Resources

Infested-Jerk

Chieftain
Joined
Jun 5, 2005
Messages
12
Location
In my computer chair
Ah, the ever-needed, annoying and crucial thing to any civilization's victory, resources are a very important aspect of Civ3. I'm going to describe (Strategic for all you pros out there) all of the resources, what they do and why I hate them royaly.



To begin:

Horses:
These are found just about anywhere, mostly Plains and hills. They allow you to build Horsemen, Knights, Calvary not to mention a small horde of special units.
Importance (Scale is from Very Low, Low, Neutral, High, Very High)
High, early game horses provde fast attack options, which allows you to take less of a hit if you lose a fight ebcause they retreat. Extra movement is also nice for fending off the barbarian hordes. After you get Calvary you'll like having horses. But, alas, most modern weapons make horse-bound units suck.


Iron:
This, along with Coal, Oil and Rubber is the msot important resource in the game. Early on it allows you to Build Swordsmen, pikemen Knights and an asortment of SPecial units (Including Persian Immortals). Iron also allows for railroads later on.

Importance: Very high. Besides railroads, Iron gives the best Ancient and Middle-Age options for combat. Swordsmen have the highest attack Ancient, while being able to use knights (Or medieval infantry) in the Midle Ages is a good option to have. Railroads are crucial to winning, because they are a great defenseive and offensive assett.

Salpeter:
This is something needed for early gunpowder, it allows you to build a host of stuff, from cannons to calvary and even ships. It's not a very important resource. Besides some defensive options like COastal fortresses, and artillery, the only good unit that comes from this resource is calvary. (Muskettmen aside, as Riflemen are much better.).
Importance: I'd say low to neutral.

Coal:
Allows the building of railroads and some ships. (Ironclads)
Importance: Very important because Railroads are the best infastructure an empire can have. Not wasting any movement points on railroads is awesome, allowing forces to move from a small out-post from one side all the way to another far point in your empire in barely any time, perfect for attacking a sudden enemy or defending a vulnerable city.

Rubber:
Rubber allows for many units to be made. Not limited to: Infantry, Modern Armor, Tanks, and many more.
Importance: Very High. Because many modern units rely on it, this resource is a godsend to have.

Oil:
This is the most ANNOYING resource in the game. If there's a resource you won't be able to get because it's over in enemy territory, it's oil. Oil allows for all mechanized units to be built. This includes battleships, tanks, panzers, Bombers, Stealth bombers, Mech infantry, Modern armor and so forth. Oil is the most annoying resource because it also has a bad habbit of disappearing. I've waged wars over it.

Importance: Very Very very High. Oil allows for too many good units to be built to pass up. It SUCKS when there's no oil on a map.

Aluminum:
This allows for everything from missles to FIghters. It also allows for some cityimprovements.
Importance: High, but Aluminum is more common than Oil.

Uranium:
Yeah, radioactive stuff can be built from this. Includes Nuclear Plants, Nuclear Subs and Tactical and ICBM nukes.

Importance: High to Very High. Having Nuclear arms helps other civs to respect you more, but the cost of maintaining thirty icbms is staggering. (And using them really pisses them off, so user beware.)
 
Given that Cavalry can absolutely dominate a game - they are dominant until rifles and can take down infantry if they have artillery support - I don't see how saltpeter isn't important.

Without it, it's a big jump from trebuchet to artillery, if you are using bombardment. And 5 UU's depend on saltpeter (Musketeer, Sipahi, Cossack, Man o' War, H'Wacha)

It all depends on what you are doing - if you are going for an early conquest, then maybe horse and iron are all that is important.

If you are going for spaceship, you better have aluminum, uranium and rubber, though.
 
Not to be overly critical, but your rating system leaves much to be desired. You place just about every resource as very important except saltpeter. Granted some resources last longer than others, and some are more important for the space ship than other victories, you really don't justify a ranking. Your summaries are good, better to just state them than try to give a ranking to each.
 
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