Put your simple strategies for Newbies here

[Flavor Dave]

Here's one that's working for me.

1. Early ancient game just like normal.
2. Find a neighboring (non-militaristic) civ, and build a city right near its borders (do this fairly early in the game.) Make sure it is well defended and has culture.
3. Once you've filled in the area between your capital and that "border" city, start preparing for war.
4. Declare war, and take the enemy capital and one or two other cities. Be SURE you declare war in the best manner, wrt your reputation. Try to get an alliance with the civ on the other side, if possible.
5. When I've tried this, the civ on the *other* side of my victim gobbles up alot of space, either by war or expansion.

At this point, you have a weak civ between you and what is the #1 civ in the game.

6. Develop your civ, be nice to everyone, etc. Make sure you're building up gold.
7. Once you're in the early industrial age, start maneuvering for a) the Hoover Dam and b) setting up the #1 civ.
8. When the time is right, get a war going with the #1 civ. Since they're #1, it shouldn't be too hard to get a 3 on 1 or 4 on 1 war going.
9. Cripple #1 and emerge as top dog.
10. Build the UN.
11. Give every civ except the former #1 civ gold, then call for a vote.

This has been a simple, easy path to wins. It's a strategy of two limited wars. One makes sure you're going to be in good shape, and quite likely the #2 civ entering the modern era. But the war should be limited; let another civ get the bullseye painted on its chest.

 

[KDan]

Hmm... I find diplomatic victory to be a bit... lacking. I haven't even tried it in civ3, but given how easy to achieve it was in games like SMAC, it seems to rob me of the fun of the game, which is to plan great wars and conquests and eventually crush everyone and... erm... take over the world and all that

For new players, I would recommend just playing lots of Chieftain games on a small or standard map, really trying out all sorts of different tactics, until you get the hang of it. Soon you will develop a feel for when you're in a dominant position, and you can use that as an indicator to know it's time to start a new game - once you're the top dog most of the challenge is gone. Then when you feel comfortable with chieftain, jump straight to regent or even monarch for a better challenge, on a normal map. By the time you successfully complete one of those games, you won't need any more tips

Daniel

 

[Bamspeedy]

Then when you feel comfortable with chieftain, jump straight to regent or even monarch for a better challenge, on a normal map.

I disagree with this a little bit. I guess it depends on how bad you beat up the AI on Chieftain. I would progress one level at a time, unless you are destroying all the AI in the B.C.'s.....

Many players find it tough going through the transition of chieftain-->Warlord. This is because the difference between these two levels is the largest. The player still has an advantage, but the AI is 80% better than Chieftain.

Cost factors of the AI:

Chieftain- 200% (It takes the AI twice as long to grow, build stuff, etc.) On earlier patches it also took the AI twice as long to research, but with 1.29f, tech cost is the same through all levels. Edit: Tech cost is the same for the AI, it's the human's tech cost that changes by level.

Warlord - 120%
Regent - 100% (The AI growth, production cost is the same as the human)
Monarch - 90%
Emperor - 80%
Deity - 60% (It takes the AI 6 shields to build a worker, compared to 10 for the human, for example).

As you can see the biggest jump is from Chieftain-warlord. Emperor to deity is the second biggest jump. Many players find it hard going from regent to monarch as now the AI starts seeing some advantages and also gets some free units at the start.

 

[KDan]

Yes, but the difference between regent and warlord is small (20%) so you might as well save some time and go straight to that. You'll get your ass kicked the first... 10 games or so, but as you have already developed a feel for when a game is hopelessly lost, you won't waste too much time on lost games and will soon be beating the AI on whichever level you chose.

Of course this is all just opinion. The real rule is do what you want

Daniel

 

[Hades]

You don't get you first victory until you get your first military victory!! You need every trick in the book to get there and it is rewarding to see the AIs you despise through out the game get literally beaten up in the end game. Build your skill, try different tactics and experiment at warlord level because you might not be able to afford it at higher levels.

 

[Mephisto]

just play. don't fear failures. nobody can improve w/o getting their butt kicked badly first. and yes, check out this forum frequently, and one will learn a lot of tips which he can experiment on his games.
actually i agree w/ flavor dave, win your first chief game, then go to regent. i think bamspeedy has the right number, but , that's just how i feel when i play it. i think the biggest jumps are from monarch to emperor, and of course, from emperor to deity. i think no matter how good one is at monarch level, he will find the game much more challenging at emperor level. so might as well go after it directly.
i agree that every newbie should learn how to fight wars effectively, as it is of vital importance in civ iii. (screw rop rape, try to fight a real war!) that said, i disagree w/ hades. i think you don't get your first victory until you get your first emperor/deity victory. at that level, almost any kind of victory is sweet. of course, there is no need for space race if one wins militarily. but the problem is it gets boring after awhile; one always know that he will win a domination/conquest victory loooooooong before it actually happens. it kind of take the thrill out of a game.
anyway, win or lose, just play and enjoy the game!

 

[MirandaCore]

Build the pyramids and mine the plains. And place ur Forbidden palace well to double ur productive cities.

