Most valuable resource?

[Jethro83]

The four I consider most valuable...

1. Iron
2. Oil
3. Coal
4. Rubber

[Apolex]

Okay, how about this: Of the resources that are in the game, which would be the most important to a real country today?

Oil.

I guess that's the equivalent of asking what's the game's most important resource in the modern era.

[morb]

Originally posted by kcbob
After playing Civ III for the past few months, I have reached a conclusion. Iron is the MVR, most valuable resource. No iron, no swordsmen, no railroad, no chance. What do you all think?

its coal, by a 1000 mile win. no coal, no RR. RR is lifeblood of any civ game.

[Jethro83]

Originally posted by morb

its coal, by a 1000 mile win. no coal, no RR. RR is lifeblood of any civ game.

Iron is just as important as coal in railroading. What do you think is used for the rails, and the steam trains? Coal is simply the fuel the steam trains use.

Not only that, but iron has many more applications right from the ancient era onward. From the lowly swordsman, to the pikeman and knight, right up to the factories that drive your economy.

Iron is definitely the most valuable resource.

[Harovan]

I need coal only for railroads. It's not among the scarce resources, and in all my games it happened only once, that I had none. No big deal. I bought twice a coal for 20 turns in exchange for a bundle luxuries. Then I cranked out workers (and readded them later) and made my RR sleaze in this time. The vessels you can build with coal are quite shortliving and I rarely build them anyway.