Civilization IV beginner guide: cities, workers and research
Build an original Civilization IV opening around improved tiles, useful technologies and sustainable expansion.
Edition covered
The original 2005 Civilization IV base game. Warlords and Beyond the Sword add or change leaders, traits, units and systems; their additions are excluded. Images are publisher screenshots for the base PC game.
Settle for usable resources
A city needs food for growth and production for units and buildings. Inspect nearby resources and terrain before moving the Settler far from its starting position.
| Piece | Purpose | Useful question |
|---|---|---|
| Settler | Found a city | Which nearby tiles support growth? |
| Worker | Improve tiles | Is the required technology available? |
| Warrior or Scout | Explore and protect | Which routes and neighbors are nearby? |
| Research | Unlock improvements and units | What can be used immediately? |
| City queue | Turn production into growth or defense | What is the current bottleneck? |
Research a useful improvement
Choose an early technology that lets Workers improve visible resources. A Worker without an available useful job delays the return on its production cost.
| Yield or resource | Function | Typical source |
|---|---|---|
| Food | Population growth | Food resources and farms |
| Production | Units and buildings | Hills, mines and other improvements |
| Commerce | Feeds research, gold and culture allocation | Worked commerce tiles and trade |
| Happiness | Limits useful population | Resources, buildings and civics |
| Health | Affects food pressure | Resources, terrain and buildings |
Explore without exposing the capital
Scouts and Warriors reveal land, neighbors and settlement sites. Keep enough protection for barbarians and avoid sending every military unit far from the economy.
Expand at an affordable pace
Each new city adds maintenance. Watch research and treasury as the empire grows. Additional territory helps only if the economy can develop it.
Each new city adds maintenance. Watch research and treasury as the empire grows. Additional territory helps only if the economy can develop it.
References
| Reference | Website |
|---|---|
| Sid Meier's Civilization IV publisher listing | store.steampowered.com |
| Firaxis Civilization IV manual | store.steampowered.com |