Help me get better at civIII

[dutchfire]

Hey all,
I'm a civIV player that wants to get better at playing civIII. I am playing vanilla, as that's the only version I've got. I can win at the lowest levels, but mainly because of common sense and some luck. I've now started a game at the third difficulty level, and I was wondering if you could give me some tips. I'll be regularily updating this thread to ask for advice again.
All settings are random or default, except respawn AI. I really hate that, so I've turned it off.

Anyway, here's the start:


I have heard that it's good to have your first city as a settler pump. Does this starting location have that potential, or should I move my settler around?

 

[GVBN]

No potential. Good starting location has fresh water and tiles with food bonus (wheat & cattle) and furs don't give you any

 

[civverguy]

You might want to move east to see if there is ocean.

 

[vmxa]

Move worker 9 to see what you can. It is a shame to not be able to use the coast from there. You would have to move the settler onto one of BG squares, which also stinks.

If the worker shows something, then decide. Frankly I do not like to have the capitol on a site with no land in one direction. The core is founded next to the capitol and that will kill one direction.

Everything else is nice thought, so you can surely do it. Make a new start if you want to have a settler pump. The French are one of my favorite civs as you can do a lot without triggering a GA.

Early rifles (UU is basically a rifle) is nice and I love those traits.

 

[Mursi lives]

How about moving south? Since he is at the northern end of the map, it will make room for the core.
Fresh water, luxes, and plenty of grass with shields. It isnt a settler pump place but it could be worse.

 

[gmaharriet]

Yes, south sounds good. There could be a cow or game lurking down there.

 

[dutchfire]

I moved the settler 1 south, and I've built two warriors.
I am now thinking about building my first settler. Would this be a good idea?

 

[gmaharriet]

I am now thinking about building my first settler. Would this be a good idea?

Your pic is very tiny and hard to read, but I think it shows Paris at pop 2 with growth in 15 turns. Since a settler reduces your city population by 2 citizens, it would take at least 15 turns to get the settler. In addition, it would make Paris only size 1, and that takes too long to recover from IMO.

You might want to build a granary first while Paris grows a bit larger. A forest chop would help speed the granary, though this is less effective in vanilla than in Conquests. A chop in vanilla takes 10 turns, whereas it is only 4 turns in C3C.

 

[dutchfire]

growth in 10 turns (new picture attached).

 

[MAS]

I would not build a granary, at least until you've settled all nearby city-sites that allow the city to grow with 2 surplus food. (1th citizen working grassland)

Use the warrior that is currently in Paris to explore the north, use the lux slider to deal with the unhappy pop this will cause (though at pop2 you shouldn't have a problem with 0 Lux in the 3th difficulty level.)
settle the settler you are building at the tile that is currently occupied by that goody hut (but have a warrior pop it first in case you get barbs) unless your northern explorer (I mentioned above) finds a food bonus under the dark.
The 3th city (2th self build settler) should probably go on top of that plains tile, 3th tile below the fish, and your 4th city somewhere to the north.

Or maybe you should settle the city-site I mentioned for you 3th city as 2th, to allow yourself more time to clear that goody hut. Yes, that may be better, you already have your worker in place to build a road in that direction anyway...

 

[Mursi lives]

Is there a food bonus on south? Looks like you explored but we cant see it on the screen you posted.

 

[dutchfire]

No, there are mainly plains tiles to the south. I'm going to play some turns now, and I'll give you some overview screenies.

 

[dutchfire]

Played another 10 turns, had some luck with my goody huts.



My settler has been completed and is currently at the proposed location:


And Paris on turn 20:

 

[Hydrogen]

Ivory to the South "Go For It" ... never mind the Granary settlers all the way

 

[dutchfire]

Note that it's vanilla, shouldn't I build my cities in rings?

 

[Hydrogen]

Note that it's vanilla, shouldn't I build my cities in rings?

OK did not see that bit ... but nevertheless GRAB the Ivory that will then be 2 lux that you might hold the monopoly to

 

[MAS]

(note I'm counting the capital as 1th city)

since this is vanilla, the best practice would be ring city placement. 3th city should go to the tile where the goody hut used to be. 4th should be placed right next to that northern fish (again, 2 tiles away from capital) a 5th should be placed 1 tile away from capital, right below it, this counts for 2 tiles, since its diagonal. (the core would be right outside of the 2 tile radius of the capital)

Do not worry about those ivory, you will get there eventually, and your primary focus right now is growth. This means you should settle both the food-rich sites first and the least corrupt sites, both happen to be around your capital.

OK did not see that bit ... but nevertheless GRAB the Ivory that will then be 2 lux that you might hold the monopoly to

I do not see any competing civ in sight, that ivory is going to be easy to grab. In case a competing civ does show up, it is still pretty close you the french core, you could just take it by war the. And if a competing civ shows up on that tiny landmass, you'll want to go to war with them anyway...

All the turns you use up moving that settler to the relatively far away site are turns you do not have 2 cities, not have the extra production, unit support and commerce that come with it.
And by building that 2th city right where the settler is, it can start working towards the 4th settler while the capital works on the 3th, you'll go from 2 cities to 4 cities in 20 turns (it takes 20 turns for both cities to grow to pop 3) instead of just 3 cities...

 

[Abegweit]

Definitely build that granary. It will pay for itself immediately. Orleans should immediately start on a granary too. In civ3, you want to the granary to finish just before the cities grow. Otherwise you waste the food in the box. Once the granaries are finished, one city, probably Paris, should build a settler while the other trains a worker.

You will want a total of five cities in your inner ring at the locations MAS said.

 

[Hydrogen]

Do not worry about those ivory, you will get there eventually, and your primary focus right now is growth. This means you should settle both the food-rich sites first and the least corrupt sites, both happen to be around your capital.

"The Brown Stuff you find in a Cow Field" ... I'm glad I dont play your game

More Lux in a such a dense area ... great ... so grab it, at such an early stage the more happy people you have is the most important thing (the less you have to worry about keeping them happy the bette)r personally I would prefer building a Settler than than a Temple (or using the lux slider)

 

[Abegweit]

"The Brown Stuff you find in a Cow Field" ... I'm glad I dont play your game

Perhaps you should learn how to play instead of putting down good advice. To put it bluntly, everything you have said on this thread is wrong and you should listen to folks like MAS. You might learn something.

More Lux in a such a dense area ... great ... so grab it, at such an early stage the more happy people you have is the most important thing (the less you have to worry about keeping them happy the bette)

The low-corruption core cities are more important than something out in the boonies... especially since it takes less work to make them productive.

personally I would prefer building a Settler than than a Temple

Temples? Who said anything about temples? The first priority is indeed another settler. Unfortunately, it will be done long before the city gets back to size 3. So build a granary first. That way the followiing settler is out the door faster.

(or using the lux slider)

The slider is your friend. Learn to like it. An MP or two can help as well.