Grand Ages Medieval

[Anguille]

OK I have three cities now and the Normans have declared war on me, but they are not that strong so it is not that much of a threat. My economy fluctuates regularly from + to -...anywhere between -15,000 in the red to +50,000 in the black...how can I stabilize it?

Also there is a scarcity of tools, so I cannot build workshops in my cities that lead to being able to build walls to protect them. I produce tools myself and early game was able to trade at the inn for more but they are scarce now...any suggestions?

In the sandbox mode, are the end game parameters adjustable? For example in recent TW games there are short, long and epic victories. Anything like that here?

The fluctuation you have is really big. I would say that for three cities, one merchant should be enough but you should increase the number of charriots he has. Do you have enough raw materials for the production of Tools? Tools are super important and everyone needs them. You should always have enough wood and clay as well. Check the following videos. Make sure you don't have too many troops cos they are expensive....the idea is really to hire troops just before you go to war and the let most of them go when you don't need them anymore. I don't think you really need walls at this point in the game.

Good advices on how to be profitable.

It's an open-end game so you can stop the game whenever you want. I think however that you can set victory conditions on multiplayer games but i haven't tried it.

[Gusington]

Thanks for the above Anguille will watch later. I only have one company of mercs right now and 1 or 2 scouts. I started futzing with raw materials, etc., to supply my tool factory but I guess I have found the perfect balance yet. Will keep futzing. I have to say that combat is not as terrible as some reviews led me to believe...it's not Total War but it's perfectly serviceable. And this tutorial campaign is very good, it covers a ton of stuff and is very well paced as I enter my 5th hour of play :)

[glen55]

Tools are just the bottleneck for a while in the tutorial campaign.  You have to get the tech, you have to get the metal and coal and bring it together, and it just takes a while.

At that point in the tutorial campaign where it tells you to build a unit, in my experience it's a disaster to build a unit at that point in time and I was never able to recover my economy when I had done it.  Instead, I just go slow.  Without that military unit, you should be turning a profit.  Let your profits build up - settle a couple more cities in areas with resources you don't already have.  Not only does this give you those resources, but even more importantly you can build an extra trader for each city and start getting goods where they need to go in a timely fashion.  I always prioritize upgrading roads.

Once you get a couple more cities built up, get their economies rolling and get them integrated into your trade routine, you should be able to easily afford a unit. By this time you should have done enough research.  I spend a couple of points on axeman and swordsman, so my first unit is a swordsman, who can take care of himself.  The next upgrade on that path is the special Bosnian saber unit, whatever it's called.

[Gusington]

Speaking of upgrades I just did my first three yesterday, can't remember which. But I was thinking the same thing below, just disband that one unit of mercs. Not sure their cost but I'm sure it's high. I will disbandit during my next session.

[Freyland]

Speaking of upgrades I just did my first three yesterday, can't remember which. But I was thinking the same thing below, just disband that one unit of mercs. Not sure their cost but I'm sure it's high. I will disbandit during my next session.

Not good enough.  You absolutely need to do something about datbandit as well.

[Gusington]

I dunno I kinda like datbandit.

[Sir Slash]

What about Da-Udderbandit?

[Gusington]

^F him.

Spent the last hour messing with my production in each of my cities and my economy is still fluctuating insanely...time to watch the videos above :/

[Sir Slash]

Is a good Capitalist approach of, "Just leave it the hell alone" even possible in this game?

[glen55]

Is a good Capitalist approach of, "Just leave it the hell alone" even possible in this game?

There's a lot of that involved.  You can sure get burned badly if you do too much.

[Gusington]

I may be doing too much...it is addicting, though. I sat down to play for 20 minutes and an hour later decided I had to go to bed.

[Huw the Poo]

This is starting to sound like a game that might scratch the same kind of itch as does the Anno series.  Would that be accurate?

[Gusington]

Funny I am going to fire up Dawn of Discovery next, my first foray into the Anno games.

[mikeck]

 So if I was looking for a game taking place in the Middle Ages where I could build up a small town into a huge city and trading empire making tons of money  becoming very powerful.... Should  I play this, "Patrician 4", "Rise of Venice" or "Anno1404"?

[glen55]

This is starting to sound like a game that might scratch the same kind of itch as does the Anno series.  Would that be accurate?

I haven't played much in the Anno series, just a few hours of 1602, but my recollection of that is that it was pretty clicky.  GAM is not clicky.  There's a lot of watching and waiting.  Of course, there are time controls, so you can speed it up to "clicky" if you like.  Personally, I like slow games.