Newbie Questions: Ask here and get answers!

[anarres]

Originally posted by Arathorn
There's a "bug" with democracy, slaves, and I believe the industrious trait, where things don't quite round the way they intuitively should. I don't remember the exact details, but it is NOT your imagination. Once you get replaceable parts, this little quirky behavior disappears.

IIRC, fixed in v1.29f for civ3, and not in PTW at all

 

[Dralix]

Originally posted by dariusII
My apologies if this has been asked before (I believe it has, but I could not find the proverbial needle), but in a couple of games I have played in PTW, AI units have mysteriously dropped to their knees and expired.

In the last game, it was a worker, then a swordsman.Thanks!

In addition to what has already been stated, the AI will also kill it's workers in order to prevent you from capturing them. Not sure if this plays the death animation though.

 

[alamo]

Wow - pretty sophisticated stuff for newbies.

My workers never work as fast as I want.

What does IIRC mean?

My problem: How do you get off of the tech research merry-go-round? Now that I'm ahead in the tech race, I fear that if I get into an expansionist war then I'll loose rep and the tech lead at a bad time. I wanted to win by domination, but a diplo victory seems best now.

I am Korean in a monarch std island world. There were a few wars that I stayed out of while colonizing one of the few remaining islands. Now we are mid-industrial, and I have managed to build ToE and am one of the most advanced. My rep is good with everyone (had MPP get me into war with Egypt, but they're gone now). Should I go warmongering or just coast into a UN vote?

 

[Oceanus]

IIRC = 'I'f 'I' 'R'ecall 'C'orrectly

 

[anarres]

Originally posted by alamo
What does IIRC mean?

Sorry about that

Personally, I would wait and conquer the world since tanks are around the corner
:tank:

Diplo win is often possible, but why bother? Win it once, but after that I find it a let-down.

 

[Aggie]

Originally posted by alamo
Should I go warmongering or just coast into a UN vote?

If you have never broken a treaty and never abused the right of passage, it seems that you will fairly easily win the UN vote. The AI seems to have been in a couple of wars and they are notorious deal-brakers. It helps to be extra friendly a few turns before the vote.

Things you can do by then:
- get right of passages with just about everyone
- don't be tricked in Mutual Protection Pacts or Alliances. You can get into wars you don't want to get into. Bad for UN voting.
- get trade deals that last for 20 turns. Resource/luxury sales preferably gold per turn deals.

But when you're so far ahead, you can also choose to be a warmonger. You constantly will have the strongest military, tech-wise...

 

[hbdragon88]

Aggie:

Not so. Need to be more than just Mr. Never-break-a-treaty guy. I lost the UN vote due to a stupid Persia person, and I was nice the whole way. Didn't break one treaty. And I gave everyone gold in 2049, but on 2050 I still lost.

 

[Lt. 'Killer' M.]

yeah, the only sure way to win UN is to ally with everyone but your contestent, then get them all to declare war on him 1 turn before vote.

Best: get MPPs, declare war, let him shoot first

 

[Aggie]

@hbdragon88: I also said that it appeared in alamo's post that the other civs broke several treaties during the game. And having 20 turn deals IS a perfect way to make the AI civs happy with you enough to vote for you.

@Lt Killer M: You're absolutely right about that. But if you broke a couple of deals before and never traded etc... you're still not going to win it.

I win by UN vote in about 70% of all my games and never lose a vote when I stick to my principles. This is on monarch level.

I didn't mention another trick of the book, because alamo seemed to be too far in the game. But quite early in the game, I declare war to an opponent on the other side of the globe and ask EVERYONE to join me, regardless of the costs (a few techs, a lot of gold, etc...). This mostly triggers a domino-effect and the AI will be at war far more than if I would be the peace-keeper. With a little luck I never have to shoot once during this first war. There will also be a couple of civs that break their pact with me and from that moment on their reputation is ruined for a UN vote.

And if another civ declares war on me. Even better!! I Just make sure that everyone's on my side then also.

 

[Aggie]

Edit: double post

 

[darious001]

I'm not a newbie, so I don't know if this is the right thread for this, but here goes. I'm getting the game for christmas (Whoop-de-doo, $20) and my style is mostly conquer in the beginning, spread far and fast, then just control through diplomacy. What I'm wondering is, what civilization should I play. In CivII I always play American, but I don't know if that's the way to go for this new game. Anyone have a suggestion or two for me.

