Civ3 GOTM #1 *Spoiler* talks

[damunzy]

I played Diety. Got my arse handed to me. Expected that.
Played this GotM. I expected to do ok, maybe win. Got my ass handed to me. Got very frustrated. Told myself that I would never play Civ3 again.
Read what J. Sobrado had to say about beating the game in 450AD and realized that I just need to find out how to play this game and try not to play it like Civ2 (which I was just able to beat on Diety before Civ3 came out). Damn you guys (Firaxis) for making the game so frustrating but so replayable!

Originally posted by Javier Sobrado
I guess I have a slight advantage as far as experience playing, but here are my saves. Game won: 450AD.
As for advice... building settlers is not the only way to expand. just make sure you pick your battles carefully. ;-)
-J

Slight advantage my ass!

 

[Cunobelin Of Hippo]

Pffff. 450AD? Just wait until my computer starts behaving

In otherwords: damn.

 

[ramius]

got my first win, and it happened to be the GOTM

i've played a lot of SMAC but Civ3 is my first in civilization series. until tonight the best i had done was hang in until 2050 and lost by score.

i got nothing from either barb village, unfortunately.
once i had two towns i invested my lone worker in a Iron colony at the node a little ways south of the starting location. after that it was pretty much nothing but immortals all the way through 400 or 500 AD; mixed in a few horsemen to run down wounded impi and bowmen.

was definately interesting since all the Civs on the first continent had an early special unit.

then i just teched hard for a thousand years, the went Communist and mopped up with marines and battleships while Abe still had archers and musketeers.

corruption was really awful, even under democracy. i handled it on the continent by Forbidden Palace, but my island colonies never produced anything. sounds like you guys all had the same problem.

-Ramius

 

[Serg]

I cleared the continent and at 750AD have 435 points. I will develop and try to let alone Americans & Iroques. Forbidden Palace is the good thing effectively reduced the corruption. Republic dasn't reduce corruption better then Monarchy.

 

[Cyrik]

wow!
javier what was it you used to kick the aztecs(sp?) capital? 2 warriors? was realy lucky wasn´t it?

 

[ArthDent]

I was just wandering. Do any of you reload even once while playing GOTM (or for that matter "normal games"). Have you tried playing a complete game without reloading at all. (ok except maybe if you move a unit to the wrong square that you wanted.. like your mouse jumped or something)

Can you honestly say you don't reload during GOTM?

I didn't and I did not get a "very good" result so far. I'm alive and it's really not all that bad but, I didn't like wipe out the entire map either. I had some immortals early on and wondered to go south and try to crush the atzec but i didn't dear. Normally I might have "tried it out"

bla bla get my point...

 

[Essex]

Just submitted my first GOTM and thought I'd continue my synopsis of how my immortal rushing strategy went. As of last post I was at 1000 BC, had finished the aztecs and was pressuring the babylonians. Continuing veteran immortal production I managed to clear the continent by 530 BC and was fortunate enough to create one leader. I made a new city in the middle of the aztec/babylonian area and immediately rushed a forbidden palace using the leader at 490 BC. This basically tripled the number of productive cities i had. From there i set my research goal to mapmaking and went hard for the lighthouse so i could better explore the seas. I went on a colonization binge and put cities on some outlying islands which probably slowed me down. When I found the americans and iroqouis the americans had almost wiped out the iroqouis but both were behind me in tech. I took my time to build up an invasion force of 12 immortals and ferried them over. In one turn I took New York, Boston and Washington. The next turn a city america had built on my continent converted to me due to culture. From there it was just mop up. I would have been done about 200 years earlier if the damn yanks hadn't set up Seatlle on a remote island. Took 10 turns to ferry some immortals over there to finish him off. Here's my saved games if you are interested. Good luck all.

 

[runaway]

Originally posted by Javier Sobrado
I guess I have a slight advantage as far as experience playing, but here are my saves. Game won: 450AD.

As for advice... building settlers is not the only way to expand. just make sure you pick your battles carefully. ;-)

So, a little analysis. Clever, moving Persepolis over a square to be on the coast; good production for immortals and galleys, and on the right side of the continent even. I wish I had thought of this! I stupidly put my harbors on the wrong side of the continent.

His cities spread a ways out, which probably lent to extra corrpution. Did JS do this just to get the resources covered with as few cities as possible?

