User Guide

THE CITY MAP
In the center of the city screen is the “city map.” It displays
your city in the center and the “city radius” – the area around
your city that your city’s population can work. (See below for
more details on the city radius.) The map shows which of the
squares are currently being worked – these are indicated by cir-
cles around the square.
The city automatically assigns its population to work squares
that provide it a balanced supply of commerce, food and pro-
duction.You can change a city’s priorities in a number of ways;
see “Advanced Cities” for details.
The City Screen “Lite”
You can access a simplified version of the city screen by click-
ing on the city’s name on the Main Screen, rather than on the
city itself.This is an important distinction: double-click on the
city itself to reach the City Screen; click on the city’s name to
reach the “Lite” City Screen.
CITY MANAGEMENT
As said above, cities are somewhat complex entities in Sid
Meier’s Civilization IV. However, they’re also heavily automat-
ed, and to a large degree they’ll govern themselves. For the first
few games all you really need to think about is what the city
will build and how to protect the city and connect it to your
other cities.
Once you have a few games under your belt you might want
to check out “Advanced Cities” to learn how all of the but-
tons, levers and dials work. In the meantime, here are a few
things that affect the success of your city. If you have questions,
check the Civilopedia or the “Advanced City Rules” section.
City Growth and Starvation
The “Food Bar” on the Main Screen (as well as on the City
Screen) tells you if your city is growing, stagnant, or declining.
A city survives on the food it gathers from the surrounding
countryside. If the city takes in more food than it is using, the
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city’s population will grow. If the city takes in less food than it
needs, the city’s population will decline. Your workers can
increase a city’s food supply by “improving” the land around
the city with farms and by clearing forests and jungles.
City Commerce
Each of your cities generates a certain amount of “commerce”
each turn. The base amount is determined by the land sur-
rounding the city: e.g., gold mines generate a lot of commerce,
as do squares bordering rivers, while desert squares produce no
commerce.This base amount is modified by a large number of
factors, including your civilization’s civics, whether or not the
city is located on a coast, and so forth.
Your civilization’s income is the sum of all commerce generat-
ed by your cities plus commerce generated through trade with
other civilizations, minus your expenses and losses from cor-
ruption (see “Corruption,” page 46).
You expend your income in a variety of ways: to support mil-
itary units, to hurry production of units (under certain civics),
to purchase items from other civilizations and so forth, and a
large portion of your income is spent on technology research.
You can see how all of your money is being spent by opening
the “Financial Advisor” screen [F2].
INCREASING CITY INCOME
There are several things you can do to increase a city’s income.
Your workers can build improvements such as “cottages” and
“mines” around the city.They can also connect your cities with
roads to produce trade routes and increase commerce.You can
construct income-generating (or expense-reducing) buildings
like Courthouses, Markets and Harbors in the cities. If there
are unhappy citizens in the city, you can build temples and such
to get them happy and back to work.And a variety of Wonders
improve a city’s income, as well. Check ‘em out.
In addition, to improve your civilization’s overall cashflow, you
can change “civics,” some of which can have great effects on
your commerce. You can also reduce the amount of income
you spend on technology research by clicking on the [-] minus
symbol of the “Technology Research Percentage” button on
the Main Screen.
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