Gameplay

Just one more turn…

The first thing you should know about playing Civilization III is that it is incredibly addicting. You can literally play this game for eight hours straight and not realize that the sun is rising. Eating and sleeping will be secondary to finishing one more turn. Why is this game so addictive? For the same reasons MMORPGs hook gamers -- the more you play, the stronger you get. There’s always something on the horizon that will make your Civilization stronger. A new city improvement will double your income, or a new technology will allow you to explore new lands, or you just need a few more turns to conquer an enemy. There’s never a break in the flow of the game, but it’s not like you’d want one anyway.

Managing your cities is the heart of Civilization III. This is also the most complicated portion of the game, due to the fact that everything else revolves around how well you manage your cities. You constantly need to balance between improving your cities, keeping your population happy, maintaining a strong military, and staying ahead of your rivals. City management is made easier with the excellent city management screen. There is a ton of information coming and going but the city management screen lays everything out clearly. Automating workers also eases the stress of managing cities, as workers will automatically upgrade the surrounding terrain to maximize the city’s output of food and capital. Governors are another help in managing cities. You can set the priorities for the governor, and he will manage a cities population and building queue for you. They’re not as useful in the early stages of the game when you only have a few cites, but when you get more than 30 cities the governors save you a lot of time.

City Management screen

Domiestic Advisor

Some of my bigger cities

War and Peace

War in Civilization sets it apart from a simple simulation game. Much like a tech tree in an RTS game, Civ III’s tech tree allows you to build better units. The difference is that units progress through history, from the first horse-mounted rider to musketeers to stealth bombers. It’s rather funny watching a guy with a spear beat on a tank. You have a lot of options in fighting as well. As technology advances you can have massive naval battles, and even naval blockades. When you discover flight you can rain bombs on your enemies, and later smart bombs. Rocketry allows you to use cruise missles and even Inter-Continental Ballistic Missiles (ICBMs) loaded with nuclear warheads. Again, the numerous options add a lot to the fun of playing Civ III.

Diplomacy

The Atlantic Fleet

The Palace

Diplomacy in Civilization III is a tricky beast. Besides taking care of your own empire, you need to deal with everyone else on the planet. Trade, treaties, and sharing technologies all depend on how well you can wheel and deal with other leaders. Some leaders are xenophobic and demand a lot before they’ll deal with you, while others are there only to please. Be careful however, as all of them would love to screw you over and win the game themselves. Diplomacy also adds something that other simulation games (like SimCity or Rollercoaster Tycoon) don’t have, namely competitors that you need to interact with to win.