My 2 cents ...

[Arachno]

First, let me tell you my story

Americans, Chieftain, Huge World Map (Lucky me, I start in America :-)

I am in America, north there is the Iroquoise and south the Aztecs, the other 5 civs are in Europe and Asia.

I manage to stay in peace until about 1000AD, when the Iroquoise and Aztecs pull a trick on me that I'm not about to forget ! The leader of the Aztecs call me to get a right of passage in my territory, going to war against the Iroquoise. Fine, I say, if you give me gems and 2$ a year. Nice deal, I think ... So I see them coming up, pretty heavy army, but not as impressive as I would have tought. Basically, I could have beated them with my superior technology and my heavy fortified borders. When they reach center america, I receive a message from mister the Iroquoise, asking me to wage war against the Aztecs. I would have said yes 3 turns ago, but now with all these troops in the middle of my empire, I can't, so I refuse. The dumb Iroquoise declare war on me (just a tought, no connection with my story, why do inferior leaders are so arrogant ?!? Everytime I talk with Greece, an almost annihilated Civ, Alexander tells me : "I welcome [...] of the tiny American..." Hell, it's cause of me if he's stil alive!) So, the Iroquoise are now at war against me ... so what, I think, they'll have too much to handle with the Aztecs, I'll just play defensive. Next turn, the Aztec troops don't move ... strange ... I immediatly see something's wrong. I start backing up the people at my borders, fearing what was going to happen : yes, the Aztec allies with the Iroquoise against me !!! They seize Philadelphia and New York, but both come back to me a couple of turns later, though almost all the improvements are gone. I finally sign a treaty with both, but those bastards, even if they're losing like hell, ask me for techs and cash for peace (really, the diplomacy is just TOO lame in this game, Alpha Centauri was WAY better in this point). Anyway, when I get Cavalry, way later, the natives discover that an attack against me is heavily punished, whenever it happens : 25 Cavalry. Though most them of my die under the blade of Swordsman and Knights (that's nothing compared to my friend swearing that he has lost 3 submarines against a frigate and a Galleon), I manage to take and keep 4 Iroquoise cities. At this point, I think to myself : "The Aztecks will know worse for their treason". I wait, and wait, until I know the time as come. I start to build up ironclads, 9 to be precise. Then canons, 6. Then, to defend these, Infantry (or rifleman, don't remember), 10. After about 100 year of bombardments, the Azteck empire is nothing more than dust and ashes. My people revolt against war, so I have to sign a treaty : YES, believe this, I have to give up a tech to sign peace with a country that normally would have begged for it for a lot of time. Even Civ2 was better at this. Really, leaders are just way too arogant. In real world, leaders speak to each others with respect. I think the dialogue in Civ3 is just plain dumb.

Now, I'm in peace with everybody, getting in contact with Europeans. I think I lead the world in science and army, though I have wayyyyy less cities than they do, the difference is that my cities are crowded and theirs are 1-7 only.



All in all, give me a Civ2 with strategic ressources and culture and I'd like it better than this Diplomacy free Civ3, cause really, the diplomacy mode is totally useless. You can't be a peaceful merchant, you can't be a marginal scientific, all you can be is a dumbass warrior.