The big thing I noticed is that he had all his workers were captured foreigners, and none of them were counting towards his military expenses. This doesn't matter so much in despotism, since you usually have more than enough cities to support a giant army... but in the more "liberal" governments like Republic this can be great at helping keep costs down. Workers who require no upkeep... this slavery is almost politically incorrect, although relatively historically acurate (think Roman empire).

 

[Armageddon]

I just finished my first full game of civ 3 which was also the GOTM. I was able to win in 1425 ad by conquest.

It took a bit to get started, but once I was rolling I did well. I made early peace with the aztecs and defended my two cities from the chokepoint on the continent (with the forest square). The babolynians wandered north and built a city near me, which I took quickly. Once I had immortals, I basically took full control of the game.

I took the aztec capitol, and then some time later got a leader and rushed the forbidden palace there. From there I basicaly just cranked out immortals as fast as I could.

I also discovered the power of getting workers by burning down cities. I built only one worker in the game myself I think.

Corruption was a big pain, but really the immortals were just unstopable. A 4/2 unit that early is huge. You can't get longbowmen until the middle ages and they are just 4/1. Almost felt like I was cheating. I don't know if I'd have been able to with if I had a different civ.

But it sounds like I'll do pretty well in the GOTM based on the other reports (at least I hope so!) - I've been playing civ for a long long time and this interation really seems good. New challenges and lots of improvements.

 

[Cyrik]

about the reloding stuff:
never reloded in the GOTM
sometimes do it to test something in normal games but mostly keep the bad outcome anyway
sometimes it even hapened that i klicked on the wrong thing to say and gave a 100g/turn tech to an enemy for free but kept the game anyway...

 

[winernights]

About to finish the GOTM ..........
by the way how to print screen n check the score ?

 

[Kuin]

I just finished my first GOTM about 30 minutes after I started. No fresh water, constant barbarians and then jaguars were too much to handle. My score was about 180, and I walked away loving the game even more -- it is so much deeper than Civ2.

I couldn't submit because the game deleted all my auto saves when I started another (another nice feature).

Thanks for the webpage and for the GOTM -- I'm ready for the next one!

 

[LeSphinx]

I started my GOTM I for civ III.

I try to found as much Persians cities as I can in the first continent.

Then, I found the iron source and then start to build Immortals.
They were the key of my military expansion.

I have no other way to expand: make war with Aztecs, Babylonians and Zulus. I took most of their cities.

Right now, I'm in 1000 AD and the first continent is almost mine!
(Except 3 cities : 2 aztecs and 1 babilon one).
I've got all the first enemy capital: Zimbawe, Technotitlan and Babylone.

I do not kown if I will capture all the 3 remaining cities in the first continent in order to make the Aztec my ally: it would be interresting in the later game. I do not know yet what I will do.

I had 3 leaders: I made a army used to conquered with the used of Immortal the enemy cities. (Army are very powerfull!)
I used 1 of them to produce the Forbiden Palace in Nineneph. I do not have corruption problems any more. Except in the distand city alone in a small island!

I will used the last leader in order to complete a great wonder: I do not kown yet witch one !

I think I going to stop military compain in order to develop a strong economy and a impresive democracy ! Right now, I'm the first in science.

I do not know which way I will finish the game. I 'm sure I will not make the war to the others civs (American and Iroquois) except if they first attack me.

LeSphinx

 

[Armageddon]

The next leader you get, or if you still have on around, you should use to hurry-build the forbidden palace, somewhere on the south end of the continent. This will significantly help with production.

I myself was a bit disappointed with armies early in the game. With just one-off armies, it meant they were strong but could only attack once per turn. I had more success with a stack of immortals attacking 3 and 4 times per turn.

 

[celeron450]

Did anyone else decide to go for a space race victory? I didn't relish shipping my tanks off to so many little islands, so I launched my spaceship in 1967.

My situation and strategy were similar to what most of you have described. I knew I needed to get Immortals quickly after meeting the Aztecs; I did, and the Aztecs were swiftly crushed. I left the Babylonians and Zulus alone while I regrouped until Hamurabbi dumped a city on the single square isthmus, splitting my empire in two! This would not stand, so I took all of the Babylonian cities on the continent except Babylon itself, and received a couple of island outposts in the peace deal.

Corruption became a major problem at this point until I was able to build the Forbidden Palace. This brought such a spark to my commerce that I was able to pull far ahead in technology.

After a prolonged peace, the Americans were sailing their Frigates up and down my coast, aggravating me to the point of declaring war. As soon as I did, the Babylonians, Zulus, and Iroquois all joined with America against me. With my tanks and battleships, I was able to conquer the remainder of my continent and the home continent of the Americans and Iroquois. My enemies were sufficiently demolished for my purposes, so I took what I could in the peace deals and never fought again.

