Quick Answers / 'Newbie' Questions

[Civinator]

The Campaign Record I'm talking about is specifically for the Firaxis Conquests: each Conquest is listed down the left side, with columns for 'Score', 'Civ' and 'Difficulty'. For an example screenshot, see post #534 in @choxorn's 'The Conquests' thread in Civ3 S&T. The differences between that screenie and what I'm seeing, is that if I get to this screen from the 'Hall Of Fame' option on the main menu, all the entries say 'Not Yet Victorious' — despite my having won 6/7 of the Conquests one or more times already (all loaded via the 'Conquests!' option on the main menu) — and there is also a clickable box marked 'Next' in the 'Civilization' column, level with the 'Mesopotamia' line. If I click on the 'Next' box, the game then opens the Mesopotamia.biq directly. Presumably, the 'Next' box always appears by the first Conquest that still says 'Not Yet Victorious' — and once that Campaign has been won, the box is (intended to be) moved down the list. But because none of my wins have been recorded, it's still stuck on Mesopotamia.

I have no solution to that problem, but I can contribute an interesting observation, that is not known very well among Civ 3 modders. The Campaign Record, you are talking about, only makes sense, if there is a connection between the single Conquests. In other words: The Conquests must be linked. Here is a screenshot, I made some years ago in answering a very specific question at civforum.de, showing the C3C scenario properties page, revealed by the Polish hacked editor.



It clearly shows a box called "Campaign" with adjustable numbers. This box cannot be seen in the normal Firaxis editors, nor the Quintillus editor or Steph´s editor. As at present I don´t have installed the Polish editor on my pc, I cannot say, if in this case the Polish editor is better in revealing this option, or if that option is gone now by something different. May be with that option several scenarios also can be linked to a campaign, but this is only a guess, as I have never tried it.

e.g. if you play @Civinator's CCM (or your EFZI, come to that) as a scenario, installed in ...Civ3/Conquests/Scenarios/ and accessed through the 'Civ-Content' option on the main menu, you won't see the Palace/City-views. But if (as Civinator prefers to do) you rename "CCM.biq" to "conquests.biq" (and install all the CCM-files directly into the ...Civ3/Conquests/ base location) you will see the Palace-screen again (though IIRC, he's modded the City-screen to show a resource-list instead — at least when CCM is played as a scenario).

tjs282, I didn´t mod anything concerning the additional screen that is appearing in C3C after exceeding a certain number of strategic resources inside a city. It is the simple normal programming of C3C after the last official C3C patches. I think they never said completely why they did it, but my guess is, that there were reports of crashes in PtW mods and scenarios which added a lot of additional strategic resources and this programming should help to avoid these crashes. If you play CCM2 long enough, and a lot of strategic resources are available in your cities, you will see that this screen even appears when CCM2 is played as C3C epic game and the same happens when it is played as a scenario. If there are only a few strategic resources inside the city, these resources are listed in the 'old-fashioned way' in the city screen. When a certain number of strategic resources is exceeded, the additional screen appears for listing them.

The fact that in C3C the city view and the palace screen are only appearing in the epic game, but not any longer in scenarios, is also the normal programming of C3C by Firaxis and has nothing to do with my mod. By the settings of C3C by Firaxis, the standard epic game has access to the city view and the palace-screen, but scenarios and conquests don´t have that access. As far as I know, my mod CCM2 and a scenario done by tom2050 until now are the only C3C 'modding works' that use this programming done by Firaxis.

 

[tjs282]

is your game crashing whenever you try to access your hof or whenever you complete a game? I had an issue in which the hof for vanilla didn't install properly, and my game would crash whenever access to the hof was requested...(the fix was, once the "you're effed” pop-up popped up, to open the /conquests directory and delete two temp files (IN and OUT), and try again.

Now that's interesting. Though my installation is generally stable while the game is running (with both epics and mods), after a game ends, it does occasionally crash during the parade of the various post-game screens. This seems to happen primarily when I click the 'X' to exit each screen: if I simply press Escape, it will (usually) run through all of them without a problem. But I will try your fix next time instead (if I remember!)

I'm not sure if this will also answer my main question, though it might be a connected issue. I can access the Conquests HoF from the main menu without any problems -- except for the total absence of any victory records in it! I've just had a look in my installation, and found the CampaignRecord.hof file in .../Civ3/Conquests/ just as you said: but when I opened it in Notepad there was a lot of random(?) gibberish in between the obvious row-starts. So now I'm wondering if that file's maybe got corrupted at some point?

