Resources and Trade

12:38 Civilization 3 has three kinds of natural resource: eight strategic resources (Iron, Horses, Saltpeter, Coal, Oil, Rubber, Aluminum and Uranium) that certain units, buildings and Wonders need; eight luxuries (Incense, Dye, Wine, Fur, Spice, Silk, Diamonds and Ivory) that each make a citizen happy; and bonus resources such as Wheat and Gold that simply add food, shields or commerce, per the Civilization III Complete manual (pp. 84-86). A city gets a strategic resource or luxury only when it is connected to it: the resource inside your borders and a road to the city, or a link by Harbor or Airport, or a trade deal with another civilization. One source supplies every connected city, so extra sources can be traded. Soren Johnson, then a Firaxis programmer and later the game's co-designer, told players before release that resources "become a source of strategic advantage and should be protected as such", in Firaxis's developer update on resources. The units that need them are on Units.

Quick facts

Source: Civilization III Complete manual, pp. 57, 84-86, 161-165, 214; Civilization III FAQ: Trade & Resources (archived); Conquests features (archived).

Strategic resources

7:12 Strategic resources gate what you can build. Without Horses you cannot train Horsemen, the Complete manual (p. 85) says, and a city does not need anyone working the square: it only has to be connected to it. Most stay hidden until an advance reveals them, which the manual lists among the advances' side effects (pp. 126-128). The units in the table are the base game's, from Prima's official guide (Tables 8-1 to 8-3); later units are on Units, and the advances on Technologies.

Source: revealing advances from the Complete manual, pp. 85-86, 126-128; units and buildings from Prima's official guide, pp. 120-122, 149-163; railroads from the Complete manual, p. 93; tile yields from the 2001 manual, pp. 208-209.

15:20 Missing a resource can stall an army. Johnson later wrote that resources were scattered at random, so a whole continent could have a single cluster of Iron held by one AI, and that complaints of being unable to field armies were common, per Game Developer (2010). Play the World answered part of this: its Medieval Infantry and Guerrilla gave the Swordsman an upgrade path, which GameSpot's 2002 review found useful when strategic resources are missing.

Luxuries and happiness

11:00 Each kind of luxury a city can reach makes one content citizen happy, or one unhappy citizen content if none are content, per the Complete manual (p. 86). The eight luxuries are Incense, Dye, Wine, Fur, Spice, Silk, Diamonds and Ivory, and all of them reach a city the same way strategic resources do. A Marketplace multiplies them: it adds one happy face for the first and second luxury, two for the third and fourth, three for the fifth and sixth and four for the seventh and eighth, per Prima's Table 7-2 (p. 128). GameSpot's 2001 preview called connected luxuries a powerful method for early expansion. Conquests' Statue of Zeus also needs Ivory, per Firaxis's Wonders of Civ-Conquests. Happiness is on Happiness and War Weariness.

Bonus resources and tile yields

19:46 Bonus resources add to the square they sit on and nothing else. The Complete manual (p. 84) names Gold, which adds commerce, and Wheat, Cattle, Fish, Game and Whales, which add food. Strategic resources and luxuries add to their squares too.

Source: Civilization III manual (2001), pp. 208-209; Conquests rows from the Complete manual, p. 214.

Conquests added resources. Infogrames' feature list promised fights over Tobacco, Jade and Exotic Birds, while the Complete manual's "Consumable Goods" chart adds Oasis, Sugar, Tobacco and Tropical Fruit; Jade and Exotic Birds are not in that chart. The terrain under each resource is on Terrain and Workers.

The trade network

20:46 Your trade network is the set of cities and resources joined by roads, Harbors and Airports. The surest link, per the Complete manual (p. 85), is a resource inside your borders with a road to the city; every city joined to that city by road shares it. The other links are:

• A colony. A Worker can build a colony on a resource outside your borders; with an unbroken road (or railroad) to a city, it supplies the network. Inside your borders no colony is needed.
• Harbors. Two cities with Harbors on the same body of water are linked, if an explored sea path joins them. Sea routes open with Astronomy and Ocean routes with Magnetism, per the Complete manual (pp. 126-127), and enemy ships on every water square around a Harbor blockade it (p. 110).
• Airports. Two cities with Airports are linked wherever they are, which Prima (p. 123) calls the most reliable way to supply distant cities.

Roads that run through the land of a civilization you are at war with carry nothing, per the 2001 manual (p. 122). The Worker's automatic "Trade Network" order builds the roads for you.

