User manual GAMES PC CAESAR III

Credits Credits Designer Programming Producer David Lester Simon Bradbury Eric Ouellette Darrin Horbal Ron Alpert Adam Carriuolo Bob Curtis Mike Malone Heidi Mann Andrea Muzeroll Dennis Rose Gary Bendilow Michael Best Martin Povey Daniel Shutt David Lester Ken Parker Wayne McCaul Edward Saltzman Rob Euvino 3 QA Manager Lead Tester Jon Payne Greg Sheppard Neal Sumsion Niall Callaghan Austin Parsons Brian Coons Frank Lavoie Tony Leier Wayne McCaul Tom Rogers Doug Gonya Eric Ouellette Ken Parker Greg Sheppard Quality assurance (UK) Art Director (US) Artists (US) Quality assurance (US) Map & assignment Designers Artists (UK) Manual & Research Special Thanks to Chris Beatrice and Doug Gonya. Sound Effects Music Table of Contents Table of Contents Welcome to the Roman Empire . . . . . . . . . . . .9 In-Game Information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .10 Getting Started . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .13 Installing Caesar III . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .13 Starting the Game . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .14 Your Career . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .15 City Construction Kit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .16 Losing the Game . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .17 For Players of Caesar II . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .17 Roman Cities, and How to Build Them . . . . .23 How to Build a Roman City . . . . . . . . . . . . .26 Recommended Order of Priorities . . . . . . . . .28 Game Ratings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .33 Culture . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .33 Prosperity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .34 Peace . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .36 Favor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .36 Housing and Desirability . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .41 Desirability . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .43 Gardens and Plazas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .45 Statues . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .46 People, Employment and Migration . . . . . . . .49 Migration: Attracting People to Your City . .49 Population Growth . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .52 Plebeians, Patricians, & the Workforce . . . . .53 Employment & Labor Allocation . . . . . . . . .54 People Walking Along Roads . . . . . . . . . . . .56 Mood and Crime . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .59 Mood . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .59 Crime . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .61 5 Riots . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .63 Prefectures & fire . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .66 Engineering and Transport . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .69 Engineering . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .69 Paths & Roads . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .70 Bridges & Water Transport . . . . . . . . . . . . . .72 Dock . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .73 Shipyard & Wharf . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .75 Education . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .79 School, Academy & Library . . . . . . . . . . . . .79 Religion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .83 The Gods . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .83 Temples . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .85 The Oracle . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .86 Entertainment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .89 Venues & Performer Schools . . . . . . . . . . . .89 Theater . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .91 Amphitheater and Colosseum . . . . . . . . . . . .91 Hippodrome . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .91 Festival . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .93 Health and Sanitation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .95 Sanitation: Bath-house & Barber . . . . . . . . .95 Doctor's Clinic & Hospital . . . . . . . . . . . . . .95 Disease . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .96 Government, Administration and Money . . . .99 The Senate . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .99 Forum . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .100 Triumphal arch . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .101 Money . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .102 Costs and Controlling Them . . . . . . . . . . . . .103 Taxes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .104 Tribute . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .105 Table of Contents 6 Your Rank & Salary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .106 Governor's Residence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .107 Food, Farming and Industry . . . . . . . . . . . . . .111 Food . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .111 Farming . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .113 Storage & Distribution: Granary, Warehouse & Market . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .116 Special Orders . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .118 Market . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .121 Industry . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .122 Clay Pit, Iron Mine & Timber Yard . . . . . . .124 Marble . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .124 Workshops . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .125 Oil, Pottery & Furniture . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .125 Wine . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .126 Weapons . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .127 Trade . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .129 Water Supply . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .135 Well . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .135 Fountain . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .136 Reservoir & Aqueduct . