new c3c-installation

[templar_x]

i´ve been playing civ3 since it came out, but now i have to install it anew after my laptop died.
so i looked for my old discs, but i can only find disc1... no idea where disc2 is. that won´t be enough to install c3c, right?
does anyone know whether the cd version is still available? i might just buy it again.
or go for steam? it seems to work ok, but from what i read here still has some limitations or flaws. or is that a misperception from my side?
i hope to find some help here, because my abilities on the computer really do not match my capabilities of playing the game...
t_x

 

[jarred!]

My old disks work on win10 but apparently they shouldn't/aren't supposed to; you could buy 'civ chronicles' or similar which has civ3 disks included but costs boucoup. Steam or gog are fine, gog might let you dl the game without dling their software which might be favorable.

 

[Fergei]

If solo player only is your intention then GOG and downloading without their software is definitely worth an extra dollar/euro or two compared to Steam. I did that recently and it is even compatible online with disk versions via LAN play.

I also recently got disk versions second hand for Complete and Gold editions for peanuts and these both work on a friends Windows 10 machine. So the usual second hand online websites might have a bargain for you (although most sellers want quite a lot for the disks). I would say even with disks that my experience is that Complete is quite a bit more buggy than PTW/Gold. So issues with Steam might be replicating some pre-existing issues.

If multiplayer (other than PBEM) is something you'd potentially like and you don't have an identified gaming partner/group with disks, then Steam is a bit of a no-brainer as that will give you access to the largest pool of players.

 

[templar_x]

thanks a lot! i will try with GOG then, just bought it and it´s dling right now... is there something to keep in mind when installing? a step by step installation recommendation for the GOG 3C3 installation maybe?

EDIT:
the installation went smoothly! new questions...
-will i need to make that fix for the barb movement (NoAOpatrol value to be set somewhere...?)?
-do i need to patch this?
-and: will civ always change my monitor / display settings?
t_x

 

[tjs282]

-will i need to make that fix for the barb movement (NoAOpatrol value to be set somewhere...?)?

Yes, the Conquests barb-fortification/movement bug has never been fixed, so the line "NoAIPatrol=0" should be added to the conquests.ini file, which you should be able to find in ...[/GOGGames/CivilizationIII/]*Conquests/

*Don't know exactly what your/GOG's installation pathway looks like, so the bit in square brackets should be regarded as a placeholder.

-do i need to patch this?

Not necessarily: the GOG version holds the last official conquests.exe v.1.22 patch

(That said, you may want to do a search on CFC for the hacked "NoRaze" version of the .exe file, which prevents the AI from razing towns)

-and: will civ always change my monitor / display settings?

???

Weird, it doesn't do that on either of my machines. But I'm running it on an old laptop under WinXP (1280*800 screen; "KeepRes=1" added to the .ini file) and my 'new' Win8.1 desktop (1600*1200 monitor; "VideoMode=1600" added to the .ini file).

 

[templar_x]

thank you. but i fear i am not there yet...

-latest patch 1.22... so if i remember something about 1.29, that is PtW?
-noAIpatrol... nothing like that to do in PtW?
-noRaze version: does this disallow the AI to raze towns? then i guess i shouldn´t look for that .exe, since it won´t allow me to participate in XOTMs and the HoF, right? I assume the AI must be able to either raze or capture my towns for that.
-display settings: i will have to play around with that a bit obviously...

t_x

 

[vmxa]

The no raze is just the exe, so you can use the normal exe for Hof.

 

[tjs282]

-latest patch 1.22... so if i remember something about 1.29, that is PtW?

Since you asked, no, v.1.29 was the last patch for the Vanilla .exe; PtW 'only' got as far as v.1.27

-noAIpatrol... nothing like that to do in PtW?

No, it's not necessary in PtW (or Vanilla), because in those .exes the AI-civs (and the Barbs)' patrolling-behaviour setting already defaulted to "active".

The default setting was switched to "fortify in place if you've nothing more interesting to do" for C3C (to reduce interturn processing time), but unfortunately someone at Firaxis also managed to introduce a bug into the Barbs' unit-detection routine in this .exe. They essentially developed tunnel-vision along their NW-SE(?) axis, so they would only chase after a (distant) unit if it moved into that "line-of-sight" (though they'll still attack directly adjacent units, regardless of direction). With "NoAIPatrol=0", Barbs will move around a bit more, so are more likely to spot prey.