Please forgive me it's been a long time since I read up on Civ3. Has the player start option been added? And how much ability does the editor have now? I also remember people saying that the AI expanded too quickly. Has Firaxis addressed this? And from what I remember, people were upset about resources dissappearing after a short amount of time, has Firaxis delt with this? If this issues have been delt with, then I want to buy Civ3. These are the only reasons why I haven't yet.
You can set the player starting positions using 3rd party programs to do it. Its a pain.
The AI still expands rapidly.
Resources disappearing and reappearing can be adjusted in the editor to your liking, or even told never to disappear. Ever.
The editor hasn't released any major changes of interest yet.
Hope this helps
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I'm building a wagon! On some other part of the internets, obviously (but not that other site).
I also remember people saying that the AI expanded too quickly
As said above , it still does. Its not a bug, its how you win. The AI has been programmed to do the kind of things human players have doen all along. Now the AI putting down a city on one square that your culture hasnt incorporated yet miles from its core cities. Thats a bug (in more ways than one).