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .136 Military Activity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .141 Walls & Towers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .142 Gatehouse . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .143 Fort . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .144 Barracks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .146 Military Academy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .147 Commanding Roman legions . . . . . . . . . . . .148 What to Expect in Battle . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .151 Battles in Your Province . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .151 Fighting for the Empire . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .153 Enemies of Rome . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .155 Native Tribes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .155 Mission Posts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .155 Other Enemies of Rome . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .156 Information, Tools and Tips . . . . . . . . . . . . . .159 Messages . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .159 Overlays . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .160 Advisors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .167 Game Options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .183 Other Game Controls . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .185 Answers to Common Question . . . . . . . . . . .186 Hints and Tips . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .190 Designer's Notes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .197 Building Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .200 Table of Contents 7 Welcome to the Roman Empire C ongratulations, citizen! Caesar has approved your application to enter the Empire's government. The Emperor is eager to expand his settlements and reward citizens who can implement his will. The Roman Empire is so vast, and growing so rapidly, that even our divine Caesar cannot hope to rule it alone. He needs capable provincial governors, and that is where you come in. Caesar appointed me, Pius Perplexus, to teach you the skills of governing. Your scribe, Clarus Lucidus, will add notes as we go along. My main interest is in teaching you what you should do, and why you should do it. When Clarus thinks you need information about how to do whatever I am discussing at the time, he adds his comments in obvious sections called Scribe's Notes. Your goal is to build a thriving Roman city. Caesar III has two styles of play: The Career Game and the City Construction Kit. In a Career, Caesar rewards success with promotions and more challenging assignments. All new governors begin their careers with the same sequence of two assignments. After you complete them, Caesar lets you choose between accepting a peaceful or a dangerous new assignment each time you earn a promotion. As long as you continue to meet Caesar's ever escalating expectations, you win by becoming Rome's next Emperor. If the second style of play, the City Construction Kit, is more to your liking, you can ignore the Emperor and set your own goals. There is no winning in the Construction Kit, beyond satisfying whatever objectives you set for yourself. Welcome to the Roman World 10 You can lose either type of game if you fall very much out of Caesar's favor. The Favor rating, which measures Caesar's current opinion of you, is affected by your performance especially your handling of your province's funds. Don't worry, though Caesar may be a tough master, but he is fair, and will give you the chance to recover if you do fall far out of favor. Use the considerable information within the game to avoid this unfortunate outcome. Caesar III is not a war game, although you might sometimes have to defend your city against Rome's enemies. It's not a historical reference or educational program, either. It is about building cities where people can live productive, happy lives, and having fun in the process. Caesar III gives you a strong feeling of what life might have been like in ancient Rome, but the game does sometimes depart from history. In some places, strict historical accuracy would have made the game complicated or restrictive. Wherever they faced such choices, Caesar III's designers emphasized simplicity and fun. Welcome to the Roman World 11 panels often include a few words in red type. Click on red words to read related help entries. You can also choose Help from the menu bar at the top of your game screen to view the Table of Contents for in-game Help. In-game information C aesar III has lots of information built right into the game. When you are in doubt about anything, click on it with your mouse's right button (right-click). Almost everything displays a small panel showing important information when you right-click on it. For more detailed help, click on the button in the panel's lower left corner. These detail Getting started Installing Caesar III W ith Windows running on your computer, put the Caesar III CD into the CD-ROM drive. After a moment, Windows' AutoPlay feature displays a screen with four buttons marked Play, Install, Uninstall and Quit. Click Install to begin. If AutoPlay doesn't work on your computer, put the Caesar III CD into the CD-ROM drive. Click twice quickly (double-click) on the My Computer icon on your Windows desktop. In the window that opens, find the icon representing your CD-ROM drive. Click that icon with your right mouse button (rightclick). Now click the word Open at the top of the menu that appeared when you rightclicked. Double-click the item called Setup.exe. The Install program performs a brief system test. Click the Yes button if you hear sound. Read the Welcome screen that appears next, then click the Next button. You are now prompted to choose an Install path for Caesar III. To change the game's location on your hard drive, click the Browse button and find the folder to which you'd like the game installed. Click Next when your choice is displayed, or to accept the path Install chose. If