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AI is biggest improvement -- by far!
If you haven't played Civ 3 yet, I can't tell you what I huge difference it is. I'm a pretty decent player, I guess. I used to play King regularly and beat it most of the time without the need to save and restore (except for breaks). I didn't really resort ot ICS or boring tactics like that. The difference in this one is appreciable -- don't try to jump in where you left off.
1) Unlike previous installments, the computer AI does not forgive and forget inexpicably one day. If you manage to irk him greatly, either you'll have to do some serious damage or you'll have to give him something to win back his trust. There's no way around it. And if you're in a democracy or republic, you'd better get out of war within a reasonable time.
2) The computer analyzes and understands your weakpoints exceptionally well. I've seen him turn around an attack because I fortified something and head for a weaker spot of my Civ. It's annoying, but definitely gives you a feeling of accomplishment when you beat the computer. He's very smart when it comes to war. He uses ships and armies really well to surprise the weakest part of your Civ.
3) Civs understand when they control strategic resources you need and don't give them up without an arm and a leg.
4) In Civ 2, I used to have an easy time blocking off different places I didn't want the computer to get to. Not possible in this one. The computer almost always figures out a way to get to where he wants be it by boat or whatever. It's not easy to control him at all -- even if there's only a small passage to one continent.
5) By far the most annoying AI attribute is his ability to spread like wildfire. He's much faster at expansion than I think even most humans would care to be. He puts cities early and EVERYWHERE and eventually he's going to make you angry. The only good thing is the cities he places really close to yours will usually be assimilated.
6) I can't tell you how refreshing is it now that it's virtually impossible to get every wonder. Gives the game more strategic decision making potential.
7) Diplomacy is a lot more fun. It isn't exactly like dealing with a human or anything, but it's leaps and bounds better than Civ 2. Prepare to get screwed if you really want something.
In any case, I just wanted to let all those whose biggest concern was AI know that AI is very strong in Civ 3. I'm back to mastering Warlord level again.
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