New Civilization fan here. Have a few questions.

[VincentD]

A friend of mine gave me his copy of Civilization III because he didn't like it and never really played and after playing for about 40 hours in 3 days I am totally hooked. I absolutely love this game! This is the first Civ game I play and it won't be the last.

However, some things happen during playing and I don't really know why they happen...

I'm not playing with any expansions yet.

1. Should I build irrigations/mines in every squares in my kingdom perimeter?

2. Do I have to build roads everywhere I can?

3. If I build a mine/irrigation inside my perimeter, do I need to build a road to the city for it to be active?

4. I mostly played on Cheiftan difficulty level but the other civilizations are still biuld wonders and learn stuff much faster than me. What am I doing wrong?

5. Is it better to build a civilization based on 1 characteristic(scientific, military,...) or I can still succeed while taking different paths?

6. What is the right time to start building a second and third and forth city?

7. One time I had like 20 irrigation sites and about 15 mines and all of a sudden the population of my 3 cities started starving all at the same time... WTH???

Thank you for answering those questions.

Vincent.

 

[namliaM]

Check out the "Quick Answers / 'Newbie' Questions" thread for asking these questions really....

1) Yes basicaly... with a few ground rules.
a) Improve the tiles you work or will work in the near future.
b) Mine any grasses (greens) and Irrigate Dessert and Plains (brown) in the early game while you are in Depotism.
c) DO not improve/work hills and mountains untill you are into the BCs

2) Basicaly YES, but with the same rules as 1.
Exception on this is you:
a) Need to connect stuff like lux and resource (Iron is allways in Hills or Mountains)... => Connect = build a road on that square + Square in your territory.
b) Connecting cities.

3) No... You need the road for the commerce.
General rule: NEVER leave a tile where you had a worker unroaded.
(Exceptions sometimes and complex for now)

4) Most likely:
a) Not enough cities
b) Not enough workers
c) Not enough roads
d) To much building buildings (like temples/granaries) in the early game
e) to much wonder building
If you want more specific tips. Check out the Succesion Games forum. There you can spot/read how to get things going in the early game.
If your still stuck post a save around 1000 bc and ask for any help or any specific questions. Lots of people will jump to help you.

5) The characteristics do give you an edge in that particular earea.
EG Military will lower your cost for building barracks. While Scientific will give you cheaper Libraries. Scientific will give you cheaper Libraries.
You do need to take them into account, but on Regent or below they dont really come into play. I would ignore them for now....

6) ASAP
Trully... More cities = more people = more everything.
Up to 1000 bc no city should be able to grow past size 6 really.
Once you hit 1000bc you would like to have atleast 6 towns.

7) Unknown, to general. would need a screen shot or save for that one....

Welcome to CFC

The band wagon:

 

[VincentD]

That's awesome. Thank you very much!

 

[FuRRie]

I am i semi-newbie too (just went up from chieftain to Wartlord difficulty).
And I have some advice.
The start is one of the most important things, don't look for a good spot to long, move 1 spot max and settle.
Then build some warriors for scouting and defense. Then you should allready start that settler for the next city.
The first goal is then to connect both cities and road everything up (+ mining/irrigation).
The computer often has different techs then you, trade with the AI for techs so you can get in "tech lead".
The best way is to read Stories and tales and see what they do, and play a lot yourself, i lost my first few chieftain games too. But after a while you become better and manage to smash the AI quite effectively

 

[namliaM]

The start is one of the most important things, don't look for a good spot to long, move 1 spot max and settle.

True mostly settle on the spot.
exceptions:
1) 1 tile from the coast (move away from or to it)
2) Near a river, if you spot a river but are not on it MOVE! River = no Aqueduct = Big win!

Then build some warriors for scouting and defense. Then you should allready start that settler for the next city.

warrior-warrior-settler can be good (or replace each warrior with a scout)
But alternatives exist. If you plan on doing a lot of settlers from your capitol you should build a granary ASAP too.

The computer often has different techs then you, trade with the AI for techs so you can get in "tech lead".

Yes trading gives you a lot... But not really needed on Regent or below. You can get every tech yourself and still beet every AI on every turn.
Tip on research> Keep at max right from the start (treasury allowing) and go for "the republic slingshot"

Republic slingshot:
Researchin order:
Alphabet (if you have it as one of your starter techs, all the better)
Writing (DO NOT trade writing until you started Philosophy)
Code of Law
Philosophy (if you are the first you get the next tech for free!)
Republic (for free)

Then revolt (change governments) to Republic. You really allmost cannot fail on Regent or below.

Now trade writing (if you havent allready), Code of Law and Philosophy to everyone that you know. You should then be the only one with
1) All the techs that are known
2) All the gold in the (known) world
3) The only one in the Republic government

Next research Literature and once thats done build some libraries in ALL your current cities.
But only build Libraries if you are:
1) Low on population, so a settler is out of the question at the moment
2) In the 5 or so towns nearest your capitol (to start).