you're unsure where you should install the game, just use the location chosen by the Install program. Caesar III's installation can take up to 10 minutes. When it finishes, you see a box describing the additions Caesar III made to your Start menu. Click OK, then tell Install whether or not to add bookmarks to your Internet browser. Getting started 14 Install now asks whether you would like to view the game's Readme file. Click Yes if you'd like to read it now. This manual went to print several weeks before the game was finished, and late changes or additions are documented in Readme. Wherever Readme and this manual conflict, Readme is correct. (Readme doesn't display until the Install is complete). Click the Finish button. Install checks some system components, and updates them if necessary. It might then restart your computer. Use the Sierra AutoUpdate feature accessible from your Start button to check for any free enhancements or upgrades to the game. Getting started 15 Your Career T he first two assignments are the same for all new governors. Each assignment in the Career Game has clear goals that you must achieve to earn a promotion and move on to the next province. At first, the Roman Empire is small, and your choices of cities to govern are slim. As the game goes on and the Empire grows (thanks, in part, to your own success), Caesar lets you choose among provinces to rule next. He usually lets you choose between a peaceful or a dangerous province. Starting the game T he Install program placed a shortcut on your Windows desktop. Doubleclick on that icon to start the game. Or, insert the game CD and, when AutoPlay begins, click the Play button. Or, click the Start button on your Windows task bar and launch the game from the location to which you installed it. You must have the Caesar III CD in your CD-ROM drive while playing. After the game loads, a short movie depicting the rise of Rome plays, followed by credits and the Caesar III title screen. Click on it to proceed to the game set-up panel. Here, you choose whether to begin a new Career Game, load a previously saved game, play a City Construction Kit game or exit the program. When you have such a choice, you'll see a map of the Empire showing the cities available. Click on each city for a brief description of its characteristics. When you've made your decision, click the OK button. Getting started 16 Some cities might need you to focus on trade, others on industry; most blend the two. Some assignments might require you to rescue an existing city from a crisis. Some provinces are in dangerous areas. Every assignment is different. Remember, though, that Caesar wants you to succeed. He always makes his expectations clear, and gives you the resources you need to accomplish the task at hand. You begin your career as a Citizen. As you successfully complete assignments, Caesar will promote you through the following ranks: Clerk Engineer Architect Decurion Apparitor Magistrate Quaestor Procurator Aedile Praetor Proconsul Consul Senator Caesar will give you every opportunity to succeed, but his patience has limits. When he has to find more money for your city, Caesar lowers your Favor rating (see page 36). After choosing the Construction Kit, you see a map of the Roman Empire showing all its major cities. Click on any city for a description of its unique challenges and resources. When you decide which province to govern, click the OK button. Getting started 17 Losing the Game C i aesar III is simple to learn and play, but difficult to master. It is nevertheless possible to lose the game. Should you fall far out of favor with the Emperor, he will send an army to come and reclaim your city from you. Continual poor management of city funds could lead to just such a problem, so be careful! This applies to both individual assignments within your Career, and to the City Construction Kit. For players of Caesar II f you have played Caesar II, enough has changed in Caesar III that your old playing styles will need to change. While you will find much that is familiar, you should know about some of the more significant areas that have changed before you plunge right into the game: The province level and the city level have been combined into one larger map (though early assignments within the career are on fairly small maps). Should you encounter any barbarians or invaders, you will find that all combat now takes place on City construction kit lick this button if you'd rather forget about the Emperor and his assignments, and just build a city. All options from the Career Game are open to you, except for the career itself. There is no winning a Construction Kit game, apart from satisfying whatever goals you set yourself, but you can lose if you keep running out of money. Caesar is a reasonable ruler who C Getting started 18 this same map, placing your city in considerable danger should your defenses fail. Unlike Caesar II, in Caesar III you designate areas for housing, rather than build housing directly. You must make your city attractive to immigrants if you expect people to move in, and every growing city needs plenty of new immigrants. Once people move in, they upgrade their housing of their own accord, should you provide a suitable environment. In most assignments (and almost always in the City Construction Kit) you need to provide food for your citizens. This should always be your top priority, since it is very hard to attract new immigrants into a city without food, and hunger can quickly turn your population to crime. Engineers are now needed to maintain your city's buildings. Build engineering posts to send out engineers on patrol. Buildings are liable to collapse if they don't receive regular maintenance. You will quickly see a large variety of people walking through your city. These all perform valuable tasks for your city, and you should think carefully about how and where you build roads. Whenever a road junction is reached, these little people must make a choice about which way to take; the fewer intersections you create, therefore, the more control you have over the routes your people will take. Most services needed by