used to play civilization 2 back when I was a kid and started playing it recently just wandering what civilization 3 is like and also do any of you know where I can download it?

I love Civ 2. Possibly my favourite game ever. I was getting pretty good at the game, too. I don't know about Civ 3, but I have CIV 4. I don't play it that much though. Never even touched any of the expansion packs that came with the game. But it seems faithful enough and has a ton of features.

Can't help you with downloads. For buying a copy, try Amazon. Shouldn't be hard to find.

It's great. It plays a bit like CIV 2, but there's lots of features that minimize the need for micromanagement and most of those 'sure' ways to gain an edge or win are eliminated or balanced out. It's quite challenging to master. And they got Leonard Nemoy to read out a small narration everytime you discover a technology.

My wife plays the game a lot. I am more inclined to pop in CIV2 whenever I feel like playing... it's uglier and has glitches, but it's something I am very familiar with. I get confused with CIV IV.

There's a couple of excellent websites like Apolyton and CivFanatics that you might want to check out.

In CIV2 bribing and caravans were a little "too good". Same with combat and being able to bait the opposing units to throw themselves at your fortified defenses. You have to be able to use a larger variety of tactics in Civ IV and things are balanced out a lot better.

The cultural borders thing takes some time to adjust to, but it's not as annoying as it was when I first played.