Republic

[levi Limestone]

As its not clear to me can someone define what the needs are in Civ3 compared to civ2
in a soundbite, civ 2 had Republic as more efficient and more productive then monarchy but requiring greater happiness, so relevant improvements (temples etc) to be built before switch. Is Civ 3 different?

 

[Jazzmail]

No, you need to keep enough faces happy or content always, monarchy or republic.

The only difference here is unhappy republic citizens don't miraculously get content, when there are soldiers in the city to oppress them.
Luxury is the way to make them happy.

 

[Abegweit]

As its not clear to me can someone define what the needs are in Civ3 compared to civ2
in a soundbite, civ 2 had Republic as more efficient and more productive then monarchy but requiring greater happiness, so relevant improvements (temples etc) to be built before switch. Is Civ 3 different?

The difference between Monarchy and Republic is still the same. However temples were nerfed in civ3, giving only 1 content instead of 2. Consequently, they should rarely be built.

As jazzmail says, luxes help. Don't be afraid to use the slider either.

 

[RulerOfDaPeople]

I recently tried Republic and it was a great government. The only weaknesses I noticed with it (besides being at war too long with someone) was the corruption and waste rate. It seems corruption with Republic is just as bad as all the other less than desirable government choices. With Republic you need to keep your territory small and all your cities close by or else you'll have unproductive cities. Another thing I noticed is that it does not produce as much happy/content citizens as some other governments.

I had no threats around me and tons of open land with the contacts I did have liking me so I switched to Democracy as soon as I got it. And instantly, I noticed all my citizens went from being borderline content (I barely had my cities from being in civil disorder in Republic) to being joyful and happy with all the cities going into "we love the President day".

 

[gmaharriet]

With Republic you need to keep your territory small and all your cities close by or else you'll have unproductive cities. Another thing I noticed is that it does not produce as much happy/content citizens as some other governments.

I had no threats around me and tons of open land with the contacts I did have liking me so I switched to Democracy as soon as I got it. And instantly, I noticed all my citizens went from being borderline content (I barely had my cities from being in civil disorder in Republic) to being joyful and happy with all the cities going into "we love the President day".

Unproductive towns/cities are made productive by turning them into science/tax farms, especially in C3C. These farms greatly speed up research times and increase your income. You never want to limit the number of towns you have due to not being able to build improvements/units quickly...that's not what they're for.

I can't imagine why Demo made your people happier than Republic (more gold revenue perhaps?), but they certainly will turn very unhappy more quickly should you go to war, and are more likely to revolt and overturn your goverment completely. It also means several more non-productive turns in Anarchy unless your civ is Religious. It also means researching several non-required techs and comes too late in the game for me.

 

[greygamer]

I recently tried Republic and it was a great government. The only weaknesses I noticed with it (besides being at war too long with someone) was the corruption and waste rate. It seems corruption with Republic is just as bad as all the other less than desirable government choices. With Republic you need to keep your territory small and all your cities close by or else you'll have unproductive cities. Another thing I noticed is that it does not produce as much happy/content citizens as some other governments.

The trick with those distant cities is to get the to max population as quickly as you can (to support a larger military for less gold) and maximise food production to support it then use as many as possible as specialist as these don't contribute to corruption. With more gold you can rush necessary improvements. It shouldn't have an effect on happy/content citizens aside from the fact you have no MP so need more temples/colosseums/cathedrals etc.
IOW you don't need to keep your territory small, in fact you shouldn't.