Civilization IV Walkthrough

By: Doug Radcliffe
Design: Randall Montanari

It’s an easy position to argue that Sid Meier’s Civilization is one of the greatest games of all time and certainly one of the most influential. Sid Meier’s latest classic Civilization IV retains the addictive gameplay of its predecessors and adds new features like religions, great people, and combat promotions.

Civilization IV is a complex experience; countless strategies can lead to a successful conclusion. This game guide will help focus your strategies by providing tips on important facets of the game and offering specific combinations of leaders, civics, technologies, and wonders to create powerful cities.

This Gamespot Civilization IV game guide features:

• Leaders: This section provides tips on using leader traits and their bonuses to your advantage as well as pleasing (or angering) your neighbor with diplomacy dos and don’ts.
• City Management: Managing your cities is the foundation of Civilization. Look here for tips on optimizing growth, worker improvements, balancing health and happiness, and spawning Great People.
• Civics: Get the most out of your government with these civic tips!
• Religion: One of the most exciting new features in Civilization IV is the addition of religion. Learn why you gotta have faith with these religion strategies.
• Military: If conquering your enemies is more your style, check this section for tips on improving your military might.
• Technology and Wonders: Gain an edge on your rivals through technology and wonders. This section compiles all techs and wonders and reveals their benefits.
• Cheats: Edit a configuration file to activate Civilization IV cheat codes.

Chapter 1 - Leaders

Each civilization leader features a combination of two of the possible eight leader traits. The traits essentially describe the leader’s personality and offer unique bonuses and benefits to the civilization. Certainly it’s important to consider your leader’s traits when guiding your civilization through its entire history. Utilize the military bonuses offered by an Aggressive civilization to help conquer the world, strive for a culture victory with a Creative leader, or use the benefits of a Philosophical civilization to cultivate great people.

Leader Traits

This section covers all eight traits, bonuses, and associated leaders. You’ll also find strategic commentary for each.

Aggressive

• Free promotion (Combat I) for all melee and gunpowder units.
• Barracks and Drydocks constructed at 1/2 production cost.

A player with battle plans should consider a leader with the aggressive trait. An aggressive leader receives free "Combat I" promotion for all melee and gunpowder units. The Combat I promotion increases a unit’s strength by 10%. Capitalize on the trait by focusing your warmongering force on melee and gunpowder units. Take advantage of the half-cost Barracks to further increase your units’ promotion. Combine further with the Vassalage civic (additional unit experience points) or the Theocracy civic (additional unit experience points in cities with a state religion) to create very strong, experienced units. Continue military specialization with wonders like West Point, Pentagon, and Heroic Epic. Maintain an aggressive stance and get your experienced units into combat situations to further increase their promotions and abilities above and beyond any competing civilization’s military force.

The following civilization leaders feature the Aggressive trait:

• Montezuma, Aztec Empire
• Napoleon, French Empire
• Alexander, Greek Empire
• Huayna Capac, Incan Empire
• Tokugawa, Japanese Empire
• Genghis Khan, Mongolian Empire
• Kublai Khan, Mongolian Empire

Creative

• +2 culture per turn per city.
• Coliseum and Theatre constructed at 1/2 production cost.

A city’s culture defines its borders--essentially its influence. A city’s entertainment and arts create a culture that can be adopted by rival cities. What this means in terms of gameplay is that your culture can increase your borders and envelope a rival city--the rival city becomes influenced by your culture and becomes part of your civilization. A creative civilization provides more culture per turn, which helps increase influence faster; though note that there are wonders (such as Stonehenge) that provide nearly the same benefit. Being creative helps in the early game land grab; secure valuable resources before rival civilizations get them! The culture bonus means more land space with less cities early on. If you’re choosing to focus on culture (though wonders, Great Artists and their works, etc), the creative bonus certainly helps but you may find other leader trait benefits more useful to a balanced gameplay strategy. A creative leader can construct the Coliseum and Theatre at half the production cost. The Coliseum and Theatre increase happiness based on culture rate; the Theatre also enhances the Dye resource and necessary for artist specialists.

The following civilization leaders offer the Creative trait:

• Hatshepsut, Egyptian Empire
• Louis XIV, French Empire
• Frederick, German Empire
• Kublai Khan, Mongolian Empire
• Cyrus, Persian Empire
• Catherine, Russian Empire

Expansive

• +2 health per city.
• Granary and Harbor constructed at 1/2 production cost.

A city’s health basically determines its population growth. When unhealthiness eclipses healthiness, you lose food. If you lose more food than there are mouth’s to feed, you begin to lose population. Excess health means food supplies remain high and population can continue to grow. The extra health is a valuable bonus and means bigger cities--providing the potential for better production, more specialists, etc. Like with creative, there are wonders and buildings that provide similar expansive benefits (even city placement can increase health) but these same items further enhance the expansive trait. Use in combination with Victoria and Financial (for Cottages to ramp up commerce), Isabella and Spiritual (for happiness), and Peter and Philosophical (larger cities can use more specialists to create more Great People). The Granary further increases health from any Corn, Wheat, or Rice resources and also stores 50% of food after each growth. This essentially means your city can grow faster because it doesn’t have to recollect all food to reach the next population level. The Harbor enhances trade route yield and also further increases health from Clam, Crab, and Fish resources.

The following civilization leaders feature the Expansive trait:

• Victoria, English Empire
• Bismarck, German Empire
• Genghis Khan, Mongolian Empire
• Cyrus, Persian Empire
• Julius Caesar, Roman Empire
• Peter, Russian Empire
• Isabella, Spanish Empire

Financial

• +1 commerce on spaces generating 2 or more commerce.
• Bank constructed at 1/2 production cost.

Filling your coffers with commerce is never a bad thing. Higher income means more commerce devoted to research or, if you research Drama, devoted to culture. Excess funds help offset maintenance costs and can be used as a bargaining tool with other civilizations for technologies, trade, or alliances. The benefits can pay off immediately for coastal cities. Once available from research, use Workers to construct Cottages to increase tile commerce. This benefit can pay off exponentially if you’re dedicated to work each tile and enhance for maximum commerce--it’s certainly a benefit that gets better the longer the game goes. Your late game can feature large armies, expansive cities, high upkeep civics, and still maintain high research or culture output from your income. Financial leaders can construct Banks at half their production cost. Add a Bank to each city to further increase commerce (+50% gold).

The following civilization leaders offer the Financial trait:

• Washington, American Empire
• Qin Shi Huang, Chinese Empire
• Elizabeth, English Empire
• Victoria, English Empire
• Huayna Capac, Incan Empire
• Mansa Musa, Malinese Empire
• Catherine, Russian Empire

Industrious

• +50% wonder production.
• Forge constructed at 1/2 production cost.

An industrious leader is adept at building wonders. This provides the civilization a lot of flexibility because wonders offer unique benefits, which could include some portions of the benefits from other leader traits. Most players would agree that the wonders in Civilization IV aren’t quite the power of previous games but that doesn’t mean they aren’t potent, especially when integrated into a focused strategy. Settle near stone or marble to expand the benefit even further. When selecting an industrious leader, consider your goals as you begin to construct wonders at the improved production time. Do you plan to focus on specialists and Great People? Do you plan to focus on a military? Do you plan to focus on expansion or culture? Utilize the leader’s secondary trait when considering your wonder options. The industrious leader also constructs the Forge for half-cost production. The Forge increases production 25%, adds happiness from Gems, Gold, and Silver resources, adds engineer specialists, but decreases a city’s health.

The following civilization leaders offer the Industrious trait:

• Roosevelt, American Empire
• Qin Shi Huang, Chinese Empire
• Louis XIV, French Empire
• Napoleon, French Empire
• Bismarck, German Empire
• Gandhi, Indian Empire

Organized

• -50% civic upkeep cost.
• Courthouse and Lighthouse constructed at 1/2 production cost.

An organized civilization is an efficient civilization. Organized leaders have "trimmed the fat" so to speak and bear less civic upkeep costs. Essentially it’s the trait for the player who wants a huge expansive empire but without all the expensive costs. Obviously if you aren’t planning to focus your game on civic choices. The Organized trait also allows construction of the Lighthouse and Courthouse at half the production cost. Lighthouses increase food from water tiles and Courthouses decrease maintenance costs for cities far from the civilization’s capital.

The following civilization leaders feature the Organized trait:

• Roosevelt, American Empire
• Washington, American Empire
• Mao Zedong, Chinese Empire
• Asoka, Indian Empire
• Tokugawa, Japanese Empire
• Julius Caesar, Roman Empire

Philosophical

• +100% Great People birth rate.
• University constructed at 1/2 production cost.

Focusing your strategy on Great People births can be extremely powerful. Great Artists can be used as "culture bombs" by instantly increasing a city’s culture by 4,000 (could be enough to envelop a rival border town) or a Great Engineer could complete a valuable wonder in just a single turn. Of course there are also free technologies and super specialists as well. When choosing a leader with the Philosophical trait, add to the civilization’s benefit with the National Epic wonder to increase Great People birth rate further (the downside is against an Industrious civilization, you may very well lose out on this and other wonders). Switch to the Caste System civic for unlimited specialists--the more specialists, the higher the Great People birth rate or use Pacifism to further increase birth rate. A philosophical leader can construct the University at half the production cost; the University increases research by 25%.

The following civilization leaders offer the Philosophical trait:

• Saladin, Arabian Empire
• Mao Zedong, Chinese Empire
• Elizabeth, English Empire
• Frederick, German Empire
• Alexander, Greek Empire
• Peter, Russian Empire

Spiritual

• No anarchy.
• Temple constructed at 1/2 production cost.

A spiritual civilization suffers no anarchy penalty from switching civics or state religions. This provides a lot of flexibility well into your civilization’s development. The freedom to switch civics depending on your current need (do you need to train a military or continue to construct wonders?) or situation without penalty can be extremely powerful. You could speed production (Organized Religion) or train experienced units (Vassalage)--all in the span of several turns. Obviously spiritual civilizations also typically focus on religion. Half cost Temples add to the civilization’s happiness and open up the priest specialist. Most of the Spiritual civilizations begin with the Mysticism technology already researched; this means Spiritual civilizations can found religions faster than other civilizations should they chose to do so. It’s a good idea and founding first can often mean spreading it to other civilizations which maintains a good relationship because of the shared religion.

