Gameplay

23 Civilization 3 pages in Gameplay.

• CitiesA Civilization 3 city works the squares of a "fat X" around it (21 squares counting its own), grows when its food box fills, and needs an Aqueduct to grow past size 6 and a Hospital past size 12. Citizens work tiles or become specialists (Entertainers, Taxmen, Scientists), and cities build one unit, improvement or Wonder at a time.
• City ImprovementsCivilization 3's city improvements (buildings) cost shields to build and gold every turn to keep, from the Temple (40 shields, 1 gold) and Library (80, 1) to the Factory (200, 3); Temples, Libraries, Cathedrals, Colosseums, Universities and Research Labs also earn culture. Prima's official guide calls the Temple arguably the first building for every city.
• CombatCivilization 3 combat is fought in rounds: each round the attacker wins with a chance of its attack divided by attack plus the defender's modified defense, the loser of the round loses one hit point, and the battle ends when one unit has none left. Experience sets hit points (conscript 2, regular 3, veteran 4, elite 5), and terrain, fortifying, Walls and city size add to defense.
• Conquests ScenariosCivilization 3's Conquests expansion has nine historical scenarios, called Conquests: Mesopotamia, Rise of Rome, Fall of Rome, Middle Ages, Mesoamerica, Age of Discovery, Sengoku, Napoleonic Europe and World War II in the Pacific, plus three introductory ones; each has its own map, rules, units and way to win, and beating all nine unlocks a victory video.
• Corruption and WasteIn Civilization 3, corruption takes part of a city's commerce and waste part of its shields; both rise with the city's distance from the capital and with the number of cities you own. Courthouses (half off, per Prima's guide), the Forbidden Palace, a better government and the Commercial trait reduce them, and the capital has none.
• Culture and BordersIn Civilization 3, Temples, Libraries, Cathedrals, Universities and every Wonder earn culture points each turn; a city's culture pushes out its borders, your empire's total sets how rivals regard you, and in the base game one city with 20,000 points or an empire with 80,000 (and no rival above half) wins a cultural victory.
• Culture FlippingIn Civilization 3 a city near the borders of a far stronger culture can revolt and join that civilization on its own, a "culture flip" the manual calls defection. It is a rules option, on by default; strong culture in border cities and a city celebrating We Love the King Day make it less likely.
• Difficulty LevelsCivilization 3 has six difficulty levels in the 2001 game and eight with Conquests, which the Complete manual lists as Chieftain, Warlord, Prince, Monarch, Emperor, Demigod, Deity and Sid. Higher levels give each city fewer content citizens and let the AI build and research faster than you.
• DiplomacyCivilization 3's Diplomacy screen lets you trade advances, strategic resources, luxuries, gold, cities, Workers, maps and contacts, and sign embassies, Right of Passage, military alliances, mutual protection pacts and trade embargoes (20 turns each) with AI leaders whose mood runs from furious to gracious. Soren Johnson later called this bargaining table one of Civ 3's standout features and "a big mistake".
• Game Setup and MapsA Civilization 3 game is set up on two screens: the world (size from Tiny 60x60 to Huge 180x180 squares, land mass, water coverage, climate, temperature, age and barbarians) and the player (civilization, rivals, difficulty and rules). Every setting except world size can be Random.
• Golden AgesA Civilization 3 Golden Age lasts 20 turns and raises the output of every worked tile; it happens once a game, usually when your unique unit wins its first battle against another civilization, or when you complete wonders that match both of your civilization's traits.
• GovernmentsCivilization 3's base game has five governments (Despotism, Monarchy, Communism, Republic and Democracy) plus Anarchy between them, and Conquests adds more, among them Fascism and Feudalism. Republic and Democracy give the most commerce and the least corruption but suffer war weariness; Monarchy and Communism suit war.
• Great Leaders and ArmiesIn Civilization 3 an elite unit that wins a battle has a small chance (1 in 16 in Prima's guide, 1 in 12 with the Heroic Epic) of producing a Great Leader, who can finish a wonder or other build in one turn or form an Army of up to three units (four with the Pentagon) that share their hit points. Conquests adds Scientific Great Leaders, earned by being first to an advance.
• Happiness and War WearinessCivilization 3 citizens are happy, content, unhappy or resisting, and a city falls into civil disorder, producing nothing, when its unhappy citizens outnumber its happy ones. Luxuries, the luxury rate, Temples, Colosseums, Cathedrals, wonders, Entertainers and (under Despotism, Monarchy and Communism) military police keep order; war weariness makes Republics and Democracies unhappy during long wars.
• MultiplayerCivilization 3 shipped in 2001 with no multiplayer; the Play the World expansion (2002) added Internet, LAN, Hot Seat and Play by E-Mail games for up to eight players, and since a Steam update of Mar 16, 2015 online games run through Steam instead of the closed GameSpy service, without the old Direct IP option.
• Resources and TradeCivilization 3 has eight strategic resources that units and buildings need (Iron, Horses, Saltpeter, Coal, Oil, Rubber, Aluminum and Uranium), eight luxuries that each make a citizen happy, and bonus resources that add food, shields or commerce. A resource counts only when your trade network reaches it by road, Harbor or Airport, and surplus can be traded to other civilizations for 20 turns at a time.
• Small WondersSmall Wonders are national wonders that every civilization in Civilization 3 may build once, unlocked by an achievement such as eight cities or five Banks rather than by an advance alone. The base game has 10 (the Forbidden Palace, the Heroic Epic, the Military Academy and others) and Conquests adds the Secret Police Headquarters for 11.
• Space RaceTo win Civilization 3's space race you build the Apollo Program Small Wonder, then all 10 spaceship parts in your cities, and the first civilization to launch a finished ship wins at once. The parts need Space Flight, Satellites, Superconductor, Synthetic Fibers and The Laser, plus Aluminum, Rubber and Uranium.
• TechnologiesCivilization 3's tech tree has four eras (Ancient Times, the Middle Ages, the Industrial Age and Modern Times) and 82 named advances in the base game; you must research every required advance of an era before the next era opens, while 18 optional advances can be skipped. After the last advance, Future Technology can be researched again and again for score.
• Terrain and WorkersCivilization 3's map is a grid of diamond-shaped terrain squares, each yielding food, shields and commerce, and Workers improve them with roads, irrigation, mines and railroads. Grassland gives 2 food, Hills 1 food and 1 shield with a +50% defense bonus, and pollution and global warming arrive with industry.
• UnitsEvery Civilization 3 unit has an attack, a defense and a movement value, a shield cost, an advance and often a strategic resource it needs, and its hit points come from experience (conscript 2, regular 3, veteran 4, elite 5), not from the unit type. Firaxis counted 46 units in the base game, from the Warrior (1/1/1, 10 shields) to Modern Armor (24/16/3, 120 shields).
• Victory ConditionsCivilization 3 can be won by conquest, domination (two-thirds of the world's territory), the space race, culture, a United Nations vote, or the best score when the game ends in 2050 AD. Play the World adds Elimination, Regicide, Mass Regicide, Victory Point Locations and Capture the Princess, and Conquests adds Reverse Capture the Flag.
• WondersCivilization 3 has 24 Great Wonders in the 2001 base game, 25 with Play the World (the Internet) and 29 with Conquests, which added the Temple of Artemis, the Statue of Zeus, the Mausoleum of Mausollos and the Knights Templar. Each exists once in the world, gives culture every turn, and can be rushed only by a Great Leader, never with gold.

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