Trey Walker News Editor, PC Games	Recent Favorites: Civilization III, Max Payne, Monopoly Tycoon Most Wanted: Neverwinter Nights, The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind, Heroes of Might and Magic IV

My Nonviolent Civ III Experiment Goes Awry

Last week, I wrote about my first adventures in nonviolence while playing Civilization III, and I realize now that the path to becoming a better person is a long one and that there are many pitfalls along the way.

My game was progressing as planned according to my new strategy of peaceful cultural conquest. Rather than pursue territorial expansion through brutish military assaults, I was assimilating my neighbors one city at a time. The steamroller of my cultural influence seemed unstoppable, and in my naïve confidence, I almost completely neglected all other facets of my civilization's development. In spite of my neglect, my treasury grew over the years and my scientists managed to stay ahead of my immediate competitors, not through any clever manipulation of scientific budgets on my part, but through the dumb luck of having a larger population than the nations around me. Likewise, my military grew--not from the foresight that it might prove useful someday, but through my occasional deference to my onscreen advisors' recommendations.

The Aztecs attacked one dawn without warning. Although my military had the advantage of better technology, the Aztecs were better organized and quickly took control of two key cities. My only recourse was to hire some thugs to do my dirty work. For the bargain price of around 400 gold--almost my entire treasury--I managed to convince the French and the Iroquois to form a military alliance with me against the Aztecs. With no further ado, their horsemen came to my rescue and promptly routed the aggressors, taking as their prize a couple of Aztec cities each. I was fortunate to have had the gold necessary to hire these mercenaries, and the surprise attack should have prompted me to actively build my military for defense, but I instead continued on my path of cultural dominance to build universities and cathedrals.

New York looks like a yard sale for monuments, but can it defend itself?

			Have you ever regretted attacking one of your closest allies in a game? Yes. No. Only when I have lost.

It wasn't only the enemy that didn't cooperate either. It turns out democracies don't like war. Almost as soon as I had changed the production orders on my cities, riots popped up across the map and war production ground to a halt. Didn't these people realize I had a world to conquer, and only 20 turns left to do it?

Unable to cope with his failure, the AI-controlled Iroquois leader accuses me of cheating.

On the brighter side of things, I learned a valuable lesson: If you plan to start a war in Civilization III, start it before 2030.