The following civilization leaders offer the Philosophical trait:

• Saladin, Arabian Empire
• Montezuma, Aztec Empire
• Hatshepsut, Egyptian Empire
• Asoka, Indian Empire
• Gandhi, Indian Empire
• Mansa Musa, Malinese Empire
• Isabella, Spanish Empire

Leader Stats

The following chart details each civilization’s leader, their traits and benefits, starting technologies, unique units, and favorite civics.

LEADER	CIVILIZATION	TRAITS	BENEFITS	STARTING TECHNOLOGIES	UNIQUE UNIT	FAVORITE CIVIC
Alexander	Greek	Philosophical, Aggressive	+100% Great Person birth rate, Combat I promotion for melee and gunpowder units	Fishing, Hunting	Phalanx (replaces Spearman)	Hereditary Rule
Asoka	Indian	Spiritual, Organized	No anarchy, -50% civic upkeep cost	Mysticism, Mining	Fast Worker (replaces Worker)	Universal Suffrage
Bismarck	German	Expansive, Industrious	+2 health per city, +50% wonder production	Hunting, Mining	Panzer (replaces Tank)	Representation
Catherine	Russian	Creative, Financial	+2 culture per turn per city, +1 commerce for all tiles with 2 or more	Hunting, Mining	Cossack (replaces Cavalry)	Hereditary Rule
Cyrus	Persian	Expansive, Creative	+2 health per city, +2 culture per turn per city	Agriculture, Hunting	Immortal (replaces Chariot)	Representation
Elizabeth	English	Philosophical, Financial	+100% Great Person birth rate, +1 commerce for all tiles with 2 or more	Fishing, Mining	Redcoat (replaces Rifleman)	Free Religion
Frederick	German	Philosophical, Creative	+100% Great Person birth rate, +2 culture per turn per city	Hunting, Mining	Panzer (replaces Tank)	Universal Suffrage
Gandhi	Indian	Spiritual, Industrious	No anarchy, +50% wonder production	Mysticism, Mining	Fast Worker (replaces Worker)	Universal Suffrage
Genghis Khan	Mongolian	Aggressive, Expansive	Combat I promotion for melee and gunpowder units, +2 health per city	Hunting, The Wheel	Keshik (replaces Horse Archer)	Police State
Hatshepsut	Egyptian	Spiritual, Creative	No anarchy, +2 culture per turn per city	The Wheel, Agriculture	War Chariot (replaces Chariot)	Hereditary Rule
Huayna Capac	Incan	Aggressive, Financial	Combat I promotion for melee and gunpowder units, +1 commerce for all tiles with 2 or more	Agriculture, Mysticism	Quechua (replaces Warrior)	Hereditary Rule
Isabella	Spanish	Spiritual, Expansive	No anarchy, +2 health per city	Fishing, Mysticism	Conquistador (replaces Knight)	Police State
Julius Caesar	Roman	Expansive, Organized	+2 health per city, -50% civic upkeep cost	Fishing, Mining	Praetorian (replaces Swordsman)	Representation
Kublai Khan	Mongolian	Aggressive, Creative	Combat I promotion for melee and gunpowder units, +2 culture per turn per city	Hunting, The Wheel	Keshik (replaces Horse Archer)	Hereditary Rule
Louis XIV	French	Industrious, Creative	+50% wonder production, +2 culture per turn per city	The Wheel, Agriculture	Musketeer (replaces Musketman)	Hereditary Rule
Mansa Musa	Malinese	Spiritual, Financial	No anarchy, +1 commerce for all tiles with 2 or more	The Wheel, Mining	Skirmisher (replaces Archer)	Free Market
Mao Zeodong	Chinese	Philosophical, Organized	+100% Great Person birth rate, -50% civic upkeep cost	Agriculture, Mining	Cho-Ko-Nu (replaces Crossbowman)	State Property
Montezuma	Aztec	Aggressive, Spiritual	Combat I promotion for melee and gunpowder units, no anarchy	Mysticism, Hunting	Aztec Jaguar (replaces Swordsman)	Police State
Napoleon	French	Aggressive, Industrious	Combat I promotion for melee and gunpowder units, +50% wonder production	The Wheel, Agriculture	Musketeer (replaces Musketman)	Representation
Peter	Russian	Philosophical, Expansive	+100% Great Person birth rate, +2 health per city	Hunting, Mining	Cossack (replaces Cavalry)	Police State
Qin Shi Huang	Chinese	Industrious, Financial	+50% wonder production, +1 commerce for all tiles with 2 or more	Agriculture, Mining	Cho-Ko-Nu (replaces Crossbowman)	Police State
Roosevelt	American	Industrious, Organized	+50% wonder production, -50% civic upkeep cost	Agriculture, Fishing	Navy Seal (replaces Marine)	Universal Suffrage
Saladin	Arabian	Philosophical, Spiritual	+100% Great Person birth rate, no anarchy	Mysticism, The Wheel	Camel Archer (replaces Knight)	Theocracy
Tokugawa	Japanese	Aggressive, Organized	Combat I promotion for melee and gunpowder units, -50% civic upkeep cost	Fishing, The Wheel	Samurai (replaces Maceman)	Mercantilism
Victoria	English	Expansive, Financial	+2 health per city, +1 commerce for all tiles with 2 or more	Fishing, Mining	Redcoat (replaces Rifleman)	Representation
Washington	American	Financial, Organized	+1 commerce for all tiles with 2 or more, -50% civic upkeep cost	Agriculture, Fishing	Navy Seal (replaces Marine)	Universal Suffrage

Diplomacy Tips

Relating to the other computer-controlled leaders can make or break your civilization’s long-term success. That sounds dramatic but it can happen. A bad relationship could spark a long, drawn out war that diverts your resources from research and culture into a war machine. Or perhaps careless trading of resources or technologies could put another civilization ahead of your own in terms of score or the race to the space age. A friendly stance is certainly a good idea unless you’re hoping to conquer your rivals but you must also be careful not to allow rival leaders to take advantage of your giving nature.

A series of plus and minuses govern your relationship with other leaders. You receive pluses from open border agreements, being peaceful, having the same religion, instituting a leader’s favorite civic, and from trade. You receive minuses from war, different religion, sharing a border, transactions with the leader’s enemy, and refusing requests (such as gifts). Enough minuses and the leader may finally decide you aren’t worth the trouble and send troops into your territory with a declaration of war.

If you feel war with an adjacent civilization is imminent and you don’t think you have the means to support the war, you can avert it before it starts by essentially bribing the leader with gifts. Send the leader tributes of gold or technology. Enough tribute can avert an imminent war but it may not keep the leader at bay forever.

If an adjacent civilization hasn’t adopted a religion, agree to open borders then send missionaries to spread your religion into his cities so you gain pluses from the shared religion and not minuses from your differences. Religion is a big portion of the relationship; shared religion offers much higher alliance chances and religious differences offer a much higher change of war.

Trading technologies is also useful but don’t expect the computer-controlled leaders to be entirely fair with their offers. If you’re ahead in research, be careful that you don’t allow other leaders to catch up with lopsided trades. It’s certainly useful to trade so you gain some technologies you may have skipped over in order to move faster through the technology tree; just be prepared to negotiate and not give up too much research. Try to sweeten the deal with gold or resources and avoid giving up a valuable technology. Of course, you could be behind in technology and may have to give up a lot of gold or other favors to get valuable technologies from other leaders.

Chapter 2 - City Management

Cities are the backbone of your civilization. Effective management begins with effective placement then continues through the entire era as you attempt to balance a city’s growth with its health, happiness, and production. This section provides tips for settling your first city and managing its resources to create a flourishing epicenter geared toward your specific strategy.

City Settlement

Settling your first city in a prime location certainly impacts its short and long-term success. Don’t waste too much time seeking out a better location. Start positions are basically balanced. Don’t spend the first three or more turns of the game moving your settler around looking for a better location. While you’re moving a settler around, opposing leaders have founded their capital and are researching their first religion and training a worker to start improving the land. Basically you better have spotted a good location on the current screen if you don’t plan to settle your first city on the first turn.

With the settler selected, examine nearby tiles to see how much food and "hammers" (which symbolizes production) the tile offers before improvements. Ideally you want to settle a city surrounded by the most fertile unimproved tiles for both food and production. Then you can use a worker to further improve those tiles to increase food and production. In an ideal world you may have a special resource nearby but you shouldn’t roam your settler around the map searching for that spot while other leaders are passing you by.

A balanced city could be settled near an area close to a body of water (fertile food and health) and hills (fertile production). Forests can be strong depending on your long-term strategy; plus if you don’t mind, deforestation can aid in speeding early production of workers or settlers but you lose out on health benefits or even late game resources from lumbermills. Floodplains may have fertile resources but increase unhealthiness.

You can be more selective for future cities. Seek out special resources and gather them with the appropriate structure. Stone or marble can speed certain wonder production and various resources aid health or happiness. Don’t place cities too close together but don’t place them too far apart either. You want to be close enough to provide defensive assistance in case of attack but far enough so each city can improve its own tiles.

Your capital is usually in the heart of your civilization and may not be as vulnerable to attack as your "border" cities that aren’t as developed. Consider being more defensive with their settlement. Place the city on a hill or close to more hills to aid your defenders. New cities should be placed for a reason not because you simply want to expand. Seek out valuable resources and settle a city to gather them. But place that city strategically: near food sources if you want to focus on growth or production sources if you want to focus on infrastructure.

Note that if two cities are placed along the same river, trade can occur without the need of roads or railroads.

City Improvements

Your capital’s initial development will certainly depend on the game situation but early on expect to have a warrior or scout exploring the land looking for a suitable spot for your next city (though you aren’t worrying about expansion just yet, just looking for the land to do so!). Your warrior or scout will also be seeking out the location of nearby leaders and possibly making first contact. Make a good first impression unless you want to spark an early dispute!

A worker will be one of the first units trained at your city (another warrior for town and unit defense or scout for exploration perhaps first) if you start in an area rich in resources. Realize that when you are training a worker or settler, your city devotes food to the production of that unit and not toward growth. Since your city stops growing while the worker is being trained, time production after your city has grown to a new size (perhaps even up to size three) instead of halting growth right before an increased population. Unless you have resources you’re hoping to grab, allow your city to grow before focusing on training a worker. Plus you may need to research appropriate techs to unlock the necessary worker improvements.

