1. 1 happiness point = $2 citizen income
2. "My Government Positions" Now, there are three things you need to set. First, scroll down to the second issue (the one about nuclear power). If you are trading for uranium, make sure to set this position to Option 2 (the "use uranium for power" option). This will allow you to use your uranium to increase your income. If you are not trading for uranium, set it to Option 1. This will improve your environment.
Next, go to the third issue (the one about drug traffickers). Set this to either Option 2 or Option 3. If you set it to Option 1 (our leaders are too addicted to drugs themselves), your environment will suffer.
Finally, go to the fifth issue (the one about immigration). Set it to Option 2 or Option 3. Option 1 (open borders) hurts your environment.
3. Picking your population's desired religion will give you a +1 happiness bonus.
4. You will need to pick the optimum tax rate for your nation. If your people are extremely happy, 28% will probably be best, but check each of these rates and see which one gives the highest "Avg. Individual Income Taxes Paid Per Day" (pay no attention to happiness)
5. Affluent Population: Never worth it.
Asphalt: Worth it if you have coal, rubber, or oil as a native resource.
Automobiles: Worth it if you have coal, rubber, or oil as a native resource.
Beer: Always worth it (everyone should have this)
Construction: Always worth it (everyone should have this)
Fast food: Worth it as long as you don't have oil, rubber, or coal as a native resource.
Fine jewelry: Never worth it.
Microchips: Worth it if you have lead and oil as your native resources; close to being worth it if you have either lead or oil as a native resource.
Radiation Cleanup: Worth it if you have lead and oil as your native resources; close to being worth it if you have either lead or oil as a native resource.
Scholars: Never worth it.
Steel: Worth it if you have coal as a native resource
6. There is but one word that is the key to success in CN. Infrastructure! Infrastructure is the lifeblood of your economy and the key to economic growth. Buying infrastructure increases your population, thereby increasing the amount of revenue you take in each day. When in doubt, buy infrastructure. Also, make sure you keep your soldier count between 20% and 60% of your citizen count (this changes when you're in a war, but that's outside the scope of this guide).
Infrastructure Jumps:
There is a lot of questions when it comes to these "Infra jumps". An infra jump is when the costs of infra upkeep "jumps" in relation to your income, rising suddenly and by a significant amount. Sometimes causing your bills to exceed your income. To counter this jump, you will need to buy enough infra to equalize the cost of upkeep with the amount of taxes you can collect. When preparing for an infra jump , save up enough money to cover the amount of infra you will need to buy all at once. This is easily done by saving up for 10 days, or having a monetary donation applied to your nation.
These jumps are located at 999.99, 1999.99, 2999.99, 3999.99, 4999.99, 7999.99 and supposedly one at 12999.99. In order to make it past these jumps you must purchase a certain amount of infra. For the first 4 jumps you will need to purchase 250 infra, and for the next one its 200 infra. The 7999.99 jump only requires you to purchase 150 infra.
7. As a rule, don't buy land, ever. Having enough of it gives you +1 happiness and +1 environment, as well as a small bonus in spy attacks, which are marginal in comparison to the costs of maintaining it. This isn't to say that it negatively impacts you, and if you go to war a lot, you will get it. But if you ever buy it, you're wasting money that could be spent on more important things. The only exception to this is if your nation is extremely tiny (we're talking first couple days with no aid here) or due to nuclear warfare your land drops significantly and your population become unhappy (i.e. goes into the red zone). In this case keep buying land in batches of 20 until your population is happy or make sure you have water as a trade. Since you're in the Order, you should be able to get past this step quickly, so for all practical purposes, never buy land
8. Together with infra, tech should make up the bulk of your purchases once you get your nation making a significant amount of money. Once you make $5K per day, buy the minimum amount of tech that the game allows. Then, once you make $10K a day, buy a tech level a day until you're over level 10. This will give you several successive happiness bonuses. If you have Uranium, tech will continue boosting your income significantly until you get to level 30. Otherwise, it's mainly a strength booster and military advantage.
