Desc: Lindum was not the challenge that I expected for the
final military career level. It was far too easy. As you can see, I
am ready to become a deity with the addition of a few theaters
and/or schools. And its is only May AD116! That's one of the
shortest times to finish any of the challenging levels. Come on,
Sierra, you could have done much better. Sure, I started with a
huge wallet (see my Sarmizegetusa city) when I started because I
expected a challenge. It was not necessary. It was nice to be
able to spare expense in building a city. Yes, I did my planning
well and wasted very little. Please excuse my use of the word "I"
so much; but as a Caesar, you learn to have an attitude. However,
my knowledge is a composite of learning from others who were
nice enough to post their thoughts and the experiences gained over
the previous levels. Very little is originally mine. Also, my
criticism of this level is not meant to belittle Sierra because they
are the reason that I feel that Caesar III is the best of the city
planning games. I have gone through all of the levels in both the
peaceful and military levels and have returned many times to re-
play a city in a different way.
As most experienced players, I slowed the game to 10% speed
and analyzed the entire board. I identified the locations of my
natural resources (water, farmland, clay, forest, iron, etc.). I
noticed what I could produce and what I needed to import. I looked
at the four possible trading partners and decided that I would only
use three of them. The first of the three to be set up would be a
land route for selling pottery and buying marble. The other two
would be set up later because they each required a dock and were
further away from my immigrant entrance. I located each of the
wolf packs and decided to box them use ASAP before they had
time to roam. Then, I started my research as to what others had
already done. There are a number of great pages where advice is
given; such as here at Heavengames with the walkthroughs, the
advice in posts on various Caesar III sites as well as Sierra's official
sites, and the well-thought-out pages of Grumpus The Elder.
These pages were required reading to even get out of the gate
initially and as you progress, you remember and use each of those
tidbits. If you are a glutton for punishment, don't go reading any
further and ignore the previous and jump right in to the game. For
some, the next part may be considered "cheating." I download
some of the cities from Heavengames like you have done with
mine.
I look at what that player did with his city and try to understand
why he did. Next, I scroll through the events that have happened in
his city and transfer some of that knowledge to my planning
sheets, such as when and where the invasions come and even
watch what happened. I also look at all of the various advisors to
understand what is going on in that city. Then, using all of these
thoughts, I finally am ready to start building my city. So, here we
go with Lindum and becoming a deity.
I noticed that the invasions always came from the same spot on
the map and decided how I wanted to set up my defenses.
Mentally I laid out what I wanted my city to be. I will have four
housing blocks: two blocks consisting of 26 Large Insulaes each
(max: 4,368 people) and designated as Blocks A & B, one block of
8 Luxury Palaces (max: 1,600 people) named Block C, and one
block of 27 Large Casas (max: 2,052 people) named Block D.
These four blocks can house up to 8,020 people which will provide
me with approximately 2,900 to 3,000 workers. That should be
enough workers give me all of what I will need if overproduce food,
pottery, furniture, and weapons in order to store up for the blocks'
needs and for trading income. Each block will be laid out with
enough farms plots to provide all the foods needs for that block and
more. I originally had planned to take Blocks A & B beyond the
Large Insulae level and left room for a Colosseum tying into on
Plaza tile at the west corner of each block; however I changed my
feelings as the game progressed, but left the space there in case I
changed my mind again. That's what is fun about this game...you
are never satisfied. I do like my 40-plaza Palace block with
adjoining Colosseum and Hippodrome. That was one of those
areas where the housing was regulated in the changes holding off
the barber until all the luxury palaces' needs were stockpiled in the
eight markets plus multiple granaries and warehouses. This
avoided a huge exodus of people which normally occur when the
houses changes from Insulaes to Villas. If you don't understand
about what I am talking, please review Grumpus' chart at:
Caesar 3 is a game by Sierra Studios & Impressions Software. All trademarks
(graphics, information, etc.) are the sole property of their respective owners. All
Materials in Caeser 3 Heaven used with permission. All other materials are the property
HeavenWeb Site and Required permission of use on other sites! Best viewed in 800 X 600
Graphics Mode - 16bit color, with IE 4.0. Links Do Not Necessarily Suggest Endorsement
Names, trademarks, and copyrights are the property of the originating companies and web
sites.
