In Civilization III, the player leads a civilisation from its humblest beginnings in 4000 BC to the first decades of the 21st century. During this long period, the player must try to establish the supremacy of his civilisation in the face of other empires. Each protagonist must expand its territory by founding prestigious cities, exploiting its natural resources, developing its armies and diplomatic network, trading, spreading its culture and always striving to be at the cutting edge of technology.
To keep track of the evolution of their civilisation, players have advisors (who keep them informed about the situation inside their cities, their trade situation, their military situation, their diplomatic relations, their cultural influence and their scientific progress), reports (informing them of the wonders already built, the five largest cities in the world, the relative performance of their civilisation compared with other civilisations, the state of progress of their palace and - once this project has begun - the progress of their spaceship), as well as an online help system called Civilopedia.
To win, players can destroy all their enemies, or conquer 66% of the Earth's landmass, or be the first to send a spaceship to Alpha Centauri, or be elected head of the United Nations by obtaining an absolute majority of votes (each civilisation has one vote in the vote), or demonstrate cultural supremacy (simulated by accumulating culture points). If no one wins before the final year of the game, the winner is the one with the highest final score, which depends on a number of parameters, including the number of happy and satisfied citizens (including specialists), the size of the territory, and the number of futuristic discoveries in addition to those available in the technology tree.