In order to purchase the best aircraft you will require 500 tech, which is what all nations should be aiming for in the long run.
Here is the guide to how tech affects income/population happiness:
Technology = 0 then happiness = -1
Technology > 0 and <= .5 then happiness = +0
Technology > .5 and <= 1 then happiness = +1
Technology > 1 and <= 3 then happiness = +2
Technology > 3 and <= 6 then happiness = +3 (Construction trade bonus available at 5 tech)
Technology > 6 and <= 10 then happiness = +4
Technology > 10 and <= 15 then happiness = +5
Technology > 15 then happiness = + 5 + (Tech purchased * .02) up to level 200 tech (Radiation Clean Up available at 15 tech)
Technology = 30 is the maximum cap for income from uranium trade.
Your growth should be heavily infra-oriented, more so when you have little infra. Once you get past the last of the milestones listed above, shoot for a 10:1 infra:tech ratio until you reach approximately 300 tech. This ratio can be decreased to as little as as 5:1 or 6:1 when your nation grows to a substantial size. strength.
With the ability of nukes/CM’s/Bombers/Ground Battles to destroy/loot your tech you may feel it best to aim for a smaller ratio when your nation is of a substantial size, something along the lines or 5:1 or 6:1. Tech gains additional value when you have a chance to get into nuclear range or are already there yourself, as it is more difficult to destroy than infra and thus stabilizes your nation
The price of tech goes up exponentially, and thus at some point it wont be profitable to purchase it yourself. When 1 level of tech costs $30,000 you should start to become involved in tech deals as this will save you large amounts of money, particularly as you get more tech.
Although there is some debate behind this, there are set portions you should be purchasing tech in initially. You should match the above happiness bonus amounts when you are purchasing your tech, i.e. when you have enough buy up to each one of these limits; 0.5, 1, 3, 6, 10 and 15.
If you have uranium as a resource then the next two limits are 25 and then 35. After 15 every nation should be buying tech in blocks of 10 to reduce the cost.
9. We all need to have a sizable war chest ready in case a conflict arises on short notice. All nations must keep a war chest of 15 days collections.
10. This is the order in which every single nation should buy improvements:
1 harbor
5 factories
10 banks/stadiums
2 clinics
1 hospital
3 schools (always buy before the foreign ministry unless you're a banker)
2 universities
1 foreign ministry
2 schools
3 clinics (best to get these in the middle of the FM/School/PHQ series; buy a clinic if it would put your population over the next 1,000 mark)
5 police headquarters
5 labor camps (swap them while acquiring other improvements if it's profitable, recommended for larger nations)
5 intelligence agencies
5 churches
5 missile defenses (if you don't have them already)
5 satellites (if you don't have them already)
5 border walls (although they hardly give you anything)
5 barracks (although they hardly give you anything)
5 Drydocks/5 Shipyards (Navies are expensive)
*You may wish to substitute satellites and/or missile defenses into the above list if you are concerned with being a military power more than an economic one. If you wish to make your military strength more potent by sacrificing economic power, missile defenses are more combat-effective than satellites, since they reduce a larger proportion of damage than satellites add. (When in a war you may wish to swap improvements for Guerrilla Camps.
Stadiums: +3 happiness. That translates to $6 gross.
Banks: +7% Base Income.
Banks and Stadiums work together. For every bank you have, Stadiums are worth an additional $0.42. This is because the gross income calculation adds all happiness bonuses first, then applies any percentile bonuses. So the more banks you have, the better each stadium will be.
When to get which one:
If you have neither a bank, nor a stadium, this is simple. If you have make more than $85.20 gross, then buy a bank. If you make less than this, buy a stadium. This is because 7% of 85.20 is 6, so this is the breakeven point. Since banks scale with your economy, and stadiums are static, a bank provides more income at this point.
If you already have one or more banks, the math gets more complicated. The gross income displayed to you is not your 'base' gross income any more, it is now your modified gross. Another bank will not give you 7% of the modified, it will give you 7% of your base.
