First of all, let's define prosperity: It's the blessed state in which you can afford to do whatever you want. This might not occur even once you've researched Global Prosperity (a "future" Commerce advance-see Chapter 4). Nevertheless, you must be striving toward that elusive goal throughout the game, and a lot of the gameplay consists of working to improve your nation's economy. You cannot build an empire without solid economical foundations.

New players should note that economic progress is much easier in peacetime. The military units in Rise of Nations are expensive; a single unit can cost as much as an important advance in research or a new building. This is not to say that wars always bring economic loss. Most wars are fought for economic gain, after all, and they can be very profitable when fought at the right time and in the right manner.

To sum up: There is no lack of sources of prosperity in Rise of Nations. Some maps might be poor in a given resource (timber, metal, oil), but the game features numerous ways and means of getting around these problems (production-enhancing buildings, specialized research, market trade, and so on). These are described in the sections that follow. We'll begin by taking a look at the game's central notion, the game feature that lets all the other features function: the city.

In Diplomacy games, you may extract tribute from defeated rivals. In solo Diplomacy games, you frequently don't even need to ask: Computer opponents awed by your military successes are quick to offer enticements in exchange for peace.

City Laws and Limits

All of the game's economic (and political) concepts center on the city. The city is the basic game structure that lets your nation come into existence as a state-a fact that is fully appreciated only once you try starting a new game in Nomad mode. Here are the main city attributes (note that all production values refer to number of units per 30 seconds of game time, irrespective of game speed):

• Production. Each city produces 10 food and 10 timber absolutely free of charge (no citizen worker required). Some nations enjoy special benefits: Roman cities also produce 10 wealth. German cities are all boomtowns: They produce an extra 10 food, 10 timber, and 10 metal (upon advancing to Classical Age).
• Construction. Almost all of the game's non-military buildings can be constructed only within city radius. What's more, in most cases you can construct only one building of a kind; if you want to build extra markets, universities, and so on, you'll have to found new cities first. Note that all resource-gathering buildings except farms can be built outside city limits.
• Expansion. Each city gives you control over extra territory. This means a boost in resources even if you don't build a single new farm or mine because more territory means higher tax income (after researching Taxation at the temple).

You can build one city prior to any research, and one extra city for each new Civic advance. Some nations enjoy citybuilding bonuses: The Bantu have a +1 city limit (upon researching Civic level 1), and spend 75% less when building a new city.

The Chinese start with a Large city, which confers such benefits as longer sighting range, bigger influence on national border, more hit points, and a bigger city building radius (city limits). See Appendix A for all city stats. Founding new cities is a very important part of the gameplay (see Figure 3.1); it's discussed in detail in Chapter 8. In economic terms, every new city is an investment that pays terrific returns.

Cities are very reasonably priced, so to speak, although costs rise steeply: Your very first city (your capital) costs only 10 food and 10 wood (20 of each for a Chinese Large city), however, every new city costs an extra 50 food and 50 timber. It's not that much, but can really hurt: building up your empire carries heavy costs in general, and every 10 food or timber counts.