Old World Resources Guide: Money, Food, Iron, Research & More

Resource management is always at the center of any 4X grand strategy game and Old World is no different. The trick of any 4X game is to find a way to maximize the return on investment for every resource used, and while the resources present in Old World will be immediately familiar to veterans of this type of game, there are changes and nuances that spice up the resource management dimension.

Here are the main resources in Old World:

– Money
– Food
– Iron
– Stone
– Wood
– Orders
– Research
– Civics
– Training
– Luxuries

And here’s everything you need to know about resources in Old World.

 

Money

Money is the most ubiquitous and flexible resource in Old World. While not all buildings or units require gold for maintenance or recruitment, money is highly valuable for purchasing any of the other resources on the global market. Money can also be used in random events or character actions to receive bonuses or develop new traits. This resource can be gained from a wide variety of city improvements and projects.

 

Food

Food is a basic resource typically produced by farms and other livestock improvements. It’s primarily utilized to recruit new settlers and as a resource for certain city improvements. Most of all, food will be a common upkeep resource for urban improvements. On the whole, food is more often an upkeep resource rather than a purchasing currency.

 

Iron

Iron is the lifeblood of any military and it is the primary resource for combat units. Almost all military units will require iron at the moment of purchase, as well as continuous iron upkeep once recruited. Occasionally some buildings may need iron, but those are rare. Mines will be the primary method of obtaining iron.

 

Stone

Where iron is the primary resource for units, stone is vital for construction, especially for higher quality and urban improvements, as well as wonders. Though some units may utilize stone for purchase cost and upkeep (e.g. slingers), stone is mostly limited to building projects. To obtain stone, players will need to build quarries.

 

Wood

Wood is almost identical to stone in that it’s primarily used for construction. However, it does have more military applications and will be utilized as an upkeep resource for archers, chariots, and naval units. Wood can be obtained by either cutting down scrubland and forests for a short-term resource gain or by constructing lumber mills for persistent income.

 

Orders

Orders are a command resource that’s used to perform character actions and move troops around the map. This resource can’t be purchased by money and isn’t used for upkeep. The most prominent method of gaining orders is by increasing legitimacy, but families, certain resource improvements, technologies, family bonuses, and idle citizens can also increase the number of orders per turn.

 

Research

Research is arguably the most specialized resource as it’s only used for discovering new technologies and nothing else. More overall faction research production means the player will be able to discover and reap the benefits of new technology sooner. Additional research can be gained from city improvements, projects, and character stats.

 

Civics

Civics is one of the more abstract resources as it doesn’t directly correspond to a raw resource like wood or stone and is instead an abstract representation of a faction’s social and legal capital. This resource is mostly used in enacting new laws, but can also be used in character and random events. Civics can be gained through family bonuses, character stats, city projects, and improvements.

 

Training

Just like civics, training is an abstract resource that represents the faction’s military capital and ability to recruit dedicated military units. Training is almost exclusively a unit-centric resource and will act as an upkeep resource for many of the higher tier units. Moreover, training is vital to promoting units and assigning characters as generals to available units. Training can be gained from character stats and city improvements.

 

Luxuries

The final resource, luxuries, aren’t utilized in construction, but are instead used for character interactions, family appeasement, diplomacy, and managing city discontent. Luxury resources typically become more important in the later stages of the game when cities grow in size and advanced technologies are researched to allow for luxury resource harvesting. Luxury resources can be obtained through trade or more commonly through constructing improvements on the relevant tiles.

Resources will always be on the player’s mind throughout any game of Old World as they will be crucial to a winning strategy. Careful and thoughtful management of resources will form the backbone of any strategy, especially in the early and mid game where each faction is only beginning to get a footing. Now that players have a rundown of every vital resource, it’s now up to them to utilize this knowledge and optimize the empire’s wealth and power.

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