To find your base income, do this: Add up the percentage bonuses you have, and add 1 to it. So if you have 2 banks and a harbor, this number will be 1.15. I will call this the 'percentile modifier'.
(Modified Gross / Percentile Modifier) = Base Gross.
Multiply the Base Gross by 0.07 to find out how much another bank will give you. Then multiply 6 X Percentile Modifier to find out how much a stadium will give you. Whichever one is higher, buy that one.
Example:
Since the above explanation may be difficult, let me show you an example. Today I hit 4000 citizens and had to make this decision.
Have: Harbor and 1 Bank.
Percentile Modifier = 0.01 + 0.07 + 1 = 1.08
Modified Gross (the displayed gross you see on your screen) = $91.72
Base Gross = (91.72/1.08) = 84.93
Bank will give: 84.93 * 0.07 = $5.94
Stadium will give: 6*1.08 = 6.48
$6.48 > $5.94, so a stadium is better for me.
Pre-stadium I make $91.72, post-stadium I make $98.20, a difference of $6.48 as calculated.
11. This is your basic wonder order without the Disaster Relief Agency or the Great University factored in:
Stock Market
Social Security System (remember to change tax rates after buying)
Interstate System (If you've gone over 5000 infra, this should be your next wonder, even if you don't have the ones before it yet)
Great Temple
Internets
National Research Lab
Great Monument
National War Memorial
Movie Industry
Space Program
Federal Aid Commission
Military Improvements have not been included in the above list, however if you are not bank and wish to purchase them then you should buy your first one after you have bought the Stock Market, Social Security System and Interstate System. These 3 wonders are a must economically and are more important than military wonders.
Military Wonders - ranked in approximate order of Importance
Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI)
Manhattan Project (See note below)
Hidden Nuclear Missile Silo
Foreign Air Force Base
Anti-Air Defense Network
Pentagon
Central Intelligence Agency
Manhattan Project
Economic Vs. Military Wonders: Which to Buy?
In large part, economic wonders yield more valuable benefits than their military counterparts, and they will become your primary economic catalyst as infra starts to become less profitable. There is a notable and significant exception to this rule, though. The Strategic Defense Initiative is far and away the best of the military wonders and is absolutely essential
12. Events are random occurrences that have an in-game impact on your nation. They can be either good, bad, or neutral, and they will present you with three choices: Option 1, Option 2, and No Response. For good events, simply pick the option that gives you the most extra income (remember that 1 happiness point = $2 income). For bad events, when calculating what course of action to take, follow this flow chart:
Do any of the options reduce your land area? If so, pick the option that does. If not, move on.
Do any of the options reduce your military? If so, choose the option that does. If not, move on.
Do any of the options raise your infra upkeep costs? If so, pick the option that does. If not, move on.
Do any of the options do anything other than decreasing your income (remember that losing a percentage of your citizens loses the same percentage of your income). If so, pick that option. If not, move on.
If all of the options reduce your income (by reducing happiness, citizen income, or citizen count), calculate which option reduces income the least (once again, 1 happiness point = $2 income). When in doubt, you can always come to the CN Technical forum and ask which course of action to take. Be prepared to provided financial data for your nation.
13. you should never enter peace mode. Here are the effects being in peace mode will have on your nation however:
4 days = -3 population happiness
6 days = -5 population happiness
8 days = -6 population happiness
10 days = -7 population happiness
12 days = -8 population happiness
14 days = -9 population happiness
Threat levels have the following effects on your nation:
Low (-0.0 population happiness, 75% counter intelligence readiness)
Guarded (-0.5 population happiness, 90% counter intelligence readiness)
Elevated (-1.0 population happiness, 100% counter intelligence readiness)
High - (-1.5 population happiness, 110% counter intelligence readiness)
Severe - (-2.0 population happiness, 125% counter intelligence readiness)
Low during peacetime, Severe during war or when conducting spy operations.
