'Civilization 3: by yankees, for yankees.'
-Yep, Sid is an American, and Firaxis is an American company to my knowledge.
'I recently bought Civilization 3. That's great game, though lack of ability to choose starting technological level and low flexibility of map editor makes it somewhat boring to play twice.'
-Really? Try different size maps and different civs. I've found the game to be quite replayable, although even Deity is becoming less of a challenge now.
'Communist system of goverment should be named "socialist", and its main advantage is TREMENDOUS, FANTASTIC efficiency of labor - not 100% like in Civilization 3, but approximately 1500%-2000%. Game makers didn't caught the idea of five-year plans. In reality, ONE five-year plan is enough to turn banana-republic into world superpower.'
-Uh huh. And you studied economics where? Our children will read in their textobooks how Ronald Reagan won the cold war by outspending a communist country that was both larger and more populous, while maintaining a high standard of living for the American people. Hopefully they'll leave out the part about supply-side Reagan-omics and recession, but it was a small price to pay.
-Look Comrade, communism just doesn't work. Yes the people work hard, perhaps harder than in a modern democracy. But who cares? The gross domestic output of the US is over 9 trillion US dollars, more than twice that of the second largest economy - Japan, and three times larger than the third largest economy - Germany. I don't think Russia is even in the top 10. Under democracy and capitalism we work SMARTER, not harder. And we get rewarded for our work. A doctor pulls $100k a year because his work is so specialized. Why pay him the same as a peanut farmer?
'That was done twice under Stalin's command (about Stalin: WHY THE HELL HE IS NOT DEFAULT RUSSIAN LEADER???!!! WHY THE HELL LENINGRAD IS RENAMED TO SAINT PETERSBURG???!!!). Democracy DOES NOT give 150% efficiency - NEVER! Just look at modern Russia - change from communist country into democratic country decreased efficiency of labor SEVERAL TIMES! You probably love democracy, but that doesn't give you right to make historically incorrect statements.'
-I wonder who killed more Russians, the Germans or Stalin? I bet it's pretty close.
-The change to democracy and capitalism was basically done overnight by the Soviet Union. It took America two hundred years to get to where we are now. You can't simply learn this overnight. But give Russia 20 more years, I think we will see a strong economy.
-To call Russia a democracy right now is probably a false statement. It may have a democratic form of government, but does the power of government really derive from the consent of the people through either direct vote or a republic? Doubtful. But they're learning.
'Jet aviation. F-15 is a bad aircraft. It has EXTREMELY LOW maneurability and speed, comparing to MiG-29M; it locks target 30 TIMES LESS OFTEN, then MiG-29M; it's lock angle is 6 TIMES LESS BROAD, then lock angle of MiG-29M; it's range of fire is 8 TIMES LESS, then range of fire of MiG-29M; BUT IT IS MUCH MORE COSTLY, then MiG-29M! It is just expensive piece of junk compared to Russian counterpart! So, why the hell F-15 is a special unit?! Why not to make MiG-29M a special unit of Russia instead?!'
-A Russian pilot once defected and landed his MiG in Alaska. We tore it apart, then sent it back to the Soviet Union. The plane was pure junk. Granted it was a Mig-25 but you get the idea.
-The F-15 was conceived in the 1970's. It was at that time the finest air superiority fighter in the world, hands down. The MiG-29 came later and was a fine aircraft in its own right, but it really should be compared to the much less costly F-16 with which it stacks up nicely, at least on paper.
'Third. Stealth aviation. In real world, Americans are the only civilization to use concept of Russian scientist Ufimtsev (it was Russians who invented stealth technology in 1960ies) in making jet aircrafts (more clever civilizations will use this concept to make stealth inalyots)! In real world, F-117 and B-2 are VISIBLE on Russian radars, and their aerodynamics equals aerodynamics of flying office desk. Why the hell F-117 and B-2 are introduced for all civilizations? And why the hell there is no concept of plasma stealth (Russian MiGs hide from enemy radars by creating plasma field - that is cheaper, more efficient and doesn't hurt aerodynamics at all - moreover, it reduces air friction) in Civilization 3?! Also, why ther is no Russian hypersonic aircrafts (they are much more deadly weapon than ICBM)!?'
-Guess what? stealth planes show up on our radars as well. You simply can't hide a object with that kind of mass from every radar in the world.
-The F-117 and B-2 are made available for all civilizations because, um, no other country has any stealth planes in their air force?
-I have no idea what plasma stealth is.
-Stealth is a moot point. I rarely use it in Civ3. In real life the US only uses stealth to pinpoint targets and avoid collateral damage. It makes for good news coverage on CNN. If they really wanted to blow something up they'd carpet bomb it with B-52s.
