I always run out of money

[rah]

Yeah, its always a killer in an MP game when all your neighbors start with scouts while you have a warrior. They get all the huts and you don't get any coinage to start. You hate dropping your science rate just to get a positive flow so you can afford the event driven things that Arrian mentioned. I like having a few hundred surplus for emergency upgrades or taking advantage of events.

[zakubandit]

Kind of a surprise to me is my current game. I am Mongolia and I started pretty good, got a lot of huts before my neighbors did. I didn't expand too large too quick as to drain myself out, but I was making a ton of gold every turn without having many exports. Currently at 100% tech I still got a +100 per turn, about 25 is from exports, the rest is from my civ.

[skolapper]

I always run out of money

Running just fine on mine. You will want to get MGE, as all the modern scenarios run on it. Theres a patch that restricts Civ II from using to much processing power, put that on your list. Also, you might want to try out Civ 2: Test of Time too. Dont let the graphics put you off, the Scenario League has plenty of fixes for that.

[Blaupanzer]

Not that Skolapper is a bot, or anything.

[shilpaworld3]

No matter for me

youtube friend adder

[rah]

The irony is amazing on that one.

[Titanboss]

I always end up with no money as well. Its usually because i expand too fast and then eventually run out of money.

[Calanthian]

The key is to keep the number and distance of your cities low until you at least have discovered currency.
Furthermore courthouse are essential and build cottages.

A good number of cities in the beginning is 4 to 5, and after currency and courthouse start expanding quickly.
As soon as a new city brings in more cash via trade as it costs on maintenance then you have a good thing going.

[ebondfrancisco]

I played Civilization back in the '90s, the 1st versions. Loved it. Got hooked on Civ IV with the $4.99 from the Apple Appstore. Appreciating all the comments, but one #1 money maker has always to create a Great Merchant and send him off to some far off corner of the globe to create a trade deal. You have to build a city that fosters a Great Merchant, but it's a huge money maker!

[alecs76ro]

I play Civ from '90s too. I had never problems with money because I chose quality over quantity. At the start of the game you don't need many cities (5 is maximum) so you have to focus on them and specialize them as quickly you can. After Currency you can think about building more cities.
Any way, it is a good start if you can put your second city close to the sea if the capitol is not. Also the great merchant is a good idea but the problem is that you will experience this when you will not need money but hammers. I use that money for upgrading the obsolete units.
In this game the money problem is at the start of the game and in wartime where you should build more units than you can effectively sustain.

[ebondfrancisco]

I play Civ from '90s too. I had never problems with money because I chose quality over quantity. At the start of the game you don't need many cities (5 is maximum) so you have to focus on them and specialize them as quickly you can. After Currency you can think about building more cities.
Any way, it is a good start if you can put your second city close to the sea if the capitol is not. Also the great merchant is a good idea but the problem is that you will experience this when you will not need money but hammers. I use that money for upgrading the obsolete units.
In this game the money problem is at the start of the game and in wartime where you should build more units than you can effectively sustain.

Excellent, thanks for those insights. I'll try that strategy next game.

[Netherlands (DoB)]

Another good way to build money is with good tile manageing. I always work the water tiles when money is tight and go to Currency quick and Monarchy quick so you can keep growing and working the water