So I just lost a game on warlord ... it's time to learn some advanced strategy

[Omntiopian]

All right, so following the advice in this thread, I finished my second game. It turns out that having developed land really does make a difference. I also expanded really quickly, and built a LOT of workers. I think one of the biggest things for me was the density of city building. That really seemed to make a huge difference. I was not only more scientifically advanced, but my military was bigger and better than anyone else's. So I ended up winning by domination, eliminating all the other people (which was slightly easier considering I went with a pangea type map where all but one civ was on the same island. So thanks for all the advice!

Next game I'm going to try the next difficulty up, but go for a cultural or diplomatic victory. Thanks for the advice everyone!

 

[vmxa]

GG onward and upward.

 

[Omntiopian]

Ok, so I have another question. In the negotiation screen, when talking to other civs, there's always an option to trade cities, but the CPU's will never trade any of their cities. So my question is, have you ever had a situation where you've traded for a city? If so, what did you give them?

 

[MysteryX]

In my experience, the AI tribe will only trade you settlements with small populations and little development at the edge of their borders. Typically, I have never paid for AI settlements outright, but occasionally have taken some as part of negotiating a peace treaty that the AI desperately wants from me.

 

[CommandoBob]

Ok, so I have another question. In the negotiation screen, when talking to other civs, there's always an option to trade cities, but the CPU's will never trade any of their cities. So my question is, have you ever had a situation where you've traded for a city? If so, what did you give them?

Backstory
In Civ3 vanilla, first release or so, you could buy and trade cities with the AI and that was quickly exploited by the humans. I don't know when it got patched, but it did. I've never seen it happen but I have read here at the forum that it could and did.

Today
The only time the AI will trade cities is in order to make peace. You can give the AI cities anytime. But to get them from the AI you must be at war and are trying to make peace. Either you or the AI can initiate the peace treaty, it doesn't matter as long as you get to that screen.

Rarely do you get any good cities though sometimes you can get more than one city. My best deal was three cities.

 

[PaperBeetle]

Plus you can demand cities from the AI, and sometimes get them.

 

[vmxa]

Yes it was patched out very early in Civ3 vanilla. It was a big exploit. Don't know why they did not band selling workers at that time. I know I asked them to remove it. If you catch a worker in a capitol and have the gold to buy it, the AI will be set back. iirc they did raise the price for a worker.

 

[Omntiopian]

ONE more question (although probably not the last). What's your guys' opinion on forests? Is a forest on a grassland square better as a forest, or will taking it down yield a better result? I ask because a lot of my cities on my current map get a lot of their production from forests, and if I take them all down and put up mines instead, I'll actually get less production (but more food). What 's the best way to manage them?

 

[MysteryX]

ONE more question (although probably not the last). What's your guys' opinion on forests? Is a forest on a grassland square better as a forest, or will taking it down yield a better result? I ask because a lot of my cities on my current map get a lot of their production from forests, and if I take them all down and put up mines instead, I'll actually get less production (but more food). What 's the best way to manage them?

It depends on whether your city needs the extra food or the extra production at the time, at least before you get steam power.

After steam power, you are better off clearing the forest, at least on a grassland square. Often, a cleared forest will leave a bonus grassland square behind. If you get one of those, you get 3 production from your mined/railed square. If you fail to win the bonus grassland lottery, you still get 2 with the mined/railed square, no less than the 2 production you got from the forest, but you are now getting the extra food.