Just for comparison, I looked at the HighScores.hof file, which I found in my .../Civ3/Civ3PTW/ folder (there isn't one in the root .../Civ3/ folder), and it was gibberish-free, albeit with only 1 entry -- for the Aztecs (who I don't remember using anytime recently, or even on this machine -- except in the Mesoamerica Conquest... )

 

[jarred!]

Mine has seemingly random characters it as well (I assume mis-translated characters created when opening the file with the "wrong” program), in what seems to be a list of the conquests. I re-installed to fix my hof problem during a gotm game so I have 0 completed games in my hof currently.

 

[Vuldacon]

tjs282... As I have understood the HOF = Hall Of Fame, it applies to the Conquests games and the HighScores.cv3, Thinking that is what you were looking for, applies to Civ 3 and is located in the Civ 3 Folder.

 

[WeirdoJoker]

Yup. The Celts (REL + AGRI) can be monsters, especially if Brennus gets his mitts on any Iron early enough.

So you should be seriously preparing to do unto them before they do unto you. If there's still expansion room, they likely won't have built much military themselves yet, so you should be able to cut them off at the knees if you go on the warpath early enough. Should be feasible at Regent, especially if it's just you and them on your island (i.e. Brennus can't buy anyone else in against you).

Build a stack of your best attack-units -- even if only Archers -- and go and whack them as hard as you can (aim to bring 4-5 vet-units to bear on each town you want to capture, follow up with 1-2 Warriors to garrison). And for best results, try and make sure they don't get their Iron hooked.

I managed to defeat the Celts without too much annoyance ... there is only one source of Iron on the island, and I got to it long before they did.

My problem now is that the island is still mostly tundra, so growth and production are sharply limited, and the other islands (on this side of the world - haven't done any "suicide" Galleys yet) are taken up already by 5 of the 6 other (remaining) civs. Normally wouldn't worry much, but I'm slightly behind a couple of them in tech and it's hard to catch up. I'm thinking my next target is the one that's hopelessly behind tech-wise (I forget which one - I don't have the game open right now) if I can mass-produce Galleys to get lots of horses over there.

 

[tjs282]

If you've won Mesopotamia I recommend you go and play TAM.

So of course, I went straight off to the TAM-thread, and discovered (happy happy joy joy) that unlike many of the other threads for 'classic' Civ3-mods, the DL-link in the first post actually still works!

https://www.moddb.com/mods/the-ancient-mediterranean-civ3/downloads

Amazing! So I guess that's my evening taken care of (hope the wifey won't mind)...

My problem now is that the island is still mostly tundra, so growth and production are sharply limited, and the other islands (on this side of the world - haven't done any "suicide" Galleys yet) are taken up already by 5 of the 6 other (remaining) civs.

Sounds like a 100K game might be in order for you, too!

Basic game plan:

While continuing to build more (preferably fast) military units, and (lots) more Settlers and Workers out of your core, ship the military you already accumulated to kill the Celts, over to your nearest/ weakest next-island neighbour, and conquer them as well. Then do the same on the next island after that. Then the one after that. Keep going until you control ~60% of the land-tiles (but not more than that, to avoid hitting the Dom-limit).

Switch from Republic to Feudalism as necessary ('only' 2T anarchy, for Religious Spain) at some point during your conquests: firstly, to increase your free military units supported, and secondly (and more importantly) to allow you to whip that rebellious foreign population into needed buildings. Do Temples + Caths first (because Spain gets them for cheap, and they counter the whip-unhappiness), then Libs (because they're cheaper than Colosseums, and give more Culture per turn), then Cols. You might also want to whip Harbours in food-poor towns, to provide additional FPT (for further pop-whips) and/or to allow Lux-shippage between your islands (if you get as far as Astronomy/Magnets).

Once your conquering is done, ICS everywhere you haven't already (including the Tundra on your own island, and backfilling your core), and whip any 'missing' Culture-buildings that haven't already been hand-built (any gov) or cash-rushed (under Republic).

Normally wouldn't worry much, but I'm slightly behind a couple of them in tech and it's hard to catch up.

Since you're playing on a Regent-level Archi-map, it is likely that some AI-Civs have not met each other yet (because their islands are too far apart for their Galleys to cross safely in 1 turn). So it should be easy enough to catch up*, by doing some canny tech-brokering.