 

[hbdragon88]

Simple strategy: Move towards cultural dominence. Build the Pyramids first. I always beat every civ to the Pyramids. Then anything else goes. Just remember the advances needed to build Wonders. Literature allows the Great Library; Construction the Pyramids; Monarchy the Hanging Gardens. I'm trying desprately to get 20,000 cultural points, but it's nearing the end and I only have 15,000 in Kyoto (I built six wonders in there)

 

[KDan]

Mephisto - hehe that's why I stopped playing civ2 back in the days. I would start a deity game and as soon as I knew what kind of terrain I was surrounded with, I could predict with pretty good accuracy whether I was going to win or lose. If I was going to lose, I knew there was nothing I could do about it (eg alone on an island with little land and lots of mountains or desert), and if I was going to win, I knew the computer would be unable to do anything about it.

I'm beginning to get the same kind of feeling in civ3, but I haven't bothered yet really going through a game until its completion. Generally I get bored before the end, when I look at the map and see that there's no challenge left, only the hassle of building up troops and dumping them on a mountain square on the coast somewhere...

I think maybe my next (last?) game in deity will be on a pangea...

Daniel

 

[WillJ]

Originally posted by MirandaCore
Build the pyramids and mine the plains.

Are you really sure you're supposed to mine plains? I thought it's usually best to irrigate plains, and mine grassland while in Despotism, then irrigate some afterwards if you want. That's how I play, is this an inferior strategy?

 

[Beam]

Originally posted by MirandaCore
Build the pyramids and mine the plains. And place ur Forbidden palace well to double ur productive cities.

I would suggest not to build early wonders but focus on early expansion. Let the AI build the early wonders and fight to get them later.

A productive area for FP is important indeed, it is also important to build it early. Reason is the fact that you get 2 production centers rather than one an thus doubling commerce, science, shields etc. My first Great Leader usually builds the FP and otherwise I start it by hand.

 

[Mephisto]

Originally posted by Beammeuppy


I would suggest not to build early wonders but focus on early expansion. Let the AI build the early wonders and fight to get them later.

A productive area for FP is important indeed, it is also important to build it early. Reason is the fact that you get 2 production centers rather than one an thus doubling commerce, science, shields etc. My first Great Leader usually builds the FP and otherwise I start it by hand.

i agree w/ beammeuppy,... at emperor/deity level. but i am not sure it's necessary at chief->monarch level games. ai is pretty damn slow in low level and you might never get it if you wait for them to build it.

still, what beammeuppy said would be the way to go for a domination/conquest win at any level.

 

[Beam]

Originally posted by Mephisto


i agree w/ beammeuppy,... at emperor/deity level. but i am not sure it's necessary at chief->monarch level games. ai is pretty damn slow in low level and you might never get it if you wait for them to build it.

still, what beammeuppy said would be the way to go for a domination/conquest win at any level.

In that case (slow AI) you can still build it yourself once you've got nothing else to do apart from teasing poor AI.

 

[kb2tvl]

here are some tips!
look at each civ and look at what their strength means. Understanding this will help you decide which civ you want to play for certain reasons. Try to build a strategy for that civ and its strengths. A strat for a religious civ and non-religious civ are definitly different.

Figure out what resources do and what luxaries are for and why you need both.

Figure out why having unconnect roads to cities will hurt that city.

Learn to fight a war and the computers tatics. These dont change much.

At higher level games, buying tech is cheaper than producing it yourself.

Place a forbidden place in a city that is surrounded by very corrupted cities.

Harbors enable trade over water. you can trade luxaries and such.

Learn to fight with technically inferior units and win.

 

[hbdragon88]

Originally posted by Beammeuppy


I would suggest not to build early wonders but focus on early expansion. Let the AI build the early wonders and fight to get them later.

A productive area for FP is important indeed, it is also important to build it early. Reason is the fact that you get 2 production centers rather than one an thus doubling commerce, science, shields etc. My first Great Leader usually builds the FP and otherwise I start it by hand.

No! If you fight and win them, the you don't get the age cultural value bonus. It's a valuable thing. You just get the cultural-per-turn just like as if you built it. And they have their advantages too. Pyramids put a Granary; Great Wall doubles defense value; Great Lighthouse gives Galleys safe travel on seas; Sun Tzu's Art of War gives you barracks on every city on the same continent. I've built all those in two games.

Early expansion is hard. I usually have to irrigate so many squares and build roads and colonies that I usually just build a handful of cities. I rely on other civs with their GREAT strategy to build a city RIGHT next to my culturally dominant one. At least eight cities join mine.

 

[Mephisto]

there goes a real tip for newbies.

 

[hbdragon88]

Yup. But I still haven't succeeded culturally peacefully. I wish that there was a way without military means. I'm dead sure you have to do that.

 

[Mephisto]

culturally peacefully? what's that?

 

[Mephisto]

sorry, i got it.

 

[maddman75]

I'm pretty green myself, and after a few false starts, here's what worked for me.

Early expansion. The only wonder I did early on was a Pyramid to get all those granaries. Rushed to get iron working, and therefore swordsmen. I was playing the Romans, so I had Leigionary - even better .

Move on a neighboring civ, preferably a weak one. Beat the crap out of them, but don't defeat them. When they are begging for mercy, offer peace in exchange for all their tech and a good sum of gold. If they don't go for it, conquer some more cities.

Now you are ahead on the tech wagon. Go into deficit spending to boost both your entertainment (have to keep those newly conquered cities happy) and speed up technology even more. When your excess gold is gone cut back on spending and start another war. Rinse and repeat.

There may be drawbacks later in the game to this method, I don't know. Haven't gotten there yet. Right now I'm the only one with gunpowder and am working on taking the continent. This seems like a pretty basic strategy - referred to as 'beating them for tech' but I went through several false starts before I figured it out.