Sid Meier's Civilization III (Windows)

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Description

Sid Meier's Civilization III is a turn-based strategy game where the objective is to rule the planet with the civilization of the player's choice. Players control one of 15 historic civilizations (Aztecs, Egyptians, Russians, etc). Each civilization has its own particular strengths and weaknesses -- some are more scientific, for example, while others have stronger cultural or military attributes; also, each civilization has its own unique unit, and is more prone to certain forms of government while shunning some others.

Like in the previous titles in the series, the point of the game is to expand the influence of a civilization through resource management, conquest, or trade with other civilizations. As game time progresses from ancient times through the modern era, a civilization will acquire new technologies, which in turn enable interesting new abilities and enhanced power. Since there are several ways to win (military, diplomatic, or cultural), it is up to each player to determine how best to manage the division of labor.

The game includes some mechanics and features which were introduced in Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri, such as borders between civilizations and the aforementioned differences between each civilization's statistics. The advisors are now present in the upper right corner of the screen in relevant menus. Diplomacy has been expanded, with the ability to trade and even slightly haggle with other civilizations in a more detailed way. Other new additions include the great leader mechanic, war weariness amongst the population, and small wonders.

Screenshots

Promo Images

Trailer

Alternate Titles

• "文明帝國 III" -- Traditional Chinese spelling
• "文明III" -- Simplified Chinese spelling
• "Wenming III" -- Simplified Chinese title
• "Sid Meier's Cywilizacja III" -- Polish title
• "Sid Meier's Civilization III: Più Civ che Mai" -- Italian tag-lined title
• "Sid Meier's Civilization III: More Civ Than Ever" -- European tag-lined title
• "Sid Meier's Civilization III: das beste Civ aller Zeiten!" -- German tag-lined title
• "Sid Meier's Civilization III: créez le monde à votre image" -- French tag-lined title
• "Civ3" -- Informal title

Part of the Following Groups

• Best of Infogrames / Atari releases
• Civilization series
• Gameplay feature: Fog of war
• Games that include map/level editor
• Games with randomly generated environments
• Game with creator's name
• Sid Meier's licensees
• Software Pyramide releases
• Sound engine: AIL/Miles Sound System
• Theme: Famous politician

User Reviews

The best civilization and empire-building simulation to date	Frecklefoot (201)
The best, and worst, computer game of all time...	Vaelor (381)
It's good... it's very good... but it's not more than that, unfortunately...	Gothicgene (83)
Another classic - but it''s got some flaws	Rick Jones (111)
A great new game, arguably a classic, but so different from earlier Civs that you can't compare them.	weregamer (169)
A worthy successor to the Civilization lineage.	James Kirk (168)
You call this a game? It's a MASTERPIECE!	Kobus Myburgh (2)

Critic Reviews

IGROMANIA	Jan 30, 2002	100 out of 100	100
IGN	Oct 29, 2001	9.3 out of 10	93
GameSpy	Oct 30, 2001	93 out of 100	93
Gamesmania.de	Dec 07, 2001	92 out of 100	92
Svenska PC Gamer	Dec, 2001	92 out of 100	92
Jeuxvideo.com	Apr 10, 2002	17 out of 20	85
GameSpot (Belgium/Netherlands)	Nov 23, 2001	84 out of 100	84
Gry OnLine	Dec 14, 2001	8 out of 10	80
PC Zone Benelux	Jan, 2002	78 out of 100	78
WomenGamers.com	Mar 26, 2002	7.2 out of 10	72

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Trivia

German version

Because they didn't want to wait for Firaxis to release a German version of Civilization III, some German fans started to translate the game. They were about halfway through when they were forced by Infogrames to stop distributing their translation with an injunction, citing copyright infringement. The reason was not so much ill will, but Infogrames' responsibility towards the game's developer Firaxis on the one hand and commercial aspects on the other -- Infogrames wanted to sell its own localized version. As a sign of goodwill, Infogrames payed for the injunction's legal costs, so the fan project came away unharmed.

Music

You may notice that some of the original themes from previous Civ/Sid Meier games have made their way into Civilization III. For example, the Middle Age music for Oriental Civilizations is the Chinese theme song and the Middle Age music for North American Civilizations is 'Tenochtitlan' from Colonization and Civilization II.

References

The game's initial advertising campaign featured Gandhi and Abraham Lincoln wrestling. This is a reference to a comment made by Brad Pitt after filming Fight Club about the two people he'd most like to see fight each other.

References: Music

1) Let the credits roll through and right at the end, after Shakespeare's quote and after about two or three seconds of the credits screen being blank, a picture of Elvis Putnam appears.

To view this picture manually: Find folder: Infogrames\Interactive\Civilization 3\Art\credits

Then one of the pictures there is called "Elvis Putnam" obviously an Elvis joke of some kind.

2) Access your computer's clock by double-clicking on it, and change the date to January 8. January 8 is Elvis Presley's birthday.

Play any game with either "Regicide" or "Mass Regicide" mode on, and notice that your King unit looks like Elvis! If your Elvis gets into a fight, he will just stand there and say things like "Thank you, thank you very much!"

3) In the screen where you talk to your domestic advisor, you have the option to change your form of government. She will ask you, "You say you wanna revolution?" And you can select either "Yea, you know it's gonna be alright," or "No, you can count me out." Both are lines from the Beatles song Revolution.

Awards

• Academy of Interactive Arts and Sciences
  • 2001 - Strategy Game of the Year
• Computer Games Magazine
  • 2001 - Game of the Year
  • 2001 - Strategy Game of the Year
• Computer Gaming World
  • April 2002 (Issue #213) – Best Game That Didn't Win an Award
• Gamepen
  • 2001 - PC Strategy Game of the Year
• Game Revolution
  • 2001 - PC Strategy Game of the Year
• GameSpot
  • 2001 - Best Single-Player Strategy Game of the Year (Editors' Choice)
  • 2001 - Best Single-Player Strategy Game of the Year (Readers' Choice)
• Gamespy
  • 2001 - PC Strategy Game of the Year
• GameStar
  • Issue 02/2002 - Best Game in 2001
  • Issue 02/2002 - Best Strategy Game in 2001
• Wargamer.com
  • 2001 - Strategy Game of the Year

Information also contributed by -Chris, Indra was here, Itay Shahar, phlux, Rambutaan and Zack Green

Related Web Sites

• Sid Meier's Civilization III (official website)
• Civilization Fanatics Center (A huge site with loads of mods, scenarios, civs, etc... Has also a very active Community)