Look for AI-Civs which are a long way from one another, and check for techs known by CivA but not CivB, and vice versa (using CAII is easiest, if it's working for you?). Using what you already have (and preferably only gold: zero your SCI%-slider temporarily to save up some reserves/ maximise what GPT you can offer), buy Tech1 from CivA, and then trade Tech1 (plus lump-sum/ GPT, as necessary) to CivB for Tech2 — now you are at parity with CivB, and up Tech2 on CivA. Rinse and repeat, for as many of the techs you currently don't know as you can get away with.

*(In our SG, we are currently in the early/mid-Medieval, 3rd in tech out of 9 AI-Civs remaining, and that's at Emp. We are also likely about to go to war with No.1, the Babs, who will eventually 'give' us the GLib, and possibly also Sistine Chapel — provided Hammy finishes it before we take Babylon!).

 

[WeirdoJoker]

Sounds like a 100K game might be in order for you, too!

It would probably help if I'd started out with that in mind (explained below).

Switch from Republic to Feudalism as necessary ('only' 2T anarchy, for Religious Spain) at some point during your conquests:

Switching to Feudalism is easy enough (I've never played that govt type) ... but for some bizarre reason I had thought, even contrary to my own spreadsheet, that Spain was Militaristic/Seafaring rather than Religious/Seafaring (that being the Vikings, which I've already played and won my #7 game). As a result, I've been going at it from a Conq/Dom perspective. Currently early Middle Ages working on Gunpowder ... had I been thinking 100K, I'd have beelined through Education and to Astronomy. Going for 100K makes more sense, especially being stuck in Tundra, though of course I need to do some warring, too ... probably Iroquois, next, since I'm so much further ahead of them on tech.

Since you're playing on a Regent-level Archi-map, it is likely that some AI-Civs have not met each other yet (because their islands are too far apart for their Galleys to cross safely in 1 turn). So it should be easy enough to catch up*, by doing some canny tech-brokering.

Actually, only one has not met anyone yet ... Egypt is on the other side of the world, whereas all the rest are near me and have met (the islands are all pretty close), so I never got to broker Communications. I've been checking for tech almost every turn, so I have a rough idea where I'm at ... a couple of them have Monotheism, which I don't yet, and I can't trade yet so I have nothing to give (despite my extra Gems & Furs) for it - hence the need for further Conquest anyway.

... (using CAII is easiest, if it's working for you?).

I still haven't been able to get CAII working, and am at a complete loss. I can do without, even though it's really convenient and would love to get it going again.

 

[CKS]

I can't get CAII working with windows 10 either, and it runs so slowly on my old laptop I rarely use it. Instead, I use CRp MapStat.

CRp MapStat is an excellent helper program, though it doesn't give quite as much information as CAII. I haven't had any problems with it and Windows 10, except that I need to tell it to refresh manually (using CTRL-R - I don't need to save or load manually). I don't use the other parts of the CRpSuite, so I don't know if there are issues with those, but MapStat is the one you want anyway.

It is at: https://forums.civfanatics.com/resources/crpsuite-2-11-0.16266/

 

[tjs282]

As a result, I've been going at it from a Conq/Dom perspective. Currently early Middle Ages working on Gunpowder ... had I been thinking 100K, I'd have beelined through Education and to Astronomy.

It's not too late! Our game is still in the 'conquest' phase, and we haven't even got Invention yet!

Spoiler At the last handoff, our lone-Geek was still about 25 turns away... :

...but a stack of Babylonian Knights just showed up next to a(n originally Arab) town that we liberated from the Mongols a couple of turns back. Since the Babs have no reason to be there (they're at peace with everyone, and have an RoP with Khan), the current player has agreed to buy Invention from Hammy, for GPT, and then give him the boot-order — with the expectation that he'll DoW us instead, breaking that GPT-payment, and effectively getting us Invention for 'free'.

Andif that happens, then he'll gift the threatened town back to Abu — who we have an RoP with, allowing us to retreat our currently garrisoned units through his territory — and leave Abu to take the Babylonian hit instead!

Egypt is on the other side of the world, whereas all the rest are near me and have met (the islands are all pretty close)

Do you know that for sure? (Does your F4 screen show that they're all linked to each other, i.e. they all have diplomatic relations/ Embassies?) Or are you just assuming?