houses are not provided simply if a building is nearby, as was the case with Caesar II. Instead, most buildings generate people, who need to walk past a house in order to offer that service to the house. Most buildings which employ people must have road access to reasonably close housing. If housing is too far away from a structure which seeks employees, even though there is road access and unemployment in the city, the building will not find any workers. The old Empire rating is gone, replaced by a Favor rating, which indicates Caesar's current opinion of you. Favor is important, since you will lose the game if it falls too low. Terrain has become an important consideration in city design, with higher land and waterside plots being more desirable. You will come across islands, and need to bridge water at times to achieve your objectives. And different types of land hold different resources, from fertile land to areas rich in clay or iron ore. Getting started 19 Getting started 20 Religion plays a larger role in citizens' lives. There are five gods to keep happy; ignore them at your peril. Entertainment, too, has changed: building a theater or amphitheater is not enough to please your people, as it did before. Build actor colonies, gladiator schools and more to provide performers for these otherwise pretty (but dull) venues. Caesar is a more hands-on Emperor than he was in the old game, and will interact with you more often. He is worth looking after whenever you can. Finally, you won't hear the phrase Plebs are needed! any more. The computer automatically allocates your workforce to jobs. This is all that you need most of the time. When there is a shortage of employees, you can assign priorities to categories of workers, ensuring that whichever tasks matter most to your city get first claim on the available plebes. Getting started 21 Roman Cities, and How to Build Them R oman cities differed from modern cities in obvious ways: No skyscrapers, no motor vehicles, no subways, no electric lighting, and so on. But they were remarkably similar in some ways, too: Many Roman cities were large, busy places where hundreds of thousands of people lived (historians estimate that Rome itself housed one million residents). Cities used road networks, and had buildings several stories high. People in ancient times had the same basic needs that we have today: food, water, clothing and other goods; a job to provide income to pay the bills; entertainment, education, religion and other services and diversions. For a Roman city, just as for a modern one, the wide variety in kinds of people and buildings, the hustle and bustle, the noise and dust all gave a city its character. The center of a Roman city should be full of fine buildings. The Senate, the center of government for a Roman city, should be the center point around which other buildings are located. It will probably be surrounded by lavish plazas, a governor's palace, and some of the wealthiest villas imaginable. There will be numerous large, grand temples, and perhaps an oracle, providing religious service for the rich and powerful who live in and around the city center. The bath house, of course, will be close by. This is where the wealthy come to wash away the dirt, and also to see and be seen, to talk and to plot. And after a bath, rich Romans enjoy a stroll in one of the many gardens that are usually to be found in this part of the city, perhaps bordered by statues Roman Cities, and How to Build Them 24 marking various triumphs of Rome's glorious expansion. Other grand structures, too, will be close by: academies, schools, and libraries, where the young are educated in the ways of Rome. Theaters are there, and actor colonies to train the actors who perform the drama so popular with the wealthy of Rome. Not far away from that, though hidden away so as not to upset the desirability of the very center, will be the bases for the essential services needed: barbers and doctors, police stations, markets and engineering stations; a reservoir and fountains to provide the enormous volumes of water needed by such a thriving metropolis; a granary to allow the market traders easy access to food stores. Beyond the tidy central core of the city are the productive areas, where most of the work gets done, and where those who perform that work live. Here you'll find farming districts, mines and workshops, a thriving port, and warehouses close to the main road out of the province. These outer areas of a Roman city also house more popular, if noisier and dirtier, entertainment venues like amphitheaters, where gladiators fight to the death to the delight of cheering crowds, and the colosseum, where lions are brought to battle each other and the better gladiators. The finest cities of all have a hippodrome, like Rome's Circus Maximus one of the largest buildings I've ever seen; the fiercely competitive chariot races held there are surely the finest entertainment anywhere in the Empire. Some cities, it is true, also have areas they are less proud of. Dirty and dangerous, full of Roman Cities, and How to Build Them 25 tents, hovels and shacks, these slums can house an amazing number of citizens. You would be well advised not to venture there alone. As you create your own city, keep a watchful eye on any such districts. They are often the source of crime, occasionally even riots! It's often not even worthwhile sending tax collectors round, since the people there are so poor there's precious little tax to collect. No portrayal of Roman cities is complete without mentioning their lifeblood: The people. How can I describe the feeling of abundant, thriving life that I get just from watching the city center as all manner of people go about their busy lives? Of course, you expect to see the many plebes, priests, prefects and market traders, and maybe the cart pushers as well. But would you imagine gladiators, lion tamers, merchants from distant lands, engineers, barbers and doctors, too? It is quite a sight to behold. Roman Cities, and How to Build Them 26 Roman Cities, and How to Build Them 27 crime. Beware very high unemployment. There's more information about