Saving vs. Investment

Heilbroner brings up the topic of saving, investing and their relationship. But what is the difference between the two in civilization IV. I don’t think I have really made any effort to save on my conquest for domination. Well, I don’t think I have done any long term saving at least. My farmers may have saved surplus harvest in their cities or I have found gold (money) that has added up. What this really means is that my entire civilization is mainly based on investment. I dedicate cities to develop certain resources such as a military, workers, and culture. Cities can only develop one resource at a time so it is important that you set up your cities to specialize in a certain area of development (ex. Like building barracks in a military city to speed up production). Some of my cities, particularly on the borders are set up to invest in building culture which expands the borders. I am investing the time of each and every one of my cities to create resources that will hopefully lead to world domination.

I have done lots of investing in my civilization and have made no particular effort to save. The game is all about investing. Ultimately, I did save money but that just happened because of my success in investment.

Why am I Dominant?

Towards the end of my game, I was clearly the most advanced civilization in all fields, especially military. Before I had declared war, I had developed my entire civilization based on my own ideas and strategies. All of my people had the same idea and went through everything at the same time. My people all had the same languages, customs, and history. All surrounding civilizations had different ideas, strategies, languages etc. Heilbroner said, “In the United States, except for the terrible crisis of the civil war, a single national purpose fused the continent; In Europe, a historic division of languages, customs, and mutually suspicious nationalities prevented just such a fusion.”

My dynasty was just like the US according to Heilbroner. All surrounding dynasties are like Europe. I like to look at it as me vs. all. My country is so much more advanced in lifestyle and technology. All others are small populations that are in need of allies to stand up to me. The other civilizations have so much diversity amongst themselves to become allies and stand up to me. They were lacking capitalism which made them inferior to me. The only way I see that they could catch up to my advancement is if they create a common market and get a loan from me. This would give them a chance to get themselves back on their feet and become an equivalent force to my military. Unfortunately for them, I declared war eliminating their hope of success. I conquered all of their civilizations and have won!!

Trade vs. Manufacturing

After reading chapter 4 of “The Making of Economic Society,” I started to think about my successful civilization game. Trade was very helpful for me at the beginning of my game but when I started to dominate there was nothing my allies had to offer that was of any use. I became so advanced that I already had all of the trading goods that others had to offer. Just like the industrial revolution in England, I was in demand and I had broken off from rest of continents because there were of no use to me. Just like England, I became interested in new technology (gadgets, devices, and machines) to give me an edge amongst surrounding civilization.

As a result, I have observed that trade was very important on getting ahead at the beginning of my game but manufacturing was key to bringing my civilization to a whole new level. My battleships, cargo ships, and fighter planes were a result of my advanced manufacturing that helped lead to my success. I am not saying that trade is bad, its just that it became of new use to me once manufacturing took place just like the industrial revolution.

new game success

After starting my new game using my new strategies I have not been able to stop playing. I created tons of cities in my civilization early for growth and then I built them all up. I traded with other leaders to speed up my research to get the technology I needed for a strong military. Once the Galleon cargo ship was enabled, I loaded up all my military on them and started to surround my biggest enemy. I also took my men on land and surrounded the borders of my enemy. I chose this enemy because they were centered on the equator. I got all my military and ships in position and declared war. It was a blowout. All my cities have done well the whole time, even during war because I made sure I built a strong culture before I built an army. Building tons of cities at the beginning of my game was the main reason for my success. There were so many cities that allowed me to create such a big military while also maintaining culture when needed. After I built up everything at the beginning, it was all a joke from there. It would really take skill to mess up my empire and military. Next time I play I need to play on a much harder difficulty. I beat the game and had four times the amount of points than my strongest enemy with 11,261. Because the game mode was set for easy, all I really had to do was learn from my early mistakes last game and build as many cities as soon as possible. Next game should be much harder where my mistakes will show a lot more.

