Help me get better at civIII

[Optional]

Sorry about my off remark on the Statue of Zeus earlier on. I can't promise I won't say anymore stupid things, but I hope I won't be producing too much spam like that!

Beyond that, start thinking of a Second core with the Forbidden Palace in the English part of the continent.
If you are lucky, the war will give you a leader, safe that leader to rush the FP. Don't count on a leader though.

I believe in Vanilla anything can be rushed with a leader,can't it? I usually prefer to build an army with that first leader. Makes a difference in battle, and if you don't build an army you can later on not build Heroic Epic or the Military Academy.
But yes, the Forbidden Palace on that English continent is a good future policy, and you'll need your workers! Usually if I put some workers back in my cities, I come to regret it later on, and I'm screaming for workers once railroads need to be built!

 

[MAS]

The FP is going to take 200 turns to complete without a rush, if he doesn't get GL from the war with the English, I'd suggest he find a new victim to pick on. this time, just build one city on the coast to have a base on the other continent and attack enemy units, (without taking cities) until a leader pops up.
Then use the 2th leader to create an army, for the Heroic Epic, and use all other leaders after that for more rushing. (armies can't spawn leaders, so you'll not actually want them, funny as it may sound)

 

[drakdan]

Deal with it? oh sorry I forgot I'm talking to an "expert" ... yeah alright

For your info I play Emperor (have done for about 2-3 years)

Don't know how to play the game? try this save I posted (C3C)
http://forums.civfanatics.com/showthread.php?t=212341

That is an abortion of a topic and you should be ashamed that you waited so long to launch a spaceship on Emp. Also your advice is terrible and you're a bad, bad player.

 

[ecuwins]

That is a bad start, particularly for vanilla(RCP). The start is far from hopeless as well. Make a core 3RCP: have a city building settlers, another making workers, and the rest making your best offensive unit. After you have a nice stack of units to spare go kill England. By nice stack I mean 15+ with a few to spare minimum.
Once England is dead build a forbidden palace in the middle of that continent, plan to jump your main palace to another continent, though it may not happen for awhile start planning it at the beginning of your next war.
You definitely want Map Making in a timely manner. Lighthouse is an option if you can devote production due to lack of territory to settle/conquer. A big key here is contact after the war with England. Lighthouse or not, make boats and send them out even if it means some of them get lost. Once England is dead land units are about worthless for awhile, build boats. Make sure you keep, make more of, and rebuild the razed coastal cities so you can get out as many boats as you reasonably can after the war. You have to keep expanding.

 

[Abegweit]

Listen to what!!! do you call that GOOD advise (are both of you having a laugh) The purpose of this thread on how to play the game ... or better still WIN that is way I play the game! not end up a stalemate situation ... or should I lose?

Do what you want, man. You quite clearly are not interested in learning. So enjoy your game.

For your info I play Emperor

I honestly am surprised. I would never have thought that someone who makes such basic errors could possibly play above Monarch. You must obviously be far better at other aspects of the game. Kudos for whatever way you compensate.

(have done for about 2-3 years)

Perhaps it's time to think about moving on to the elite? I doubt you will though, because you clearly don't want to learn.

 

[Abegweit]

Those granaries can wait, maybe they won't be build at all on this map.

Lemme see. Quick calculations. 9 turns@3 spt + 10 turns@5 spt + 1 turn@7 spt = 84 shields before you grow big enough to spit out a settler. The granary will cost you one additional turn (actually I haven't looked at it closely enough but I think it will be two because of overflow). In compensation, you will get you the second settler (and later ones, or workers) far faster. What do you want to do with the other 54 shields? Do you honestly think that one turn or two for your next settler is reasonable compensation for the damage done to your long term prospects?

I play mostly Monarch and sometimes Emperor, but that should not be an indication of the value of my comments. It is quite possible to win an emperor game while making lots and lots of stupid mistakes.

I find Emperor boring. Demigod for an relaxing game. Deity to force myself to work. I leave SID to the masochists (and the borderline cheats who play Theadora). But yeah, you are right. It is obviously possible to win in Emperor while making big mistakes. The proof is right here on this thread.

