<s>
Sid	B-Application
Meier	I-Application
's	I-Application
Civilization	I-Application
III	I-Application
is	O
the	O
third	O
installment	O
of	O
the	O
Sid	O
Meier	O
's	O
Civilization	O
turn-based	O
strategy	O
video	O
game	O
series	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
It	O
was	O
released	O
in	O
2001	O
,	O
and	O
followed	O
by	O
Civilization	B-Application
IV	I-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
Unlike	O
the	O
original	O
game	O
,	O
Civilization	B-Application
III	I-Application
was	O
not	O
designed	O
by	O
Sid	O
Meier	O
,	O
but	O
by	O
Jeff	O
Briggs	O
,	O
a	O
game	O
designer	O
,	O
and	O
Soren	O
Johnson	O
,	O
a	O
game	O
programmer	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Civilization	B-Application
III	I-Application
,	O
like	O
the	O
other	O
Civilization	O
games	O
,	O
entails	O
building	O
an	O
empire	O
,	O
from	O
the	O
ground	O
up	O
,	O
beginning	O
in	O
4,000	O
BC	O
and	O
continuing	O
slightly	O
beyond	O
the	O
modern	O
day	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Land	O
tiles	O
can	O
contain	O
a	O
transportation	O
improvement	O
(	O
road	O
or	O
railroad	B-Application
)	O
and	O
a	O
land	O
improvement	O
(	O
farm	O
or	O
mine	O
)	O
or	O
a	O
city	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Civilization	B-Application
III	I-Application
also	O
added	O
Small	O
Wonders	O
,	O
which	O
are	O
functionally	O
equivalent	O
to	O
Wonders	O
except	O
that	O
each	O
one	O
can	O
be	O
constructed	O
once	O
per	O
civilization	O
,	O
as	O
opposed	O
to	O
once	O
in	O
every	O
whole	O
game	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Some	O
examples	O
of	O
small	O
wonders	O
are	O
Wall	B-Application
Street	I-Application
,	O
the	O
Forbidden	O
Palace	O
,	O
and	O
The	O
Pentagon	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
second	O
expansion	O
,	O
Conquests	B-Application
,	O
adds	O
two	O
new	O
types	O
of	O
citizens	O
to	O
the	O
game	O
:	O
Policemen	O
(	O
reduce	O
corruption	O
)	O
and	O
Civil	O
Engineers	O
(	O
enhance	O
building	O
and	O
wonder	O
production	O
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Every	O
civilization	O
starts	O
with	O
certain	O
special	O
abilities	O
,	O
and	O
they	O
have	O
a	O
special	O
"	O
unique	O
unit	O
"	O
that	O
only	O
they	O
can	O
build	O
;	O
these	O
units	O
usually	O
have	O
a	O
historical	O
basis	O
(	O
for	O
example	O
:	O
the	O
Japanese	O
unique	O
unit	O
is	O
the	O
samurai	B-Application
,	O
which	O
replaces	O
the	O
standard	O
knight	O
,	O
whereas	O
the	O
British	O
unique	O
unit	O
is	O
the	O
Man-O-War	O
,	O
which	O
replaces	O
the	O
standard	O
frigate	O
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Corruption	O
exists	O
in	O
Civilization	B-Application
III	I-Application
alongside	O
waste	O
,	O
which	O
decreases	O
a	O
city	O
's	O
productivity	O
;	O
together	O
,	O
corruption	O
and	O
waste	O
represent	O
the	O
mismanagement	O
of	O
resources	O
,	O
the	O
malfeasance	O
of	O
city-level	O
bureaucrats	O
,	O
and	O
the	O
limits	O
of	O
a	O
central	O
authority	O
's	O
ability	O
to	O
manage	O
an	O
empire	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
These	O
include	O
Conquest	O
victory	O
,	O
achieved	O
when	O
no	O
civilizations	O
besides	O
the	O
player	O
's	O
exist	O
;	O
Domination	O
victory	O
,	O
achieved	O
when	O
two	O
thirds	O
of	O
the	O
world	O
's	O
land	O
and	O
population	O
are	O
controlled	O
by	O
the	O
player	O
;	O
Cultural	O
victory	O
,	O
achieved	O
when	O
the	O
player	O
successfully	O
assimilates	O
other	O
civilizations	O
;	O
Diplomatic	O
victory	O
,	O
achieved	O
when	O
the	O
player	O
is	O
elected	O
leader	O
of	O
the	O
United	O
Nations	O
;	O
and	O
a	O
science-based	O
victory	O
,	O
achieved	O
when	O
the	O
player	O
researches	O
a	O
sufficient	O
number	O
of	O
technologies	O
and	O
builds	O
a	O
spaceship	O
to	O
reach	O
Alpha	B-Application
Centauri	I-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
Civilization	B-Application
III	I-Application
was	O
released	O
after	O
about	O
two	O
years	O
of	O
development	O
on	O
October	O
30	O
,	O
2001	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
the	O
United	O
States	O
,	O
Civilization	B-Application
III	I-Application
entered	O
NPD	O
Intelect	O
's	O
weekly	O
computer	O
game	O
sales	O
rankings	O
at	O
#1	O
for	O
October	O
28	O
–	O
November	O
3	O
,	O
2001	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Thanks	O
to	O
this	O
debut	O
,	O
Civilization	B-Application
III	I-Application
became	O
the	O
country	O
's	O
fourth-best-selling	O