Resources can run out. The official FAQ of 2002 says a source is exhausted now and then, forcing you to find another, and that citizens working the squares around a city have a chance each turn of discovering a new source of a resource you already know.

Trading resources with other civilizations

9:55 Surplus resources and luxuries can be traded on the Diplomacy screen, once your capital and the other civilization's are connected by your trade networks, per the Complete manual (pp. 85, 161). A traded resource reaches every city connected to your capital, and every trade agreement (resources, luxuries, gold per turn) lasts 20 turns unless war between the two sides ends it first. The manual calls trading the least dependable way to get a resource. Trade embargoes, which need Nationalism, can cut a rival off. The bargaining itself is on Diplomacy.

The end of caravans

2:07 Civ 3 dropped the Caravan and Freight units of earlier games. Trade "has been abstracted" into the trade network and the advisors, the official FAQ said, and the Complete manual (pp. 57, 64) adds that the only way left to hurry a Wonder is a Great Leader, not a stockpile of Caravans. Johnson's afterword in the Civilization 4 manual (p. 175) names resources, with culture, as the great new elements Civ 3 brought to the series.

Frequently asked questions

What are the strategic resources in Civ 3? Civilization 3 has eight strategic resources: Horses (revealed by The Wheel), Iron (Iron Working), Saltpeter (Gunpowder), Coal (Steam Power), Oil (Refining), Rubber (Replaceable Parts), Aluminum (Rocketry) and Uranium (Fission), per the Complete manual.

How do you connect resources in Civ 3? In Civilization 3 a resource inside your borders needs a road to your city; one outside needs a Worker's colony and a road; distant cities join through Harbors on the same water or Airports, per the Complete manual. One source supplies every connected city.

What do luxuries do in Civ 3? Each kind of Civilization 3 luxury your city can reach makes one content citizen happy, per the Complete manual, and a Marketplace adds more happy faces as the number of luxuries grows, per Prima's official guide.

Can resources run out in Civ 3? Yes: the official Civilization 3 FAQ says resources are occasionally exhausted, forcing you to find a new source, and that worked squares can turn up new sources of resources you already know.

How do you trade resources in Civ 3? In Civilization 3 you trade surplus resources and luxuries on the Diplomacy screen once your capital and the other civilization's are connected; the deal lasts 20 turns unless war ends it, per the Complete manual.

Are there caravans in Civ 3? No: Civilization 3 removed Caravans and Freight, and trade runs through roads, Harbors, Airports and diplomacy instead, per the Complete manual and the official FAQ.

What resources did Conquests add to Civ 3? The Complete manual's chart adds Oasis, Sugar, Tobacco and Tropical Fruit for Civilization 3 with Conquests, and Infogrames' feature list also named Jade and Exotic Birds.

Sources

• Sid Meier's Civilization III Complete manual, Atari and Firaxis Games, 2005, read Oct 22, 2026
• Civilization III manual, First Edition (archive.org copy), Infogrames and Firaxis Games, Sep 2001, read Oct 22, 2026
• Sid Meier's Civilization III, Prima's Official Strategy Guide (archive.org copy), Prima Games (David Ellis), 2001, read Oct 22, 2026
• Civilization III FAQ: Trade & Resources (archived), Infogrames and Firaxis Games, Mar 2002, read Oct 22, 2026
• Developer Update: Resources in Civ III (archived), Firaxis Games (Soren Johnson), posted May 11 (year not given), read Oct 22, 2026
• The Wonders of Civ-Conquests (archived), Firaxis Games (Ed Piper), 2003, read Oct 22, 2026
• Civilization III: Conquests features (archived), Infogrames, May 2003, read Oct 22, 2026
• Civilization III Updated Preview, GameSpot, Oct 18, 2001, read Oct 22, 2026
• Civilization III: Play the World Review, GameSpot (Tom Chick), Nov 9, 2002, read Oct 22, 2026
• Analysis: Soren Johnson On Playing The Odds, Game Developer, Mar 16, 2010, read Oct 22, 2026
• Sid Meier's Civilization IV manual, 2K Games and Firaxis Games, 2005, read Oct 22, 2026
• How To Play Your First Game Of Civ 3, Suede, Feb 12, 2020 (video)
• Civilization 3: Everything you need to know, Suede, Nov 12, 2025 (video)
• Civ 3 Diplomacy Tutorial, Suede, Jun 10, 2019 (video)
• The overlooked genius of Civilization 3, Suede, Oct 30, 2024 (video)