 

[MAS]

Lemme see. Quick calculations. 9 turns@3 spt + 10 turns@5 spt + 1 turn@7 spt = 84 shields before you grow big enough to spit out a settler. The granary will cost you one additional turn (actually I haven't looked at it closely enough but I think it will be two because of overflow). In compensation, you will get you the second settler (and later ones, or workers) far faster. What do you want to do with the other 54 shields? Do you honestly think that one turn or two for your next settler is reasonable compensation for the damage done to your long term prospects?

Since this is a tiny map, the first ring cities will most probably have some corruption. But that is only small issue, what I'm going to say counts for huge maps too.

(again, I count the capital as 1th city, and the free starting settler s 1th settler)
It may be so that a granary will produce the 3th settler faster even with only a 2 food surplus, but this is only an issue if your only producing settlers with that one city. If the 2th city also works on a settler that is completed at size 3, then both your 3th and 4th settler will end up being faster than if you build a granary first.
Then, if those 3th and 4th cities also have a 2 food surplus, you'll build your 5th, 6th, 7th, and 8th settlers yet even faster. Than if you build granaries first.

Once your initial growth spurt is over, and you'll start dedicating cities to veteran unit production, or you start building improvements in them, and you dedicate one, or a few cities to worker and settler production, then it becomes interesting to build a granary in those few cities.
Building a granary during your initial growth face is only efficient in cities that have a +5 food surplus, and then only after you settled all nearby city sites that have 3 food surplus or more, and only 2 food surplus and less sites are left. unless you have only terrible land, then it could hypothetically also be efficient in a 3 food surplus city.

 

[dutchfire]

Played quite a lot of turns now.

I've finished the Republic and I've revolted and I'm suffering from worker upkeep. I'm now in the Middle Ages, and I'm behind Monotheism on most civs. My continent is very small compared to the others . The English are dead and I've got a leader ready. I could build the FP with him. I'm planning on building that 2 N of London, to set up another 3-ring in the south of my continent. I have also built the Colossus in Lyons.

My core:


The south of the continent:


Zoomed out map of the other continent:

 

[MAS]

You are doing well! What is you planning for the FP core?
I suggest the FP goes somewhere in the middle of that former English sub-continent, and the 1th ring are coastal cities. keep in mind that, since your 1th core has its 1th ring 2 tiles away, your 2th core should also be 2 tiles away from the FP

You probably want to abandon London, (in due time, not right away) its at a horrible location, one tile away from the coast.

Do you core cities have aquaducts yet? You should probably build those before you start on markets and libraries. Also, libraries give culture, so you don't need to use temples for that.

Use clever trading to keep up in tech with the rest of the world, the game is still in the BC years, so you haven't lost yet, not by far.

 

[dutchfire]

You are doing well! What is you planning for the FP core?
I suggest the FP goes somewhere in the middle of that former English sub-continent, and the 1th ring are coastal cities. keep in mind that, since your 1th core has its 1th ring 2 tiles away, your 2th core should also be 2 tiles away from the FP

You probably want to abandon London, (in due time, not right away) its at a horrible location, one tile away from the coast.

Do you core cities have aquaducts yet? You should probably build those before you start on markets and libraries. Also, libraries give culture, so you don't need to use temples for that.

Use clever trading to keep up in tech with the rest of the world, the game is still in the BC years, so you haven't lost yet, not by far.

Aquaducts in my core, great idea, I'll start some soon. (I only recently got the required tech). I'm building that one temple as I'm having happiness problems in that city, but I'm also using the slider already.

Would it be better to research on the downside of the tech tree (the others have monotheism, so I could trade) or the upside with more economical techs?

Possible ring, another city on the east and west coast, and one 1NE of London. Note that this will also get Rouen on the second ring.

 

[Mursi lives]

Good job!
Now what you need ASAP is an aquaduct in Lyon to make your colossus efficient.
Temple to deal with happiness problem? I would make workers instead, and use them to join Paris and Lyon until size 12. Do you have a granary in Orleans? In that case you can get a 2 turns worker pump by irrigating 2 grassland tiles.

 

[dutchfire]

I won the game
I launched my spaceship in 1800 AD. I had to gift some AI into the modern age to buy their uranium, but in the end, it worked. It actually was my first ever space ship win.

 

[MAS]

I won the game
I launched my spaceship in 1800 AD.