Defcon levels have the following effects on your nation:
DEFCON 5 - Normal peacetime military readiness. (+2 happiness, +20% initial soldier cost, 76% battle strength)
DEFCON 4 - Normal military readiness, increased intelligence and strengthened security measures. (+1 happiness, +10% initial soldier cost, 81% battle strength)
DEFCON 3 - Increased military readiness above normal readiness. (+0 happiness, +0% initial soldier cost, 86% battle strength)
DEFCON 2 - Increased military readiness, but less than maximum readiness. (-1 happiness, -10% initial soldier cost, 93% battle strength)
DEFCON 1 - Maximum military readiness. (-2 happiness, -20% initial soldier cost, 100% battle strength)
When not at war always remain at Defcon 5. When in war use Defcon 1, never any inbetween.
soldiers
During peace time aim to have between 21% and 60% troops to keep your population happy. The less you have the better, as bills will be smaller. Base your troop number on the troop efficiency number, i.e. the number in brackets beside your actual troop count.
tanks
Again in peace time you do not require a large amount of tanks. You should not exceed 5% of that of your population or actual troop count. You will see many large nations with 0 tanks in order to reduce their bills significantly.
Aother thing about tanks is that if you are just outside the top 5% you can purchase max tanks in order to break into the top 5% and purchase nukes.
Aircraft
Always aim to have max aircraft which is 50, unless you have construction or a foreign airforce base, which allows you to have an extra 10 and 20. You should always purchase the maximum level aircraft available to you. To enable you to purchase level 9 planes you will require 500 tech.
When buying aircraft you should be aiming for no more than 5 bombers and the rest as fighters. Most top nations will only have 2 level 9 bombers, and this is enough to do maximum damage
cruise missles
You will see lots of large nations sitting with 50 CM’s. However, all this does is raise your bills. If you feel the need to hold onto CM’s try not to have any more than 5. Unless you have lead as a trade CM’s will be more costly to purchase and maintain, thus shrinking your profits. So it is always better to sit with 0 CM’s to maximise income.
Make sure you constantly have a substantial pile of cash saved up. Money takes time to save, and in the event of a war, having a solid warchest can determine whether you're an effective fighting force or helplessly bill-locked. If you're anywhere close at all to nuclear range, have at least 15 days' worth of taxes on hand at all times (more if desired - some nations have been reported to keep a warchest in excess of $400 million!)
If you somehow get into anarchy or riots (due to a nuke or whatever), try not collecting taxes until the riots are over, if you can. That way, your entire collection will be calculated on the post-riots income (which will be much more than your during-riots income).
The same goes for trades. If a trade gets broken on you unexpectedly, don't collect taxes until you find a suitable replacement.
If you have an economically bad event (i.e. decreased citizens, decreased income, decreased happiness, etc.) expiring in the near future, do the above. Wait until after it expires to collect.
Buy infra, tech, and land (just kidding, don't actually buy land) in big chunks (packets of 10 for infra and tech), but spend all of your money regardless (even if you can't buy the largest possible packet at the end). For example, if I have enough money for 27 infra, I should buy 10, then 10, and then 7, spending all my money in the process. It turns out that this is the most profitable way to buy it in the end (thanks to Evildeliverance for this tip). Note that this does not apply if it means that you spend part of your warchest, which you should have before even considering buying any infra. (Which everyone should have in order to be prepared in case of a conflict).
You get happiness bonuses on certain anniversaries for your nation (7 days, 14 days, 30 days, 60 days, 90 days, 180 days, and 365 days, to be exact). Since your income is calculated when you collect taxes, you can make that bonus apply to several days' worth of income by not collecting in the days leading up to your nation's anniversaries. Then, when the bonus comes, you can collect a substantial amount of extra cash.
If you are waiting to receive a large sum of foreign aid through the bank, you can get a lot more money by not collecting taxes for several days leading up to the receipt of the aid. Once you get the aid, pay your bills, then spending it all but your warchest on infrastructure, and then collect all the taxes you had been building up. That way, you pay the fewest bills and get the maximum income (since you will produce more money after investing in infrastructure). If you're in the 999-1,999 infra range, it may be profitable to use the aid to do a rocketsled.
