Post Short Single Player Tips Here

[GenDeFeat]

Hello everyone. I've been reading through this massive post and I've gotten through a fair amount of it, but have seen anything about building wonders while constantly expanding your civ and infrastructure. So, I've been playing Civ III Complete for a while now, and I usually play as Babylon. One thing that I always have problems with is continuing to expand my civ's infrastructure while building more cities and building wonders. Mainly because my populations are low from creating settlers and workers. Any quick tips on this?

 

[justanick]

I would advise to not even try it. If you expand fast via building settlers, than you will "lose" population, but this strategy pays of soon. Often securing space peacefully via settling ends at about the time one can leave despotism in favour of a better government like republic. Before that your production of food is rather low. Granaries can appromatly double your growth by cutting food required for growth by 50%(keep your population below 7 or food required for grwoth will double). Further you should aim to utilize tiles that exceed 2 food per turn even with the despotism penalty applied.

But the point is that you are not supposed to build great wonders and still expand fast. You have to make a decision about your priorities. Often it is a good decision to ignore (almost) all early great wonders in favour of a fast peaceful expansion via settling. Naturally other choices have their merits, too.

Once you have left Despotism(and anarchy, too) you are no longer a victim of despotism penalty and can increase your growth by using irrigations. This can greatly help you. But again the short term effect is to reduce your production.

Maximizing your economic output by maximizing your total population and using this economic output to build up an army that can conquer great wonders is often more efficient than building those wonders yourself at great expense.

 

[GenDeFeat]

Thanks a lot justanick, appreciate your advice and input!!

 

[Rickard1977]

I found out that the enemy always attacks your weakest cities first if they are transporting units from another continent. Then you can manipulate them by making another city weaker, and they will sail to that one, and then change back to the first weak city, and they only sail forward and back without reaching your cities, haha..

 

[Lanzelot]

Funny. So it works for ships & their landing points as well? I didn't know that. I only used it for land units so far: if an AI stack approaches your land, have two border towns, one heavily defended and the other one empty. The AI SoD will march towards the empty town. The turn before it reaches its destination, move your defenders from the first town into the empty town. The AI stack will turn around and now march towards the other town... Rinse and repeat, and the AI will walk in circles forever...

 

[walletta]

I found out that the enemy always attacks your weakest cities first if they are transporting units from another continent. Then you can manipulate them by making another city weaker, and they will sail to that one, and then change back to the first weak city, and they only sail forward and back without reaching your cities, haha..

Funny. So it works for ships & their landing points as well? I didn't know that. I only used it for land units so far: if an AI stack approaches your land, have two border towns, one heavily defended and the other one empty. The AI SoD will march towards the empty town. The turn before it reaches its destination, move your defenders from the first town into the empty town. The AI stack will turn around and now march towards the other town... Rinse and repeat, and the AI will walk in circles forever...

you guys are nuts!

 

[GenDeFeat]

Quick question about Tax Rates, I searched this thread and others, but can't find exactly what I'm looking for. Nevertheless, does anyone know how to increase tax rates? Basically I keep seeing people talk about increasing tax rates through the science and entertainment slider, but what exactly does that mean? By adjusting those sliders the total amount of income generated doesn't increase, just the allocation of income to the aforementioned choices. FYI, I understand how allocation of each slider works and such, I just don't understand the terminology that is used when discussing it. Thanks!

 

[justanick]

I am not sure what yuo mean but increasing the tax slider or better the gold slider mean decreasing the 2 other sliders. But the terminology you refer to seems a bit nuts anyway.

Also there are those who use the term lux tax which appear to refer to the entertainment slider. I myself call that slider luxury rate.

 

[GenDeFeat]

Thanks again justanick, that makes sense, appreciate it!

 

[Lanzelot]

It's a bit confusing, but just think of it that way:
The total commerce that is earned by your citizens, can be used for three tasks:

• one part can be put into the current research project ("Science Rate")
• one part can be used to make the citizens more happy ("Luxury Rate")
• and one part can be put into the savings account ("Tax Rate")

Of course all three of these have to add up to 100%. That means, only two of them can be chosen freely. Once SciRate and LuxRate have a definite value, the TaxRate is automatically fixed as
TaxRate = 100% - SciRate - LuxRate.
So the game lets you modify only the SciRate and the LuxRate. The TaxRate is then automatically "what's left of the total cake, after Science and Luxury spending have been subtracted".