'Fourth. Strategic Defence Initiative. Everybody know that it is junk. You can intercept 25% of missiles, NOT 75% (in Civilization 3 SDI intercepts 75% of missiles). Also, why there is no methods to destroy SDI before it is activated? Russians invented many combat spaceships which can destroy SDI in seconds: Almaz, Polyus, Polyot, Skyph, Taran and so on. In reality, process of destroying enemy ICBMs consist of four phases. Phase one: destruction of missiles BEFORE they are launched. That can be done by many methods, but some nuclear silos are hidden, and many of them can endure direct nuclear impact. Phase two: destroy enemy missiles just before the launch. Jet fighters can do it, but they need to be close. Also, some missiles are heavily armored and cannot be destroyed by ordinary weaponry. Phase three: destroy enemy missiles in space. If sattelites are located close to the trajectory of enemy missiles, they can attack them. However, some missiles are heavily armed, and cannot be destroyed with ordinary weaponry, especially with weak lasers. Phase four: destroy enemy missiles in atmosphere. That is VERY hard, because some missiles have several warheads and can launch hundreds of false targets. So, nuclear confrontation is very badly modelled in Civilization 3.'
-I'll agree with you. SDI was junk when Reagan proposed it in the 1980's. But it's probably a viable option today. Bush is going forward with an anti-ballistic missle shield that works like SDI. I hope it doesn't upset the balance of power though...
-However, I think the nuclear age is modeled well in Civ3. Once launched, there is like zero defense against an ICBM traveling 5 times the speed of sound. You have even less defense against a tactical nuclear warhead launched from a submarine since these boomers are practically undetectable, and the ocean's a large place. The lesson of the cold war applies to Civ3 - start a nuclear war and expect to rule a parking lot.
'Fifth. Tanks. German panzer tanks. Are you guys forgot about Russian T-34 tank which beaten German panzers?! Also, most advanced tank in game looks like M1A2 Abrams. Is Abrams the most advanced tank in real life? DEFINETELY NOT - T-90 beats him!'
-Yes the T-34 was a fine tank indeed. But the German Tigers and Panthers were far superior to anything the Russians had later on, and even the Americans for that matter. The British contribution to tank design during WW2 was laughable. The Russians won on the east because they had more resources to draw upon, were willing to sacrifice hordes of infantry against tanks, and smartly moved their factories out of German bomber range. And there was this thing called the Russian winter...
-The M1A1 Abrams is the finest modern tank in the world. Does any other tank fire uranium depleted shells from a 125mm gun? Can any other tank rumble across terrain at 50+ mph AND fire its gun with accuracy? Can the magazine of any other tank explode and not kill the crew?
'So, summarizing all I have said, this game was done by yankees and for yankees (heh, two of five goverment types are parties in USA - in reality, ONE party with two different names), who do not know history, only cheap propaganda. HIRE SOME REAL HISTORICANS!!! In reality, main problem of Civilization 3 is complete equalization of units. That is wrong. Tanks and aircrafts of scientific civilizations like Germany and Russia will ALWAYS be better then tanks and aircrafts of civilizations like America and Britain. Soldiers and scientists of communist states will ALWAYS be better then soldiers and scientists of republic and democratic states. Wars are not won by economy! Wars are won by engineers and scientists, and fool is the one who think diffirent. Time to understand it. Time to stop reading cheap propaganda books (like ones which tell that F-117 is "efficient" - Saddam Hussein shot one, Miloshevich shot one too (with S-125 - technology of 1950ies!)) and make some REAL historical research. By the way, why minor wonders in Civilization 3 do not include MGU building (build during Stalinism in Moscow) - it is the tallest building on planet build by prisoners (pyramids are much lower), and it is symbol of Soviet education system, which is admitted to be best education system ever. Lenin's mausoleum is also a piece of engineering art. Modern Russia cannot create anything like this. Nevertheless, Civilization 3 is great game. But it could be MUCH better if was based on real history!'
-A republic is a form of government where the people elect an individual to represent them. The descendents of this individual have no claim to this position - they must be elected. It was invented by the Romans I think around 2500 years ago. Technically the American democracy, along with every modern democracy, is a republic. The American term 'Republican' really has nothing to do with this except in name. A 'Republican' today is a citizen who favors less taxation, is against abortion, and is generally conservative in nature. Although America has two main political parties, they really aren't that different in principle. We argue over the size of a tax cut, not like Conservatives and Socialists who argue over whether there should even be a tax cut, or a tax for that matter.
-Wars are most definitely won by economies. WW2 was over on December 8, 1941 when a country with more industrial output than all the Axis powers combined entered on the side of the Allies. Just be glad that Truman didn't listen to Patton...
-As I said Firaxis is an American company and the main market for this game is the US. But look at the facts and you'll see just how much American influence has had on the industrial and modern eras. Start with the modern democracy, then onto mass production, corporations, flight, computers, nuclear power, and everything past that point...these are decidely American contributions.
-Is the game historically accurate? Well not exactly. It is a game and has to be balanced as such. But does it place American accomplishments in the spotlight? Absolutely. And is it overemphasizing the American contribution to modern society by doing this? I think not. Your mileage may vary.
'Nevertheless, it is only a game - and a good one, I might add.
PS: Happy new year to everyone!'
-Indeed.
but I must regrettably end this conversation. 
