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Old August 14, 2002, 21:14   #1
Foolishman
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I am new, and need tips
Good day, this is my first time playing a civilization game, I have tried the first difficulty and failed miserably at it, the AI computers walked all over me, what do I do?!?!
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Old August 14, 2002, 21:21   #2
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Look around on the Strategy forum.
Seriously, some great stuff for newbies here. Just browse around some threads.
 
Old August 14, 2002, 21:27   #3
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Or this thread:

http://apolyton.net/forums/showthrea...threadid=58720

Should help a lot.
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Old August 14, 2002, 21:28   #4
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Of course, there's some general rules to live by.

At the beginning, focus on expansion. The AI in Civ3 does this in spades, and you'll find it hard to catch up if you only have three cities to their twelve. Pop-rushing can be of great value. To expand your culture into areas that you'd like secure (such as areas with luxuries or resources), pop-rush temples and other culture improvements. And don't forget to explore at the beginning, as well. Send out warriors, or even better, horsemen. Pop those goody huts ASAP and get the bonuses.
Finally, if you're ahead in the tech race (and you should be if you're on Chieftan), learn how to tech whore. That is, when you discover a new, valuable advance that nobody else has yet, sell it to all of the other civs. You'll make a mint, and you'll probably still be ahead in the tech race to boot.

EDIT: Ah, there's the thread I was looking for.
 
Old August 14, 2002, 21:31   #5
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Is it best to make a large military and just try and conquer everyone, or is diplomacy a better way?
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Old August 14, 2002, 21:33   #6
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Is it best to make a large military, and if so, what units are good to start with?
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Old August 14, 2002, 21:36   #7
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Quote:
Originally posted by Foolishman
Is it best to make a large military and just try and conquer everyone, or is diplomacy a better way?
Well, early wars can help immensely. When the game calculates your score, the Ancient Era is just as important as the modern one. Plus, ancient wars tend to be a bit easier (that's how it is for me, at least). Just STAY AWAY FROM THE GREEKS. They've got the best defensive unit in Ancient Times, and you'll have little chance unless you overwhelm them.
Thing is, you shouldn't be afraid to get dirty and go kick some ass. Peace won't get you too far in this game, but landing 30 fresh tanks on enemy soil will garner some positive results. Just remember, that if you declare war, you've gotta focus ON THE WAR, and not on anything else. The AI will retaliate brutally unless you can hit them hard enough at the beginning. Stack your units, and always keep at least one or two defensive units with your offensive units when attacking (and keep the stacks together). And never forget to escort your artillery.
 
Old August 14, 2002, 21:39   #8
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If one could dominate the AI and take all their cities, wouldn't the other AIs want to be your friends rather then enemies, because when I tried, they all attacked me and I died fast, and it was in the cheiften I think, my foreign advisor said they "allied" against me, can I do the same against one of them?
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Old August 14, 2002, 21:41   #9
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Originally posted by Foolishman
Is it best to make a large military, and if so, what units are good to start with?
If you're going to build a military at all, you might as well make it big. When I attack a rival civ, I tend to use stacks of 7-8 offensive units, 2 defensive units, and 3 artillery. I use the artillery to weaken a city's defenses before attacking. When moving the stacks, try to keep to the high ground (mountains and hills). This provides a defense bonus in the event of an attack.
As for what units to use, it depends on the era. In the Ancient Era, Archers, Spearmen, and Catapults work nicely. Don't build too many Swordsmen, as they can't be upgraded. For the Middle Ages, go with Knights, Catapults (as Cannons don't appear for a while), and Pikemen. For the Industrial Era, start with Cavalry, Riflemen, and Cannons, and then eventually move on to Tanks, Infantry, and Artillery. In the Modern Age, it'll come down to Mech Infantry, Modern Armor, and Radar Artillery. But by that time, you should also have a wide selection of naval/air units available.
 