On higher difficulty levels, barbarians can be fierce and won’t hesitate to conquer your lightly defended towns. While your city grows through the first few stages of the game, train a few warriors to protect your town and use them later to provide escort for workers or settlers.

As stated, early research could also focus on the technologies specific for improvements wanted around your initial city. You could have fertile land for farming requiring Agriculture or on the coast with fish requiring Fishing. The chart below reveals the three basic worker improvements, required technology, and associated resource.

IMPROVEMENT	REQUIRED TECHNOLOGY	BASIC ASSOCIATION
Farms	Agriculture	Increases a tile’s food output. Built adjacent to fresh water. City focused on growth.
Mine	Mining	Increases a tile’s production output. Built on hills. City focused on construction.
Cottage	Pottery	Increases a tile’s commerce output. City focused on gold.

Each of the three basic improvements aid a city: farms increase food which increases city growth, mines increase production which speeds the construction of buildings or units, and cottages increase commerce which generates income for research, culture, or bartering. Researching the required technologies depends on the terrain surrounding your city. If you lack fresh water, researching Agriculture immediately won’t be a huge benefit since you can’t take advantage of farms.

Remember that you don’t have to build farms to generate food. Terrain tiles can generate their own food (plus you can find more from specific resources). It all depends on your strategy, certainly. If you are a Financial leader, spreading farms everywhere will limit your space for Cottages, which are really the main benefit to your civilization.

Through researching other technologies, you’ll unlock further improvements that can be used on special resources to further aid your city. For instance, if your city has deer, fur, or ivory nearby, research the Hunting technology to unlock the camp improvement. Constructing a camp increases the value of these resources, which aid food, commerce, and production respectively (and supply other bonuses like health and happiness). Farm animals like horses, cows, pigs, or sheep can be improved with pastures from the Animal Husbandry technology. Cows, pigs, and sheep provide additional food and other bonuses to health and happiness; horses can be used with Horseback Riding technology to unlock Horse Archers.

The basic premise is that you should discover any special resources around your city and plan your research accordingly to take advantage of their benefits. Stone or marble near your city can be a big boon. If so, research Masonry as soon as possible to unlock the quarry improvement; with stone or marble aiding your city, you can construct particular wonders in half the time. Coastal cities should take advantage of the Fishing technology and use fishing boats on resources just offshore to provide a boost to food.

Don’t forget to attach special resources to your cities with roads. Eventually it’s a good idea to network your entire city (and subsequent cities) with roads to provide resource bonuses (like health and happiness) to other cities as well as provide faster transit for your military and economic units. Faster transit can be a big deal when it becomes necessary to defend one of your weaker cities or if you want to move a worker quickly to grab a special resource that your border just enveloped. Cities connected by rivers can trade without the need for roads.

The following table lists all special resources, requirements, and yields.

RESOURCE	REVEALED BY	IMPROVEMENT (TECH)	BASE YIELD	IMPROVED YIELD	BENEFITS (WITH IMPROVEMENT)
Aluminum	Industrialism	Mine (Mining)	+1 Production	+3 Production, +1 Commerce	Halves construction speed of certain projects.
Banana	N/A	Plantation (Calendar)	+1 Food	+2 Food	+2 Health
Clam	N/A	Fishing Boats (Fishing)	+1 Food	+2 Food	+1 Health
Coal	Steam Power	Mine (Mining)	+1 Production	+3 Production	Required for Railroad
Copper	Bronze Working	Mine (Mining)	+1 Production	+3 Production	Halves construction speed of certain buildings/wonders/projects.
Corn	N/A	Farm (Agriculture)	+1 Food	+2 Food	+1 Health
Cow	N/A	Pasture (Animal Husbandry)	+1 Food	+1 Food, +2 Production	+1 Health
Crab	N/A	Fishing Boats (Fishing)	+1 Food	+2 Food	+1 Health
Deer	N/A	Camp (Hunting)	+1 Food	+2 Food	+1 Health
Dye	N/A	Plantation (Calendar)	+1 Commerce	+4 Commerce	+1 Happiness
Fish	N/A	Fishing Boats (Fishing)	+1 Food	+3 Food	+1 Health
Fur	N/A	Camp (Hunting)	+1 Commerce	+3 Commerce	+1 Happiness
Gems	N/A	Mine (Mining)	+1 Commerce	+1 Production, +5 Commerce	+1 Happiness
Gold	N/A	Mine (Mining)	+1 Commerce	+1 Production, +6 Commerce	+1 Happiness
Horse	N/A	Pasture (Animal Husbandry)	+1 Production	+2 Production, +1 Commerce	N/A
Incense	N/A	Plantation (Calendar)	+1 Commerce	+5 Commerce	+1 Happiness
Iron	Iron Working	Mine (Mining)	+1 Production	+3 Production	Halves construction speed of certain wonders.
Ivory	N/A	Camp (Hunting)	+1 Production	+1 Production, +1 Commerce	+1 Happiness
Marble	N/A	Quarry (Masonry)	+1 Production	+1 Production, +2 Commerce	Halves construction speed of certain wonders.
Oil	Scientific Method	Oil Well, Offshore Platform (Combustion)	+1 Production	+2 Production, +1 Commerce	N/A
Pig	N/A	Pasture (Animal Husbandry)	+1 Food	+3 Food	+1 Health
Rice	N/A	Farm (Agriculture)	+1 Food	+1 Food	+1 Health
Sheep	N/A	Pasture (Animal Husbandry)	+1 Food	+2 Food, +1 Commerce	+1 Happiness
Silk	N/A	Plantation (Calendar)	+1 Commerce	+3 Commerce	+1 Happiness
Silver	N/A	Mine (Mining)	+1 Commerce	+1 Production, +4 Commerce	+1 Happiness
Spices	N/A	Plantation (Calendar)	+1 Commerce	+1 Food, +2 Commerce	+1 Happiness
Stone	N/A	Quarry (Masonry)	+1 Production	+2 Production	Halves construction speed of certain wonders.
Sugar	N/A	Plantation (Calendar)	+1 Food	+1 Food, +1 Commerce	+1 Happiness
Uranium	Physics	Mine (Mining)	N/A	+3 Commerce	Halves construction speed of certain projects.
Whale	N/A	Whaling Boat (Optics)	+1 Food	+1 Production, +2 Commerce	+1 Happiness
Wheat	N/A	Farm (Agriculture)	+1 Food	+2 Food	+1 Health
Wine	N/A	Winery (Meditation)	+1 Commerce	+1 Food, +2 Commerce	+1 Happiness

The following chart lists worker improvements and additional technologies, civics, and wonders that provide enhancements.

IMPROVEMENT	ENHANCED BY
Farm	Civil Service (stretch farms from rivers), Biology (place farms anywhere)
Mine	Railroads (increased production)
Cottage	Universal Suffrage (+1 production from town), Free Speech (+2 commerce from town), Emancipation (+100% growth for cottage, hamlet, village), Printing Press (+1 commerce each for village and town)
Workshop	Chemistry (+1 production), Guilds (+1 production), State Property (+1 food)
Windmill	Replaceable Parts (+1 production), Electricity (+1 commerce)
Lumbermill	Railroad (increased production)
Watermill	Replaceable Parts (+1 production), Electricity (+2 commerce), State Property (+1 food)

Health, Happiness, and Culture

Apart from resources, there are other variables that can affect your city’s development: health, happiness, and culture. A city’s healthiness affects its growth. If unhealthiness surpasses healthiness then you lose food; when you lose food, you lose growth. An unhealthy city can actually begin to starve and lose its population. When you lose population, production suffers. One of your city management goals will be to balance a city’s growth with its health. The larger your city growths, the harder it becomes to counter increasing unhealthiness.

Happiness means a faithful working class. If the citizens are happy, they’re working the land--which provides food, production, or commerce. If unhappiness surpasses happiness, workers refuse to do their job. If they aren’t working, you’re losing food, production, or commerce that could be gathered. You must keep citizens happy and working to remain productive.

Finally culture is essentially your city’s influence on other civilizations. Culture determines the size and scope of your city’s borders--the higher the culture, the wider the borders. An influential city can even envelope a rival civilization’s border town. Your influential culture "convinced them" to become part of your civilization. It’s possible to focus a game and your cities entirely on culture and achieve victory.

The following list provides tips on improving your city’s health.

• Terrain can have positive and negative effects on health. Fresh water and forests have positive effects and jungles and floodplains have negative effects. Eliminate jungles to remove the unhealthiness and keep forests to provide the health bonus (though the extra production from deforestation is tempting early on).
• Certain special resources provide health bonuses. These are: banana, clam, corn, cow, crab, deer, fish, pig, rice, sheep, and wheat. Build improvements on these resources and link them to every city to provide a health bonus. You can also initiate trade with other civilizations for these resources.
• Add certain structures to your city to increase health: aqueduct (+2 health), granary (+1 health from corn, wheat, rice), grocer (+1 health from banana, spice, sugar, wine), harbor (+1 health from clam, crab, fish), hospital (+3 health), supermarket (+1 health from cow, deer, pigs, sheep). The recycling center eliminates unhealthiness from buildings. Certain structures decrease health, such airports, forges, drydocks, laboratories, and factories.
• The Hanging Gardens wonder aids health by increasing health +1 in all cities). The Ironworks wonder decreases health. Civilizations under the Environmentalism civic feature a health bonus +6 for all cities.

The following provides tips on improving your city’s happiness.

• Special luxury resources increase happiness (basically your citizens are kind of materialistic!). These resources include: dye, fur, gems, gold, incense, ivory, silk, silver, spices, sugar, whales, and wine. Construct improvements on these resources and link them to every city to provide happiness bonuses. You can also initiate trade with other civilizations for these resources.
• Entertaining your citizens makes them happy and "encourages" them to keep working. Certain structures offer happiness bonuses. Build the following in your cities to increase happiness: religious structures (found multiple religions and spread them throughout your cities!), broadcast tower, coliseum, market (+1 happiness from fur, ivory, silk, or whales), forge (+1 happiness from gold, gems, silver), and theatre.
• The Globe Theatre removes unhappiness from the city. Mount Rushmore decreases war unhappiness. The Eiffel Tower provides a free broadcast tower in every city. Hollywood provides hit movies and Rock ‘n Roll provides hit singles. Notre Dame increases happiness for all cities on the same continent.
• A civilization under Hereditary Rule can increase happiness with each military unit stationed inside a city. Representation increases happiness +3 in the five largest cities. Nationhood supplies a happiness bonus for each barracks. Environmentalism adds a happiness bonus to forests and even jungles. Free Religion increases happiness for each religion in the city.

