HI, How do you make money?

[kermit_the_frog]

Hi i would like to know how to make money, Everytime i play this game i seem to always loose money. Can someone help me solve my problem?

[Cort Haus]

Er, adjust the science slider? Build some roads? Farm barbarians?

I think you may need to be more specific about your game conditions, strategy and playstyle to get relevant advice. You may as well ask the big question "how do I win the game?" as gold & science are so fundamental.

If you are having cash problems in the ancient age try the following for starters ... It's just one of many openings.

Pick a religious civ, and restart if you don't get a river. Build adjacent to the river and road worked river tiles (extra gold) while researching Mysticism at full science. Then research Polytheism at 10% science (40 turns), and wait a few turns before trading Mysticism for first-level techs.

Meanwhile explore and make contact with as many other civs as possible - this makes tech cheaper to buy. Your gold should pile up and hopefully you'll get Polytheism first and can trade it for 2nd level techs like Writing & Iron Working and maybe cash.

That's just an opening. Later in the game, you need marketplaces in cities with a good income and a good understanding of diplomacy and trading. Watch your military support costs - it might be that you are switching to monarchy with too-large a military. If so, build or capture more cities to absorb support costs or grow cities above 6 to support more units (being on a river helps - no aqueduct needed).

Farming barbs in an excellent source of income in the early game. Patrol the wilderness with warriors and perhaps the odd archer, popping the barb camps for 25g a throw. Repeat, repeat ...

In the later game, the best way to riches (aside playing a commercial civ) is to have a tech lead and sell for huge GPT to rival civs. That'll make you rich, funding further research at 100% science, while crippling the AI research.

A popular trick is to pull down the science slider when there's one turn left of research to get your 'change'.

There could be many other things. Don't build your cities so far apart that corruption takes all your gold. If fighting, learn to maximise elite victories to increase chances of a Great Leader (GL) with which to rush a Forbidden Palace (FP). This gives a second core of productive cities.

If you take enemy cities, starve them down by making them all tax-collectors, earning money while you cleanse them of potentially rebellious foreign subjects.

Finally, research the masses of excellent strategy advice already present in this forum and CFC and learn how to play the game. Earning gold is part of the game, and playing the game well is what these forums are about. The answer to every Civ question is "it depends.." as there are so many interconnected variables - map size & type - which civ - playstyle (war/peace), geography, victory sought etc etc.

As they say ... Hope This Helps

[kermit_the_frog]

thanks........ i will try to do this. In my current game i cant build more cities and i am - 178 in gold, the goverment i have is repbulic.


Thanks for all the advise

[steamthunk]

Later in the game it's important to have commercial improvements (e.g. banks, stock exchanges [in PTW], wall street). Having the Commercial trait is also helpful and one of my favourite traits. Getting Adam Smith's Trading company will help you save money.

If you have excess luxuries of one type then it's generally saleable for a decent number of gold per turn.

Ultimately, it boils down to 2 words: tech whore. Researching techs that the AI doesn't immediately go for and selling it back to them at hugely inflated prices means I always have a five digit treasury by mid game.

[Jaybe]

It is not difficult to make the transition to Republic government and have negative cashflow. Before you make the transition, already have your marketplaces installed; maybe have a port/harbor with minimal production, just for the cashflow. You can make a profit exporting luxuries IF there are civs larger than you (and they have any gold surplus). As already mentioned, selling tech is the ultimate fundraiser.

There is always the option of downsizing your military, especially obsolete units. Of course, overdoing it can also cause an AI to declare war, or use extortion.

[kermit_the_frog]

thanks for all the tips i will start doing this

[vmxa1]

In additon to all of that good advice, micromanage your workers and you citizens.
Workers will do frivilous things such as irrigate a tile when you do not need more food, mine a tile that is not being worked. Any number of improvemnts that can not be used at the time and wate time travel from place to place in an ill convieved way.
The govenor will often assign workers to the wrong tile. So they are producing more food when you have enough excess already. They love to drop a citizen on a grassland for 2 food and ignore that nice mineyou made.
Keep an eye on the research slider as well. Often players will set it up to become negative, that is fine if they is a good need. Many times it will be just fine to drop back 10% to have a little cash flow.
IOW you can benefit from watching the game like a hawk and doing things yourself.