Old August 14, 2002, 21:45   #10
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Quote:
Originally posted by Foolishman
If one could dominate the AI and take all their cities, wouldn't the other AIs want to be your friends rather then enemies, because when I tried, they all attacked me and I died fast, and it was in the cheiften I think, my foreign advisor said they "allied" against me, can I do the same against one of them?
You can sign a mutual protection pact with other civs, or a military alliance if you're ready for war, but the best way to ensure that the others don't attack is to appease them. Just agree to most of their trade deals, don't send units into their territory, etc... Plus, a good strategy is to NOT wipe out a civ all at once. Instead, "prune" them by taking a few key cities, and then grabbing some more in the peace negotiations. Wait 20 turns (to avoid a reputation hit), lather, rinse, and repeat.
If you can manage to make one or two really good friends, that should be enough to prevent everyone from declaring war on you (by the time MPP's are available, the diplomacy network should work to your advantage). One or two allies will usually sway more AI's to your side against the civ you're at war with. Just don't try to please everyone.
 
Old August 14, 2002, 21:47   #11
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Oh, another thing, my Science Advisor said to me, " our scientific progress is barly moving, we should increase funding." when I saw that, I went to DOmestic Advisor and chnaged science to 60%, but, it made a good portion fo my gold disappear, it was only 1+, and thoughts on how to increase science and gold at the same time?
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Old August 14, 2002, 21:51   #12
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Quote:
Originally posted by Foolishman
Oh, another thing, my Science Advisor said to me, " our scientific progress is barly moving, we should increase funding." when I saw that, I went to DOmestic Advisor and chnaged science to 60%, but, it made a good portion fo my gold disappear, it was only 1+, and thoughts on how to increase science and gold at the same time?
Well, it's rather difficult to increase both at once, so try doing one or the other. If you cut science, you can always use the extra revenue to buy or trade techs from the other civs. Or, you can lower the taxes and increase the science funding, and go the tech-whoring route I mentioned earlier. Just don't forget about the luxury bar. It's important to have this at at least 10% starting in the Middle Ages (or even before), as unhappiness can soon cause problems.
As for the advisors, you shouldn't take them too literally. It's all about repitition with them. You'll eventually learn to judge things on your own.
 
Old August 14, 2002, 21:53   #13
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Oh, so my advisors arn't as smart as you may think? Okay, well, how would I build up my cities, go straight for unit making or invest time in what buildings?
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Old August 14, 2002, 21:55   #14
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whenever possible keep the luxury rate at 0% otherwise its wasting research/tax money for you - really it only needs to be 10% or 20% when you're at war & attempting to stave off war weariness. Naturally if you don't have any luxuries of your own or can't gain any through trades, the above would need to be treated with a pinch of saly accordingly.

Best bet though is to check out the strategy forum as there is a tonne of very useful information in there that'll help you far more if you peruse that at your leisure instead of us confusing you
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Old August 14, 2002, 21:57   #15
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Oh no, I copy and paste all of this on Microsoft word so I can re-read it, and try and get more meaning, but thank you for what you have done.
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Old August 15, 2002, 08:32   #16
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One important sugestion for all that are just beginning.

Get the latest patch and install it.

http://www.civ3.com/patches.cfm

Then post a save of your game and we then can rip i--- critique it anyway.

Just save manualy and it will be compressed by the game. A save from the original version of the game will not be compressed nor will autosaves be compressed with the 1.29f patch. You could zip the save yourself of course. Once you have the save and know where it is on your hard drive click on the browse button near the Attach File part of the reply form.
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Old August 15, 2002, 09:58   #17
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Re: I am new, and need tips
Quote:
Originally posted by Foolishman
Good day, this is my first time playing a civilization game, I have tried the first difficulty and failed miserably at it, the AI computers walked all over me, what do I do?!?!
The first difficulty level is Chieftan, right? I'm sorry to hear that because I haven't known anyone who lost the Chieftan level before. If you post screen shots of your empire and the inside view of your Capital around 1000 BC or 10 AD, we may be able to tell you exactly on what you need to improve upon.
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Old August 15, 2002, 10:05   #18
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Quote:
Originally posted by Foolishman
Oh, another thing, my Science Advisor said to me, " our scientific progress is barly moving, we should increase funding." when I saw that, I went to DOmestic Advisor and chnaged science to 60%, but, it made a good portion fo my gold disappear, it was only 1+, and thoughts on how to increase science and gold at the same time?
What civ are you playing anyway? The most important thing in the game is to get to know your civ better first then make plan accordingly. For example, if you play an expansion civ, you should set your research to zero or the lowest level and build a lot of scouts to search for the goodie huts...and so on.
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Old August 15, 2002, 10:10   #19
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Well now you can know another person that lost on Chieftan. I lost my first game. The tutorial. 2000 years of war with ALL the other civs tends to do that even on chieftan. Lost on score in 2050. Not sure what I did wrong as that was the first week the game was out.

