Hello, from a total Civ Newbie !

[Woof]

Hi !
This is my first post after spending the last few days reading this forum.
I'm a total Civ3 newbie, i haven't played any other Civ games so i'm really struggling at the moment.
I usually play games, such as C&C, and after playing Civ3 for a week i'm wondering why i spent my time playing C&C when i could have been playing Civ !

I love Civ3, but i'm struggling somewhat even on the easy level :crazyeyes
I've read through as many of your tips as possible, but what would your top 5 tips for a total newbie?

I'm playing the English and culturally i'm way ahead of the other Civs. But i seem to always be behind in power.
I think because i'm researching the wrong routes and miss out on the military advancments.
What would be the best stratgey for city placement ?
I think i suffer from playing too much C&C as i seem to place my cities too close together and loose in the land race.

Any help would be greatly appreciated !
I don't have any tactics to use from playing Civ2

 

[WUM]

for a TOTAL newbie:
1: do read the manual...
otherwise:
2: keep scanning these forums
3: be prepared for war.
4: trade a lot.
5: conquer your entire continent very early on to make things easier and to have enough territory as well as possible great leaders.


for your game:
sell your techs for a lot of money, use that to buy defenders so you´re prepared for war. And if you´re far ahead, go for spaceship-victory.
Besides, conquer you whole continent to make things easier.

In the beginning it can be important to build cities a distance away and later build one or more cities in between, or to assimilate foreign cities that have build there by culture.

Not having civ2-strategies should be a good thing...

 

[Bretwalda]

Agree. Civ2 dont help in war, neither in city or emipre building...

If U trade tech, trade the SAME tech with the others as well, this way (in ideal case) you might get 6 tech for one... Since they get it from each other anyway (and you DONT benefit from such trade) you might as well give the tech away for anything, as long as you have already traded it to someone(s) or even if someone else has it...

 

[LKendter]

When trading tech -
1 - The turn you develope the new tech, put it out for trade. The computer may learn it in a couple of turns. Your chance to use it may be very short. The only exception - Keep the tech (such as invention) if you want to build the associated wonder (Leo's workshop).

2 - Always trade with ALL civs. The next turn, they will trade the new tech anyhow.

3 - If you get a new tech during the trading - start the process again. And again if possible. I went from loser in science to winner in science in a handle of turns doing this.

4 - Also trade luxuries.

5 - Offer something to the computer, and see what he will give. If you have a glut (5 spices) give him the goods. Of course, if you only have one luxury, check with all of the players.

6 - Trades that give the computer a lot can still be worth it. $500 for Iron is well worth it. I have traded two luxuries for one. Luxuries really help with happy people.


FAILURE to trade in CivIII is a sure fire way to lose

 

[knowltok]

1. Don't play the English. Their unique unit is of little help in most cases. I would suggest the Chinese or Persians.

2. Spread out, but don't allow spaces in your empire. I think it is too much of a disruption to allow the AI to put cities in the middle of your empire and try to assimilate them.

3. Don't use colonies. They take half the manpower of a city, and cannot be defended against a foriegn settler. Just build a city where you need it to get iron or whatever you need.

4. Use combined arms. You have Defenders, Attackers, and Artillery. Attackers can be broken down into mobile (calvary, knights) and non mobile (Archer, Longbowman). Use all of them in both offense and defense. Check elsewhere on this board for specific tactics.

5. Play to your civilizations strengths. If you are expansionist, exlore for the goody huts. Be careful selling your maps though. The AI will home in on open spaces and put cities where you least want them. If you are militaristic, go for leaders. Build a barracks (It is cheap) and go to war. That is your strength, use it. With the others do what seems to fit. Religious societies should go for a culture victory.

6. (Yeah, I know, you wanted 5) Keep a close eye on what squares your cities are working and improve only those. You can anticipate a little, but a city with a pop of 12 still has 8 unworked squares. Keep this in mind as you task your workers.

 

[tetley]

Hey there, I'm new to the Civ series too, but I like the C&C series better myself. Are you comparing Civ3 against the original C&C?
Because if so then yes, Civ3 is better. But if you compare Civ3 to the latest C&C:Red Alert 2, oh man, RA2 is SO much more fun! And 1 game only takes 30 minutes. To each their own, though.

Here's my tips, newbie-to-newbie:

1) Only play Civ when you REALLY DO have time. If you should be doing something else, not only will you trash your life, but you'll trash your current game as well. You don't play as well when you know you shouldn't be playing.
2) Don't rush things. Civ3 is a darn long game; accept it. You're not going to finish in one sitting. Don't hurry to finish the game, or you'll screw yourself up.
3) Learn all the shortcuts right away. Right from the start, look for all the ways you can reduce micromanagement without hurting your gameplay. If you multiply those shortcuts by the number of hours you'll be playing, it'll pay off big. Plus, too much micromanagement has a way of making you restless, which again hurts your gameplay.
4) Don't go for a military victory your first time, like I did. I got the victory, but it was a micromanagement nightmare. Instead conquer your home continent and learn diplomacy.
5) Don't play the tutorial past the Ancient Age. It sucks.

 

[knowltok]

RTS and TBS really shouldn't be compared. TBS is for delving into the details and carefully analyzing each situation for the optimal path. RTS can do this to an extent, but never with the attention to detail that TBS allows. They are two different types of games, just like a RPG is different from a Shooter. They can be about a similar topic, but they shouldn't be compared directily.