My first game

[YahMon]

Large map, 2nd level difficulty, lots of barbarian activity, normal map settings, 8 civs, I chose the French.

Got into an early war with the Germans, found the AI to be quite resourceful at waging war although peace demands were a tad outrageous when he was down to just 3 cities. Taking cities is much harder than in previous Civ games -- even though I was technologically advanced and ended up kicking their butt with swordmen since I had iron and he didn't, I couldn't locate a horse resource to build up chariots and horsemen. It is now 1000 AD and I've got about 15 cities (10 of which are 6+ pop), I still have no contact with the other 6 civs and am fearful that they have been trading tech and will kick my arse soon. Explored the rest of the map and found a horse resource so I'm happy that at least I'll be able to build knights real soon. Terrain on my island is VERY mountainous which even with fast workers (industrious) makes building roads to resources quite difficult. I made the mistake of shooting towards Republic in the tech tree and doing all the 4 optional ancient era techs (horseback riding, literature, monarchy, and republic). I have temples and libraries in most of my cities in addition to the pyramids and Oracle so at this point am probably looking for a cultural or diplomatic victory until I can assess my tech situation.

Love how the barbarians really keep after you, the game interface is great and easy to jump into. AI waging war is not as predictable as you have grown accustomed to and doesn't always make a beeline for the least defended city realitivily close by. Altogether I'm impressed especially at this difficulty. Governors manage civil unrest for you (which is great!) but get accustomed to alot more of it (especially if you are in a Republic!)

needless to say-- I'm VERY tired at work today....

[YahMon]

Ok... I snuck off during lunch to play for another hour or so...

Managed to meet up with the English on the island directly south of mine (well almost mine... germans are down to just one city-- still a pain to take it out though since he has an elite spearman 1.2.1 against my veteran swordsmen 3.2.1, is fortified, with city walls and terrain bonus!) Trick is to time your assaults (3+ units) since his units regenerate one HP a turn whereas you do not (until Battlefield Medicine)... timing of the assaults is also crucial since in a Republic War Weariness can be a HUGE problem if you are the one who declared war and have a bunch of units in enemy territory.

For all those people screamin about ZOCs being eliminated... it makes the game MUCH better since you have to have an offensive AND defensive unit in each town unless you want all your improvements destroyed.

Like the three different ocean tiles... graphics are great... had a few of my cities have problems with disease since they were next to swamp or floodplain. Hmm. as I posted before, the barbarians help prevent ICS since they do respawn warrirors and horsemen pretty quickly (although they only have 2 hits so they aren't that hard to deal with if you produce units from your barracks or harbors)

I automated a few workers to see how good they were automated (didn't always like to do this in SMAC), they ended up doing a good job -- which is great since although I like doing it at first it can get VERY tedious.

I'm researching Gunpowder and keeping my fingers crosseed that some saltpeter is nearby and whether or not I need to go to war or not.... The dynamics like this in the game is what makes Civ3 SOOOOO much more enjoyable....

All in All -- this is a nicely polished product well worth the money.. Screw all the reviewers who say otherwise... Its a good feeling to feel like you are getting your moneys worth after spending too much money on too many games not worth the hype.

[YahMon]

For the europeans out there waiting who wanted info on gov't types..... (I'm french so..)

Anarchy:
Military Police- none
Corruption - catastrophic
Production - nothing except food; no hurrying
Science - None
Support - No gold needed for any support
--special--
* city tiles produce 1- food for every tile with 2+ food
* workers work at 50%

Despotism:
MP - 2 troops / city
Corr - rampant
Pro - hurry w/ pop. drop
Support - 4 units/town w/o support
--special--
* city tiles produce 1 F/S/C less if terrain produces more than 2
* can draft 2 citizens / city

Monarchy:
MP - 3 troops/city
Corr - significant
Prod - hurry w/ $
Support - 2 units/town w/o support
--special--
* draft 2 citizens / city

Republic:
MP - None
Corr - nuisance
Prod - hurry w/$
Support - no free units
-- special --
* city tiles produce 1+ commerce where there was already 1
* draft 1 unit / city
* war weariness

Communism:
MP - 4 troops/city
Corruption - problem (not affected by distance from capital)
Prod - hurry w/ population
Support - 2/town 4/city 8/metropolis
-- specials --
* espionage have greater chance of success
* draft 2 citizens/city

Democracy:
MP - No
Corr - minimal
Prod - hurry w/$
Support - no free units
--specials--
* +1 commerce every square which already has one
* immune to propaganda
* workers work 50% faster
* draft 1 citizen/city
* war weariness has big impact

hope this wets your appetites...

[Faboba]

Originally posted by YahMon

All in All -- this is a nicely polished product well worth the money.. Screw all the reviewers who say otherwise... Its a good feeling to feel like you are getting your moneys worth after spending too much money on too many games not worth the hype.

Hooray! Well said! Have a biccie!

[Rommel393]

Bravo! Civ3 truly is a great game. Everybody seems to be wining except for us select few who can see it for its true glory. Its not perfect, some (small) things were left "almost done". But for the most part, it is a great piece of work. Although, the patch should be nice, too.

[manofthehour]

What are the military police?

[Stuie]

Originally posted by manofthehour
What are the military police?

Military Police = the number of units that can be used to reduce unhappiness in each city.

[Faboba]

Martial law from Civ 2 in other words