The difficulty level is a game setting in Civilization III that allows players to compete against AI opponents matched to their skills and desire for challenge. In order from lowest to highest, the difficulty levels are as follows:
- Chieftain
- Warlord
- Regent
- Monarch
- Emperor
- Demigod*
- Deity
- Sid*
* Available with Civilization III: Conquests.
Since the computer players are not controlled by advanced AI (i.e., cannot learn from and react to the player's strategies by changing their own accordingly), but instead behave based on a very long list of if-then statements, the game makes the AI leaders more challenging opponents by giving them advantages on higher difficulty levels. The bonuses conferred to both human and AI players on each difficulty level are listed in the table below.
All of the information presented here comes from a forum post on CivFanatics and the in-game editor.[1]
| Element | Chieftain | Warlord | Regent | Monarch | Emperor | Demigod | Deity | Sid |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Number of extra defensive units1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 4 | 6 | 8 | 12 |
| Number of extra offensive units1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 6 |
| Number of extra type 12 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| Number of extra type 23 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 4 |
| Additional free support for each AI civ4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 8 | 12 | 16 | 24 |
| Bonus for each city4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 8 |
| AI max government transition in turns | * | * | * | 4 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 1 |
| Cost factor5 | 20 | 12 | 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 4 |
| AI to AI trade rate | 110 | 120 | 130 | 140 | 150 | 160 | 160/1707 | 200 |
| Number of citizens born content | 4 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Number of citizens quelled by military | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Attack bonus against barbarians | 800 | 400 | 200 | 100 | 50 | 25 | 0 | 0 |
| Percentage of optimal cities for corruption6 | 100 | 95 | 90 | 85 | 80 | 70 | 70/607 | 50 |
1 Only the AI receives these units.
2 These are usually Settlers. Only the AI receives these units.
3 These are usually Workers. Only the AI receives these units.
4 This value applies to the AI's unit support costs.
5 This value is set to 10 for players.
6 The optimal number of cities for corruption purposes is determined by the size of the world: 12 for Tiny, 14 for Small, 16 for Standard, 24 for Large, and 32 for Huge.
7 Latter value with Civilization III: Conquests.
References[]
See also[]
- Difficulty level in other games