 

[Theov]

Sounds confusing, but it really isn't.

What I do, is slide the 'Luxury slider' so in my main cities "happy people ≥ unhappy people" and then put the 'science slider' so I always run a small profit.

Lower the science slider in the last 3 turns of researching a tech to max income. (most of the times you research a tech even with the slider a few ticks lower)

 

[justanick]

At maximum sliders you may get marginal better rounding in cases of library but no uni or similar. Thus i like to have some gold reserves and research at 100% - lux slider and then as little as possible in the last turn.

One does however need to be aware of the minimum amount of 4 turns of actually researching a tech. If without that restriction you could research a tech in say 2 turns it might be proper to do 2 turns at 0% research slider but at least 1 scientist expert.

 

[walletta]

Right or wrong, i pretty much keep the slider at the max the whole time unless something else supervenes, like revolting citizens or last turn profit-taking.

ETA I only just learned for the first time in 20+ years that there is a 4 turn minimum to research a tech. Wow.

 

[Kirejara]

I am not sure if this has been posted before or if this counts as an exploit.

If you are absolutly sure that the KI will attack you the next round (for example if their ships dropped of troops next to one of your cities), then buy of their gold, techs and maps by giving them gold per turn, luxuries and resources (even if you have only one source yourself!).

Do not give them a single sum of gold, right of passage or some of your own techs.

If you are allready at war with other civs, then also offer a military alliance (MA).

Then ask them to leave your territory or declare war.

They will allways declare war and break thereby all trade and MA contracts. Also despite they have then no longer a MA with your, they will be at war with your first enemy.

Your trade reputation will not be harmed as the KI has broken the treaties and you will have all their money and all or some of their techs without giving them anything.

 

[Kurgan117]

One Idea. Do mas regicide and use all or all but one of you king units to explore. You will get almost all the villages and know the world far ahead of your opponents.

 

[Kurgan117]

Also if you are about to declare war on an ai, either demand or trade for everything he has. What I mean by this is if he has 2 techs and 500 gold(solid not per turn), trade that for resources, luxuries, and gold per turn. Then, immediately declare war, now you have almost everything he had and lost nothing for it. If you demand it from him, do it small. Maybe 15 gold, and ask for that many times. They both are bad for your reputation and will tick the AI off, but he will be furious once you declare war on him and they are as bad as abusing Right of Passage agreements. (Correct me if I am wrong. I play on chieftain-warlord level)

 

[justanick]

You are wrong. There are 3 different concepts to consider.

1. AI attitude. This is how much AI hates you. By declaring war this value is increased by 4. Only that is inevetiable, unless you make Ai declare war on you.
Each time you demand tribute from the AI the value is increased by 1 or 2, so asking for 15 Gold 20 times can give you +40, the equivalent of 10 declarations of war.

2. Trading reputation. By breaking treaties such as about gtp, luxuuries etc. your trading reputation will be trashed. Once it is trashed AI will be very reluctant to accept gtp as payment. As this is a one time "oppurtunity" you better be relucant to trash your reputation prematurely.

3. RoP reputation. Once you trash this AI will be very reluctant to give accept any RoP with you. So you better be relucatant to trash it.

http://forums.civfanatics.com/showthread.php?t=44999
http://forums.civfanatics.com/showthread.php?t=113376

 

[Kurgan117]

I know about the RoP, one of my cousins told me to do it and I did, but I payed for it later. Are you sure about pint 2? In real life yes, but I have done that trick a few times on different opponents in the same game when they new each other.

 

[Kurgan117]

GenDeFeat, there is a way to expand and build wonders at the same time. I do it all the time on Chieftain-Warlord. What you have to do is build as many cities as possible as soon as possible. Once you have at least 5 cities, you are ready to start your first wonder. Build it in your capitol or whichever city has the best shield output. All other cities continue to build settlers. Always have more cities building settlers than wonders.

Hope this helped.

 

[Kurgan117]

And personally I think the Temple of Artemis is worthwhile. I never do cultural victory, but it adds culture to all cities on continent which expands their borders adding sight, resources, luxuries and tiles to work on. It also makes the nation on the map look better and roads can be put in your territory to connect cities. Road that can't be pillaged without war. It does stink, however,(word worse than stink that I am not going to say) that all temple disappear after education which doesn't make sense that all temples just "disappear".