In general, culture ties into happiness (high culture often means high happiness) but it has its own purpose as well. High culture means high influence, which translates to larger borders. Your sweeping influence can overtake other cities and help expand your empire.

To generate high culture, start with a creative leader then found multiple religions and construct religious structures. You can focus your cities to generate large commerce (to eventually spend most of your income on culture after researching Drama) or production (to construct all culture related structures and wonders).

You’ll want to use artist specialists and turn your Great Artists into super specialists to generate more culture or even create great works for an instant boost to culture. Use the Free Speech civic, which increases culture by 100% (Caste System can also be good because you can have unlimited artists). Focus research on all culture-related technologies. Remember the first to Music provides a free Great Artist! A philosophical leader can be a good match. Increase Great People birth rate, focus on Great Artists, and use great works or turn them into super specialists.

City Management Tips

Use the tips below when managing your cities from early development and onward as you create specialized epicenters to train your military or fund your research.

• Practice the art of chopping! You can use a worker to chop down forests, which are transformed into production. You can use chopping as a way of speeding production, which can be extremely important in the early game when you’re racing for some early wonders (such as Stonehenge) or training an army for an early rush. Train a worker immediately and research Bronze Working as quickly as possible to provide the ability to chop. You can level forests within or outside your borders. Forests do provide health benefits, though, so avoid clearing out every tile from around your city or you'll have to spend extra time later in the game figuring out a way to increase your city’s health.
• Careful adding valuable wonders to your newly created cities, especially those on the edge of another civilization’s borders. A developing city that hasn’t been properly defended could be easily overtaken by a rival civilization (even its culture if the city is on the border) or even a barbarian horde. Think defensively first and protect your city from enemies before spending valuable production time on a wonder that might be lost if you haven’t trained adequate defenses.
• Consider roles for your cities. Instead of haphazardly constructing buildings and wonders, focus the city’s development as a research center or one that trains military units or generates commerce. Add buildings that strengthen that focus then target wonders that further add to those strengths. Having fewer specialized cities can be a stronger strategy than having an expansive empire of generic cities that aren’t really good at any aspect of the game.
• Unless you’re attempting a one city challenge, expansion is vital to the success of your civilization. The more cities you found, the greater the specialization you can use throughout all of your cities. Expansion is also important for gaining access to special resources that can be utilized by all of your cities with the construction of a proper road network. Resources that boost health can keep your cities growing; resources like stone and marble can speed wonder production; and resources like iron and copper are needed to train certain units. Expanding and establishing borders is important. Don’t neglect your city’s culture after you expand. Larger borders generate greater influence and helps keep those special resources within your territory.
• You certainly won’t find every special resource within your borders. That’s what trade is for! Dial up your rival civilization leaders and look to trade resources. Other leaders may have commodities that would help your civilization, perhaps aiding health or happiness. Establishing a robust trade agreement with a neighboring civilization could also help ease border tensions and prevent a future clash. If that civilization declared war on you, those trade agreements would be broken. The leader would cause his civilization to suffer a hit. But consider your trades carefully. You may not want a powerful rival to have oil to create formidable late game units! Also think about trading with "distant" civilizations first. No reason to give a neighbor an edge!
• Overcrowding generates unhappiness. It’s simply going to happen. As long as your city’s unhappiness is equal to or lower than happiness, there isn’t a problem. But if you grow your city faster than you can increase happiness (from structures, resources, religion, etc) then you have a few options. You can slow growth (through automation) or by adjusting the worked tiles or you can assign specialists. This will help decrease unhappiness but the specialists require extra food so be sure you’re still taking in extra food to feed specialists, which will serve to slow growth. Another way to slow growth would be to train a worker or settler; while training these units, food is used for production instead of growth. Or you could also select the city to avoid growth while you make the necessary changes to improve your citizens’ happiness!
• Building a huge bankroll may seem comforting but it’s not really the best use of your funds. If you are generating a lot of extra gold per turn then it’s likely time to expand your empire. The extra gold can be put toward maintaining another city. It could also mean you should use a civic with higher upkeep (which are generally more helpful, but not always). You could also use extra gold as tributes or "bribes" for rival civilizations as well as a way to rush production of certain structures or units under the Universal Suffrage civic.

• The joy of Civilization IV (and its predecessors) is you make your own walkthrough. Many, many strategies can work successfully. Plus, maps are randomized as are neighboring civilizations so subsequent games can differ drastically. So a player’s preferred build order may work for him but be completely foreign to another. But in general (and let’s repeat, in general) your city management early on should be to find a suitable location for your capital (on the first turn or, at worst, the second to fourth turns), train defenses or a scout, allow your city to grow steadily, train a settler to expand, defend your cities from easy grab, train a worker to grab resources and improve your cities’ surrounding tiles.
• Having an early scout (expansionist civilizations or those with Hunting already researched) can pay off big time with proper exploration. Scouts gain more from the native tribal huts scattered around the map. Instead of allowing the scout to explore on its own, maximize its movement to reveal as much of the map as possible searching for the valuable huts. Scoring multiple huts could give you a significant edge early in the game. You could score a free technology or even a settler to expand your empire early. Finding a settler also means your capital can grow instead of spending the time and resources training a settler.
• In most case you’d want to allow your city to grow before training a worker. While producing a worker, your city stops growing as food is used for production of the worker. Also, if you train a worker immediately you probably won’t have researched the necessary technologies to unlock the worker’s tile improvements to even make use of his abilities. Train an early worker when there are valuable resources around your city, you have met prerequisites for the land improvements that will help immediately, or if on these first few turns the worker costs the same production as a warrior.
• If you found a city on top of a special resource, such as stone or marble which can speed the production of certain wonders, then you gain the resources benefits but you lose the ability to build an improvement on that tile and would lose out on any additional food, production, or commerce that tile could generate with the improvement. You might want to found a city on a resource to prevent a rival civilization from destroying the improvement but it’s still more advantageous to found the city adjacent to the resource then strengthen the city’s culture to keep your borders wide and strong and keep the city well-defended and ready to act should an invader close in on your valuable improvement.

Great People

Great People are a big part of Civilization IV. These are exemplary citizens that can provide a huge boost to your city. Although you have the innate ability to generate Great People, you can increase that rate through various means, including your leader’s trait. Select a leader with the philosophical trait to gain a 100% bonus to Great People birth rate. Combine it with a wonder (National Epic) or even a civic (Pacifism) for further increases to the Great People birth rate. The type of Great Person birthed depends on your allocation of specialists (wonders also provide tendencies), which also serves to increase Great People. Cities with abundance of food (make farms!) can switch workers to specialists. The more specialists, the greater the chance of a Great Person birth.

When a Great Person births in one of your cities you have a decision how best to put that Great Person to use. All Great People can be turned into "super specialists" for increased generation of production or commerce or even culture in regards to the Great Artist.

If you receive a Great Scientist, construct the Academy as your first choice. The Academy’s benefits to research are invaluable. Advancing through the technology tree--no matter your overall strategy--is a vital aspect of the game. Better techs provide better units, civics, wonders...essentially everything in the game.

You could also use Great People to receive a free technology. Certainly good here and there; the compounding nature of many, many free technologies can really add a punch to your civilization.

The Great Artist can produce a "Great Work" for an instant "+4000" boost to that city’s culture. This can be useful when you are within range for the next border expansion or if a rival’s city lies just on your border. The increased culture and influence could "encourage" that rival’s city to convert to your influential way of life.

Use Great Prophets to build a shrine (in a Holy City, where a religion was founded) if you’re serious about spreading your religion. Spreading your religion has big advantages, especially when you factor in the commerce benefits of the shrine (adds gold for every city with that religion). Great Engineers can rush production of your current item in queue; awesome for completing production on a wonder since you could lose that wonder if another civilization completes production before you do!

Great People can help you create specialized cities, for instance a research center with science structures and wonders such as a library or observatory and the great library and Great Scientist’s Academy or super specialists. Or perhaps a culture focused city with a theatre and Globe Theatre as well as Great Artists converted into super specialists.

Making a city focused on Great People means food; floodplain and grassland tiles that produce high food output are ideal locations. You’ll want farms...many farms on all flat tiles to support high population. Use food surplus to change workers into specialists. Maintain good production for wonders that specifically add to your Great People birth rate or specialists. Civic selections should also focus on specialists (Representation, Caste System) or Great People bonuses (Pacifism). You’re growing fast so keep citizens happy with structures and wonders that improve happiness (of course, the Globe Theater is optimal since it removes unhappiness).

Chapter 3 - Civics

Civilization IV civics are essentially how you are choosing to lead your civilization. It’s your government. You may want to lead a pacifist society that shuns war or a police state that basically encourages it. Civics are unlocked through technologies as well as the Pyramids wonder (it opens up all the "Government" civics for use). You can switch civics but suffer a turn of anarchy while the revolution takes place. During this time your civilization’s infrastructure basically grinds to a halt. A "Spiritual" leader can change civics and state religions without an anarchy penalty.

The following chart lists all of the available civics, requirements, and effects. Continue after the chart for specific tips on implementing each civic into your overall gameplay strategy.