The first goal is then to connect both cities and road everything up (+ mining/irrigation).

Sorry... NO
You should connect the 2 cites ASAP that is true. But do not road everything and in particular dont mine everything. Follow 'my' rules, improve what you work and if you need to "step" on a tile your not working... Consider roading that anyway, but skip the Irrigation or mining of that tile for now.

1 more rule to follow (more or less)
If a city is working a tile that does not have (atleast) a road. It must build a worker ASAP.
If a city is working a tile that does have a road, but no Mine or Irrigation. It might need to build a worker.

The best way is to read Stories and tales and see what they do, and play a lot yourself, i lost my first few chieftain games too. But after a while you become better and manage to smash the AI quite effectively

Yes read stories or Succession games or Try reading some SGOTM (Succession game of the month) threads.... They show a lot of "good" ways of doing things.

 

[FuRRie]

great addition, namliaM.
Just in my defense about roading everything up, i mean connecting all your cities and road most of the flat land. if you have time you can mine and irrigate the needed parts.

 

[VincentD]

I just started a game earlier with those recommendations in mind and I'm already doing alot better than before.

Thanks again guys.

 

[eldar]

One piece of advice that is the most common in these parts and missing - almost the First Commandment of CivFanatics, if you will:

1. Thou shalt build more workers.

 

[namliaM]

One piece of advice that is the most common in these parts and missing - almost the First Commandment of CivFanatics, if you will:

1. Thou shalt build more workers.

This looks like....

1 more rule to follow (more or less)
If a city is working a tile that does not have (atleast) a road. It must build a worker ASAP.
If a city is working a tile that does have a road, but no Mine or Irrigation. It might need to build a worker.

Doesnt it? Tho it is a bit less general and more so true I think....
At first you can do with 1 worker only. Then when you build your second city you need to road to it. then improve around it, meanwhile your second settler will be done and your second town still needs more improving. Thus you would need atleast 1 or 2 more workers.

The balances out the Industrious trate as well. You improve quicker thus need less workers... More or less Automaticaly

One thing I did leave out...

Yet another rule:
Make your cities overlap atleast 5 tiles with any other city

 

[Fried Egg]

namliaM

Great advice! Except...

5) The characteristics do give you an edge in that particular earea.
EG Military will lower your cost for building barracks. While Scientific will give you cheaper Libraries. Scientific will give you cheaper Libraries.
You do need to take them into account, but on Regent or below they dont really come into play. I would ignore them for now....

I play at Regent and the traits certainly come into play for me...what do you mean exactly?

Yet another rule:
Make your cities overlap atleast 5 tiles with any other city

Presumably you are suggesting CxxC spacing? My personal opinion is that this is just far too close together (for levels up to Regent at least). Perhaps for your distant and hopelessly corrupt cities, but for your core?

 

[Padma]

Welcome, VincentD!

First, if you think you are ready for some in-depth learning, check out Cracker's Civ3 Opening Plays. It gets a bit heavy, but the knowledge gained is invaluable.

@Fried Egg: Yes, space your core cities that close together! You can't use more than 12 tiles per city until you have Hospitals, anyway. By packing them close, and really using all the tiles, you can have a true powerhouse core. (Don't forget, Distance Corruption is a serious factor.) I agree that on Regent and below you can easily live with wider spacing, but why develop poor habits?

 

[mastertyguy]

1) Every tile that is in any 21-tile must be mined/irrigated (grass is mined, plain is irrigated)
2) YES. And railed, later on
3) No
4) Post a save, and what NamliaM
5) The path depends more on the situation than the traits. Actually, the traits are part of the situation.
6) What I do (well, it can change):
Research Pottery
1-2 warriors
settler
granary
2nd city builds a worker, a few warriors, then a settler
1st city
7) Post a save, again

 

[gmaharriet]

1) Every tile that is in any 21-tile must be mined/irrigated (grass is mined, plain is irrigated)

I just wanted to expand on question #1, because I think it's particularly confusing for a new player.

You will have 21 tiles (9 to start, 21 when town borders expand) for a city, but you can only use 1 tile for each citizen. So, if you are at population 5, you need to have 5 tiles improved for that city...not all 21 tiles at that point. As you keep getting more cities, you need to have your workers improving at least 1 tile per population around each city. It's a matter of balancing the size of your cities with how much your workers can accomplish in each area.

Your eventual goal is to have each city grow as large as possible and ALL tiles improved, but it is pointless to improve every tile around a single city, while ignoring the additional new cities. And, as others have already stated, you need lots of workers.

 

[Fried Egg]

Padma

@Fried Egg: Yes, space your core cities that close together! You can't use more than 12 tiles per city until you have Hospitals, anyway. By packing them close, and really using all the tiles, you can have a true powerhouse core. (Don't forget, Distance Corruption is a serious factor.) I agree that on Regent and below you can easily live with wider spacing, but why develop poor habits?

