Step by step guide

[pelmen]

Hello everyone,
I just found this site and love it. I noticed the highscores are over 88000 and it blew my mind on how people do that. I know I completely suck because my score never reached over one thousand. I am playing on the easiest and I have not installed any patches if it makes any difference. One huge problem I got is if I build a city or capture one one a different continent it grows like crap. There is always corruption and they barely go past 6 population. Is there a turn by turn guide for noobs like me?

Also out of curiosity I was wondering what was you highest shields in one city? Most I ever had was like 150 and thats in my capital and cities early built.

Thanks for the help,
Pelmen

 

[MikMilaKiks2Kil]

Read some of the articles in the War Academy, most of them are great. Like a lot of people here I benefited tremendously from reading the articles by Crackers on opening play - your opening is the most crucial phase in the game. It sets out general rules on decision-making in the early turns; it does get very detailed, and I definitely would not say I have mastered the materials. But it has certainly, together with many other articles in the Academy, taken me from a Chieftain to a Monarch level player.

I wouldn't worry about scores too much if I were just starting off on this game, I personally am not fussed about what score I get, as long as I win, by conquest or domination preferrably. I think your score gets larger if you go to higher levels ie it gets multiplied by a factor that increases with the level, or something like that.

Finally, welcome to Civ III.

Mik

 

[pelmen]

Thanks for the help. Also about the score .... I pretty much always win on easiest but when I get to the part where the guy hits the thing with the hammer the highest I went was three bars. Is this also due to the level I am.

Again thanks for the help,
Pelmen

 

[MikMilaKiks2Kil]

Not sure about the hammer thing, my guess is that it's related to the level you play and the manner of your victory... maybe someone else can enlighten?

Well if you are consistently winning on Chieftain that's a good start. Keep playing!

Mik

 

[Twonky]

Here is an article on how the score is determined. Most important are the difficulty level and the victory date.

And welcome to the forum, pelmen!

 

[Quintillus]

The hammer thing = the warrior hitting the score bar thingy at the end of the game.

You can get the hammer to go higher than three bars on easiest - I've got it up to 7 or so on Chieftan. But higher difficulties will help more with score. Each difficulty has a score multiplier:

Chieftan: 1
Warlord: 2
Regent: 3
Monarch: 4
Emperor: 5
Demigod: 6
Diety: 6 (vanilla) or 7 (Conquests)
Sid: 8

So if you can score 700 base score on Chieftan, and 550 base score on Warlord, your final score will be higher in Warlord (1100). If you play a chieftan game, the bonus is shown in the score the whole time on the Histograph, so if it says you have, say, 372, that's with the bonus included.

You also get bonus points for finishing the game early - it's 1 point per year, times difficulty level multiplier, if I remember correctly. If you finish early enough, that can help your score a lot, but if it's late in the game and you have a big empire it can actually be more beneficial for your score to intentionally delay your victory.

 

[pelmen]

Thanks for the help everyone. I got another question. There have been quite a few posts on having zero science and I was wondering since you are buying technology that means you are even with all the other civilizations. I have found it very useful to not trade any technology at all because when it comes to war they have musket men and I have infantry making it much easier to destroy them. What is your guys opinion on it?

Also I finish the game almost always at 2050AD and my science is horrible. If I remember correctly I barely got to the Infantry at that time. Anyone know what to do with the amount I should spend on science and on people happiness? Also what is the best way to earn money in the game so that I may increase my science and people happiness.

Last question I was wondering out what percent do you guys keep your spendings on science and people happiness.

Thanks,
Pelmen

 

[MAS]

Thanks for the help everyone. I got another question. There have been quite a few posts on having zero science and I was wondering since you are buying technology that means you are even with all the other civilizations. I have found it very useful to not trade any technology at all because when it comes to war they have musket men and I have infantry making it much easier to destroy them. What is your guys opinion on it?

Of course you shouldn't trade a useful wonder tech if you want to build said wonder, and you shouldn't trade a useful unit tech if you are about to declare war on them. But, by not trading at all you are putting yourself at a disadvantage.
At higher levels you may even consider researching an otherwise useless dead-end tech for the sole purpose of being the only one to know that tech, and thus trade it to the AI at premium price and get multiple tech in return.

Also I finish the game almost always at 2050AD and my science is horrible. If I remember correctly I barely got to the Infantry at that time. Anyone know what to do with the amount I should spend on science and on people happiness? Also what is the best way to earn money in the game so that I may increase my science and people happiness.

the sliders merely divide the total raw commerce (left after corruption) One of the main factors in research power (or gold collecting power if you go for zero research) is how much total raw commerce you produce.
If you want to reach the end of the tech tree before 2050AD (before 1500AD is also possible) you should try to increase your commerce.
The total raw commerce you produce is a function of how many citizens are working on tiles that give any amount of commerce.

