Does anyone else cheat?

[Theov]

You may add the Zulus to that list.

And I do not think that Shaka loves jungle much (additional you can not build cities in my games in jungle).

"sir, perhaps we should start exploring the rest of this island"
"are you nuts! That would mean we have to go into the jungle!"
"we could clear the jungle sir"
"are you nuts! That would mean we have to go into the jungle!"
"but if we build a road into the jungle, sir, we can send our workers in to clear it"
"are you nuts! That would mean we have to go into the jungle!"
"yeah but... if we build another city, we can build ships and troops and our economy could blossom..."
"are you nuts! That would mean we have to go into the jungle!"

 

[timerover51]

You may add the Zulus to that list.

And I do not think that Shaka loves jungle much (additional you can not build cities in my games in jungle).

Just curious. What custom terrain are you using?

and don't play as a mayans and some other tribes that start near jungles (don't know which) I played a game and more than half the continent looked like a Predator movie.

I think that you get that if you have the "Culturally Linked Starting Locations" checked, and you have Mayans in the mix, which also gets you the Aztecs and the Incas, and I think maybe the Iroquois.

 

[Theov]

I think that you get that if you have the "Culturally Linked Starting Locations" checked, and you have Mayans in the mix, which also gets you the Aztecs and the Incas, and I think maybe the Iroquois.

that option always gives you a high number of the american civs (aztec, iroqois, inca, america); doesn't matter what country you are.

 

[Kirejara]

Just curious. What custom terrain are you using?

The Landscape is from Womoks with mountains and vulcanos from Ares de Borg.

 

[Yoda Power]

and don't play as a mayans and some other tribes that start near jungles (don't know which) I played a game and more than half the continent looked like a Predator movie.

There's no link between civ and the terrain they start in. You can easily play as Mayans and start in Tundra.

that option always gives you a high number of the american civs (aztec, iroqois, inca, america); doesn't matter what country you are.

Yes it's a bug. It will always choose the same civilizations. So it's best to leave it unchecked.

 

[Theov]

There's no link between civ and the terrain they start in. You can easily play as Mayans and start in Tundra.

So only seafaring starts near sea more often? That's it?

 

[timerover51]

I guess that it is cheating too then to always set Seafaring Civilizations on the coast, the Mayans always in the Jungle, and the Incas in the Mountains.

 

[Yoda Power]

So only seafaring starts near sea more often? That's it?

Yes. And as you imply, that is not even a given. Though they mostly do.

 

[T-mun]

Though they mostly do.

I'm not even sure of that, I believe it's totally random. You can start 10 new games with the same Civ and have only 1 start on the coast, as well as 1 on tundra or jungle. There is absolutely no link between Civs and starting terrain, as well as Traits and starting terrain. The only link I can see is with Level because you get a better starting location at lower levels (IIRC).

 

[Yoda Power]

I'm not even sure of that, I believe it's totally random. You can start 10 new games with the same Civ and have only 1 start on the coast, as well as 1 on tundra or jungle. There is absolutely no link between Civs and starting terrain, as well as Traits and starting terrain. The only link I can see is with Level because you get a better starting location at lower levels (IIRC).

I'm 100% sure about this. Seafaring civs do start on coast more often than non-Seafaring civs. In random maps only that is.

Difficulty level does not affect starting location.

BTW: civs always start in a location that allows the city to grow to size 3 at least (meaning, there is at least one square with a minimum of 2 food) on random maps. I've never tested if this changes if you modify the food required per citizen.

 

[Buttercup]

Yes, Seafaring Civs will 'normally' start on a Coastal Square - I thought this was common knowledge

But, yes, I cheat.

But I'm not normally a cheat-addict in games. I'm one of those people who likes to play whatever exact game the creator has created and to pit myself fairly and squarely with the content therein presented.

However... if I get the feeling that the game itself is cheating, or has some kind of game-breaking appalling mechanic lurking in the depths of its code, then I assume that me cheating to counter this process is, in fact, more a matter of 'rebalancing' than 'cheating'.

So, yes, I reload start locations to suit the kind of game I want to play that day. I have save-points for if a direction of play goes pear shaped (like those random sudden invasions from Civs on the other side of the world or wandering Settlers etc). I do the tech cost minimising thing, and some other bits and pieces - but I don't tend to apply every common cheat as I still like to keep the game as 'real' as possible, heck, I don't even fleece other Civs for 10,000GPT for an old tech, it just seems too stupid to bother my game-imagination with.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I've made a Twilight Zone Series 1 review - watch it here, then troll me in the comments section!

http://youtu.be/e8Qns0PxowI

or or - you decide!

 

[lucky duck]

The only cheating I will do sometimes on Deity is when I have a monopoly tech and the AI researches it, I will go back a turn and sell it for full value. Sleazy, I know.

Here's an interesting glitch in the game:

You don't lose buildings or units for running a deficit while in Anarchy. I will buy The Republic for GPT, switch to it, and not lose anything while in Anarchy.

 

[arc anjil]

Another reason to "cheat": Look at how many tiles contain gold as opposed to the number of tiles of coal or iron. Plus, the coal and iron can be exhausted, but the gold never does. If a world had that much gold as compared to coal or iron, they would be more valuable than the gold.

