How should I proceed?

[Snarky Nickname]

Hello all,

I am a longtime player of Civ II who just bought Civ III. I've played III a couple of times on Chieftain level to get a feel for the game, but I'm wondering if this is a good idea. If winning strategies at the higher levels of III are too different from winning strategies in II, am I wasting my time learning to use them on Chieftain or Warlord level? Should I just cut ahead to a higher level and take my lumps?

(In case you're wondering, I've scored two easy culture victories starting as Persians. Scientific civs start with Bronze Working, which means you're one tech (and one source of iron) away from Immortals at the beginning of the game. Owned the world before 1 AD. Whipping Ancient Age arse can't be this easy on Deity.)

 

[Psychlone]

I had never played a Civ game (well, I played SMAC, if that counts) before buying this version. I played one game on chieftain, two on warlord, and then jumped to regent. I'm seriously considering advancing to monarch level now that I have learned a few techniques which seem to work more often than not. A couple run-throughs on the lower settings to familiarize yourself with the basics of what to expect is all that should probably be required, all things considered, regent level's not that hard.

 

[Arrian]

Sharky,

As a Civ II vet myself (I got to the point of "nothing but Diety"), I started out on Chieftain with Civ III. Move yourself up to Warlord for a game, but you will likely find that's pretty easy too. Regent is where it starts to get tougher. No longer does the AI operate under penalties to production & research. Keeping up with them during the expansion phase in the early game is harder, and they will be able to keep up with you in tech, at least early on. I would advise you to spend some time on Regent, because that's the even playing field. I did, and then moved up to Monarch, which is where I'm at now.

In case you haven't already, download the patch. It fixes some stuff that needed fixing, and also makes the AI a bit meaner, which is probably a good thing, if occasionally annoying.

-Arrian