After a year and a half of Civilization III and probably 100+ hours of gameplay, Three problems I have with the game....
PostPosted:Fri May 09, 2003 5:16 pm
<div style='font: 12pt ; text-align: left; '>Well, first of all, this game is one that took me 4 or 5 times to really get into, the gameplay runs differently than previous civ games, it's more complex and requires a lot more strategy.
Problem #1, balance:
Some civilizations are overpowered: The Greeks, The Iroquois, and The Persians I find are frequently among the most powerful in the game. There are other civilizations, The Zulu's, The French, The Egyptians, and The Indians, their civilizations are either near the top, or near the bottom, I can never figure out why. I have only played a few games where these civilizations were relatively average.
As a human player, I think the most powerpowered personalities are Religious and Scientific. Militaristic doesn't seem to have many advantages other than cheap barracks beneficial early in the game; I haven't noticed much change in the amount of elite military units and generals I receive. Expansionistic is nearly pointless, civilizations with this such as the Americans and the English almost always suck. Industrialism is average, the benefit is if you plan to colonize heavily forested areas, workers will cut down those trees faster. Commercial is probably the #3 best, it allows for a bit of extra support for a larger military, more beneficial to the military after the first 5% of the game is over than the Militaristic personality. Essentially, Religious and Scientific is the way to go, cheap buildings, government changes in 1 turn instead of 7 or 8 (VERY BENEFICIAL), and culture is always on your side.
Luckily things aren't too serious here with some tweaking.
Problem #2, The Industrial Period:
By now people probably realize that Artillery + Infantry are the way to go during this period since it is a LONG time until tanks are available. 20-30 Artillery units with 10 or so Infantry can just sweep right through any existing force during this period, leveling a city to below a population of 6 will, destroying their barracks, and having enemy troops injured down to 1 HP, that makes things fairly easy for infantry (and cavalry if you have any left). Not a problem? These are the tactics they used in World War 1 after all? The problem is that the AI never uses this tactic, and therefore this period is usually the easiest time for human players to conquer a lot of territory. The AI should use Artillery much more than just killing cavalry on cities. Unfortuanetly, the editor can't help us here.
Problem #3, Culture!!!
It's simple, there is a city with low culture next to a city with high culture, the city with the low culture, even in peace these lower culture cities will automatically transfer over to those with higher culture. This doesn't make sense.
My sollution would be that there would have to be some sort of a Barbarian revolution in a fight for independence (if the game has less than the maximum amount of civilizations in play), and if the fight is won, then a new civilization forms.
Sollution #2, during peace time: would be that the city would become unhappy, and would not be productive at all, a diplomatic window would open up with the leader of the civilization with the bordering higher culture city, and terms for the transfer of that city over to their control would be made available. Another thing that could happen is that barbarian units could constantly be appearing around the city and attacking it, hurting military and possibly plundering the city (which is hurtful to the civilization as a whole). During war at certain times loyalist guerrilla forces would appear around the city (similar to when you capture a city in the modern period in Civilization II).
I just think the current culture system is too simple and illogical, especially when the sollutions I suggested make sense and wouldn't be hard to program. I am sure there is a way to actually do this with the editor, I just have no where near the knowledge to do it =P</div>
Problem #1, balance:
Some civilizations are overpowered: The Greeks, The Iroquois, and The Persians I find are frequently among the most powerful in the game. There are other civilizations, The Zulu's, The French, The Egyptians, and The Indians, their civilizations are either near the top, or near the bottom, I can never figure out why. I have only played a few games where these civilizations were relatively average.
As a human player, I think the most powerpowered personalities are Religious and Scientific. Militaristic doesn't seem to have many advantages other than cheap barracks beneficial early in the game; I haven't noticed much change in the amount of elite military units and generals I receive. Expansionistic is nearly pointless, civilizations with this such as the Americans and the English almost always suck. Industrialism is average, the benefit is if you plan to colonize heavily forested areas, workers will cut down those trees faster. Commercial is probably the #3 best, it allows for a bit of extra support for a larger military, more beneficial to the military after the first 5% of the game is over than the Militaristic personality. Essentially, Religious and Scientific is the way to go, cheap buildings, government changes in 1 turn instead of 7 or 8 (VERY BENEFICIAL), and culture is always on your side.
Luckily things aren't too serious here with some tweaking.
Problem #2, The Industrial Period:
By now people probably realize that Artillery + Infantry are the way to go during this period since it is a LONG time until tanks are available. 20-30 Artillery units with 10 or so Infantry can just sweep right through any existing force during this period, leveling a city to below a population of 6 will, destroying their barracks, and having enemy troops injured down to 1 HP, that makes things fairly easy for infantry (and cavalry if you have any left). Not a problem? These are the tactics they used in World War 1 after all? The problem is that the AI never uses this tactic, and therefore this period is usually the easiest time for human players to conquer a lot of territory. The AI should use Artillery much more than just killing cavalry on cities. Unfortuanetly, the editor can't help us here.
Problem #3, Culture!!!
It's simple, there is a city with low culture next to a city with high culture, the city with the low culture, even in peace these lower culture cities will automatically transfer over to those with higher culture. This doesn't make sense.
My sollution would be that there would have to be some sort of a Barbarian revolution in a fight for independence (if the game has less than the maximum amount of civilizations in play), and if the fight is won, then a new civilization forms.
Sollution #2, during peace time: would be that the city would become unhappy, and would not be productive at all, a diplomatic window would open up with the leader of the civilization with the bordering higher culture city, and terms for the transfer of that city over to their control would be made available. Another thing that could happen is that barbarian units could constantly be appearing around the city and attacking it, hurting military and possibly plundering the city (which is hurtful to the civilization as a whole). During war at certain times loyalist guerrilla forces would appear around the city (similar to when you capture a city in the modern period in Civilization II).
I just think the current culture system is too simple and illogical, especially when the sollutions I suggested make sense and wouldn't be hard to program. I am sure there is a way to actually do this with the editor, I just have no where near the knowledge to do it =P</div>