Help me make this game more fun

thazer · October 15, 2003, 18:55

When I had Civ 2 I played it for months, but with my copy of Civ 3 + PTW
I have played it for two days now and am fed up ready to uninstall and sell it.

Is it me who have changed or is this game passé?

I have played 3 games now on monarch to diety+cheat level with 10-14 civs on
kal-el's earth scenario. For me the whole concept is lost if played on some
random generated map. Thus, I need a lot of civs on this huge map.

It feels like all the game is about now is to build city improvements and
irrigate/road with the workers. I am so fed up with irrigating and mining
which takes ages to complete that I have edited the scenarios with complete
irrigation and roads where I'd want my cities so I can get on with the
interesting part, to build my army and take over the world.
(culture win? great fun to sit and watch my borders expand)

I did this, cheated (but compensated the head start with irrigation/roads
with Diety level), and got my 10th of the map beefed up and in the future
tech era to get some action already. However, gah, by now it took 4 mins to
wait after each turn (2.5GHz 512MB GF3) and when I realized it would take a
gazillion turns to get all my troops all over the world to ransack about a
gazillion cities I gave a great sigh and went to bed.

The computer wasn't any fun opposition either.
It never made me break a drop of sweat. When I started nuking nobody seemed
to care allthough they tried to seem really pissed at me by declaring war and
giving me a scornful look.

The interaction with the other civs is bleak. A trade here and there and that's
all the interaction I got except for the nuking fest which was terribly one-sided.
The spying thing was a total dissapointment. What's the use of stealing a tech if
it takes triple the price compared to getting it the safe way by barganing?
The plant spy feature never worked once out of the 15 times I tried it.

So all in all for me this game was all about building improvements and irrigating
for an eternity, while catching up on the tech, until I finally get to build my
un-obsolete army to take over a world I don't want to have.

I may sound very negative but I like the concept of the game although it gets
way too mundane and repetative.

HELP me make this game more fun (read: I want to interact more with the other civs and do more stuff
than build buildings)

Am I missing any features of the game that are somewhat hidden? Any changes I can
make in my personality or layout of the game to make it a more pleasurable experience?

Thanks.

vmxa1 · October 15, 2003, 19:21

It seems to me that if one does not like to build up their empire from scratch and manage workers and citizens, then this is clearly a bad game from them.
If you make extensive mods to the game, what is it that you are playing, not CivIII.

thazer · October 15, 2003, 21:15

I play games to trigger the "fun-hormones". Civilization
only triggers my fun hormones when I throw off a nuke
or ransack a city. All the effort behind a nuke or a
ransack is way too tedious for my liking so maybe this
isn't the game for me any more. I'm probably too
impatient.

When a game becomes dull you usually cheat to get
a final kick out of the game, but the fun out of cheating
won't last long.

However, reading strategy tips and especially this thread
has made the game more interesting again.

Tassadar500 · October 15, 2003, 21:58

I never cheat at these games so I wouldn't know. This game definatly isn't boring for alot of people so it's basicly just you who feels this way in the Civ 3 community. Civilization is a game that you control an empire; making roads, irrigating and mining are a part of that.

Snotty · October 16, 2003, 03:57

If you want more challenge, and greater diplomacy then go play multiplayer.

You can automate all your workers by pressing A. they will then build all the roads and irrigation for you, but it wont be as efficient as if you do it yourself.

To get yourself to a stage where you have the fun tanks etc to play with then choose the load scenario and open the future or modern tech starts. That way if you find the early ages boring, you dont have to play them, although it is your loss. Ancient era fighting can be the most difficult.

I dont play on huges maps simply because of the slowdown. There is too much for my comp to handle, and we are similar spec.

The computer is a lot tougher to handle if you dont gift yourself perfect terrain. Or maybe try giving them a perfect start as well, plus make sure they are the aggresive civs (aztec,zulu, germans, rome etc). This should provide more of a challenge.

Personally I enjoy the city management. I find no fun at all in trashng citys if I am just given them. I should be rewarded for roading and irrigating at the right time. A succesful war is my payoff for making the right decisions earlier.

Nym · October 16, 2003, 10:42

It seems you are looking for a sort of wargame. Civ is not designed for this. Try other games like Command and Conquer.

alva · October 16, 2003, 11:08

Why not go for RON, that game has your name all over it.

jackl · October 16, 2003, 11:42

Quote:

It seems you are looking for a sort of wargame. Civ is not designed for this. Try other games like Command and Conquer.

Seconded Nym. C&C and the Warcraft series offer exactly what youre looking for....or age of empires. Civ3 is a patient warlords game. Even Napoleon took his time caring for those he ruled while conquering those he didn't.

UnOrthOdOx · October 16, 2003, 12:06

Quote:

Originally posted by alva
Why not go for RON, that game has your name all over it.

I would suggest that as a good bet for what you are looking for based on your description.

EzInKy · October 16, 2003, 18:54

Quote:

Originally posted by vmxa1
It seems to me that if one does not like to build up their empire from scratch and manage workers and citizens, then this is clearly a bad game from them.
If you make extensive mods to the game, what is it that you are playing, not CivIII.

I agree that the original poster would be happier with a RTS game, but disagree with your view on mods. For me the game doesn't have enough improvements to build, units to play with, or turns to do both so I use extensive mods so I can do all those things.

thazer · October 16, 2003, 19:28

Thanks for your advice, although I am not that clueless
when it comes to games - I DO know there are games
like C&C and I have played them all.