Spoiler Because you know what they say about 'assume'... :

The AI won't leave its Galleys on tiles where they might sink, so even very short crossings -- as few as 5 tiles -- can still be enough to prevent two (non-Seafaring) island nations from meeting one another.

• Without Glight, max. distance for possible contact
  • If non-Seafaring (Galleys M=3) = Coast-Sea-Sea-Coast
  • If Seafaring (Galleys M=4) = Coast-Sea-Ocean-Sea-Coast
• With Glight (ships M+1, safe Sea travel), max. distance for possible contact
  • If non-Seafaring = (Coast-)Sea-Ocean-Ocean-Ocean-Sea-(Coast)
  • If Seafaring = (Coast-)Sea-Ocean-Ocean-Ocean-Ocean-Sea-(Coast)

So if you've already mapped all those Civs' coastlines, you should be able to figure out exactly who might have met who so far.

And remember also, unlike Vanilla, comms-trading in the Conquests epic game comes with Printing Press (not Writing) -- which is not usually a tech that the AI usually rushes to acquire, especially if it hasn't yet learned Chivalry (Knights + KT), Theology (Sistine), Education (Unis), Invention (LBMs + Leos), and/or Gunpowder (Muskets).

So even if the Sea-tribes have already met all their other neighbours, if no-one knows PP yet, the non-Sea tribes still might not have (been provided with) contact with one another.

so I never got to broker Communications. I've been checking for tech almost every turn, so I have a rough idea where I'm at ... a couple of them have Monotheism, which I don't yet, and I can't trade yet so I have nothing to give

But I'm not talking about communications, I'm talking about techs, which are much more valuable. If you've gone down the Engineering path as far as Gunpowder, and only a couple of AIs have Monotheism so far, then you can't be that far behind. So is there really nothing you could offer for Monotheism? Not Engineering, or Feudalism, or even Invention? Hell, Once you learn Gunpowder, if there's a Civ that doesn't know it, but also doesn't have any Saltpeter on their island, you might be able to sell them the tech, without it helping them (yet) -- because they can't import Resources across Sea-tiles before Astro is known, or across even a single Ocean tile before Magnets/Navi.

And you don't necessarily need Astro for a 100K game, just Mono (=Cathedrals) and maybe Edu.

Spoiler We've actively avoided the Theology branch in our game, because... :

...our wars so far netted us Artemis from Sumeria on our landmass (along with Rome), and Oracle from Egypt on the island next door (nearly as big as ours, but which Cleo had all to herself, because the map-generator is a b*****d). So right now we have free ToA-Temples all across our homeland, each making 2 citizens content (and also allowing us to jump directly to whipping Caths in the formerly Sumerian and Roman towns).

But once we get the GLib from Babylon (and thereby possibly Theo + Edu, if Hammy hands them off to anyone else before we kill him), we may/will lose both Wonder-effects -- so we'll have to build/whip real Temples to replace them, which will each only make 1 citizen content.

If you keep your ICS'd towns small (no Ducts needed!), a Temple + Cath + Col in each will be plenty to keep your folks content, and you can also use military-police under Feudalism for happies.

 

[Takhisis]

So of course, I went straight off to the TAM-thread, and discovered (happy happy joy joy) that unlike many of the other threads for 'classic' Civ3-mods, the DL-link in the first post actually still works!

https://www.moddb.com/mods/the-ancient-mediterranean-civ3/downloads

Amazing! So I guess that's my evening taken care of (hope the wifey won't mind)...

An evening of installation… and then, on futur nights, you can play it!

 

[tjs282]

An evening of installation… and then, on futur nights, you can play it!

The zip only took about 5 minutes to DL, and not much longer than that to extract to desktop and install: I dumped the folder and all the .biq files in .../Civ3/Conquests/Conquests/ as instructed, though I'm not sure if that's (still) necessary.

And then of course I had to test it...

I went to bed at nearly 2 am — good work, fella!

 

[MDciv]

Hi, guys! I just wanted to say how grateful I am for everything you are doing for the community and my favorite game ever, the Civ3. Love you all and thanks again!!!

 

[Lanzelot]

I've just had a look in my installation, and found the CampaignRecord.hof file in .../Civ3/Conquests/ just as you said: but when I opened it in Notepad there was a lot of random(?) gibberish in between the obvious row-starts. So now I'm wondering if that file's maybe got corrupted at some point?