CIVIC	TYPE	UPKEEP	TECHNOLOGY REQUIREMENT	FOCUS	EFFECTS
Barbarism	Legal	Low	None	None	None
Bureaucracy	Legal	Medium	Civil Service	Production	+50% production, +50% commerce in capital
Caste System	Labor	Medium	Code of Laws	Specialists	Unlimited artists, scientists, merchants
Decentralization	Economy	Low	None	None	None
Despotism	Government	Low	None	None	None
Emancipation	Labor	None	Democracy	Commerce	+100% growth for cottage, hamlet, village. Unhappiness penalty for civilizations without Emancipation
Environmentalism	Economy	High	Ecology	Health and Happiness	+6 health in all cities; +1 happy from forests and jungles
Free Market	Economy	Low	Economics	Trade	+1 trade routes per city
Free Religion	Religion	Low	Liberalism	Happiness and Research	+1 happy per religion in a city; +10% research in all cities
Free Speech	Legal	None	Liberalism	Culture	+2 gold from town; +100% culture in all cities.
Hereditary Rule	Government	Medium	Monarchy	Military	+1 happy per military unit stationed in city.
Mercantilism	Economy	Medium	Banking	Specialists	+1 free specialist per city; no foreign trade routes
Nationhood	Legal	Low	Nationalism	Military	Can draft three units per turn; +2 happy per barracks
Organized Religion	Religion	High	Monotheism	Production	Can build missionaries without monastery; cities with state religion construct buildings 25% faster
Pacifism	Religion	None	Philosophy	Great People	+100% great person birth rate in cities with state religion; +1 gold support cost per military unit
Paganism	Religion	Low	None	None	None
Police State	Government	High	Fascism	Military	+25% military unit production; -50% war weariness
Representation	Government	Low	Constitution	Research	+3 beakers per specialist; +3 happy in five largest cities.
Serfdom	Labor	Low	Feudalism	Production	Workers build improvements 50% faster
Slavery	Labor	Low	Bronze Working	Production	Can sacrifice population to finish production in a city
State Property	Economy	None	Communism	Commerce, Food	No maintenance costs from distance to palace; +1 food from workshop and watermill
Theocracy	Religion	Medium	Theology	Military	+2 experience points in cities with state religion; no non-state religion spread
Tribalism	Labor	Low	None	None	None
Universal Suffrage	Government	Medium	Democracy	Production	+1 production from towns; can spend gold to finish production in a city
Vassalage	Legal	High	Feudalism	Military	New units receive +2 experience points; lower unit support costs

The following list features some strategies for implementing civics as part of your overall civilization strategy.

• Civics have upkeep costs so using multiple civics can be a big drain on your treasury, but certainly offer powerful combinations to those with big bank accounts. The tips below offer some suggestions on using civics including combinations. Just be careful that you don’t overextend your civilization. Consider the best option that maintains income for other needs, like research, culture, city maintenance, or an army.
• Universal Suffrage is a favorite of the American Empire leaders and a good complement for any financial traits. If you’re gearing to generate large commerce to fund research, expansion, culture, military, etc, then you’re going to be building cottages, which will eventually expand. Universal Suffrage adds a production bonus to town tiles. You can also use your treasury to hurry unit and structure production. It’s excellent in mid-to-late game when you have the towns to gain big benefits. Don’t adopt early on when the medium upkeep can’t really be offset with few (or even none) towns. Free Speech will also be a useful civic for the financial player that creates a massive amount of cottages that evolve into towns; Free Speech increases commerce from towns. Further combine with Emancipation (+100% growth for cottage, hamlet, village). Free Market is another nice addition for its added commerce.
• A defensive minded player can use Hereditary Rule to keep citizens happy and working. You receive a happiness bonus for each military unit stationed in the city--a defensive player will have military units protecting his cities, why not get some use out of them? As you increase happiness from other means (entertainment, culture, religion) switch to a more advantageous civic for your desired strategy but Hereditary Rule is a decent civic in the early game.



• When creating an army, use Vassalage and/or Theocracy (with a state religion) to train experienced units to be promoted. Combine this with an aggressive leader trait (free Combat I promotion for melee and gunpowder units) for added effect. As war wages, Police State speeds reinforcement production and reduces unhappiness due to your warmongering. Likewise, if you see a neighboring civilization change to Vassalage and Theocracy rule, prepare for war!
• Bureaucracy (+50% production, commerce in capital) is strong for smaller civilizations where the capital is your primary focus. This also makes it strong in the early game to help increase your capital’s output. Combine with Universal Suffrage to speed production using gold and with Serfdom so workers build production improvements faster.
• Civic selection can help improve your civilization’s happiness. Free Religion is perhaps the most important as long as you have also spread multiple religions throughout your cities. Free Religion adds +1 happiness for each religion in each city. Add to that Free Speech for its increase in culture and Mercantilism for its free specialist, which can be used as an artist to entertain your citizens.
• A player focused on Great People should utilize Pacifism and its +100% to great person birth rate. It’s a peaceful civic, however, that features penalties for armies by increasing support costs. Appease other leaders with technology, trade, or gold to remain on their good sides. Combine Pacifism with other Great People benefits (philosophical leader trait and the National Epic wonder) for further increases to birth rate. Caste System and Representation are good civic matches because of the increased specialists and use from specialists. Use your Great People to increase culture, research, or production depending on your other strategies.
• Many Government civics (and others as well) are favored by each leader as "favorite" civics. For instance, Alexander, Catherine, Hatshepsut, Huayna Capac, Kublai Khan, and Louis XIV all prefer Hereditary Rule. By adopting a favored civic, you gain a diplomatic bonus with that rival leader. It may become necessary to bridge a brief or even long-term alliance by switching to a favored civic so you can improve trade relations or even prevent a war.
• The Heroic Epic and Mount Rushmore wonders are good pairings for the Police State civic. Adopting Police State means you’re in a prolonged war. You receive a +25% boost to military production and decreased war weariness. Adding Heroic Epic increases military production even further and Mount Rushmore further decreases war weariness.
• To emphasize research, use the Mercantilism and Representation civics for scientist specialists and increased research from those specialists. Add +10% research in all cities with the aid of the Free Religion civic. Civics improving commerce also indirectly aid research since you will have more funds to devote to researching technologies.

Chapter 4 - Religion

Civilization IV adds religion to its already deep and complex gameplay. Although it’s certainly possible to play entire games of Civilization IV without utilizing religions, the benefits of founding, spreading, and practicing one or more of the seven available religions certainly encourages you to experiment with the new feature.

Religions are founded through technology research. The first to research certain technologies founds the religion and can then spread it to other cities and civilizations and begin to construct religions temples for happiness and culture and eventually special structures to generate income.

The chart below reveals the technologies required to found specific religions. Expect computer-controlled civilizations to found a religion or two; certainly one civilization will go for Buddhism, which is the easiest to found on the technology tree.

RELIGION	DISCOVER TECHNOLOGY TO FOUND
Buddhism	Meditation
Christianity	Theology
Confucianism	Code of Laws
Hinduism	Polytheism
Islam	Divine Right
Judaism	Monotheism
Taoism	Philosophy

A Uniter or a Divider

Religion is one of the largest factors in diplomacy. Sharing a religion with another civilization provides a diplomacy bonus. You will have a good relationship and be able to conduct various trades and alliances much easier because of the common bond shared; take note of the positive benefit from the shared religion while highlighting the other civilization’s name and revealing the pluses and minuses that are factoring into your good or bad relationship.

And it’s religious differences that can play a huge role in poor trade relations and even war. It’s a huge diplomacy negative to have a "heathen" religion according to your rival civilization. Couple it with a few other factors (you refused to give us tribute!) and troops could be filing into your borders and straight for your cities. Religions can unite you with other civilizations or divide you.

One of the pluses (and there are several as these tips will discuss) to having multiple religions (and being a spiritual leader) is to switch state religions to match other civilizations to get on better terms, even if it’s only temporary (perhaps to form a short alliance or to negotiate a valued trade). Perhaps a neighbor civilization has a different state religion. Perhaps that same neighbor civilization is a military powerhouse. It would likely be in your best interest to switch your state religion to match so you can help maintain the peace! Once again that shared religion bonus is a big factor in keeping other leader’s in your good graces.

Spreading the Faith

Because shared religion is such an important factor in successful diplomacy, it’s wise to spread your state religion to other civilizations. You do so by sending a missionary (or multiple missionaries) into a rival civilization’s city and spread the faith. You can found and spread multiple religions. You can select one as your "state" religion. If another civilization adopts your founded state religion, you can gain sight on their city.

The key to spreading the faith is obtaining open borders agreements with other civilizations. Now you can freely explore inside their borders and send missionaries to their cities to spread your religions. This is important early on not only to maintain good diplomacy with neighbors but to lay the groundwork for a stronger civilization in the late game when you have turned religion into quite a profit.

If you plan to focus on religion, construct temples and subsequent religious structures (monasteries, cathedrals, etc) for their various bonuses to happiness, research, and culture. You can also use priest specialists and spawn Great Prophets. You can build a shrine in cities religions were founded ("Holy Cities"). The shrine supplies benefits of other religious structures but also generates commerce for each city that bears the shrine’s religion. This can be very, very profitable if you’ve spread your religion faithfully! Found multiple religions and build multiple shrines. Spread the faiths around to foreign cities and start earning.

Founding a religion early will help the spread of the faith. If you wait and found a religion that requires a later technology (such as Christianity) then other civilizations will already have founded their religions and spreading yours (and maintaining good diplomacy) will be more difficult. But founding an early religion also means devoting research time to those technologies and not to technologies that may help you gather resources or even rush to construct an army. Focusing your entire strategy on religion and its profits is viable but obviously can leave you vulnerable to other tactics, for instance a military rush. If you want to aim for early and multiple religions, choose a leader that already has the Mysticism technology researched. These leaders are: Asoka (Indian), Gandhi (Indian), Huayna Capac (Incan), Isabella (Spanish), Montezuma (Aztec), and Saladin (Arabian). Follow the tech tree through the religions and found them first!

Keep in mind that religions will need to be spread within your own empire as well. One city may found a religion but others in your empire may not adopt it or may even be influenced by a rival’s civilization’s religion. Use missionaries to spread the faith within your own borders. Spread your state religion to gain more from its benefits. Having multiple religions in each city isn’t a bad thing. You could use the Free Religion civic to help boost happiness throughout your civilization; it adds +1 happiness per religion for each city.

A State Religion

Not having a state religion means not sustaining the diplomatic penalties from religious differences but you also gain none of the benefits to happiness, culture, and (if you’re dedicated) commerce. The advantages to religion are high and although you can win games without one, it’s certainly worth adding them into your strategies. For instance, there are several civics that provide bonuses to civilizations with state religions. For instance Organized Religion provides +25% building constructions for cities with a state religion. Not to mention dedication in spreading your faith can earn a lot of commerce from those shrines as the game progresses. See the "Civics" section of this game guide for a chart of all civics including those that combine with state religion for additional benefits.

