how do you build up your economy?

[sabaku_no_gaara]

Your money disapears so fast in this game, Does anyone have any tips for building up your cashpile?


usually by the time I'm facing gunners and plate armoured militia's I'm still waiting to have enough money to build my first second stone wall


Also why does so much money go to corruption?


The only option I could think of was the merchant cheat where you build a fort over the gold trade recource and fill it with merchants but it seems you can't build forts over them anymore?

[Caesar Clivus]

Build roads, ports and markets to build up trade income (as well as getting trade rights agreements with other factions). If you have a longer gameplan in mind, keep taxes as low as possible so that you get higher population growth and hence, more taxes in the long run.

[Musthavename]

Try and build up a small coastal empire, as sea trade really boosts income. Low taxes until you get to Huge City status then bump them up.

If you're unhappy with corruption, you can edit the files to lower its effect. If you go into the stainless steel folder, then data, look for a file called descr_settlement_mechanics.xml. You can edit this using notepad by right clicking then going edit. Scroll down until you find a section that says this:

</factor>
<factor name="SIF_CORRUPTION">
<pip_modifier value="1.0"/>
</factor>

Changing the 1 value will alter corruption directly. So if you put 0.5 there, you half corruption. I've personally lowered this to 0.3, as having settlements only making 200-300 a turn was personally ridiculous.

Its basically cheating, but if you want to enable the merchant fort glitch, open the file called descr_campaign_db and scroll to the bottom. Under misc there is the following line.

<misc>
<allow_resource_forts bool="false"/>

Just change false to true and I think this will enable you to build forts there again. Personally I wouldn't, as its basically cheating, but thats your choice.

[ssmarine]

This is a really vague question. It depends on what faction your playing as. The above posts are good general tips for building economies but some of the harder factions have to play offensively just to make money. Thats why they are challenging.

[sabaku_no_gaara]

Well I'm Ireland, and I do build roads farms and ports and markets before anything else, but I seem to be making less money because corruptionis so high, I know building law buildings should help, but they don't. Had the same problem with Norway, and Kiev in Vanilla, I would tipycally build the economic buildingsconquer coastal territories and expand my trade and with that make fortunes. But here it doesn't seem to be working.

Thank you about the tip on how to lower corruption

[Gorrrrrn]

Along with what's already been said ...

Playing as Ireland, I suggest you try capturing a few settlements (not castles) without upsetting too many other factions. Rennes, Exeter, Bruges suggest themselves early on. A couple of diplomats to smooth things over once they are captured might help. Go on every crusade you can and use the saved money to expand your economy. Totally trash crusade target if it's a long distance away (but if you recruit a couple of merchants and priests before you trash they might help with getting extra trade income and cardinals.) Disband crusader units but bring home the rest (or try capturing an island to reduce likelihood of immediate attack.)

Meanwhile if Caernarvon is unclaimed an extra castle won't go amiss.

Beyond that alliance with either France or England should see you making some gains - but avoid ex-communication if you can and fighting against more than 2 enemies.

[sabaku_no_gaara]

hm, I do have caernavon, and a foothold in southern spain by fighting the Moors, I also have toulouse, so the mediteranean is open to me. I'm planning to go for northern africa next because of the gold mine there and atlantic and mediteranean trade. I joined 2 crusades and they made me some money, but the problem mostly was the corruption.

[tup]

Corruption shouldn't be a problem, since most of your settlements aren't that far away from your capital. Do you use a lot of troops? You should better use the absolute minimum that you really need, with free upkeep units in reserve. Always build ports first and get your merchants to good ressources. Glass is good for all factions I think. Also get Chivalric generels, set your taxes to low, doesn't matter if it hurts in the begin. It will pay off later.
I wonder a bit, because I make enough gold in all my games. But I concentrate on trade quite a lot.

[ssmarine]

On my Kwarezmian campaign corruption was running rampant across my nation because it was so large. Baghdad was making like 600 florin a turn. I built nothing but Town Hall upgrades and repositioned my chivalrous generals. Last, I changed the nations capital to Ray which was in the center of it all. Fixed all of the corruption issues. It took about 10-12 turns to fix. You cant get rid of it all immediately it takes some time.

Moving the capital near the cities with the most corruption helped the most though.

[DireklianCliff]

I play as the Holy Roman Empire, which I've heard is one of the more difficult factions to play due to finances. Here's what I do - make everyone pay some gold for everything. If France wants to ally with you, have them give you 500g for an alliance. If they want map information (benefits players indefinitely more than computers), make them give you 500g. If they want trade rights, make them give you 500g. Do this with everyone and you'll be better off. Now granted, this may change based on how powerful your empire is. A weak kingdom will make it more difficult to do this. Also, the amount of money you get will change based on how generous the offer is.

Now granted, you still have to be frugal with your money. You can't just build two full-stack armies and let them wander about. You have to watch your expenses. But using diplomacy to your advantage will really help you overcome financial crises.

[Chappy4756]

Dire has a great point/tip. I've got an HRE camp going too at VH/VH, and nickle and diming the diplomacy has made a huge difference. I knocked the Danes out quick and crusaded the Lithuanians, so I consolidated a good chunk of the Baltic which now is paying dividends as the 13th century is coming to an end and the coastal cities are maturing. It's really a domino effect. Maintaining some strong marriage/paid alliances on a couple borders means less garrison, which lowers your monthly costs. Keep a strong rep, and I haven't had a single alliance betrayal yet. Also you really have to be judgemental with what buildings you buy. You don't need, and can't afford a brothel or inn in every town. same with castles, don't buy stables in each one, you'll bleed money out fast. I don't ever buy siege equipment buildings, the towns I take from other factions always have them, so i get them for free.