I think multiplayer will be my saviour, since then I think
it would be easier to cope with all the micro-management
due to the big reward in beating my friends and getting
their respect!

LAN at my house this saturday and everyone's invited.

GhengisFarb™ · October 16, 2003, 21:54

Play a one-on-one naked hotseat game with your significant other.

That should make it more fun, and who knows, maybe they won't bug you about how much time your spending playing it anymore..............

Shogun Gunner · October 17, 2003, 00:01

Quote:

Originally posted by GhengisFarb
Play a one-on-one naked hotseat game with your significant other.

then play naked Civ III hotseat

Quote:

That should make it more fun, and who knows, maybe they won't bug you about how much time your spending playing it anymore..............

yeah right...now your dreaming and just talking plain crazy. wife won't b*tch? I'll believe it when I see it....or more accurately, when I don't HEAR it!!!

thazer · October 19, 2003, 21:03

I played direct IP versus a friend this weekend and it simpy
KICKED A$$ I haven't had this much fun with ANY game EVER before.
We haven't finished yet but I have played two new games vs
AI while "waiting" for the next LAN oppurtunity and I must say
it is a lot more fun now to play vs the computer. (I'm evaluating
which is the best civ to use for an ancient war)

Why this sudden change of spirit? Well in order to be well prepared
for our battle we both studied the different civs with their
UU's and special traits pretty carefully and also picked up some
useful new tips and strategies here and there from the forums.
Choosing civ is now a huge matter compared to a random choice
before. Knowing all the different civs with their strengths and
weaknesses makes the game far more interesting and challenging.
Things I didn't think about or cared to do was for instance to build
roads to the front to speed up troops and cutting off enemy strategic
resources makes the game much more rich compared to the robotic
strategy I had before.

Thanks to the multiplayer I now love this game again!

Grim Legacy · October 20, 2003, 06:39

LOL Civ's multiplayer returns someone to the fold. Who said it's broken?

Seriously though- micromanagement is a part of the game, love it or leave it. I do agree that the designers could have made live easier by allowing the player to move stacks of units though.

Spiffor · October 20, 2003, 06:54

Quote:

Originally posted by Grim Legacy
I do agree that the designers could have made live easier by allowing the player to move stacks of units though.

You can move stacks of units by pressing "J" or by clicking the on-screen button "move stack".

Grim Legacy · October 20, 2003, 08:28

Quote:

Originally posted by Spiffor

You can move stacks of units by pressing "J" or by clicking the on-screen button "move stack".

Oh,

that's new to me... I'll check it out tonight.

Is there a reference of handy key commands somewhere? I have the impression that there is some functionality in Civ3 hidden behind undocumented shortcuts.

Spiffor · October 20, 2003, 08:51

Well, there are a great many on-screen buttons if you play PtW (the "move stack" on-screen button only exists in PtW IIRC- the stack feature appeared in January 2002, so you need to have your Vanilla Civ3 patched).

I remember having seen a hotkey reference somewhere, but I can't say where. I remeber there were quite a few lacks in the British PtW manual though.

Nym · October 20, 2003, 09:23

Here is a document with hotkeys and other things. I used it for vanilla Civ3 but I suppose there is a more recente version for PTW. Sorry, but I can not remember where I found it.

Edited:
He! What the hell!??

I can not attach my PDF file nor delete this message.

gunkulator · October 20, 2003, 09:45

Under Preferences, there is a selection for "show all unit actions" - or something like that. I believe it is off by default. Check the box and you'll see a whole new set of options including all worker automation options.

Grim Legacy · October 20, 2003, 16:20

Thanks for the tip. I am playing the vanilla game currently. //edit:// well, the magic "J" key worked, but no unit option appears as button, nor under left-click. There is also no option in the preferences screen. I'm using v1.29f, which is the final version I believe.

Nym- could you try again? Such a doc would be very nice to have.

Nym · October 20, 2003, 16:55

I know where I have found it now! Have a look here.

Grim Legacy · October 21, 2003, 06:08

Thanks Nym. It's for an older version, but I suppose not too many things have changed in the mean time.

alva · October 21, 2003, 11:25

Be sure to check the Apolyton directory. There are many hidden treasuries to be found here.

Outsider · October 21, 2003, 21:37

I dont have PtW, and can't see buying it this close to conquests release. I guess I have another month or so of click-click-clicking.

Grim Legacy · October 22, 2003, 04:59

Quote:

Originally posted by alva
Be sure to check the Apolyton directory. There are many hidden treasuries to be found here.

Hehe I was browsing it already... and "logged in as Nym"

Nym · October 22, 2003, 10:04

Quote:

Originally posted by Grim Legacy

Hehe I was browsing it already... and "logged in as Nym"

Damn!!!!

Are you really sure to be logged as me?? If yes it is what is called a security hole.

Grim Legacy · October 22, 2003, 10:08

Quote:

Originally posted by Nym

Damn!!!!

Are you really sure to be logged as me?? If yes it is what is called a security hole.

Yeah... it says so in the top right corner. Not on the forums though- as you can see I am posting under my own nick.

Nym · October 22, 2003, 10:09

In fact I do not see within the URL my userID. So I do not understand how it can be written 'Logged as Nym'.

Webmaster? Is there an Apolyton webmaster to explain that?