But with CxxC spacing, you have a maximum of 8 tiles to work, right? I am usually working my max of 12 tiles well before hospitals come along...something I couldn't do with CxxC spacing...thereby limited by productive capacity. Sure, I'll have more cities, but each capable of producing less.

And, personally, I think developing playing habits that work well on Regent should not be considered "bad" because they don't work on Deity...Regent is the level the game was designed to be played on and going higher is only for the minority of hardcore entusiasts!

 

[Padma]

Fried Egg:

I'm afraid I misunderstood you. I was under the impression that you were advocating an Optimal City Size build, i.e., not sharing *any* tiles. You are correct that a *strict* CxxC spacing would allow only 8 usable tiles per city. OTOH, it seems I can never build to that *strict* plan. There always seems to be a mountain, or a lake, in the way. So while I tend to build my towns roughly CxxC, in practice, they all normally have 12 (or more) tiles available to them to use.

My real objection is to spacing the core cities out so they can all "use" their full 21-tile "Fat-X". You can get away with that on Chieftain, and maybe even Warlord, but by Regent you find that things work better if you tighten them up a bit. Not that it doesn't work spread out, it just works better when closer. After all closer = less corruption = more gpt/spt, resulting in faster production/research. It allows for more cities which means more population, which means more gpt/spt, etc.

But you're right, I wouldn't advocate super-tight spacing until one is playing at least Emperor level.

FWIW, I'm a Regent/Monarch player

 

[DBear]

namliaM pretty much nailed it. The only thing I would add is to TRADE. The AI can help with research (not so much on chieftain, but you say they're still outteching you). A good tech broker can easily vault into the lead without doing all the research, and tech brokering is pretty much a must on the higher levels.

 

[namliaM]

namliaM

Great advice! Except...

I play at Regent and the traits certainly come into play for me...what do you mean exactly?

On regent or below if you "do a lot of things right" you really dont have to worry about -The lib is cheaper so lets build that asap...
Or... Hey I am religious so lets revolt 4 times this game
stuff like that.... If you do it "right" you can win with any trates in a "normal" situation in a "normal" game.

Presumably you are suggesting CxxC spacing? My personal opinion is that this is just far too close together (for levels up to Regent at least). Perhaps for your distant and hopelessly corrupt cities, but for your core?

NO 5 tiles is 5 tiles... If you overlap say 6 tiles this means that each city will lose 3 tiles on gross. So will have 17 tiles to work. That is near enough OCP, but learning the newly starting Civ-ers to not be scared of overlapping.

In my early days I did NO overlap ever! I would leave empty tiles if needed just to not overlap... This is a major backset in going up. Overlapping is the key to getting the proper city sites and getting higher commerce and production.

All that offcourse IMHO

 

[namliaM]

namliaM pretty much nailed it. The only thing I would add is to TRADE. The AI can help with research (not so much on chieftain, but you say they're still outteching you). A good tech broker can easily vault into the lead without doing all the research, and tech brokering is pretty much a must on the higher levels.

I agree on trading and stuff. But... early on in chieftan you will get a bit behind because the civs do trade.

Soon enough tho if you "stick to your own" you should catch them soon enough, Shouldnt you?

New Civ-ers, IMO, dont know the "real" value of techs. Eg. Trade Alpha for CB. Then later after much painstacking research trade writing for Potts.

I know I did... which is why I say Do it yourself... You should be able to anyway....

 

[VincentD]

I just wanted to expand on question #1, because I think it's particularly confusing for a new player.

You will have 21 tiles (9 to start, 21 when town borders expand) for a city, but you can only use 1 tile for each citizen. So, if you are at population 5, you need to have 5 tiles improved for that city...not all 21 tiles at that point. As you keep getting more cities, you need to have your workers improving at least 1 tile per population around each city. It's a matter of balancing the size of your cities with how much your workers can accomplish in each area.

Your eventual goal is to have each city grow as large as possible and ALL tiles improved, but it is pointless to improve every tile around a single city, while ignoring the additional new cities. And, as others have already stated, you need lots of workers.

Thank you, now it's alot less confusing(no offense mastertyguy). That's one thing I used to do: build as much stuff on the terrain and ending up a little overwhelmed and wondering why the population in my other cities were complaining... Sometimes I even forgot to make roads from town to town because I was to busy harvesting ressources.

 

[DizzKneeLand33]

Republic slingshot:
Researchin order:
Alphabet (if you have it as one of your starter techs, all the better)
Writing (DO NOT trade writing until you started Philosophy)
Code of Law
Philosophy (if you are the first you get the next tech for free!)
Republic (for free)

Please note that this only works with Conquests. If you are playing Vanilla Civ III or PTW, there is no free tech for Philosophy (although shooting for Republic is still good).