Your state religion can be changed. Perhaps you found multiple religions and one has spread through the world better than the other you can switch that to your state religion to gain more benefit. Or perhaps you want to switch to improve your relationship with a rival civilization (or even ruin a relationship!). You can found a religion but not use it as a state religion as well. Having multiple religions but not using a state religion seems to generate more culture for each of the cities that founded a religion.

If you don’t want to found a religion you can still gain one through influence and even switch it to your state religion to maintain peace with other civilizations that have adopted it as well. Keep an eye on your religion advisor and you can even cause some wars by looking for civilizations with differences and pitting them against each other. This could even be part of your long-term strategy by choosing how you spread your own religion (or religions) in the first place!

Religious Structures

The following table compiles the religious structures, cost, requirements, effects, and other statistics.

STRUCTURE	TYPE	COST	CULTURE	GREAT PEOPLE	REQUIREMENT	EFFECTS
All Monasteries	Monastery	60	+2	N/A	Meditation (and monastery’s religion)	+10 research points. Can train religion’s missionaries in city. Obsolete with Scientific Method.
All Temples	Temples	80	+1	N/A	Priesthood (and temple’s religion)	+1 happiness, can turn one citizen into Priest.
Buddhist Stupa	Cathedral	300	+50%	N/A	Music, Buddhist temples	+2 happiness if state religion is same as building. +1 happiness from incense. Double production speed with copper. Can turn two citizens into Priest.
Christian Cathedral	Cathedral	300	+50%	N/A	Music, Christian temples	+2 happiness if state religion is same as building. +1 happiness from incense. Double production speed with copper. Can turn two citizens into Priest.
Confucian Academy	Cathedral	300	+50%	N/A	Music, Confucian temples	+2 happiness if state religion is same as building. +1 happiness from incense. Double production speed with copper. Can turn two citizens into Priest.
Hindu Mandir	Cathedral	300	+50%	N/A	Music, Hindu temples	+2 happiness if state religion is same as building. +1 happiness from incense. Double production speed with copper. Can turn two citizens into Priest.
Islamic Mosque	Cathedral	300	+50%	N/A	Music, Islamic temples	+2 happiness if state religion is same as building. +1 happiness from incense. Double production speed with copper. Can turn two citizens into Priest.
Jewish Synagogue	Cathedral	300	+50%	N/A	Music, Jewish temples	+2 happiness if state religion is same as building. +1 happiness from incense. Double production speed with copper. Can turn two citizens into Priest.
Taoist Pagoda	Cathedral	300	+50%	N/A	Music, Taoism temples	+2 happiness if state religion is same as building. +1 happiness from incense. Double production speed with copper. Can turn two citizens into Priest.
The Church of the Nativity	Shrine	Special	4	+1	Christian Holy City, Great Prophet	+1 commerce per turn for every city with Christianity. Spreads Christianity. Can turn three citizens into Priest. More likely to generate Great Prophet.
The Dai Miao	Shrine	Special	4	+1	Taoist Holy City, Great Prophet	+1 commerce per turn for every city with Taoism. Spreads Taoism. Can turn three citizens into Priest. More likely to generate Great Prophet.
The Kashi Vishwanath	Shrine	Special	4	+1	Hindu Holy City, Great Prophet	+1 commerce per turn for every city with Hinduism. Spreads Hinduism. Can turn three citizens into Priest. More likely to generate Great Prophet.
The Kong Miao	Shrine	Special	4	+1	Confucian Holy City, Great Prophet	+1 commerce per turn for every city with Confucianism. Spreads Confucianism. Can turn three citizens into Priest. More likely to generate Great Prophet.
The Mahabodhi	Shrine	Special	4	+1	Buddhist Holy City, Great Prophet	+1 commerce per turn for every city with Buddhism. Spreads Buddhism. Can turn three citizens into Priest. More likely to generate Great Prophet.
The Masjid al-Haram	Shrine	Special	4	+1	Islamic Holy City, Great Prophet	+1 commerce per turn for every city with Islam. Spreads Islam. Can turn three citizens into Priest. More likely to generate Great Prophet.
The Temple of Solomon	Shrine	Special	4	+1	Jewish Holy City, Great Prophet	+1 commerce per turn for every city with Judaism. Spreads Judaism. Can turn three citizens into Priest. More likely to generate Great Prophet.

Chapter 5 - Military

This section offers a collection of tips on training an army and using it to defend your civilization or aggressively conquer a rival civilization.

• Early town defense is important, especially on higher difficulty levels. Those barbarians are a sneaky bunch! Escort your workers and settlers with warrior (or greater) defenses and be sure to station units within your cities to protect from an easy barbarian grab.
• Use unit promotions that take advantage of the unit’s chosen purpose. If you plan to keep the unit within your city walls, upgrade the city defense promotion. If your city is surrounded by forests and jungles, use the woodland promotion. If you’re using the unit to attack cities, upgrade the city raider promotion. Specialization can be powerful. Instead of simply upgrading a unit’s base strength, consider its purpose. Also consider what your rival civilizations (especially neighboring or "hostile" civilizations) are producing. Use promotions to help counter your enemy’s forces.
• Develop a strong military with the combination of civics, wonders, and buildings. For instance, choose an aggressive leader for the promotion bonus for melee and gunpowder units. Construct a Barracks in the city so each trained land unit receives an experience boost upon creation. Add the wonders West Point, Pentagon, and Heroic Epic. Use the civics Vassalage and Theocracy. You could also use Police State to increase production and to aid in keeping your citizens happier during war (the Mount Rushmore wonder also helps in that regard). With those structures, wonders, and experience point civics you could train promoted units (Combat III+ and with a Medic promotion potentially) straight from your city. Basically once you have them available, you should always be creating military units under Vassalage and Theocracy rule. Likewise, keep an eye out for civic changes of your rivals. Your neighbor just switched to Vassalage or Theocracy rule? Get ready!
• Siege weapons are invaluable. Use them to inflict collateral or splash damage against a group of enemy units or the city defenses of a rival civilization’s town. Whittle down the defenses with your siege barrage before moving in your other forces. When attacking a rival city, use siege weapons to lower city defenses to 0% before moving in with other forces. Once defenses are lowered, that siege weapon should attack defending units. It’ll likely perish but the collateral damage inflicted will provide a boost to your remaining attackers--you will be attacking weakened enemy defenders.
• Consider your units’ strengths and weaknesses, such as a pikeman’s bonus against mounted units. These bonuses are especially important when attacking a single enemy unit. When attacking a unit group, your pikemen may go up against archers instead of those mounted troops. Against unit groups or stacks it’s better to weaken with siege before assaulting in full. The defender utilizes its best "defender" so you could very well be up against your counter (attack with cavalry, you’re up against spearmen). Scouting the enemy and its unit groups will be very important in deciding what units (and what promotions) to use for your own forces.
• Many times pillaging your rival’s terrain improvements will be just as damaging (and rewarding to you) as crushing a group of units. Also, when conquering a rival city, consider the ramifications of occupying or simply burning down that city. Occupying the city means dealing with the revolt as well as the maintenance cost once that city comes under your fold. It may be more headache than benefit. You may want to simply destroy the city and move on to the next one, especially if it’s far from your other city’s and difficult to protect from a counterattack.
• Roads build a trade network between your cities but they’re also important in shuffling your military units quickly between your cities (for defense) and even a rival’s city (for attack). Construct some road’s toward a rival civilization and you can get your troops to the front line as quickly as possible.
• As stated, the defending unit group has a distinct advantage: it sends its best defender against your attacker. Therefore you may need to overwhelm your enemy group to defeat the defenders. Try to avoid "close" battles. Be sure you have a huge advantage before conducting the battle. Soften the enemy group up with artillery. Even if you lose the artillery, it’s worth that extra damage for when your real troops move into the fight.

Chapter 6 - Technology and Wonders

Civilization IV’s technology tree is diverse and complex. You could choose to research many technologies providing flexibility for your civilization or make a straight path for the more advanced technologies. As with most aspects of civilization, your research decisions depend on the situation.

Consider your early research based on the worker improvements as well as special resources around your cities. If there’s stone available, perhaps research Masonry early so you can construct a quarry and speed up wonder production. Perhaps you want to chop down some forests to speed up production; then research Bronze Working as soon as possible.

Alphabet is a popular tech because it allows you to trade technologies with other civilization leaders. Be warned however that the other leaders aren’t swindled. They usually offer lesser techs for more advanced techs. Don’t give up advanced technologies for a small price. Leading the tech tree is a huge part of the game. Don’t allow the other leaders to catch you, especially if you’re aiming for a space race victory. Be very careful what you give up! You may give up a valuable military tech to a rival then a few turns later he’s declaring war on your civilization.

Archery, Horseback Riding, and Bronze Working are important early military techs for the aggressive types. Bronze Working reveals copper and supports some important military units such as spearmen (to counter mounted units, a favorite of the computer-controlled leaders). Horseback Riding is essential for mounted units and archery for ranged units; archers provide solid town defense.

Speed research by constructing buildings (such as a library) that add "beakers" or otherwise improve research. Utilize scientist specialists and gear a city completely toward research. A wealthy city will also help. You can divert that "tax" income completely toward research to speed the acquisition of technologies.

Technologies are also key to founding religions. While you can ignore religion completely, founding and utilizing religions can be a huge boost to commerce and happiness.

Research and Technologies

The table below lists all technologies, research cost, special features, unit, building or wonder requirement the tech meets, and prerequisites for the technology.