I checked the file in my installation as well, and it appears to be in a binary format, so Notepad won't display it correctly. But the file seems to be ok: 9 empty entries for the 9 Conquests. (I haven't played any yet on that particular PC.)
However, what I noticed: the file was write-protected! Perhaps that is the problem? I remember, when I played the Conquests, I was still using Win98 and later WinXP and never had a problem with the Campaign HoF. Perhaps it happens only when installing on Vista/Win7/Win10?

 

[tjs282]

However, what I noticed: the file was write-protected! Perhaps that is the problem? I remember, when I played the Conquests, I was still using Win98 and later WinXP and never had a problem with the Campaign HoF. Perhaps it happens only when installing on Vista/Win7/Win10?

That... might well explain it. Because I just checked, and mine was set to 'Read-only' as well! (I'm on Win8.1).

So now I've fixed that, I'll have to replay that last Egypt save, and see if I get my score recorded this time -- and if that works, I'll report back. And then I'll do the same for all the other Conquests I already won on this machine (which I saved in separate folders from my epic-game saves, because of course I did). Might even 'cheat' and also import the last autosave from my recent WWII-victory on the XP laptop...

After I've finished on CFC for today...

EDIT: Reporting back in, and no, that didn't work! At least, not on the Win8.1 machine

But just out of curiosity, I checked my CampaignRecord.hof on our XP laptop -- where I'd never had any entries recorded either (despite having won a few of the Conquests on that machine too) -- and that file turned out to have been set to read-only as well (was this done by the installer?!?). So I switched it, replayed the last couple of turns of my last WWII run, and now I at least have my first HoF-entry there.

Strange that the same action should give a different result in XP compared to 8.1, but I guess that's Micro$oft for you...

 

[WeirdoJoker]

It's not too late! Our game is still in the 'conquest' phase, and we haven't even got Invention yet!

Unfortunately, I'm getting pretty far behind ... I'm third on score, getting closer to the Dutch (1st) but further from Carthage (2nd). I'm at least 2nd, maybe third on culture (city and culture), trying desperately to catch up, but production is slow for some reason (tundra?) and so I missed out on Copernicus and Newton's (by one turn on that last ... so annoyed ...). I'm pretty sure I got into this position because I was under the silly impression for too long that I was militaristic rather than religious and was planning differently.

Do you know that for sure? (Does your F4 screen show that they're all linked to each other, i.e. they all have diplomatic relations/ Embassies?) Or are you just assuming?

Assuming, based on having communications with all of them, and not being able to trade communications with any of them with any of them. Except Egyptians, which I'm now in contact with but hasn't quite gotten to everyone yet.

But I'm not talking about communications, I'm talking about techs, which are much more valuable. If you've gone down the Engineering path as far as Gunpowder, and only a couple of AIs have Monotheism so far, then you can't be that far behind.

I'm basically keeping pace and not behind. Trouble is, my production in general is so slow that its keeping me culturally behind. I'm switching back to a military strategy and going after the pitifully tech-impaired Iroquois, except that they just entered a MPP with the French, so I'm working on how to go to war with Iroquois without involving France.

So, next question: can I start attacking the Iroquois if I get a MPP with France, build a town in Iroquois territory and wait for them to attack me first?

ETA: I just checked, and the Dutch (who, like the French, are ahead of me tech-wise by having Industrialization & won't trade it to me because I have nothing to trade) will get ToE 9 turns ahead of me, and I have no way to speed production. That prevents me from jumping ahead on tech. This is really getting irritating, and I'm beginning to wonder if I shouldn't just switch to a military strategy altogether, and start by conquering the Iroquois and the Egyptians (the two weakest ones, after the now-defunct Celts).

 

[tjs282]

So, next question: can I start attacking the Iroquois if I get a MPP with France, build a town in Iroquois territory and wait for them to attack me first?

Not if I've understood you right, no. Building a town within someone else's borders (i.e. in their territory) is an automatic act of war, so if the French and Iros have an MPP, doing so would cause both AI-Civs to DoW you.

If there is a spare corner of the Iro-island that's not yet within their borders, then your strategy could work — but it might also represent a waste of a perfectly good Settler.

OTOH, if the Iros have any Frigates or Ironclads, then it would probably be easier to just DoW them, wait for a bombard-capable Iro ship to appear off your coast, and then sign your MPP with France. As soon as Hiawatha commands his ship(s) to bombard your tile(s), he'll trigger your MPP with Joanie, and break his own.

