplus food either with or without a harbor. The best you could do, would be to increase food on such a tile from 1 to 2. In the former case a laborer assigned to that tile will make -1 food, while in the latter case the laborer will just make enough food to feed himself.

But science farms rely on tiles that make a lot of surplus food, so you can hire plenty of scientists.

 

[Optional]

Nono--aim for the center of the spearman's shield

Anyone remember the fellow who argued in favor of 150 last winter?

I push the button and shout: 'BUSTEDSYNAPSIS'!!!
But I'm all with him, for the full 100%. I made the same mistake myself. If you take your artillery in Civ, what do you see on your screen? a Cross and circles. International language for 'NOW YOU HAVE TO TAKE AIM.'
It took me quite long before I stopped doing that.

 

[TheOverseer714]

"Aiming" artillery. Guilty as charged, even though I know it does absolutely nothing. And sending elites when a veteran will do....yep.

 

[anaxagoras]

151. Forgetting to choose a research project during the first turn.

Oh, gawd. I do this ALL the time, especially when I move the settler at the start!

152. Corollary: Forgetting to set the research slider to something other than 50% on the first turn.

 

[splunge the 2nd]

Because normal sea and coast tiles don't give you any surplus food either with or without a harbor. The best you could do, would be to increase food on such a tile from 1 to 2. In the former case a laborer assigned to that tile will make -1 food, while in the latter case the laborer will just make enough food to feed himself.

But science farms rely on tiles that make a lot of surplus food, so you can hire plenty of scientists.

Got it!
You could get a more populous specialist farm which could help unit support and defense (and eventually drafting?) , but you'd need to pay upkeep on the harbor.

Would irrigating plains in a specialist farm fall under the same error? I guess you'd get a food surplus once you hit railroads.

 

[eldar]

Got it!
You could get a more populous specialist farm which could help unit support and defense (and eventually drafting?) , but you'd need to pay upkeep on the harbor.

Would irrigating plains in a specialist farm fall under the same error? I guess you'd get a food surplus once you hit railroads.

You got it

I keep meaning to write some kind of strategy article on specialist farms. There's not quite anything out there that covers everything!

I'll build a harbor if there's fish, or maybe whales, and the +1 food I get from those tiles is useful to me. Especially if I have Smith's and it comes free.

 

[NickyH]

153: Playing lots of games without changing basic aspects of your strategy.

Let me elaborate:
I'm starting to think that the worst habit of them all, is to play according to any habit at all.

I've recently been playing lots and lots of 20k games, but that's not a problem, even though you tend to use the same strategy over and over again. Trying to beat your own personal best simply doesn't allow much variation in that kind of game.

But now I wanted some variation, so I choose the Romans in order to have a game with lots of wars (romans being militaristic and making it easier to get military leaders.) Now it was time to go for a domination victory, and I thought it was gonna be very different from what I'm used to.

Well, it was different from my 20k games, but by the end of the ancient era I felt that I had chosen to play the game in a way I had done so many times before: Republic slingshot and early switch to republic, so that I'll get as much gold as possible for research. Once I'm there, I'll stay ahead of the rest in the tech race. With newer, stronger units than my opponents, domination isn't too hard.

I once started playing 20k games to brake this habit. Now 20k games have become a habit, and I won't go back to my old style of playing. So right now i'm looking for new goals and new strategies. And when I've found something I like, i really hope I won't stick with it for too long.

 

[rysingsun]

154: starting a new game at midnight

 

[mr_lewington]

155: surcumbing to one more turn syndrome.

 

[timerover51]

I have a hunch that most of us are guilty of the last two bad habits. I know that I am.

 

[mr_lewington]

Hmm would continuing games at 4:00 AM count?

 

[Desertsnow]

I have a hunch that most of us are guilty of the last two bad habits. I know that I am.

Um, guilty? I, ah . . .

 

[timerover51]

156. Forgetting to upgrade a galley to a caravel when you really, really need that extra load slot.

 

[darski]

157. forgetting that upgrading a galley also gets an extra movement point.. more to the point

 

[mr_lewington]

158. Making war with a civ equal to you for that oil which is actually in your territory but unconnected

 

[DaFool]

159: Knowing every unit's a.d.m, what tech they require, who can build them, and what resources they require by heart, but forgetting your bosses name.

 

[anaxagoras]

160: When two similarly-colored civs are in the game, failing to double-check which one has the unit next to your uncovered settler/worker/town.

 

[Donny Brook]

161. Spending seven turns of your Golden Age in anarchy.

 

[Aabraxan]

162. Selecting "Despotism" when you emerge from anarchy.