Also, I plan on starting on the second to easiest difficulty level just to make sure I don't get hints on how to play in the beggining. I'd rather learn almost everything from a F.A.Q. to personal experience. And to make sure I don't face to many people early on, the first map I play on will be one I make. A large area for me to have, surrounded by a giant ring of mountains so I won't get bothered. Now for the second question. Do they still allow specific start places for a civ, or will I have to chance getting within the mountain ring. Now, last one, I promise, what should go inside the mountain ring. In CivII grassland does more then enough for me. Just take out the one or two civs that appear with me, then keep a couple of guys to take out anyone else that pops up from random placement. Will this strategy work in CivIII or no. Again, any comments about this would be greatly apreciated.

 

[Shabbaman]

Originally posted by darious001
I'm not a newbie, so I don't know if this is the right thread for this, but here goes. I'm getting the game for christmas (Whoop-de-doo, $20) and my style is mostly conquer in the beginning, spread far and fast, then just control through diplomacy. What I'm wondering is, what civilization should I play. In CivII I always play American, but I don't know if that's the way to go for this new game. Anyone have a suggestion or two for me.

In civ3 the different civs have different attributes. If you're in for early conquest, try the Persians. Their UU is a juggernaut. If you want to rule through diplomacy, make sure you don't upset people, and finish the ones you did upset.

Originally posted by darious001
Also, I plan on starting on the second to easiest difficulty level just to make sure I don't get hints on how to play in the beggining. I'd rather learn almost everything from a F.A.Q. to personal experience. And to make sure I don't face to many people early on, the first map I play on will be one I make. A large area for me to have, surrounded by a giant ring of mountains so I won't get bothered. Now for the second question. Do they still allow specific start places for a civ, or will I have to chance getting within the mountain ring. Now, last one, I promise, what should go inside the mountain ring. In CivII grassland does more then enough for me. Just take out the one or two civs that appear with me, then keep a couple of guys to take out anyone else that pops up from random placement. Will this strategy work in CivIII or no. Again, any comments about this would be greatly apreciated. [/B]

It looks as if you will spent more time on making your first map then on playing your first game. Chieftain level is very easy (no insult), just play it. Take a standard or large map with less civs, that'll work as well.
If you insist:
- make sure there are rivers
- tiles: bonus grassland, floodplain, any kind of bonus, mountains with gold

 

[Aggie]

@darious001: Welcome at CFC

Your basic tactics (conquer in the beginning, spread far and fast, diplomacy after that) for CIV2 also work for CIV3. The way you should proceed in CIV3 is very different though. Diplomacy and trade is much more advanced, luxuries and resources have to be connected with a road to your cities etc...

It's a great idea IMHO to start at a lower difficulty level, because you have to unlearn a lot of things and learn new tricks.

Specific starting places are possible in the editor of CIV3.

And if you want a great starting postion in your ring: Look for tiles with a lot of food and shields (you can include cattle, fish, etc...), be sure to have luxuries to make people happy (gems, wine, etc...), resources in order to be able to build stronger units (iron, horses, rubber, etc...) and have rivers.

These are basic pointers but I think you learn the most from playing and making mistakes. Have a lot of fun

 

[darious001]

Thank you both of you. I'll keep that in mind what both of you have said. Thank you also for promptness. Might be getting the game seven o'clock, depending on how things go. It's just nice to know certain things before jumping into the game. Thanks again.

 

[darious001]

Just a quick arbitrary question that I couldn't find, and probably still wouldn't if I spent longer looking for it, anything about the Demographics page. Is it in this Civ. I know I'll miss it if it isn't.

 

[anarres]

I think you're refering to F11

How it works out the approval rating is what I want to know...

P.S. All the F keys have associated info screens. Try them out.

 

[darious001]

I'll do that thanks. How about how the screen actually is. Inside a window, or taking up the full screen. Or, just wait and look at it myself when I actually get it.

 

[Shabbaman]

Originally posted by anarres
How it works out the approval rating is what I want to know...

From the waracademy: http://www.civfanatics.com/civ3acad_demographics.shtml

"Approval rating: This one's easy. The percentage of your people that are happy. If every single person is happy, you have 100%. If everyone is content it is 50%. This can be misleading when you get specialists, because the specialists will cover up the unhappiness in your city view, but that doesn't mean the specialists themselves won't be unhappy. So even if you have every citizen happy and everyone an entertainer, your approval rating won't be 100%. I had a size 50 city all with happy people and entertainers, yet my approval rating was 56%. I didn't have enough entertainment to keep 50 people happy."

Don't thank me, thank bamspeedy

 

[anarres]

Originally posted by Shabbaman
Don't thank me, thank bamspeedy

Thanks Shabba... er, thanks Bamspeedy

 

[Aggie]

Originally posted by darious001
I'll do that thanks. How about how the screen actually is. Inside a window, or taking up the full screen. Or, just wait and look at it myself when I actually get it.

It's a full screen. You're really eager to get CIV3