computer	O
title	O
of	O
October	O
as	O
a	O
whole	O
,	O
with	O
an	O
average	O
retail	O
price	O
of	O
$49	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
its	O
second	O
week	O
of	O
availability	O
,	O
the	O
game	O
was	O
pushed	O
to	O
#2	O
by	O
Backyard	B-Application
Basketball	I-Application
,	O
and	O
the	O
Collectors	O
Edition	O
was	O
absent	O
from	O
the	O
top	O
10	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Civilization	B-Application
III	I-Application
finished	O
2001	O
with	O
domestic	O
sales	O
of	O
294,789	O
units	O
,	O
for	O
revenues	O
of	O
$13.5	O
million	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Civilization	B-Application
III	I-Application
sold	O
550,000	O
copies	O
and	O
earned	O
$21.7	O
million	O
in	O
the	O
United	O
States	O
by	O
August	O
2006	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Internationally	O
,	O
Civilization	B-Application
III	I-Application
received	O
a	O
"	O
Silver	O
"	O
sales	O
award	O
from	O
the	O
Entertainment	O
and	O
Leisure	O
Software	O
Publishers	O
Association	O
(	O
ELSPA	O
)	O
,	O
indicating	O
sales	O
of	O
at	O
least	O
100,000	O
copies	O
in	O
the	O
United	O
Kingdom	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Upon	O
release	O
,	O
the	O
reaction	O
to	O
Civilization	B-Application
III	I-Application
was	O
very	O
positive	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
editors	O
of	O
Computer	O
Games	O
Magazine	O
named	O
Civilization	B-Application
III	I-Application
the	O
best	O
strategy	O
title	O
and	O
best	O
overall	O
computer	O
game	O
of	O
2001	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Nonetheless	O
,	O
the	O
initial	O
release	O
of	O
the	O
game	O
was	O
slightly	O
marred	O
by	O
bugs	B-Error_Name
and	O
glitches	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
There	O
were	O
complaints	O
about	O
the	O
addition	O
of	O
features	O
and	O
bug	B-Error_Name
fixes	O
after	O
initial	O
release	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
editors	O
of	O
PC	O
Gamer	O
US	O
awarded	O
Civilization	B-Application
III	I-Application
their	O
2001	O
"	O
Best	O
Turn-Based	O
Strategy	O
Game	O
"	O
prize	O
,	O
and	O
wrote	O
that	O
it	O
"	O
manages	O
to	O
recapture	O
all	O
that	O
was	O
great	O
about	O
its	O
predecessors	O
and	O
color	O
them	O
with	O
a	O
few	O
great	O
new	O
strokes	O
—	O
without	O
pantsing	O
up	O
what	O
was	O
so	O
great	O
about	O
them	O
in	O
the	O
first	O
place.	O
"	O
</s>
<s>
Civilization	B-Application
III	I-Application
was	O
a	O
nominee	O
for	O
Computer	O
Gaming	O
Worlds	O
2001	O
"	O
Best	O
Strategy	O
Game	O
"	O
award	O
,	O
which	O
ultimately	O
went	O
to	O
Kohan	B-Application
:	I-Application
Immortal	I-Application
Sovereigns	I-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
editors	O
wrote	O
,	O
"	O
Civilization	B-Application
III	I-Application
was	O
another	O
fantastic	O
candidate	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Two	O
expansion	O
sets	O
have	O
been	O
published	O
for	O
Sid	B-Application
Meier	I-Application
's	I-Application
Civilization	I-Application
III	I-Application
:	I-Application
Play	I-Application
the	I-Application
World	I-Application
in	O
October	O
2002	O
,	O
and	O
Conquests	B-Application
in	O
November	O
2003	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Play	B-Application
the	I-Application
World	I-Application
added	O
multiplayer	O
capabilities	O
,	O
eight	O
new	O
civilizations	O
and	O
some	O
new	O
units	O
to	O
the	O
original	O
release	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Play	B-Application
the	I-Application
World	I-Application
was	O
followed-up	O
by	O
Conquests	B-Application
,	O
which	O
offers	O
nine	O
more	O
historical	O
scenarios	O
,	O
ranging	O
from	O
Mesopotamia	O
to	O
WWII	O
in	O
the	O
Pacific	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
stand-alone	O
version	O
is	O
Civilization	B-Application
III	I-Application
:	O
Complete	O
Edition	O
,	O
which	O
includes	O
the	O
two	O
expansions	O
and	O
several	O
patches	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
(	O
This	O
version	O
came	O
after	O
Civilization	B-Application
III	I-Application
:	O
Gold	O
Edition	O
and	O
Civilization	B-Application
III	I-Application
:	O
Game	O
of	O
the	O
Year	O
Edition	O
.	O
)	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
game	O
was	O
based	O
on	O
Civilization	B-Application
III	I-Application
and	O
mirrored	O
many	O
of	O
the	O
video	O
game	O
's	O
concepts	O
and	O
gameplay	O
components	O
.	O
</s>