Congratulations!

I had to gift some AI into the modern age to buy their uranium, but in the end, it worked.

Funny isn't it? Considering your empire was one of the smallest in land area.

 

[dutchfire]

Funny isn't it? Considering your empire was one of the smallest in land area.

My two Republic rings and Colossus/Newton/Copernicus powered Lyons really blew the AI away. I think that after Education, I was ahead of them all the time, without them getting even close. Through the Middle Ages I was mostly doing 4 turns research. A pity I couldn't get a Golden Age during the Modern Era though.

Thanks for all your help

 

[Elephantium]

Congrats on the win - this thread was an interesting read.

 

[civverguy]

Congratulations on your victory!

 

[Mursi lives]

Congratulations.

 

[Optional]

Well done!

A few things really strike me: Babylon looks like it's 4 times as big as you. I never thought a win would be possible with such a small landmass!

A funny picture of your empire at the end: cities with big skyscraper buildings, defended by swords- and bowmen. I also have seen a picture, much earlier in the game, of the north of your empire with not a single military unit on it; just a few workers raking the fields. Looks like it's been very, very peacefull all the time. Were you not tested by the AI? Again, I'm surprised. Maybe I haven't got the right to be surprised, after all, I'm only playing Civ for a few months myself, but still, I had expected differently, going on my own few experiences.
And Shaka; Shaka lost again..! This guy always seems to get more or less blown off the map towards the end. Shaka, when's your luck gonna change?

Dutchfire, thanks for sharing this!

 

[Mursi lives]

That's what the game is about: building what you really need.
France is a builder civ and he was on an island. Why in the world should he build units if he is going for space? His military was strong enough to destroy England and thats all he needed.
And yes, the AI really sucks at invading another continent.

Shaka's luck only change when he is played by an human. The AI doesnt know how to use impis. It gets an average start due to early GA and doesnt do anything after ancient age.

 

[dutchfire]

Well done!

A few things really strike me: Babylon looks like it's 4 times as big as you. I never thought a win would be possible with such a small landmass!

A funny picture of your empire at the end: cities with big skyscraper buildings, defended by swords- and bowmen. I also have seen a picture, much earlier in the game, of the north of your empire with not a single military unit on it; just a few workers raking the fields. Looks like it's been very, very peacefull all the time. Were you not tested by the AI? Again, I'm surprised. Maybe I haven't got the right to be surprised, after all, I'm only playing Civ for a few months myself, but still, I had expected differently, going on my own few experiences.
And Shaka; Shaka lost again..! This guy always seems to get more or less blown off the map towards the end. Shaka, when's your luck gonna change?

Dutchfire, thanks for sharing this!

All my cities were pretty much uncorrupted. I had 2 rings, and 1 city outside of the rings. As I had a Forbidden Palace very early, and as I was commercial (less corruption) I could produce a lot of beakers. I was doing 4 turns research, and I had a surplus most of the time. That way I could rush-buy libraries, universities, markets and banks in most of my cities (I had also built Adam Smith's by the way). This really blew away AI research.

As this is vanilla, I had to pay for every unit I had. Therefor I didn't have any units at all during most of the Middle Ages and the Industrial Age. I joined all my units to my cities when I had improved all my land, and I disbanded all my normal units. Only when I was about to finish Steam Power did I build some workers again. They quickly railed my continent (Industrious trait ), and then I left a few to clean up pollution while I joined the others back into the cities again.

The AI declared on me several times because I refused their demands. I was invaded once, but managed to make peace before they could really do something. I also used some inferior units to make a blockade on my coast to prevent the AI from landing. The other AI did fight a lot, and several of them were killed towards the end.

That's what the game is about: building what you really need.
France is a builder civ and he was on an island. Why in the world should he build units if he is going for space? His military was strong enough to destroy England and thats all he needed.
And yes, the AI really sucks at invading another continent.

Shaka's luck only change when he is played by an human. The AI doesnt know how to use impis. It gets an average start due to early GA and doesnt do anything after ancient age.

In other news, I'm playing another Regent game at the moment, as Tokugawa. It looks like it's going to be another easy win as I've already killed 3 AI, and the others will soon be facing Cavalry with their spears Maybe it's time to step up a level?