I won my next game on Warlord, the one after that on Regent and then lost three in row on Monarch before I got the hang of that level.

Most people that lose on chieftan, especially after their first game, aren't building enough cities and they aren't using their workers properly.
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Old August 15, 2002, 11:14   #20
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Quote:
Originally posted by Foolishman
If one could dominate the AI and take all their cities, wouldn't the other AIs want to be your friends rather then enemies, because when I tried, they all attacked me and I died fast, and it was in the cheiften I think, my foreign advisor said they "allied" against me, can I do the same against one of them?
Diplomacy is very important in the game. Don't even think that you can take out all the other civs, or stand alone. You'll have to try and make friends with at least some of them. Having a few allies of your own when you go to war can make a huge difference, especially in a war you didn't realy want to get into. And just being powerful isn't enough, you'll have to make the effort through contacting them. Even then there's no guarantee that they'll be nice to you.
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Old August 15, 2002, 12:49   #21
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Also always make friends with the stronger oppoments. I usaully do that and when a war breaks out between me and another Civ.
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Old August 15, 2002, 13:45   #22
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As it was said in the annoying Civ2 tutorial pop up boxes, "Make peace with your stronger neighbors. Isolate and conquer your weaker neighbors."
 
Old August 15, 2002, 17:58   #23
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Quote:
Originally posted by Edrix
As it was said in the annoying Civ2 tutorial pop up boxes, "Make peace with your stronger neighbors. Isolate and conquer your weaker neighbors."
My brother didn't like that strategy. He said that it's smarter to ally with your weaker neighbors to take out your stronger neighbor, who is a bigger competitor and threat than smaller civs.

I have to agree with him on this.
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Old August 15, 2002, 18:00   #24
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Oh, and read the thread "Winning Early: What do YOU do?", also in the General forum. It's specifically for tips on the early game, which of course is very important.
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Old August 16, 2002, 16:39   #25
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Best way to learn:


1. save games regularly.

2. When something turns sour, post problem on forum along with at least 2 .SAV files and a statement of what question you have-- is it strategy, tactics, different alternatives, why you played the way you did and questions about facing same situation again, etc. Keep the questions to the point, pick one item from this game for forum to focus on and leave rest for another time.

3. Here is what I would like:

I. Save file of current sour year
II. Save file at least 10 turns before sour year
III. What your goal was at SourYear -10 turns.

If you supply this, often someone will play 10 turns of your game using a different approach and then you can examine the differences between Your Sour Year and Forum Advisor Sour Year Alternative.
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Old August 16, 2002, 16:53   #26
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Quote:
Originally posted by JohnM2433 My brother didn't like that strategy. He said that it's smarter to ally with your weaker neighbors to take out your stronger neighbor, who is a bigger competitor and threat than smaller civs.

I have to agree with him on this.
Me too! I have to agree with him on that also.
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Old August 16, 2002, 18:34   #27
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That depends who can reach what. You may want to take out a weakling so you can reach Mr. Strong later. Or get an important resource.

I just allied with the second strongest to take out my neighbor Germany. I did it because I knew I could nearly all of Germany before France could take anything. This way I didn't have to worry about France allieing with Germany which is what Joan really needed to do at that point.

Now its time to consolidate but just for for a few turns and prepare for France. Before she too has tanks.
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