Sid Meier's Civilization III is patched up and repackaged with extras in this "Game of the Year" reincarnation. In addition to the original 4X conquer-the-world classic, new features include several new maps, a keyboard command reference card, a behind-the-scenes "making of" documentary, and an excerpt from the official strategy guide.
SimulatorStrategyTurn-based strategy (TBS)
Sid Meier's Civilization III is the third installment of the Sid Meier's Civilization turn-based strategy video game series. It was released in 2001, and followed by Civilization IV. Unlike the original game, Civilization III was not designed by Sid Meier, but by Jeff Briggs, a game designer, and Soren Johnson, a game programmer.
Civilization III, like the other Civilization games, entails building an empire, from the ground up, beginning in 4,000 BC and continuing slightly beyond the modern day. The player must construct and improve cities, train military and non-military units, improve terrain, research technologies, build Wonders of the World, make war or peace with neighboring civilizations, and so on. The player must balance a good infrastructure, resources, diplomatic and trading skills, technological advancement, city and empire management, culture, and military power to succeed.
The game map is made up of square tiles on a grid. Each city, terrain improvement, and unit is located in a specific tile, and each tile can host any number of units. Land tiles can contain a transportation improvement (road or railroad) and a land improvement (farm or mine) or a city. Cities must be built a minimum of one tile away from each other, i.e., no two cities may touch. Each tile is made of a particular type of terrain that determines, among other things, how much food, production, and trade it produces when "worked".
Civilization III was released after about two years of development on October 30, 2001. Developed by Westlake Interactive and published by MacSoft, a version for Mac OS was released on January 6, 2002.
In the United States, Civilization III entered NPD Intelect's weekly computer game sales rankings at #1 for October 28, November 3, 2001. Its Collectors Edition SKU claimed second during the period. Thanks to this debut, Civilization III became the country's fourth-best-selling computer title of October as a whole, with an average retail price of $49. In its second week of availability, the game was pushed to #2 by Backyard Basketball, and the Collectors Edition was absent from the top 10. Firaxis's title remained in NPD's weekly top 10 from November 11, December 1, and took sixth place for November as a whole.
Civilization III ... (PC) [2001] Gameplay, 10min Gameplay. Watch on YouTube
| Platform | Region | Date |
|---|---|---|
| Windows | Worldwide | 2002-10-24 |
A re-release of the base game from October 2002. It does not include the Play the World expansion.
Two expansions, sold separately: Play the World (2002), which added multiplayer, and Conquests (2003). Both are part of Civilization III Complete.
Playable offline todayYes
Single-player. Civilization III Complete is still sold.
| Question | Answer |
|---|---|
| Ever released on disc | Yes, CD-ROM, October 2002 With a bonus CD. |
| Ever released in the store | No Download stores sell Civilization III Complete instead. |
| In the store to buy today | No Civilization III Complete, with this game and both expansions, is US$4.99 on Steam and also on GOG. |
| Can be downloaded again if you already bought it | Does not exist |
| Has online features | No The base game is single-player. Multiplayer came with the Play the World expansion. |
| Online servers running today | Does not exist |
| Playable offline today: campaign | Yes |
| Playable offline today: local multiplayer | Does not exist |
| Playable offline today: online multiplayer | Does not exist |
| Playable offline today: DLC | Yes Both expansions are in Civilization III Complete. |
Plays offlineYes
| Role | Name |
|---|---|
| Developer | Firaxis Games |
| Publisher | Infogrames |
| Producers | Michael Gibson, Jeffrey Kennedy |
| Designers | Jeff Briggs, Soren Johnson |
| Writer | Paul Murphy |
| Composers | Roger Briggs, Mark Cromer |
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