Remember: (AFAIK) only an aggressive action against an MPP-signatory, committed within their borders*, will trigger their MPP(s) — a simple DoW, or even aggressive actions in neutral territory (such as sinking their ships mid-ocean), will not.

*(Apparently — as I discovered the other day! — 'aggressive actions' also includes bombarding hostile units which are on your own tiles, if your bombarding units are themselves already within their borders — or in their territorial waters, in this particular case)

 

[WeirdoJoker]

Not if I've understood you right, no. Building a town within someone else's borders (i.e. in their territory) is an automatic act of war, so if the French and Iros have an MPP, doing so would cause both AI-Civs to DoW you.

If there is a spare corner of the Iro-island that's not yet within their borders, then your strategy could work — but it might also represent a waste of a perfectly good Settler.

You understood ... not the answer I was hoping for, but I figured it was probably that way. And there is no such spare thread, otherwise I'd probably have just done it and spread territory from there.

OTOH, if the Iros have any Frigates or Ironclads, then it would probably be easier to just DoW them, wait for a bombard-capable Iro ship to appear off your coast, and then sign your MPP with France. As soon as Hiawatha commands his ship(s) to bombard your tile(s), he'll trigger your MPP with Joanie, and break his own.

Nice as that might be, Iros are nowhere near Frigates or Ironclads.

*(Apparently — as I discovered the other day! — 'aggressive actions' also includes bombarding hostile units which are on your own tiles, if your bombarding units are themselves already within their borders — or in their territorial waters, in this particular case)

Oh, I know ... if the AI DoW me and invades my territory I cannot attack (only defend) in any fashion without triggering the MPP. I'd sign up for a MPP with France and then goad the Iroquois into attacking first, but the option does not appear in the Diplomacy box w/ France for some reason. (I have Nationalism, and I think France does as well, hence my confusion.)

 

[jarred!]

France needs to know them (after Printing Press contacts can be traded), and you need to have an embassy with France (Writing), and you need to have discovered Nationalism.

 

[tjs282]

Oh, I know ... if the AI DoW me and invades my territory I cannot attack (only defend) in any fashion without triggering the MPP.

To be precise: MPPs will only be triggered against you, if you take the war into their territory.

You may freely attack any hostile AI-units which arrive on your own territory (including ships in your territorial waters), provided that you also launch your 'defensive-attacks' from within your own borders. You do not need to resign yourself to simply letting the AI land its units and pummel your town-defenders (this cranks up your War-Weariness, even if you win).

But as @jarred! says, you need diplomatic relations* already in place to sign any diplomatic agreements (RoPs, MAs, MPPs and Embargoes) -- and the AI is usually unwilling to sign MAs against a common foe, before war has been declared (by... someone).

*At higher levels, the AIs often have the spare cash needed to build Embassies with you; but at Regent and below, their chronic lack of green may 'force' you to pay that cost yourself...

 

[WeirdoJoker]

To be precise: MPPs will only be triggered against you, if you take the war into their territory.

You may freely attack any hostile AI-units which arrive on your own territory (including ships in your territorial waters), provided that you also launch your 'defensive-attacks' from within your own borders. You do not need to resign yourself to simply letting the AI land its units and pummel your town-defenders (this cranks up your War-Weariness, even if you win).

Hm ... I seem to remember initiating attacks and triggering an MPP (in a prior game). OTOH, my Cavs & Rifles should be able to make short work of any invading Iros should they choose to land & attack, anyway.

But as @jarred! says, you need diplomatic relations* already in place to sign any diplomatic agreements (RoPs, MAs, MPPs and Embargoes) -- and the AI is usually unwilling to sign MAs against a common foe, before war has been declared (by... someone).

I was thinking less of an MA than simply getting a MPP with Joan and then goading Hiawatha into attacking me first, so as to trigger the MPP against them instead of against me, so I could go in and crush the Iroquois.

While I'm thinking of it, though ... what does a MA do that simply being at war against a common enemy not do?

*At higher levels, the AIs often have the spare cash needed to build Embassies with you; but at Regent and below, their chronic lack of green may 'force' you to pay that cost yourself...

I've noticed that just at Regent (the highest I've played - still getting comfortable) ... once in a while someone will build an embassy with me, but it's rather rare.