employment on page 49. Desirability: In addition to needing goods and services, housing often requires its surrounding area to be made more pleasant before it evolves to higher values. This means prettying it up with gardens, plazas, statues and temples, or removing some of the more antisocial buildings nearby, such as workshops or military buildings. You can read up on desirability on page 43. Water access: Water is critical to all life, even that found in the slums of Rome's cities. Poorer areas expect to either get their own water directly from a river or lake, or to draw it up from deep wells. But better citizens want a nearby source of clean water, and they'll soon demand a fountain before they upgrade their housing. Of course, fountains won't please anyone unless they actually distribute water, for which they need access How to Build a Roman City T here are a few basic concepts you would be well advised to get straight before embarking too far on your journey to become the finest Governor in the Empire. Housing: Designate an area for housing, after which people will move in and set up their own homes, which they will upgrade if you provide them with the facilities they seek. If there's not enough empty housing, no one can move into your city, however much they may wish to. You can find out more about housing on page 41. Roads: Citizens can walk only on roads. Most buildings employ people, and need to be both adjacent to road and reasonably close to housing so that citizens can reach the building to start work. For more on roads, please turn to page 56. Food: Not unreasonably, your citizens need to eat food. People who live in tents, the simplest housing, expect to forage for their own food, but everyone else expects you, as their governor, to provide it for them. Failure to do so could lead to unhappiness and possibly severe crime, as well as preventing immigration. You can read about food on page 111. Unemployment: Providing jobs is nearly as important for luring immigrants as providing food. Unemployment quickly makes people unhappy, and unhappy people are likely to leave your city, talk other people into not moving in, or, worse still, turn to Roman Cities, and How to Build Them 28 to a reservoir. Learn more about the city's water supply on page 135. Security: Prefectures help to suppress crime, and they guard against fires in the city. Engineers inspect your buildings for structural flaws and keep them in top repair. If you skimp on prefectures and engineer's posts, your city will not last for very long. Read more on page 66. Roman Cities, and How to Build Them 29 Always make sure there is plenty of food around. Check how full your granaries are regularly; if they look empty, you are probably eating more than you are growing, which suggests that you should build more farms or import some more food. It is easy to forget about food once your city starts to take shape and grow rapidly, but your people won't let you forget it for long. Security: Build plenty of prefectures as you expand; cities face all sorts of pressures with rapid growth, and most governors I know sleep much better knowing that there are plenty of prefects around to put out fires and take care of any signs of crime before they get out of hand. Unemployment: Try not to let the unemployment rate rise much above 15 percent, and then only for a short time. In the early months of a new city, just a few workers can represent a large percentage of the workforce; if unemployment is high, add a new farm, and kill two birds with one stone. Water: Since reservoirs and fountains do not need road access to their labor, it is easy to forget that they need workers to function. Think ahead about the routes your aqueducts will need to follow to carry water from its natural source (a river, or lake, say) to the expensive residential areas that will need it. Religion: Try to keep the gods happy. Happy gods can be of help to you, while angry gods can do you more damage than you care to know about. Beware their wrath! Money: Don't worry about how much money you're spending until your population Recommended order of priorities M any governors feel slightly overwhelmed when facing the stark emptiness of a new province, and don't know quite how to begin. It is tempting to rush in to a new city and build some of the finer structures first. Sadly, this can make citizens unhappy. They much prefer their governors to build carefully, starting with basic needs. In addition to some areas of housing, I recommend the following order of priorities as the key to solid, long-lasting cities: Roman Cities, and How to Build Them 30 nears 1,000. By then, your city should be stable enough for you to consider raising taxes, making sure everyone is paying their taxes (use the tax Overlay to help you do this). And then you should start to consider setting up some trade to provide more income. Defense: In some of the more dangerous provinces, defense is an important consideration. You don't need to think about it much before you get the basics up and running, and in many provinces you won't need to worry about it at all. But in those dangerous provinces, scan the map first of all to see where you may want to build some defensive walls, or place some forts, taking into account where your farmland, water sources and other important locations are. The Rest: there are many other structures to build and issues to consider, but it is hard to go far wrong if you get the basics right first. Roman Cities, and How to Build Them 31 Scribe's NOTE: Remember, if in doubt, right-click. If you right-click on the people wandering around, they'll usually give you valuable information about what they think the city needs, or what they're up to. If there are problems, you can be sure they'll let you know! Right-clicking on housing always tells you what that house needs if it is to evolve, while right-clicking on other buildings tells you if, and how well, they are operating. Your Chief Advisor is a good fellow, too; he'll always tell you the truth about the state of your city. Check in with him regularly, too. Game Ratings T here are several measures of your city's