How do I earn wealth?

[gorgles]

OK folks...please be gentle, I'm a (GASP!)...UBER-NEWBIE™ to this game, basically, I keep getting whupped even though I get workers to build roads and such, and quickly end up in a state of continual bankruptcy. My question is how do I keep the $$$ going in the game. I haven't even progressed beyond the most basic starting age....which is a depressing prospoct for an amatuer meglomaniac like meself!

 

[Flintlock]

Hmm, build marketplaces in all of your cities that are producing 10+ wealth (and banks, etc later on). Switch to republic or democracy for the commerce bonus (preferably republic, though). Don't have a large army if you're not going to use it. Don't build too many improvements in cities that don't/can't use them. And road every tile that's being worked.
That's all I can think of for now, mayby a save would be helpful

 

[Tomoyo]

Welcome to CFC!

(And I believe UBER-NEWBIE is already copyrighted... )

Anyway, there are many things that might be happening.

1) Is your military too big? You need gold to support soldiers.
2) Do you have enough cities? (Enough = you can't build any more)
3) Is every tile your citizens are working have roads on them?
4) You might want to switch to Republic or Monarchy. I suggest Republic over Monarchy, but you need a lot of roads.
5) Do you have Marketplaces and stuff?
6) Is your science slider too high?
7) [not likely] Are you paying much gpt to the AIs?

 

[Paulverisor64]

Perhaps my question will help both of us, as I've struggled the battle of wealth.

It has been suggested that it is a waste of wealth to produce a lot of military units if they won't be used soon in battle.

It is also suggested that a lot of improvements work against the goal of a debt free society.

I've heard that placing Wealth on the city production is not a good option, but is this the best option if the income is perpetually in the red?

 

[citizen001]

Wealth is NEVER ok NEVER!!!

Only build improvements you need. Say if you have a unit factory only build a barracks in that city. Never bulid every improvement in every city, it drains the money pile making you poor

 

[Aramazd]

^I think he means gpt not the Wealth that you can build

 

[predesad]

Wealth is NEVER ok NEVER!!!

building wealth in the Industrial Ages can sometimes pay off big time if you are currently peaceful and at a point where more units would cripple your economy and especially if you have researched economic. for instance, I once used wealth in some big cities to help me keep my science slider very high to beat everyone to Sci Method, to build ToE w/ a prebuild in place, which triggered my GA and was a springboard to the Hoover Dam, another prebuild. It made a huge difference in my game, without the wealth I probably would not have gotten ToE because of Wonder cascading. I agree to no wealth in AA or MA, but once you get to the IA there are some situations where wealth is acceptable. Sorry, I no this is a bit off topic, but I hate to see someone say wealth is totally unacceptable.

 

[Tomoyo]

Wealth is OK only if you have economics and have nothing better to build then.

 

[satchel]

I think the single most important mistake new players make regarding income is neglecting to build roads on every single worked tile. This is because each roaded tile adds one unit of commerce per turn that tile is being worked. Make sure you have loads of workers - many experienced players recommend as many as 1-1.5 workers per city. You do want to try to set things up so you are never working a tile without a road on it.

Second is to build marketplaces, especially in your core cities that produce the most gold, and, later, banks.

Finally, get out of Despotism. If you have control of the happiness of your empire (have as many luxuries hooked up to your road network as you can, build marketplaces, and use the luxury slider) switch to Republic as soon as you get the opportunity.

 

[Jon Shafer]

I disagree with getting out of Despotism as soon as you can... it's likely that he's building too many units, and if that's the case switching to Republic will only make the problem worse!

I would suggest posting a recent save from one of your games here so we can take a look and see what's wrong. It's usually pretty easy to identify the things that are holding players back if we have the actual game file, so if you post it then we should be able to assist you better.

 

[gorgles]

PSSST!!! Tommo!! Ergo my ™ on 'Uber-Newbie'!!! LOL!! (I'm still on a community cervix order for trademark infringement from the copyright police™!!) Cheers to you all for your assist. I had taken to creating workers and building mines, but still those Egyptians gang up on me!! WAAAH!!
ps am also aware of setting up colonies and such now...love the learning curve in this game!

 

[alamo]

The single biggest contributor to wealth is trading lux and resources. Grab them early and trade them ASAP. Early on contacts and map trading can be lucrative.

Absolutely AVOID gold-per-turn deals. If you can't pay cash then skip the deal. ALWAYS negotiate the price down.

Use the F1 screen to set the sci and lux sliders. The sci slider must be adjusted every so often to save gold as you finish a tech.

Use the F3 screen to check your military strength relative to your opponents, and watch the upkeep cost. You must use units before they become obsolete. Keep in mind that you get MUCH more respect for offensive power than for defensive power.

 

[Aramazd]

Absolutely AVOID gold-per-turn deals. If you can't pay cash then skip the deal. ALWAYS negotiate the price down.

If you mean early in the game then yes, however later in the game gold per turn deals can be useful on higher levels.

 

[Tomoyo]

I use per turn deals early in the game a lot. I just try not to use too much of it. I use mainly 1 or 2 gpt to top off a deal.

 

[searcheagle]

This is an area I used to fail at. I've figured out how to deal with it now.

1. Before doing deals, it is worth look at whether it is more benefitial to go with lump sum OR per turn agreement.

2. look for waste. Waste can steal a lot of money. So, build courthouses and police stations to cut down on this.

3. There IS a thing such as too many troops. A common strategy of mine is to build up a decent sized military then build money generators. When war comes, i can quickly switch back to military production. I have so much much i can rush units. I usually play very industrous country so i have fast production, so i am rarely faced with this

4. don't neglect the cultural side of the game- more cultural City improvements (CIs). these expand the city borders to include favorable terrain, and to allow all workers to work (if this is a problem)

There are numerous opportunities to make money: Watch for them and take advantage of them. (And keep an eye on the surplus/deficit box in the corner)

 

[punkbass2000]

"I'm still on a community cervix order "

I hope you meant "service order"

 

[gorgles]

Managed to get all the infrastructure in place...with the net effect when the sods turn on you...your battles become wars of attrition..ran it as despotism and was gettig a healthy return on gold..then did a really daft thing and decided to overthrow myself and become democracy (which dosen't help if you're a tech level behind the oppostion!) as I was being attacked on two fronts!!! LOL!! :suicide:

 

[Willem]

Hmm, build marketplaces in all of your cities that are producing 10+ wealth (and banks, etc later on).

It doesn't even have to be that high. Marketplaces increase wealth by 50% and they cost one gold per turn in maintenance. So even if a city is only producing 4 gold, you'll still gain by one.

 

[Flintlock]

It doesn't even have to be that high. Marketplaces increase wealth by 50% and they cost one gold per turn in maintenance. So even if a city is only producing 4 gold, you'll still gain by one.

From my experience, it only effects your treasury if it's 10 or so. It seems to me that the extra gold is lost to corruption or funding science/luxuries.

 

[DragonRunner]

I have used wealth on occasion. One memorable(Heck, the only time) i used it was when I was England in the M.A. scenario. Economy was tanking, no improvements or armies needed, and i wanted to stay competitive in thech, so I turned a few of my bigger cities on wealth. It helped a lot. There are situations where it can be useful.