It was lots of fun, I'm looking forward to GOTM2!

celeron450

 

[goodyhut]

Right after I took Tenochtltitin it said I depleted my source of iron. Fortunately I found another sourc of iron that I was able to secure a few turns later. Has this happened to anyone else? I was really pumping out Immortals like crazy even scrificing citizens to get them out fast and I guess the game didn't like that. I was just shocked that it happened so quickly.

That was a while back though. Now it is 500 AD and I have eliminated the Aztecs and taken Ur and Ninevah with an army of elete immotals : ) and my new iron supply is still going and if it runs out I have 3 or four other ones on the westward isles that I am settling.

 

[basta72]

I first decided to go for a space race victory when I saw that it was rather easy to capture the whole starting island. Those Immortals are really good and they are cheap if you use your whip

I was really lucky to get a GL in 400AD so I placed my second palace in the south of the island and my economy went up alot. When this happened and I saw how far ahead the other civs I was I decided to go for the domination victory. I controled far more then 60% of the worlds landmass (atleast I think so) but I never achived domination. I had to destroy every enemy city on the map and finaly win by conquest in 1826AD.

My civ built every wonder in the game except great wall and lighthouse untill industrial age where the game ended. I captured the lighthouse just a few turns after the babylonians built it.

 

[LeSphinx]

I played a little yesterday and right now I'm in 1555 AD (around!) and I'm in a Democracy Administration.

Each scientific discovery is done in 4 or 5 turns!
I need to discover 3 or 4 more technology in order to switch to the Industrial Age.

Finaly I conquered the 3 remaining cities in the first continent.

Now, I'm pacific. No more war! I'm in peace with all the other civs. I make la lot of trade (Around +20 pieces of gold games each turn in my tresory because of trade!). I have 4 sources of iron, 4 or germs... So everything is Ok.

I have build Temple, Library and Marketplace in each cities.
Marketplace are powerfull when you have a lot a luxuries resources (6 of the 8 existing luxuries). Its gave you money and happy faces...

My culture is improving as well.

I will have 3 choices to finish the game:
- cultural (I never done yet)
- Space ship (Well , like In Civ 2)
- Diplomacy (Like in SMAC)

So, I will see.

LeSphinx

 

[ChrisShaffer]