TECHNOLOGY	COST	FEATURE	UNIT OR BUILDING/WONDER REQUIREMENT	TECH PREREQUISITE
Agriculture	60	Can build a farm	N/A	N/A
Alphabet	300	Enables technology trading.	N/A	Writing
Animal Husbandry	100	Can build a pasture.	N/A	Hunting or Agriculture
Archery	60	N/A	Archer, Skirmisher, Longbowman, Crossbowman, Cko-Ko-Nu, Horse Archer, Keshik, Camel Archer	Hunting
Artillery	2000	N/A	Artillery	Physics, Steel, and Rifling
Assembly Line	2600	N/A	Infantry, Factory, Coal Plant, and Pentagon	Corporation and Steam Power
Astronomy	1600	Obsoletes the Colossus and enables trade on ocean.	Galleon, Frigate, and Observatory	Calendar and Optics
Banking	700	Enables Mercantilism	Bank	Currency and Guilds
Biology	2200	Can build farms without irrigation. Farm +1 food.	N/A	Chemistry and Scientific Method
Bronze Working	120	Can chop down a forest. Reveals copper. Enables Slavery.	Axeman	Mining
Calendar	350	Obsoletes Obelisk, Stonehenge. Centers world map. Can build a plantation.	N/A	Sailing and Mathematics
Chemistry	2000	Obsoletes the Parthenon. Workshop +1 production.	Grenadier, Frigate	Engineering and Gunpowder
Civil Service	800	Farms spread irrigation. Enables Bureaucracy.	Maceman and Samurai	Code of Laws or Feudalism
Code of Laws	350	Enables Caste System. First to discover founds Confucianism.	Courthouse, Chichen Itza	Wiring and Priesthood or Currency
Combustion	2400	Obsoletes whale. Can build a well.	Transport, Destroyer, Submarine	Railroad
Communism	2000	Enables permanent alliances. Enables State Property.	Spy, Scotland Yard, The Kremlin	Liberalism and Scientific Method
Compass	400	N/A	Explorer, Harbor	Sailing and Iron Working
Composites	5000	N/A	Modern Armor, Jet Fighter, Stealth Bomber	Plastics and Satellites
Computers	4500	Obsoletes Angkor Wat, The Spiral Minaret	Modern Armor, Laboratory	Radio
Constitution	2000	Enables Representation.	Jail	Code of Laws and Nationalism
Construction	350	Enables bridge building.	War Elephant, Catapult, Colosseum	Masonry and Mathematics
Corporation	1400	Obsoletes The Great Lighthouse. +1 trade routes per city.	Wall Street	Constitution and Economics
Currency	400	+1 trade routes per city. Enables gold trading via Diplomacy.	Market, Grocer	Mathematics
Democracy	2200	Enables Universal Suffrage, Emancipation.	Statue of Liberty	Printing Press and Constitution
Divine Right	1000	First to discover founds Islam	Versailles, The Spiral Minaret	Theology and Monarchy
Drama	300	Can adjust culture rate	Theatre, Globe Theatre	Alphabet
Ecology	3500	Can scrub fallout. Enables Environmentalism	Recycling Center, SS Life Support	Biology and Plastics or Fission
Economics	1000	First to discover receives a Great Merchant. Enables Free Market.	N/A	Banking and Eduction
Electricity	2800	Windmill +1 commerce. Watermill +2 commerce.	Bunker, Bomb Shelter, Broadway	Physics
Engineering	900	+1 road movement	Pikeman, Castle, The Hagia Sophia	Machinery and Construction
Fascism	1800	Enables permanent alliances. Enables Police State.	Mt. Rushmore	Nationalism and Assembly Line
Feudalism	700	Enables Vassalage and Serfdom	Longbowman	Writing and Monarchy
Fiber Optics	5500	Obsoletes the Kremlin.	Internet, SS Cockpit	Computers and Plastics or Satellites
Fishing	40	Can work water tiles. Can create fishing boats	Work Boat	N/A
Fission	3500	N/A	ICBM, Nuclear Plant, The Manhattan Project	Electricity
Flight	3000	N/A	Gunship, Carrier, Fighter, Jet Fighter, Bomber, Stealth Bomber, Airport	Physics and Combustion
Fusion	6000	First to discover receives a Great Engineer	SS Engine	Fission and Fiber Optics
Future Tech	6000	+1 happiness in all cities. +1 commerce in all cities	N/A	Composites and Genetics
Genetics	5500	+3 happiness in all cities.	SS Stasis Chamber	Refrigeration and Computers
Guilds	900	Workshop +1 production.	Knight, Camel Archer, Conquistador, Grocer	Feudalism and Machinery
Gunpowder	1000	N/A	Musketman, Musketeer, Cavalry, Cossack	Guilds or Education
Horseback Riding	250	N/A	Horse Archer, Keshik, Knight, Camel Archer, Conquistador, Cavalry, Cossack	Animal Husbandry
Industrialism	3000	Obsoletes Ivory. Reveals aluminum.	Marine, Navy SEAL, Tank, Panzer, Battleship	Electricity and Assembly Line
Iron Working	200	Can remove jungle. Reveals iron	Swordsman, Jaguar, Praetorian	Bronze Working
Liberalism	1200	First to discover receives a free technology. Enables Free Speech and Free Religion	N/A	Philosophy and Education
Literature	200	N/A	Heroic Epic, National Epic, The Great Library	Polytheism and Alphabet
Machinery	700	Can build a windmill and watermill	Maceman, Samurai, Crossbowman, Cho-Ko-Nu	Metal Casting
Masonry	80	Can build a quarry	Wall, Aqueduct, The Pyramids, The Great Lighthouse	Mining or Mysticism
Mass Media	2800	N/A	Broadcast Tower, Hollywood, The United Nations	Radio
Mathematics	250	Can build a fort	Aqueduct, The Hanging Gardens	Writing
Medicine	2600	N/A	Hospital, Red Cross	Optics and Biology
Meditation	80	Can construct Monastery. First to discover founds Buddhism.	Monastery	Mysticism
Metal Casting	350	Can build a workshop	Forge, The Colossus	Pottery and Bronze Working
Military Tradition	1800	Enables defensive pacts	Cavalry, Cossack, West Point	Music and Nationalism
Mining	50	Can build a mine	N/A	N/A
Monarchy	300	Can build a winery. Enables Hereditary Rule	N/A	Priesthood or Monotheism
Monotheism	120	Enables Organized Religion. First to discover founds Judaism	N/A	Masonry and Polytheism
Music	600	First to discover receives a Great Artist. Can construct cathedral	Notre Dame, religious cathedrals	Mathematics and Literature or Drama
Mysticism	50	N/A	Obelisk, Stonehenge	N/A
Nationalism	1600	Enables Nationhood	Hermitage, The Taj Mahal	Civil Service and Divine Right or Philosophy
Optics	600	+1 sight across water. Can create whaling boats.	Caravel	Compass and Machinery
Paper	600	Enables map trading	N/A	Theology or Civil Service
Philosophy	800	Enables Pacifism. First to discover founds Taoism.	Angkor Wat	Meditation and Code of Laws or Drama
Physics	2400	First to discover receives a Great Scientist. Reveals uranium	N/A	Astronomy and Scientific Method
Plastics	4000	Obsoletes fur. Can create offshore platform.	Hydro Plant and The Three Gorges Dam	Combustion and Industrialism
Polytheism	100	First to discover founds Hinduism	The Parthenon	Mysticism
Pottery	80	Can build a cottage.	Granary	The Wheel and Agriculture or Fishing
Priesthood	60	Can construct temple	Oracle	Meditation or Polytheism
Printing Press	1200	Village +1 commerce. Town +1 commerce	N/A	Machinery and Paper
Radio	3000	N/A	Submarine, Bomber, The Eiffel Tower, Rock N Roll	Electricity
Railroad	2200	Can build a railroad	Machine Gun	Steam Power and Steel
Refrigeration	2800	+1 extra moves for water units	Supermarket	Biology and Electricity
Replaceable Parts	1600	Can build a lumbermill. Windmill +1 production	N/A	Banking and Printing Press
Rifling	1400	Obsoletes Chichen Itza	Rifleman, Redcoat, Infantry, Marine, Navy SEAL, Mechanized Infantry, Tank, Panzer	Gunpowder and Replaceable Parts
Robotics	5000	N/A	Mechanized Infantry, Stealth Bomber, The Space Elevator, SS Docking Bay	Plastics and Computers
Rocketry	4500	N/A	SAM Infantry, Gunship, ICBM, Apollo Program, SS Casing	Rifling and Flight or Artillery
Sailing	100	Enables trade on coast	Galley, Lighthouse	Fishing
Satellites	3500	Reveals world map	SDI, SS Thrusters	Radio and Rocketry
Scientific Method	1800	Obsoletes The Great Library and Monastery. Reveals oil	N/A	Printing Press and Chemistry or Astronomy
Steam Power	1800	Obsoletes the Hagia Sophia. Workers build improvements 50% faster. Reveals coal.	Ironclad	Chemistry and Replaceable Parts
Steel	2400	N/A	Cannon, Ironclad, Drydock, Ironworks	Iron Working and Chemistry
The Wheel	60	Can build a road	Chariot, War Chariot, Immortal	N/A
Theology	500	Enables Theocracy. First to discovery founds Christianity.	The Sistine Chapel	Writing and Monotheism
Writing	120	Enables open borders.	Library	Priesthood, Animal Husbandry, or Pottery

Wonders

Most veterans would say that the Civilization IV wonders aren’t quite the powerhouses from the previous game...however, they’re still important especially when you plan ahead and gear your wonder construction within your overall strategy. Like everything else in Civilization IV, don’t haphazardly build wonders just to have one. Consider your choices carefully and construct a wonder that may counter one of your civilization’s weaknesses or, perhaps more importantly, boost its strengths immensely.

There are a few types of wonders: national, world, and projects. There is a limit to the number of national wonders you can construct in a city. And wonders are limited to the civilization that built them. You could be currently constructing a wonder such as Broadway only to see the German Empire completed the wonder just a few turns before you would have finished. When that happens, you lose out on the wonder and the valuable construction time. Wonders are expensive and take many turns to complete. During that time you could be devoting production to military or city improvements so, as stated, you must choose wisely. Some wonder’s effects become obsolete at certain technology milestones. That’s why it’s important to plan ahead and build early rather than late!

You can speed some wonder production with resources. Stone and marble double the production speed of many wonders (a few other resources, like aluminum also aid in the construction of wonders or projects). It’s worth seeking out stone and marble while scouting the map. If you locate one of these resources, move a settler there to found a nearby city so you can take advantage of these resources. Being an Industrious leader also benefits wonders: the Industrious trait increases wonder production speed by 50%.