[johncmcleod]

I loan money to the computer. Give them 216 gold and they'll give you 12 gold per turn. You end up getting only 24 gold at the end of the deal but if you do this a lot the cash adds up. Or if you're in a war and you need some quick cash ask for a lump sum and you can pay it back with gpt.

[Jaybe]

... A popular trick is to pull down the science slider when there's one turn left of research to get your 'change'....

Micromanage your tech slider! Try to remember to check it 2 or even more turns before getting the tech. Each time, check to see how much lower you can adjust it and still get the tech at the same time. You can sometimes save Hundreds of gold per turn.

If other civs get the advance before you do, your costs will decline even more (or earlier)!

Also, when trading with the AI, beware of their putting a tech on the table that you will learn the next turn with your own research! They ARE trying to scam you! (I've fallen for that a couple times). See if there is any chance for something else instead, and re-evaluate the trade.

[DaveMcW]

Originally posted by Jaybe
Also, when trading with the AI, beware of their putting a tech on the table that you will learn the next turn with your own research! They ARE trying to scam you! (I've fallen for that a couple times). See if there is any chance for something else instead, and re-evaluate the trade.

Actually, techs that are almost researched cost next to nothing. If 2 or more civs already know it, you should buy it to get a head start on your next tech.

[TheReaper]

If you decide to build marketplaces/banks in your cities you should definatly try hard to also get Smiths Trading Company as this will pay the upkeep for all commerce-related improvements (harbors, marketplaces, banks, possibly stock-exchange, I'm not sure because I play vanilla Civ3), then build Wall Street which will earn you a 5% interest of your total treasury every turn (maxing out at 50 GPT).
Normally my income is somewhat low until I hit these wonders/improvements.
I build marketplaces in my biggest cities asap, then banks in at least 5 of them (so that you will instantly meet the requirement for wall street once you research the appropriate tech).
Once you have STC you can build marketplaces/banks in all your cities since they won't cost any upkeep.
Normally I'll finish STC and WS within a few turns of each other and my income rises from +2 or 3 GPT to +80 or 90 GPT
Maybe I'm missing something here since I'm not a really experienced player, but it always seems to work nicely for me.

[kermit_the_frog]

more good replys for me , i will try to get smith trading company now in my furture games. The money basiclly got lower when i mass builded marketplaces in my current game

[inca911]

Watch Corruption

You mentioned that mass building marketplaces cost you gold. Remember to make sure that a city actually is producing enough excess gold before building a marketplace. Often the corruption in outlying cities means a marketplace will not produce additional income and will actually cost you gold due to the upkeep costs. If you need a marketplace to obtain happy citizens via the luxury multipliers, then it might be worth the cost. Many smaller cities should also not get marketplaces (and other improvements, for that matter) built too early.

On a similar note, if you have many luxuries, it is often best to skip a temple (and its associated upkeep cost) and just build a marketplace. Same thing with cathedrals.

[Dr. A. Cula]

Basic math: the upkeep for a marketplace is 1 gpt, and it increases gpt in the city by 50%. So, if your city only produces 1 gpt, then you lose money by building a marketplace. If your city produces 2 or 3 gpt, you don't lose money, but don't gain any by building a marketplace. However, your city will grow and eventually increase it base gpt. If your city produces 4 or more gpt, then you should definitely add a marketplace: the increase is 2 gpt (minimum), minus 1 gpt marketplace upkeep nets you 1 extra gpt (minimum).
Similar math applies to banks and stock markets.
Courthouse math: upkeep is 1 gpt, and it reduces corruption. I don't exactly remember the percentage, but if you want to build a courthouse you should only do so if you expect to recover at least 2 gpt from corruption, so only build it in cities with more than just a few gpt corruption.

[Brundlefly]

Re: HI, How do you make money?

Originally posted by kermit_the_frog
Hi i would like to know how to make money, Everytime i play this game i seem to always loose money. Can someone help me solve my problem?

I think I can help you with this. Check your trouser pockets to see if they have holes in them. Then check the floor around the chair where you sit when you play Civ3 for coins, bills, etc. Then reach under the cushion of that chair to see if you can feel any coins or anything. If none of this solves the problem, uninstall Civ3 and get a part-time job to increase your income. Hope that helps!