3950 BC Founded Persepolis on eastern shore.
3500 BC Khoi-San settlers joined Persia and founded Pasargadae.
3200 BC Villagers shared map, showing land across eastern straights.
2800 BC Susa founded on western shore in furry woods.
2590 BC Met Aztecs and acquired much technology for gold.
2430 BC Barbarians killed scouting warrior.
2390 BC Arbella founded near northern tundra/dye.
2230 BC Discovered iron in hills south of Persepolis.
2230 BC Discovered horses at chokepoint north of Tenochticlan.
1725 BC Founded Antioch near horses.
1500 BC Met Babylonians and traded technologies.
1275 BC Founded Tarsus in desert near iron deposits.
1250 BC Founded Gordium northeast of Tenochticlan.
850 BC Aztecs demand (and get) 14 gold.
825 BC Contact with Zulu via Babylon. Established embassies with Zulu, Bablyon, and Aztecs.
570 BC Revolt!
470 BC Monarchy.
??? BC Declare war on Aztecs (one turn prior to 410 BC).
410 BC Golden Age! Captured Tenochticlan and The Oracle!
350 BC Great Irrigation Project begins.
170 BC Persians build the Colossus in Pasargadae.
??? BC Teotihuacan razed.
90 BC Persians plant the Hanging Gardens in Persepolis.
70 BC Texcoco captured.
30 BC Tlateloco captured..
10 AD Golden Age ends.
30 AD Tlaxala captured. Darius, a Great Leader, leads the troops to victory! Peace with Aztecs.
70 AD Parthian tribe teaches Code of Laws in the northwest.
110 AD Americans build the Pyramids in Washington.
130 AD Meet Iroquois. Meet Americans.
190 AD Conscripts from village in northwest join Persia.
260 AD War with Babylonians. Uruk razed.
270 AD Persians complete a Heroic Epic in Susa. Ashur razed.
280 AD Babylonians build the Lighthouse in Babylon. Villagers in northwest give 50 gold.
310 AD Cyrus leads Persian Immortals in a memorable victory over Babylonian Bowmen!
340 AD Ur razed.
380 AD Harrapans share maps in the northeast.
420 AD Babylon and the Lighthouse captured.
440 AD Persia enters Middle Ages.
490 AD Zulu rebels from Hlobane rebuffed.
500 AD Ninevah razed.
510 AD Persians build a Forbidden Palace in Antioch.
530 AD Ellipi razed. Peace with Babylon.
550 AD War with Zulu.
580 AD Hlobane razed. Zimbabwe razed. Peace with Zulu.
660 AD Republic.
720 AD Cyrus helps the Persians build Sistine Chapel in Tlateloco.
860 AD War with Zulu. Mpondo captured. Half dead Persian Immortals make a stand against Zulu Horsemen and Achaemenes emerges as a Great Leader!
870 AD Zimbabwe razed. Hlobane razed. Peace with Zulu.
880 AD Persians complete the Great Wall in Susa (whoops, forgot to change that to a University...).
910 AD Persians complete the Great Library in Perseopolis.
920 AD Achaemenes builds Copernicus' Observatory in the Persian city of Pasargadae.
1050 AD Democracy.
1060 AD Zulu city of Intombe converts to Persia.
1320 AD Persia builds JS Bach's Catherdral in Susa.
1335 AD Persia writes Sun Tzu's Art of War in Persepolis.
1400 AD Persia builds Leonardo's Workshop in Tarsus.
1405 AD Persia enters Industrial Age.
1435 AD Persia builds Adam Smith's Trading Company in Gordium.
1445 AD Persia builds Wall Street in Tenochticlan.
1455 AD Persia builds Military Academy in Susa.
1500 AD Persia builds Newton's University in Pasargadae.
1515 AD Magellan completes Voyage at the Persian city of Persepolis.
1645 AD Shakespeare's Theater completed in Persian city of Persepolis.
1675 AD Universal Suffrage granted in the Persian city of Susa.
1695 AD Persians create Intelligence Agency in Tenochticlan.
1705 AD Persians develop Theory of Evolution in Gordium.
1710 AD First sign of global warming as grassland becomes plains.
1725 AD Battlefield Medicine developed in Persian city of Pasargadae.
1766 AD War with Zulu.
1768 AD War with Babylon.
1770 AD Isandhlwana captured. Zimbabwe captured. Ulundi captured. Calixtlahuaca captured.
1772 AD Akkad captured. Babylonians destroyed.
1774 AD War with Aztecs.
1776 AD Persians give Akkad and Calixtlahuaca to Iroquois. Hlobane captured. Xochicalo razed.
1778 AD Teotihuacan captured. Aztecs destroyed. Bapedi captured. Peace with Zulu. Persians acquire Swazi from Zulu. Persians give Swazi to Iroquois.
1820 AD War with Zulu.
1822 AD Iroquois citizens of Akkad rebuffed. Ngome razed. Peace with Zulu.
1826 AD SETI program completed in Persepolis.
1834 AD Iroquois citizens of Akkad convert to Persia. Persia gives Akkad to Iroquois.
1836 AD Persia establishes United Nations in Tlatelolco. Persia completes Manhattan Project in Tarsus.
1868 AD War with Zulu.
1870 AD Tugela captured. Zulu destroyed. Persia gives Tugela to Iroquois.
1872 AD Iroquois citizens of Akkad convert to Persia.
1878 AD Cancer cured in Persian city of Texcoco.
1884 AD Longevity discovered at Persian city of Tarsus.
1904 AD Bactra founded.
1918 AD Apollo program built in Persian city of Tarsus.
1955 AD Strategic Missile Defence built in Persian city of Tarsus.
1967 AD Iroquois citizens of Calixtalhuaca join Persia.
1983 AD Persian cultural victory.

Xerxes the Strong
Persia 1766 (Happy 548.9 Content/specialist 211.8 Territory 803.3 Future tech 0.9)
America 621
Iroquois 268
Zululand 182
Aztecs 110
Babylon 108

 

[ChrisShaffer]

Well, never again will I raze enemy cities to avoid corruption. It's just an invitation to the AI to rebuild the city (or for another AI to build a city in the same spot). Better to take the corruption and get the benefit of the city than to have to re-conquer the damn thing. I lost two colonies near the desert spice north of Babylon before I finally gave up and built my own city there. It would have been much simpler to just keep the Babylonian city on that spot instead of razing it.

I suspect the AI is a bit handicapped on archipelago maps. This was a bit too easy. Perhaps the next GOTM could be on a Pangea. If it's archipelago, it should definitely be with more land.