Governments

[surfersjk]

Hi everyone.
I would just like to make a couple of points about civ 3. I was using the depotism government, and decided to change to monarchy as it would reduce the corruption. Then I suddenly found out I was losing more, due to the increased charge for the unit support. So now I was worse off! I suppose the monarchy government is better suited for cultural victories (?) and such like, with a lesser army. But still I think it would be better if the unit support was the same as depotism (as you have to pay to obtain the monarchy in the first place). I then experimented with the republic, which, as most of you will know, is even dearer for army costs. And I was out of pocket again, this time even more so. So I have stuck with the depotism for now.
One more niggle. To fight the corruption, I have built several buildings to take it down a little, which they do, but then I find the maintenance cost has risen, so once again I am no better off, and the situation is the same as the government one.

I believe this aspect of the game is wrong, giving in one hand and taking from the other. At least we should be able to make a fairly substantial profit, and reasonable progress, as we put a lot of money and time into the governments and buildings.

As a newcomer I may be going wrong somewhere, and the monarchy and republic maybe do have great benefits, and anyone who can shed some light on this would be greatly appreciated.
Besides these two small problems, I do find the game utterly absorbing and well worth the money!
Kev.

 

[Shaitan]

Monarchy and Republic are both excellent governments but your infrastructure has to be ready for them. Before you switch to either, make sure your civ is ready for them. For both, have all of your in-use tiles roaded. Roads = commerce. You should also have harbors in as many coastal cities as possible and temples/libraries in as many as possible. Larger cities support more units - you may need to wait until you have a few large cities before switching. Marketplaces help immensely. I generally have marketplaces in all of my core cities before switching to Republic.

 

[surfersjk]

Thanks Shaitan, for the reply. I am still very new to the game, and need to be filled in a little, as is clear. I thought building one road through a city's area was sufficient, and any more would have no effect at all. A road through every tile helps, then? Thanks for the tip, and everything else you stated.
Kev

 

[Shaitan]

Originally posted by surfersjk
Thanks Shaitan, for the reply. I am still very new to the game, and need to be filled in a little, as is clear. I thought building one road through a city's area was sufficient, and any more would have no effect at all. A road through every tile helps, then? Thanks for the tip, and everything else you stated.
Kev

Yes, every tile that has a road on it will produce more money when it is worked by a citizen.

Happy to help

 

[Amask]

I have a problem with maintaining the army too (every turn I check the advisor screen), but it is partly handled by the fact that I do not build lots of workers but rather capture them. And after trade becomes possible I start building a bigger army and for peace demand even more gold.