The chart below lists the national, world, and project wonders. The table includes the wonder’s production cost, boosts to culture and great people, requirements, and effects (which include resource bonuses, if and when the wonder becomes obsolete, and the wonder’s great people point influence).

WONDER	TYPE	COST	CULTURE	GREAT PEOPLE	REQUIREMENT	EFFECTS
Angkor Wat	World	500	8	+2	Philosophy	+1 hammer from Priest in all cities. Can turn three citizens into Priest. Double production speed with stone. Obsolete with Compass.
Apollo Program	Project	1000	N/A	N/A	Rocketry	Required to build spaceship parts. Double production speed with aluminum.
Broadway	World	800	+50%	+2	Electricity	Provides hit musicals. +1 happiness. More likely to generate Great Artist.
Chichen Itza	World	500	6	+2	Code of Laws	+25% defense in all cities. More likely to generate Great Prophet. Double production speed with stone.
Forbidden Palace	National	200	4	+1	Courthouse, 8 or more cities	Reduces maintenance in nearby cities; more likely to generate Great Merchant
Global Theatre	National	300	6	+1	Drama, Theatre	No unhappiness in the city; can turn three citizens into Artist; more likely to generate Great Artist
Hermitage	National	300	+100%	+1	Nationalism	+100% culture; more likely to generate Great Artist. Double production speed with marble.
Heroic Epic	National	200	4	+1	Barracks, unit of level 4 experience, Literature	+100% military unit production in city. Double production speed with marble.
Hollywood	World	1000	+50%	+2	Mass Media	Provides hit movies. +1 happiness. More likely to generate Great Artist.
Ironworks	National	700	N/A	+1	Steel, Forge	+50% hammers in city with iron, +50% hammers in city with coal. Can turn three citizens into Engineer. -2 health.
Mount Rushmore	National	500	4	+1	Fascism	-25% war unhappiness in all cities. More likely to generate Great Artist. Double production speed with stone.
National Epic	National	250	4	+1	Literature, Library in city	+100% Great Person birth rate in city. More likely to generate Great Artist. Double production speed with marble.
Notre Dame	World	650	10	+2	Music	+1 happiness in all cities on the continent. Double production with stone. More likely to generate Great Artist.
Oxford University	National	400	4	+1	Education, University	+100% science. Can turn three citizens into Scientist. More likely to generate Great Scientist. Double production speed with stone.
Palace	National	160	2	N/A	At least four cities.	Makes city capital. Reduces maintenance in nearby cities. +1 happiness.
Red Cross	National	600	2	+1	Medicine, Hospital	Free Medic I promotion for units trained in city. More likely to generate a Great Scientist.
Rock ‘n Roll	World	800	+50%	+2	Radio	Provide hit singles. +1 happiness. More likely to generate Great Artist.
Scotland Yard	National	500	N/A	+1	Communism	City can build spy units. More likely to generate a Great Scientist.
SDI	Project	500	N/A	N/A	Satellites	+75% chance of intercepting nukes. Double production speed with aluminum.
SS Casing	Project	400	N/A	N/A	Rocketry, Apollo Program	Required for Space Race victory (five total). Double production speed with aluminum.
SS Cockpit	Project	800	N/A	N/A	Fiber Optics, Apollo Program	Required for Space Race victory (one total). Double production speed with aluminum.
SS Docking Bay	Project	1200	N/A	N/A	Robotics, Apollo Program	Required for Space Race victory (one total). Double production speed with aluminum.
SS Engine	Project	1000	N/A	N/A	Fusion, Apollo Program	Required for Space Race victory (one total).
SS Life Support	Project	600	N/A	N/A	Ecology, Apollo Program	Required for Space Race victory (one total). Double production speed with aluminum.
SS Stasis Chamber	Project	1000	N/A	N/A	Genetics, Apollo Program	Required for Space Race victory (one total).
SS Thrusters	Project	600	N/A	N/A	Satellites, Apollo Project	Required for Space Race victory (three total). Double production speed with aluminum.
Stonehenge	World	120	8	+2	Mysticism	Free Obelisk in every city. Centers world map. Double production speed with stone. Obsolete with Calendar. More likely to generate Great Prophet.
The Colossus	World	250	6	+2	Metal Casting, Forge	All city’s water tiles +1 commerce. Double production speed with copper. Obsolete with Astronomy.
The Eiffel Tower	World	1250	6	+2	Radio, Forge	Free Broadcast Tower in every city. Double production speed with iron. More likely to generate Great Merchant.
The Great Library	World	350	8	+2	Literature, Library	Two free Scientists in city. Double production speed with marble. Obsolete with Scientific Method. More likely to generate Great Scientist.
The Great Lighthouse	World	200	6	+2	Masonry, Lighthouse	+2 trade routes in all coastal cities. Obsolete with Corporation. More likely to generate Great Merchant.
The Hagia Sophia	World	500	8	+2	Engineering	Workers build improvements 50% faster. Double production speed with marble. Obsolete with Steam Power. More likely to generate Great Engineer.
The Hanging Gardens	World	300	6	+2	Mathematics, Aqueduct	+1 heath in all cities. +1 population in all cities. Double production speed with stone. More likely to generate Great Engineer.
The Internet	Project	2000	N/A	N/A	Fiber Optics	Grants all technologies acquired by any two known civilizations.
The Kremlin	World	1000	N/A	+2	Communism	-50% hurry production cost. Double production speed with stone. Obsolete with Fiber Optics. More likely to generate Great Artist.
The Manhattan Project	Project	1500	N/A	N/A	Fission	Enables nukes for all players. Enables bomb shelter for all players. Double production speed with uranium.
The Oracle	World	150	8	+2	Priesthood	One free technology. Double production speed with marble. More likely to generate Great Prophet.
The Parthenon	World	400	10	+2	Polytheism	+50% Great Person birth rate in all cities. Double production speed with marble. Obsolete with Chemistry. More likely to generate Great Artist.
The Pentagon	World	1250	N/A	+2	Assembly Line	+2 experience points for new units trained in all cities.
The Pyramids	World	450	6	+2	Masonry	Enables all Government civics. Double production speed with stone. More likely to generate Great Engineer.
The Sistine Chapel	World	600	10	+2	Theology	+2 culture per specialist in all cities. Double production speed with marble. More likely to generate Great Artist.
The Space Elevator	World	2000	N/A	+2	Robotics	+50% spaceship production in all cities. Double production speed with aluminum. More likely to generate Great Engineer.
The Spiral Minaret	World	500	8	+2	Divine Right	+1 commerce from all state religion buildings. Double production speed with stone. Obsolete with Computers. More likely to generate Great Prophet.
The Taj Mahal	World	700	10	+2	Nationalism	Starts a golden age. Double production speed with marble. More likely to generate Great Artist.
The Three Gorges Dam	World	1750	N/A	+2	Plastics	Provides power for all cities on the continent. More likely to generate Great Engineer.
The United Nations	World	1000	N/A	+2	Mass Media	Triggers global elections. Guarantees eligibility for diplomatic votes. More likely to generate Great Merchant.
Versailles	World	800	10	+2	Divine Right	Reduces maintenance in nearby cities. Double production speed with marble. More likely to generate Great Merchant.
Wall Street	National	600	N/A	+1	Corporation, Bank	+100% commerce. Can turn three citizens into Merchant. More likely to generate a Great Merchant
West Point	National	800	N/A	+1	Military Tradition, a unit of level 5 experience	+4 experience points for new units trained in city. Double production speed with stone.

Consider wonders that work into your overall strategy. As you would expect, focus on wonders that benefit your army if you’re hoping to conquer opposing civilizations or focus on wonders that benefit culture if you want to expand your borders and attempt a cultural victory. Utilize wonders in combination with your leader’s traits, a city’s structures, and a civic choice for focused strategies.

For instance, if you’re hoping to lead a civilization with a strong military for constant wars (and conquering your neighbors) then choose an aggressive leader for the promotion bonus (Combat I - +10% strength) for melee and gunpowder units. Construct a Barracks in the city so each trained land unit receives an experience boost upon creation. Add the wonders West Point (+4 experience points for units trained in city), Pentagon (+2 experience points for units trained in city), and Heroic Epic (+100% to military unit production). Instead of Heroic Epic you could use Red Cross for the free Medic promotion. Use the civics Vassalage (new units receive +2 experience points) and Theocracy (+2 experience points in cities with state religion). You could also use Police State (+25% military production, -50% war weariness) to increase production instead of experience and to aid in keeping your citizens happier during war (the Mount Rushmore wonder also helps in that regard). With those structures, wonders, and experience point civics you could train promoted units (Combat III+ and with a Medic promotion potentially) straight from your city.

A player focusing on the generation of Great People would select a philosophical leader for the +100% to Great People birth rate. Construct the National Epic wonder for another +100% to Great People birth rate. Build the Parthenon for +50% to Great People birth rate in all cities. Finally, shift to the Pacifism civic for +100% to Great People birth rate for cities with a state religion. That’s a huge increase in Great People birth rate!

Concentrate on research with The Great Library and Oxford University for the scientist specialists and the increase to research. Be sure to add a Library, University, Observatory, and Laboratory to the city as well. A Great Scientist’s Academy doesn’t hurt either!

Wonders take a lot of production time to construct so it’s important that you build each with an intended purpose. Look for wonders that aid in your overall strategy or ones that help offset a city’s weakness or supply a city’s need (such as The Hanging Gardens for unhealthy cities).

Chapter 7 - Cheats

Use caution when applying these Civilization IV cheats. Activating the codes requires you to alter the configuration file. Backup your files before making any changes!

In the directory where Civilization IV was installed there’s a shortcut "_CivConfig" to the configuration file named CivilizationIV.ini. Find the line "; Move along" in this file and change the following line "CheatCode = 0" to "CheatCode = chipotle". During gameplay press the "~" key to open the console and type "game.toggledebugmode" to enter Civilization IV’s debug mode.

With debug mode active, press SHIFT-T to reveal a menu to make gold or technology cheat adjustments. Press CTRL+SHIFT then left click on a terrain tile so you can insert a unit or city at your discretion. With a city selected press SHIFT and + to add population or CTRL and + to add culture. Simply press + with the city selected to finish production. With a unit selected, press CTRL and + to add experience to that unit. Press SHIFT and ] to increase the unit’s strength.