Espionage: You can't steal techs from civs you are at war with

[Pembleton]

"Investigate City (see what the rival city is building and has already built )
Steal Technology (attempts to steal a technology from the rival civilization)

Note that when you are at war with another Civ, your embassy in their capitol is automatically closed, and you will be unable to conduct either of the above missions. "

From the Civ3.com FAQ.

There was a big debate about this in a different thread. I argued, along with several others that stealing techs was overpowered. Since now you can't do it against a civ you are at war with, it seems much more balanced.

I hope the above isn't a typo and that the information is correct.

[Pembleton]

Here's the whole thing on espionage. Sounds much more balanced IMO:

"Will I still use spies to conduct espionage?
No. Like trade, espionage has been abstracted to a mission selection screen and will no longer require you to use spy units.

What espionage missions can I perform?
Before you can even attempt espionage missions, you must establish an embassy with the civilization you want to spy on. Once you have established an embassy with a rival, you can perform the following two diplomatic actions by double-clicking on the embassy icon of the civ you wish to target:

Investigate City (see what the rival city is building and has already built )
Steal Technology (attempts to steal a technology from the rival civilization)

"Note that when you are at war with another Civ, your embassy in their capitol is automatically closed, and you will be unable to conduct either of the above missions.

There are also five espionage missions which you can only perform once you've built the Intelligence Agency (Small Wonder), and only against Civs with whom you've established an embassy and planted a spy. They are:

Sabotage (sabotages the current project of an enemy city)
Propaganda (attempts to convince an enemy city to join your Civilization)
Steal Plans (reveals all troop locations of an enemy Civ for one turn)
Steal World Map (reveals what an enemy knows about the world)
Expose Enemy Spy (ferrets out opposing spies)

These missions can be performed against a Civ as long as you have a spy planted in that Civ's embassy. Even if you go to war and your embassy is closed, your spy will continue to function as long as it is not caught."

[Gramphos]

This sounds really good. As when you are at war with a civ they are more aware of you.

[KenE]

I agree this sounds more balanced. I always thought controlling individual little spies running around the country side was a little silly.

[Bakunine]

These missions can be performed against a Civ as long as you have a spy planted in that Civ's embassy. Even if you go to war and your embassy is closed, your spy will continue to function as long as it is not caught."

Really nice the way it works!