 

[robbus]

dear walletta

I am a very competititive yet infrequent player of civ3.
I have but one regent victory under my belt...ever! In other words I suck!

And I "cheated" !

What is cheating?

Is it referring back to the rules? ...no!

Is it replaying a clear mistake?...no!

Is it dialing back 10-20 turns to win a battle/war that you lost because of poor planning?

Is it submiiting a game to a forum for advice?

Is studying these forums and learning about the AI, cheating?

You are only cheating if all you want to do is win and not learn!

IMHO the strength of this game is as a teaching tool for those interested in international politics and economics; in other words stragegy.

Unfortunately many of our young are more interested in shooting and killing than learning and winning.

rant over!

p.s. I amwell over 50

 

[timerover51]

dear walletta

I am a very competititive yet infrequent player of civ3.
I have but one regent victory under my belt...ever! In other words I suck!

And I "cheated" !

What is cheating?

Is it referring back to the rules? ...no!

Is it replaying a clear mistake?...no!

Is it dialing back 10-20 turns to win a battle/war that you lost because of poor planning?

Is it submiiting a game to a forum for advice?

Is studying these forums and learning about the AI, cheating?

You are only cheating if all you want to do is win and not learn!

IMHO the strength of this game is as a teaching tool for those interested in international politics and economics; in other words stragegy.

Unfortunately many of our young are more interested in shooting and killing than learning and winning.

rant over!

p.s. I amwell over 50

Next week, I turn 62. By your definition, I am a cheater, although I really, really dislike extended wars, and much prefer launching Space Ships. I do really, really modify the game as well.

 

[robbus]

dear timerover:

In my book you are NOT a cheater but a player. If'n you wanna "cheat" to win, so be it. You define win.

I think most of us posters are here to learn.

 

[Smellincoffee]

In the early game, before espionage, I have a little trick I use to investigate enemy cities during a war. Let's say I want to attack a city, but I don't know what its defenses are so I don't know how many troops to commit. So I save, declare peace, and then use my embassy to investigate the cities. After this bit of research, I load the old save and adjust my plans. Although it's cheating in a sense, I'm not bothered by it because there's no reason I should have to wait until the industrial era just to spy into a city. My personal mod of the game has early espionage (not to mention 'scouts' which are cheap, invisible guys on horse with no defense points), so it's moot.

 

[robbus]

In the early game, before espionage, I have a little trick I use to investigate enemy cities during a war. Let's say I want to attack a city, but I don't know what its defenses are so I don't know how many troops to commit. So I save, declare peace, and then use my embassy to investigate the cities. After this bit of research, I load the old save and adjust my plans. Although it's cheating in a sense, I'm not bothered by it because there's no reason I should have to wait until the industrial era just to spy into a city. My personal mod of the game has early espionage (not to mention 'scouts' which are cheap, invisible guys on horse with no defense points), so it's moot.

this is cheating in my book... thanks for the tip!

 

[timerover51]

In the early game, before espionage, I have a little trick I use to investigate enemy cities during a war. Let's say I want to attack a city, but I don't know what its defenses are so I don't know how many troops to commit. So I save, declare peace, and then use my embassy to investigate the cities. After this bit of research, I load the old save and adjust my plans. Although it's cheating in a sense, I'm not bothered by it because there's no reason I should have to wait until the industrial era just to spy into a city. My personal mod of the game has early espionage (not to mention 'scouts' which are cheap, invisible guys on horse with no defense points), so it's moot.

I just do a Save Game, and then attack and keep track of what is there. If successful, continue to Press On, if unsuccessful, go back to Save Game, and reinforce the attackers.

 

[iguana1]

Heinous crime? No. Get thrown out of the forum? Not hardly. If that is how you want to play the game and it is enjoyable to you, go ahead.

On the other hand, I do think it indicates that you have not used the forum to its fullest, to where you could win a game in the 1800s on a huge map. Not just squeak by, not manage to hang on, but be able to beat the everloving snot out of the AI trouble and do it with style, panache and flair.

For instance, what can you learn from Recovering from Last Place after Expansion Phase, Step by Step?

Long time lurker, only occasional poster... That middle paragraph is why I have long avoided most strategy forums for civ 3. I posted a lot on Apolyton back in day playing civ 2, helping do a lot of research on different parts of the game, writing some software that would read save files and other parts of the game, reading lots of other folks research, etc. Learned all the tricks of manipulating caravans and diplomats, etc. Game became too easy, and thus not as much fun.

When I bought Civ 3, I banned myself from most community forums about civ 3. Only reading a few threads here and there, mostly story threads. I play most of my games in more of a pseudo RPG format, playing more for the story than the win.

All that said, getting on topic, I don't cheat much when I play. Kind of pointless to me. I have abandoned many a game early for a variety of reasons but never replay the same map, etc. I'm more likely to forget to save a game and have to replay a chunk of it than I am to reload a game intentionally because I didn't like the outcome of some move. Some of the most fun games are ones where I misjudged an AI army and invaded when I was outmanned. It's about the only way he has a chance to compete. Recovering from such a blunder is where the challenges are, IMO. I'll even make "mistakes" sometimes just to keep a game interesting.