Huge map expansionist civ tips-Civ3 Conquests
Trying to get to end of game on Emperor or higher difficulty as America. Had a couple games where I gave up in Medieval after I had no possibility of access to saltpeter, and a couple on Modern where I had no coal. Roll of the dice on resource distribution can be brutal. I really dislike trading for strategic resources and will only go for a quick easy war to get them if necessary.
Map settings: Huge, Continents, Temperate, 5 Billion years. 12 civs (best I’ve tried for space to expand vs. resource distribution). Raging Barbarians- hopefully they’ll plague the AI more than me because I play defensively early on, other than extremely aggressive exploration.
Early turns I spam scouts, warriors and then settlers. Cities with bonus food resources are designated ‘Baby Factories,’ to pump out settlers after completing a temple. Between settlers they build an archer and a spearman to escort. New settlements begin building a temple. Workers are produced in cities where the governor has started making entertainers. New settlement priorities are strategic or luxury resources, then freshwater+food bonus resources, and trying to keep it all as compact as possible without too much overlap between city radii.
High production cities work on wonders. I only try to build The Oracle if luxury resources are scarce. I try to build in pairs; the Colossus and the Pyramids will trigger a golden age, or Pyramids + Temple of Artemis is incredible for settling and controlling a continent. The Mausoleum is a bridge wonder that increases city happiness and helps build later wonders faster.
The Great Lighthouse + Great Library to keep at the forefront of tech while keeping my research slider at a minimum. The only time I move the entertainment slider from 0 is if I need extra production to finish wonders.
The Great Wall+ Statue of Zeus for games with warlike neighbors.
Research is set at 100% at first and only moved down to avoid bankruptcy or when it doesn’t increase time to completion. I research the cheapest available tech during ancient and hope the scouts bring the good stuff back. I research Philosophy for the free tech
Late Ancient and Medieval I try to settle more in varied terrain types like jungle, desert and tundra in hopes that there will be later game resources like saltpeter, oil and coal that aren’t visible yet.
I hardly ever attack another civ. If the AI demands a little gold that I can part with, they can have it. Tech is always a no; I’d rather give that same tech to other civs for an alliance against the aggressor.
I’ve probably written too much here. Thoughts on better ways or questions welcome.