Techs.

[Orbit]

What techs are the most useful to research? Which techs should I not research? Which ones can I buy off of others civs at fairly cheap prices?

I have just completed my first game (on chieftain) and now I started a few games just to work on my opening moves (on warlord). I start with Bronze Working, and then go on the Monarchy path, trading the techs I get right away. It seems to work fairly well, with everyone getting to the Middle Ages at around the same time. Is this a good idea?

 

[RX2000]

There are several places here on the site you can look for help.

First, you might want to look at Cracker's very good article on how to start out, here. http://www.civfanatics.com/doc/civ3/cracker/civ3_starts/

Excilus has some tips for how to start out and expand fast here. http://www.civfanatics.com/civ3acad_fastexpand.shtml

Here's a few other ways to start out by BillChin, here. http://www.civfanatics.com/civ3acad_4basicstrat.shtml

Look through the rest of the War Academy, there's some good stuff there. (And not all of it is just about war.)

 

[tao]

As can be seen in the Mac succession game djb2 here it is essential to be the 1st to research steam. Only that allows you to trade for potentially missing coal with a high chance of getting it..