To make a long story short: expand, expand, expand, expand!

Just get as many land under your control as possible (without triggering a domination victory) and grow your cities as large as possible.

Road every tile in your empire (the ones worked by citizens first) as fast as possible, and switch to republic for the bonus commerce.

The corrupted cities far away from your capital should be turned into specialist farms, to do this, irrigate everything you can around them, and use the surplus food to support specialist (taxman or scientist)

Last question I was wondering out what percent do you guys keep your spendings on science and people happiness.

I get enough tax to stay in the black, I get enough lux to prevent my core cities from going into disorder, and I put the rest (if there is a rest) into science.

(non-core cities should be kept from rioting with specialist, though if you collect enough lux resources, you may not even need the lux slider at all, anyway.)

I sometimes turn the science slider down to collect gold for a specific purpose.
I fiddle with the sliders often, I usually check every turn if they need to be fiddled with.

 

[pelmen]

WOW. That post helped a lot. Thanks very much.

Last question though

When I capture cities they are pretty much always corruption, what can I do about that?

Thanks,
pelmen

 

[Kool Keith]

WOW. That post helped a lot. Thanks very much.

Last question though

When I capture cities they are pretty much always corruption, what can I do about that?

Thanks,
pelmen

Nothing. With fully corrupt towns you should irrigate everything and try to fit in as many specialists as you can. You can also use these towns for settlers and/or workers. Sometimes it isn't a horrible idea to just let the town build up shields and, when necessary, you can cash-rush a unit for relatively cheap, if needed.

 

[MAS]

Last question though

When I capture cities they are pretty much always corruption, what can I do about that?

I already answered that question actually

The corrupted cities far away from your capital should be turned into specialist farms, to do this, irrigate everything you can around them, and use the surplus food to support specialist (taxman or scientist)

 

[gmaharriet]

I have found it very useful to not trade any technology at all because when it comes to war they have musket men and I have infantry making it much easier to destroy them. What is your guys opinion on it?

I think this is worth some discussion. Once you learn how to increase your science rate by increasing commerce and using scientists in corrupt towns, you can easily outresearch the AI once you get into the Middle Ages...but only at the levels Chieftain through maybe Monarch or Emperor. When you're ahead in research, it is possible dominate by withholding tech from the AI.

BUT...the AI's research rate increases with each level of play. Somewhere around Emperor or Demi-god you'll be unable to keep up with them, and trading becomes absolutely necessary and you'll often be behind and trying to dig yourself out of a hole. I'd suggest learning to trade well before you get to the level where it's absolutely necessary. It's been a hard lesson for me to learn, because I avoided trading for so long.

 

[civverguy]

I usually trade technology when the AI has techs that I don't have. I trade techs the the AI and trade techs I got from one civ to other civs. You can get ahead in technology this way.

 

[pelmen]

Thanks for all the help. Next time I won't be playing on cheiftan.

Thanks,
Pelmen

 

[Tone]

I have found it very useful to not trade any technology at all because when it comes to war they have musket men and I have infantry making it much easier to destroy them. What is your guys opinion on it?

I think this is worth some discussion.

When I was reading through this thread this quote stood out. It good to see that GMA and MAS think the same way. Trading is a key skill. You won't be able to outresearch the AI as you get beyond Monarch without at least some trading. Also knowing what the AI is likely to research* will enable you to create more trading opportunities.

*see the War Acadamy.

 

[pelmen]

Thanks for that. I still believe in not trading with them because just recently (yesterday) I had the most advanced technology with tanks. The the right of passage trick and set up lots of troops near all the enemies cities. Next turn I was able to take HALF of the civilizations cities. That is a pretty impressive thing to do i think.

Also I was wondering if someone from the highscore people or anyone with a large score is willing to give me their saved file.

Last I was wondering the patches that are released for civ3 are they important? Or just some things I don't need.

Thanks for the help,
Pelmen

 

[Tone]

Also I was wondering if someone from the highscore people or anyone with a large score is willing to give me their saved file.

Presumably you want Moonsinger's 88K game so here's the link to the saves from this game which are stored in the Hall of Fame. All games saves submitted to the HOF are available for downloading, usually 4000BC, 1000BC, 10AD, 1000AD and the final save.

Last I was wondering the patches that are released for civ3 are they important?

Yes, if you want a balanced game.

 

[pelmen]

Will the patches automatically change my game that I saved or do I have to start a new game for the patches to have their effect?

Thanks,
Pelmen

 

[Tone]

Finish your current game before installing the patches as I doubt whether your saves will load when you upgrade.

What version of the game have you got? Civ complete is fully patched already.

 

[pelmen]

How can I check if it is complete? I am pretty sure it isn't.

Thanks,
Pelmen