ECO 202 New Game

Well I just started a new game and looked for three suitable places to build cities right from scratch. I want to have three equal cities and learn how to make boats as soon as possible so I can make cities on other continents. I am building workers as well as a sufficient military in each one of my cities. I am looking at my technology advisor to find out which path I want to go down for my research. According to Colander, following one path lowers costs down that path but raises costs of all other paths. I want to choose the best path for the good of my civilization which I believe is overseas transportation. I want to make sure I am researching the right technology that will lead to optics and astronomy. That means I need to start me research with mining which will introduce metals and machinery. At the same time I am also trying to balance the protection, needs of my people, and growth of my civilization. Colander says these needs to be balanced in order for success.
In each city I built workers and set them to automatically improve the city and then I created more settlers for expansion. After the workers and settlers I started to think about my military and built barracks. I think it is very important to expand early since no other civilizations pose as a threat until later in the game. I have been avoiding the research of any religion, government, and entertainment until I have enough cities. I am consulting with my advisors a lot more than last game which should help me a lot. I am putting a lot more time into the choices and paths I choose because of my help from the advisors. I am keeping peace with all that I encounter for possible trade in the future which I have learned is key. My workers have built a road to connect the cities so they can share resources which works out very well
I now have a total of six cites and am starting to encounter foreign explorers that may pose as a threat without and defense in my cities. Six cities is satisfying enough for me to start developing a military. My civilization seems to be doing great as well as my points. I just need to make sure I develop my cities without and problems and nothing stops me from expanding to other continents

Although my game is not doing so well, I decided to give it another try using my knowledge from Guns, Germs, and Steel. Since I could not find territory for a new village, I decided I would build up my military and declare war. I picked two weaker civilizations and declared war. I could not figure out how to start attacking them and stealing their land. Soon enough, enemies started attacking me and I could not get my troops to the massacre quick enough. My troops just moved too slow and were not positioned in the right places. To stop this, I built lots of roads for my army to help them move around faster. I used to think roads were just for trade but I learned from Jared Diamond that they should mainly be used for militia. I also stationed my men in the center of my cities so that they can protect all borders equally. These methods helped with the defense of my cities but did not mean anything because I had no offense to counter-attack.
There was nothing I could really do to help my civilization at this point. I changed all of my cities to militia and I could not do anything with them. Invaders slowly kept creeping in and I was forced to give up and end my game. I left myself with nothing to work with. I am about to start a new game and work on my areas of weakness. I need lots more settlers and to start expanding much earlier. Once my cities are developed and advanced, I plan to go overseas and expand my empire even further. I also need to keep my populations lower so I don’t starve or help contribute to disease. I clearly have many weaknesses that I have become aware of that should lead me to a successful new game.

ECO 202 Civilization IV

While playing Civilization IV and reading Guns, Germs, and Steel, I have used what I have learned to develop my own civilization. I chose the Mongolian chief to rule my empire. When I first started the game, I looked for a spot to build my city that would have a good source of food, farm land and had access to water. I really focused on making a really solid city before I went on to expand my empire. I tried to build up my population so I would have an advantage over hunter-gatherers or enemies I would encounter. I started researching the basic needs for a city: food (fishing), protection, and workers (Slaves). I found gold while constructing my city which made my people happy. After I got my basic needs I chose to learn animal husbandry because I wanted to domesticate horses to help farm and ride. Horses will help my survival and be useful for daily chores, transportation, and for cavalry. I knew this would be a large advantage that would help me develop my city quicker. Unfortunately all this knowledge about farming and riding with horses meant nothing since I could not find any horses near my city.
I sent my settlers out to explore but they were attacked and killed. I really didn’t think they mattered at the time. My city was starting to look good and expanded as I built cottages and farms. I then sent out my workers to develop roads for a trade system. I thought trade was very important to bring in new essentials but there really was not anything I wanted to trade for. I kept peace with other civilizations and gave them whatever they wanted to keep them happy. I want to eventually build my empire and take over other civilizations through war. As of now, my military is not strong enough. I am still learning how to play and am having trouble invading and attacking wandering militia.
I obtained iron once I had access to it because I knew it would be a huge advantage for my military. An iron sword could cut a bronze sword in half. Iron also helped me contain a jungle that started to grow wild in my city. I made spearmen and used them to fortify my city and protect it. I had no problem with anyone invading my city. I wanted my people to become more productive so I created a library in hope that they would improve technology unlocking more access in the game.
I am just realizing I messed up and did not expend my empire or create any means of overseas transportation. My explorers were all killed and when I finally made new settlers, it was too late and there was no place to expand my empire on my continent. When I finally created a boat to take my men overseas, it was too late and all of the other continents were inhabited. My core city is starting to decline and starve. All the natural resources are gone and my city cannot support all of its population because of the lack of food. The scientists are getting smarter and keeping people alive longer to help contribute to my overpopulation and starvation. My civilization was strong at first but I am now at the beginning of the end.