progress in Caesar III, which I call ratings. These are Peace, Prosperity, Culture and Favor. Caesar is not an arbitrary ruler. With every new assignment that you take, Caesar sets specific targets for you to reach for each of these ratings. You win a promotion to a new assignment when you achieve these goals (this does not apply to the City Construction Kit). You can see your current ratings on the city map by looking at the Senate building; its flags represent the four ratings, and they move over time as your ratings change. Mouse help for the building gives you the precise rating numbers. Alternatively, you can consult your Ratings Advisor, who will show you the ratings and offer some advice on how to boost them. Culture Y our Culture rating is a measure of the culture in your city. Culture comes from education, religion, and some entertainment. Culture was very important to ancient Rome; it sought to impose its culture throughout the Empire, which is why so many languages today are based on Latin, the ancient Romans' language. The Culture rating is calculated by comparing the number of buildings your city has in these categories with the size of your population. As the city grows, it needs more and more buildings to offer the same level of culture to its larger population. Game Ratings 34 To raise your Culture rating, build additional temples, oracles, schools, libraries, academies or theaters (the only cultured entertainment form back then). Note that all these buildings must be active to count towards the Culture rating which means that they must all have the employees that they need, and the theater needs actors to perform plays. Wage rate (paying more than Rome boosts Prosperity, while paying less reduces it); Housing levels (having quite a few villas in your city boosts Prosperity, while a large proportion of your citizens living in tents and shacks reduces it); If lots of people eat more than one type of food, Prosperity rises; The presence of an active hippodrome in a city boosts Prosperity. The easiest way to boost Prosperity is simply for your treasury to take in more money than it spends, not counting construction costs (which are, after all, enhancing the city). Game Ratings 35 Scribe's Note: Click on your Culture rating, or any other rating for that matter, on the City Progression Panel in the Senate to see brief advice for improving it. Factors which affect Prosperity include: Unemployment (very low levels boost the rating, high levels reduce it); City profitability (excluding construction costs, if your city takes in more denarii than it spends, the Prosperity rating will rise, and if it takes in less than it spends, the rating will fall); If the city needs additional funds from Rome, its Prosperity rating falls; Should the city ever fail to pay tribute to Rome, its Prosperity falls; The Ratings Advisor Panel T Prosperity The Prosperity rating is a measure of the overall wealth of your city and its people. Game Ratings 36 Game Ratings 37 Peace T he Peace rating is a measure of how secure your people feel. As time passes without any disturbance of the peace, the initial concern people naturally have about a brand new area begins to fall, and they feel much safer. Disturbances of the peace reduce the rating, though. Theft and riots both reduce the Peace rating, as does any destruction of property by barbarians or invaders. The people understand that they live in a dangerous time, where such evils as barbarians and invaders exist, but they expect their governor to protect them from it. Any lapse will have a severe effect on a city's citizens, reducing the Peace rating significantly. Only prolonged periods of security can bring it back up. Pander to Caesar's every desire. From time to time, you may receive a request from him. This may be for goods, or for cash, or even an army. He will always tell you when he wants this stuff, and getting it to him by then makes him much more pleased with you. Send him gifts from your own personal savings. You can send a small, medium or large gift from your Emperor's Advisor. Beware excessive use of gifts, since Caesar has a tendency to take them for granted after a while. The first should be in proportion to your own personal wealth at the time. Sadly, it is all too easy to displease Caesar. Try to avoid the following, which will cause him to think worse of you: Poor progress towards the assignment objectives; Caesar does not like time to be wasted. Favor Y our Favor rating shows you what Caesar thinks of you. With every new assignment you begin, your Favor rating starts at 50, which means that Caesar is neither pleased nor displeased with you. If you please him, the rating rises; if you displease him, the rating falls. It is important for you to understand that if you do not come to Caesar's attention at all in any year, the Favor rating falls slightly; out of sight, out of mind, out of Favor. You can please Caesar in several ways: Make strong progress towards achieving the overall objectives of the assignment. Game Ratings 38 Ignoring a request from him. If you can't meet his deadline, it's still worthwhile to fulfill the request, although less beneficial than fulfilling it on time. However, failure to ever fulfill it is likely to make him very angry toward you. Poor cash management. This is the single easiest way to anger Caesar. He respects sound use of the funds he has entrusted you with, but also expects you to make your cities contribute as soon as possible. Should he send you any specific instructions regarding your use of Rome's funds, try hard to follow that advice. If you fall very far (a Favor rating of a meager 10 percent would be far enough, I fear) in Caesar's favor, he will remove you from office. He will send an army to enforce that, ordering the army to stay beside your city for up to one year. If you manage to please him enough in that time to raise Favor to 40, the army will return to Rome. Otherwise, the army will enter your city to claim back for Rome what belongs to her, and to place you under arrest. I would not recommend trying to fight the army, either; Caesar would not be amused. Game Ratings 39