I am broke, please help...

I started as the French empire (Loius IV) and early on, I will have a tendency to go broke, even with science set at 0%? The game will start a "strike". I am stuck, since I can't build any units to extend my trade network and my income is not increasing. What can I do to turn things around? Did I build too many buildings? Unlike the previous Civs, it doesn't seem like I could sell (convert) the building for resource. Since there is no reseach being done, I am not discovering new technologies to help me change my government. Thanks.

Too many Cities, too far away. Too many troops.

Too few Cottages/Courthouses.

Your problem comes from expanding too fast. What you need to do is expand until you can stay in the black with 60% research. Then concentrate on cottaging with your workers in your commerce cities. Once your economy starts turning a profit again, start expanding again.

Unlike in other civs you can not sell buildings and buildings do not cost money for upkeep, except corps branchs.

amgbaron said:

Did I build too many buildings? Unlike the previous Civs, it doesn't seem like I could sell (convert) the building for resource.

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The number of buildings no longer affects the mainteance costs. Now it's the size of the city, and how big the distance is to your capital.

You have just overexpanded. As Refar said:

Too many Cities, too far away. Too many troops.

Too few Cottages/Courthouses.

One thing I would add is make sure you're working the right tiles to keep the money coming in. If you simply work tiles that have only hammers and food in your cities, your commerce will suffer. I usually try to make it a goal to get some cottages down in my capital really quick and start working them.

The tech. decisions you make early on can have an impact too, delay currency and code of laws for too long and your economy can really suffer. If you have about 6 cities spread out far from your capital the maintence cost of some of those cities can be a lot more than the amount of cash they can earn even with the science slider down to 0%.

If you have a bunch of cities on another continent from your capital, you can incur some massive maintenence fees because of that, where the best remedy would be to grant the cities independence as a Colony.

Wow, thanks for all your replies. I didn't realize that distance and overexpansion can be such an issue. With the previous civs, a good strategy was to build as many cities as possible to claim the best land, and the maximum total productivity. I guess it would help to pick a leader with the "financial" trait to expand rapidly. I guess there are more check and balances with Civ 4. Thanks.

I looked at the manual again and looks the there is an upkeep cost associated with the civics. Since I just changed to heredity rule and organized religion, the upkeep cost is medium. Might help if I go back to despotism and paganism. Thanks.

I wouldn't worry so much about civics. Civics are helpful. The overexpansion is the main problem. You want code of laws (courthouses) and/or currency (extra trade routes, can sell tech/resources for $, etc.) before you go crazy expanding. You also want to be sure to lay down enough cottages (the primary way to add $ to your empire) or you will go broke or fall behind.

Civ IV is FAR FAR different from previous civs because of this very issue. In older versions, and AC especially, it was better to have 10 cities of 1 pop than 1 city of 10, simply because 10 cities of 1 works 20 tiles. In Civ IV, that "loophole" has not only been closed, its become a MAJOR factor in the strategy of the game.

The best rule of thumb I have seen is the "60%" rule. If you never touch the Science slider, it will drop gradually as you put up cities, and keep you as close to "even" as possible. Using the 60% rule, you STOP expanding when your slider goes to 60, and let your cottages and infrastructure build up some, maybe get some financial techs like Currency and Banking, and once you're showing a decent profit at 60%, you can begin expanding again, either by Settlers or by force.

Also, since it bears re-mentioning, check your cities to see which tiles they are working. Sure, that 5H copper mine is great for fasting buildings, and that 5F pig tile is awesome for growth, but you may need to switch to tiles that have some commerce so you can stay in the black. Coastal tiles, riverside tiles, etc, are critical to keeping your economy afloat. SPeaking for myself, Lighthouses and Riverside grassland Cottages are among my first targets in new cities, so I can get some commerce without starving when I need it. My current game is a perfect example. I over-conquered a neighbor after running my own "blocker" cities too far from home, and now I am paying the price for not razing a couple conquered and over-extending my block. Sure, once I get past it, the filler cities will make my empire goddly, but its a real challenge to overcome. And I am only playing Monarch. Gets harder to manage these things at the higher difficulties.

amgbaron said:

With the previous civs, a good strategy was to build as many cities as possible to claim the best land, and the maximum total productivity.

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One of the things that helped me adjust to Civ 4 was reading Obsolete's posts and playing the One City Challenge options. He goes a bit overboard with the small empire motif however they're highly instructive on the power of a strong singular city. The link below it to one of his games with links to previous games at the end of the first post.

http://forums.civfanatics.com/showthread.php?t=253779

Cleverbeans said:

One of the things that helped me adjust to Civ 4 was reading Obsolete's posts and playing the One City Challenge options. He goes a bit overboard with the small empire motif however they're highly instructive on the power of a strong singular city. The link below it to one of his games with links to previous games at the end of the first post.

http://forums.civfanatics.com/showthread.php?t=253779

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Thanks for everyone's feedback!