Alright.. Its been what 2 months? I've played SEVERAL GAMES and now I can give a more accurate opinion on the games.. In a few simple areas ill explain.. Advisors, Units, Governments, Foriegn relations, AIs, trade, advancements(Tech Trees,wonders, n such) misc controls(Open borders, ect)
IS Civ IV better than Civ III?
1) Advisors...
4's Advisors Blow. Alright the Military adivsor SUCKS!!!!!!!! Foriegn advisor is alright(i like seeing how they interact with eachother) other than that, the advisors need major overhauls toward a more 3ish way, I liked my military advisor saying "We can support a larger army" or "Compared to these guys we havea strong military" I liked Advisors actually advising. Ofcourse theres no beating the Civ2 Advisors.
On Advisors Civ3 Wins.
2) Units...
4's Units are almost the same as Civ3s, However there are more options. Stacking is great, especially since in Civ3 u needed an Army guy. Also Route-To is also great. Artilery really makes a diffrence in this game. Disappointing though that units like the Cruise misssle(or was it tactical missles?) is no longer available I liked beign able to move those missles to the cities close to an enemys border, plus they were built faster than ICBMs and lets face it ICBMs were one of the last things u considered using(saving it for time in need) now its the only thing you can use until its no longer an advantage.
I do like promotions however, they add an extra thing to troops, which sometimes is annoying, but can sometimes decide whether or not a battle is winable.
On Units Civ 4 Wins
3) Governments...
4's Government is more complexed than 3's. Alot more options for customization, however.. Universal Suffrage allows you to hurry production by paying for it? Alright, that doesnt make sense. Other than flaws like that Civ4s governments are better than Civ3s. Even tho 3s seem more realistic.
On Govenrments Civ 4 Wins.
4)Foriegn Relations
In Civ 3, you could have major disputes and then bribe your enemy and he'd forget it. in Civ 4, you could have major disputes, bribe your enemy, and he might forget it. I do like relation ships + or - thing. That is a huge improvement, you help them they like you. I dont like the trade with enemies thing, especially when their not enemies(its happened a bit they are pleased with eachother, then one turn they say.. Stop Trading, and then they hate eahcother. But all in all I gotta say Civ4s relations are better.
On Relations.. 4 wins.
5) AI
While Playing Civ3 it seemed easy to bend the AI to your will, Military alliances, ECT. However, the more you bend the more they bend against you. in Civ4, as long as you have the same religion, and a powerful military the AI does what ever you want short of giving cities. Certain AI's do stand out, like Montezuma, and the spanish chick. But other than that you pretty much bend anybody to your will. If your same religion you send them to war, if your in war, they'll come to your aid no matter what. A few techs or a world map and they'll send their entire military to war for you. Once in a while you get a few who say, Nope cant do it right now, and actually stand up to me. but not many.
In AI, They are ALMOST Equal although the Civ 4 may have better strategies in military, and everything, they are much more easier to bend to my will. in Civ 3 they stood up to me after the 3rd or 4th invasion. And im actually giving 4 a little more credit than it deserves in AI department. I Say Civ3's AI is better simply because they dont like gettign ripped off in a deal. in Civ4 I say give me 10 peices of gold per turn and ill give you rice. in Civ 3 its normally 10 peices of gold per a turn for oil and a peace treaty.
So CIV3 Wins in AI
6) Trading...
Trading in Civ4 is ALOT BETTER. I mean theres more resources to trade, you can trade anything. and everything. However there are a few limitations i dont like. I think you should be able to trade gold per turn for ANYTHING.
Civ4 Wins in Trading.
7) Advancements
Alright.. Tech Tree is definatly better under Civ4, mostly because of the ALTernative routes. However I liked the Civ3 Tech Tree arrangement and eras better. Wonders tho, those are split down the middle. Some of the things you get on Civ4 suck, and some are unbeleivable. same with Civ3 wonders.
I give Civ4 Advancements because of the alternative routes.
8) Misc Controls...
Open Borders vs Rights of Passage...
Open Borders agreements are better than the Civ3 RoPs. If You had an Agreement it was alright but in Civ3 if they went in ur terroritory or they went in yours it could start a war. I like in Civ4 how they avoided that and made it open borders or no entry.
Passing Units...
In Civ3 only unites of the same nationality were allowed to occupy same space, in Civ4 anyone can go anywhere. I think Civ3s idea was better, however i think if you have open borders you should be allowed to cross over your friends units.
Mountians...
I like mountians better in Civ4, simply because I have realized the Defensive/offensive power they give you. For example lets say theres a huge continent thats seperated by a giant gulf, and then mountians, and theres a single tile open to travel thru, If you can Fortify this tile with a city and troops, it will allow you to easily Expand into your enemies part of the continent. If this was Civ3, it would make no difffrence at all.
In the end, Civ 4 Wisn the Misc Category simply because its open borders idea is near perfect and the mountians idea is either a great challenge or a great gift to those war mongerers out there like me.
Conclusion...
These are the only ones i could think of off the top of my head. I can tell you after months of experience and SEVERAL(somewhere between 25 and 30 games) Games of Civ4, as well as years of experience and countless games of Civ3, That Civ4 is the better of the two but not by much. There are features in Civ4 that are perfect, but there are features in it that need a little Civ3 Touch. It's also very lacking, there needs to be more added to it, like actual space ships or underwater cities, or bridges or something COOL. Civ4 is a great game, but isnt alot better than Civ3. As a matter of fact take out the religions, leonard nemoy, and the graphics and you have an expansion pack after Civ3 Conquest.
