Expansion & Corruption Questions

[Omega]

Greetings, all!!

I have played Civ3 most of my waking hours now, or at least those times when I'm not in school... I'm thinking of editing a Civ, "personalizing" one that fits me... no editing of unit values (yet!), just Civ attributes. I'm thinking of editing building values, making Universities and Libraries and such decrease corruption. The logic is that wise people would see the error of corrupt ways, so cities with lots of smart people would have less corruption. Anybody got anything to say about this? I want to hear from you!!!

Next up, I'm wondering about starting cities early on. My strat is when any city can spare me a settler, I build one, but I'd like to space my cities correctly. What I'm dealing with, basically, is:
1. Have cities spaced far apart so that they don't overlap the working areas later in the game, but in doing so, it leaves border gaps early in the game
2. Have cities spaced close, thus closing the border gap early, but later, cities can't grow fast coz of overlapping work area (one city can't get too much food coz citizens of another city are on a tile)...
Any help on this area will be very greatly appreciated!!

 

[BillChin]

If you want to change the values, go for it. It is harmless and makes the game easier and more enjoyable.

As for the spacing of cities, a lot depends on the difficulty level and size of the world. Spacing cities four by four, is nice and it is a viable strategy on Warlord and Chieftain difficulty. On Regent and Monarch you can do it with a lucky map and/or slave labor camps that hurry production using the whip. On Emperor and Diety difficulty, or a poor starting position on Regent or Monarch, four by four spacing is a frustrating way to play. The high levels of corruption and the speed of enemy builds may be too much to deal with.

I mostly play Emperor difficulty, random civ, standard size map. The most powerful method I have found is a dense build. I often build my first cities one square from the capital on the diagonal (the square the capital can not access). If you want a pretty capital, you can trim the suburbs to pop 1 or 3 at the end of the first age. Even on Emperor difficulty, a dense build can overcome terrible starting positions such as jungle or desert combined with nearby enemies that want me dead.

I usually start the game by building warrior, warrior, settler. Repeat. Only after the first two settlers are out the door do I consider a granary or temple. I do not build workers at the capital, only settlers, warriors and improvements. I sometimes send workers back from the suburbs to join the capital in order to get enough population for more settlers.

With a dense build, around the end of the first age you can trim some cities to leave room for the others to become huge metroplexes. Some cities may be limited in pop, but a small city near the capital will produce as much as a pop 12 city far from the capital, so do not worry about having a few small cities mixed in with the big ones.

 

[Ackrite99]

I'm not sure about the wise turning their back on corruption... who knows. Just look at big business today!

But I do think that communications should have something to do with it. Corruption should be reduced every time a transport link is completed from the captital to a majorly corrupt city. A road should cut it by 1/4, a harbour the same, and a railroad or airport by 1/2. My logic being that if the city is closer, more frequent contact, then its governers will have less chance to fool around with its profits! I also thin corruption should be reduced when radio, and then computers are discovered (perhaps by another 1/4) to take into account globalisation. Any ideas?

 

[Omega]

Hmmm.... yes, the 'dense build' strategy... can anyone enlighten me on that please? How do you do it, and how does it work?

Basically, what I've noticed (total newbie, Civ3 is my first game!) is that if 2 cities overlap their 'work area' (or whatever you call it --- that white area where you can put your citizens in) and a citizen from one city is working on that area, a citizen on the second city cannot work on that same area... so question is... how do you deal with the 'suburbs' when the capital grows? And won't the 'suburbs' keep the capital from getting food and growing?

I like playing standard-sized maps with continents (the right-most option), and everything else on the 'middle' option.

This 'dense build' strat must have some wisdom in it... that's why you're using it... but that 'wisdom' is just beyond me...

One other thing
I'm on 1967AD or something like that... I've got my planes around 1800AD or so, and so this time, I've got my tanks already. The AI's best units were horsemen and swordsmen and the like...

I'm playing the easiest level... do I take this one step at a time, or can anyone recommend a level for a newbie who's just learned the game and wants a challenge WITHOUT getting his butt kicked too much... I welcome suggestions and opinions

 

[BillChin]

I've written at least ten posts outlining some or most of the dense build technique (thread Fast Build out among others). One more will not hurt.

A dense build is exactly that, it means build your cities very close together. I often build my first cities one square away from the capital (on the diagonal square the capital can not access). Build double to triple the number of cities that you see the AI players building in the same space. This makes connecting them all with roads easy, and defense a piece of cake. It also gives you enormous early leverage for building settlers, workers, tech and culture, because there is no corruption that close in.

The benefits (and wisdom) of a dense build include early production leverage (units, culture, tech), ease of defense, and near zero corruption. The negative is some overlap and micromanagement early in the game. As I said, at the end of the first age, you can selectively trim some cities by building workers so that the others have enough room to support pop 12. If you play on Warlord of Chieftain difficulty, there is little need for a dense build. However, if you want to play on an even playing field (Regent) or play from behind (Monarch, Emperor, Diety), it is the best early method that I have found.

Try the dense build on a new game at Monarch difficulty. Build the first two cities one square from the capital on the diagonal. See how you like it after the first hour of game play. If you don't like it, you have only invested an hour trying something new. However, I believe anyone that does try it will be amazed by its power. Again, if you want a clear area for your capital trim those early cities down at the end of the first age.

Horses are the key early resource so research the Wheel first thing in order to claim a horse icon. When you attack your enemy you will gain open land and some nicely spaced cities. Attack with a force of 20+ horsemen after building 8 to 15 cities. If you get a great leader use it to rush build a Forbiddden City, maybe at the old enemy capital.