New Help

[hotstuffjsn]

This is my first posting and I wasn't sure where it should go. But anyways, I wanted to say this is a great site. There's a lot of information that i've looked over and tried to study. The thing is I started this game a few weeks ago, and even though i played Civilization II many times, I feel i'm not anywhere near as good as any of you. I play on Warlord sometimes and I just find myself to lose because I cannot keep up with technology, they just surpass me too easily. About the corruption thing, there's just way too much of it. Last game on Cheiftan level, I was playing on standard map and had a nice open area to expand. I started taking over the AI, and had about 32 cities. My cities weren't doing anything cause there was so much corruption. ??? I've read over the opening strategies a few times, is it just me or am i the only one really confused about all of it? I usually put my workers on automate, i guess im not really sure of what i'd do with them otherwise, any tips u guys could give me.

 

[Shabbaman]

Hello, welcome!

It's probably just you who's confused
32 cities is actually quite a lot (depending on the map size). Corruption is (simply put) related to the distance to your capital (and forbidden palace) so build your productive cities close to the capital. Improve the terrain next to those cities (roads mean extra commerce, that's extra income), and don't automate your workers. If you set priority yourself, the work will be done a lot sooner.
Also, get out of despotism and into republic or monarchy asap. This will lower corruption and raise growth rates. Proceed to buy technologies from the computer.

Oh, and read the FAQ and the articles from the war academy (or the article section).

 

[Pook]

What he said. I agree in full with Shabbaman's comments. I never automate workers- yes, it's more micromanagement, but the AI just doesn't do it right.

I posted yesterday on a different thread that "In Civ II, I got accustomed to waxing the AI at Deity level with scores over 200%. When I first got Civ III, I figured I could just drop down two levels to Monarch, learn those pesky new units and concepts, and soon be right back up to Deity. Boy was I wrong! The first few times I tried, the AI used me as a Super-Swiffer to mop the floor. I should have started at a lower level. I didn't move up to emperor until I had 3 consecutive Monarch wins, and even then my first few emperor games were ugly."

Biggest change for me was getting used to nationality and culture. It forces a huge change in how you think.

The advice on this site, especially the War Academy, has helped me tremendously.

The corruption thread by Alexman is excellent for figuring out how to reduce it. It's a far bigger problem than it ever was in Civ II. The number of cities you have is a big factor- 16 is 'optimal' for a standard size map, 24 for big, 32 for huge. Go above that and you're adding extra corruption. One big help is building the Forbidden Palace- it increases the 'optimal' number, and dramatically reduces corruption. Put it in a location that's relatively far from your capital but surrounded by big cities of your own. How do you build a big project like that in a city that's loaded with corruption and waste? You can speed the building process by chopping down nearby forests and by disbanding units in your future FP city to build the FP. Disbanding conscripted riflemen (available with Nationalism and 'draft citizen' in cities of size 7 or bigger) is quite helpful.

Keeping up in tech is hard. I loved the poster who said "Nuclear Weapons? Huh!! My words are backed by spearmen. Fortified spearmen!" For a Civ II techie who liked the builder approach, I have learned to play from behind in tech. It's not easy, but I've had my musketmen taking on a horde of AI infantry and managed to win.

Welcome to Civ III and civfanatics! Sleep is for the weak.

 

[aeldrik]

Also, if you only have CIV3, corruption is a lot worse than i Conquest with the latest patch, since it has been corrected down quite a few time (increased effect of courthouse 2x, decrease it in general, addition of police officers as specialist).....

 

[superslug]

Automating workers is usually a bad idea before you get railroads or have 50+, especially in the opening sequences. When you chop down forests you can get shield bonuses and properly timed can mean rushing needed improvements/units. Also, build lots of roads early on, especially riverside tiles worked by citizens. Additionally, unless a grassland tile has a bonus food on it, there's no point irrigating it despotism due to the shield penalty. Get out of despotism ASAP!

Everything in the War Academy is good, but I especially recommend Bamspeedy's Babylon Deity Settlers and Cracker's Opening Plays. A strong early game will give you good momentum.

 

[Ahab]

don't forget to build the Courthouse in your far-flung cities. It helps.