New Player�s Guide

By Chris Smith (SmithTheSmith)

Table of Contents

I. Introduction

II. Getting Started

III. Trading and Financial Tips

IV. Politics & Foreign Relations

V. Additional Tips

VI. Words to know

I. Introduction

So, you�ve decided to throw yourself among the 25,000+ member world of Cyber
Nations, have you? At first it all looks quite overwhelming, with all of that
stuff to do.
Take it easy, it�ll come without much time. It won�t take long, and you�ll be
hooked like
most of the players here. For the most part, it�s an easy game to pick up, though
it takes
time to master. The most important thing to remember is that Cyber Nations is
geared
toward realism. If you like things to happen fast, without a lot of thought put
into each
move, Cyber Nations probably isn�t for you. As most great nations, yours will be
built
one day at a time.

This guide will cover most of the stuff not outlined in the help threads on the
Cyber
Nations Forums, including a strategy guides for some of the more subtle nuances of
the
game. If you find anything of importance not mentioned in this guide, please let
me
know, so I can properly revise it, and you�ll receive full credit for your
contribution.

II. Getting Started

When you get started on Cyber Nations, there�s a lot of things to look at. I
assume
you�ve read the explanation threads on the Cyber Nations forum, so I�ll skip over
the
�Here�s what this thing does� stuff. To find the explanation threads just look for
the
icons and those will always point you to a thread in the forums where you can read

more information about the subject.

Now, as we look at the main portal of our nation, we can glean some important
information. Obviously we�ll have the nation name and ruler name, along with the
last
activity date and time. Be sure to collect taxes at least once every 15 days or
you�ll be
deleted automatically by the system, even if you have been logging in and paying
bills.
Tax collecting is the ONLY way to update your activity in the game.

Under that we have our Alliance Affiliation. (More on alliances in the Politics
and
Foreign Relations section of the guide) Next is the national religion and
government
type, team color affiliation, infrastructure level, technology level, tax rate,
and area of
influence, or total land area.
War/Peace preference is next. Then resources which include both your inherent
resources and your connected resources, or resources you�ve traded for.
Improvements
are displayed next, followed by environment. Then we have military stats, and then

economic information, and so on. These will all be explained strategically to some

extent. You�ll want to mess around with the main portal for a little bit,
exploring what all
the various buttons do before trying to really get into the game as it can be
somewhat
overwhelming at first. But it doesn�t take long to get the gist of the game.
Moving on,
let�s go in-depth with the strategy of commerce and inter-nation trading.

III. Trading and Financial Tips

When you first sign up, among other things, you�ll likely be bombarded with trade
offers.
As a younger nation, it�s usually best in the young stages of the game to go after
the
�people� resources. The resources that help population happiness, population
count,
and population income. Stuff like cattle, fish, gold, gems, furs, pigs, silver,
sugar, and
spices. These are usually a good base to start with. Also be sure to always, when
possible, trade within your team for a happiness bonus which does add up when
you�re
trading with four other nations as it gets you a +1 happiness bonus for each trade

agreement. Keep in mind that one happiness point equates to each citizen earning 2

units more on their gross daily income.

Quick note, I have five trade slots because I own a Harbor improvement, which
opens
up a fifth trade slot. The default trade slots without a Harbor is four trade
slots.

When deciding what to purchase in the beginning of the game, remember three words.

Buy. More. Infrastructure. Seriously, you can�t have enough of it. Infrastructure
is the
reason your nation grows, it�s the heart of your nation. Without it your nation
will
stagnate and die. Infrastructure adds working citizens. This gives you more tax
money.
Infrastructure is the nation�s roads, bridges, public works projects, etc. Keep
buying
infrastructure until you have around 200. After that, be sure to keep buying infra
along
with tech at about 9 infrastructure to 1 tech. Most find that this ratio keeps a
good
balance, and a nation growing.
Be sure to note that as you buy more infrastructure, like technology and land, the
price
goes up. As a small nation infrastructure isn�t particularly expensive but keep in
mind
that with the amount you have, the cost goes up proportionately. So your
infrastructure
cost today might not be the same tomorrow when you�re making more money.

Now, let�s talk about foreign aid. Foreign aid is a huge part of Cyber Nations and
if used
to your advantage, it can be an asset to your nation. Some sources of foreign aid
include alliances and the exchange of technology. When you start out as a new
nation
you�ll probably be paying around $10,000 per technology level. Often, these newer
nations will take advantage of these extremely low purchase costs by selling
technology
to older nations. Since the cost of technology increases with the amount you buy
the
more advanced nations have to pay a lot more and are always looking for a way to
get a
deal on technology.

At 88 tech, I�m paying about $27,000 per level of technology. If someone who was
only
paying $10,000 asked me if I would buy some for 20 a level, I would obviously take
it. I
would win because I�d save $7,000 per level and that nation would win because they

would profit from the transaction.

Now let�s talk about standing military. Everyone needs a military for defense
against
random attacks. In peacetime, your army should be between 30-45% of your total
population. That way, you�re sufficiently defended without overloading your
forces. If
you have too many soldiers defending your people will become angry and it can be
dangerous to have less than 20% of your total population defending which can leave

yourself open to random attacks.

Moving on, let�s go to Improvements.

If bought effectively at the right times they can play hugely to your advantage.
Remember, though, that you can only have one improvement for every 1,000 working
citizens. Let�s talk about what many would regard as the best order for purchasing

improvements. The vast majority agree that the best improvement to get out of the
way
first is the Harbor. It increases the population�s gross income by 1%, but more
importantly, it opens up a fifth trade slot. A fifth trade slot is huge because it
allows you
to bring in two additional resources you could never otherwise have obtained, and
it can
get your population�s happiness up another point to +5 if you do another intra-
team
trade. Next is a point of debate for a lot of people, factories or banks? Banks
raise
population income, but factories lower infrastructure cost. The argument can be
made
for both sides.
Banks give you more tax money to buy infrastructure and pay for your next
improvement, while factories make infrastructure cheaper, and make it quicker for
your
next improvement. It�s really a matter of personal preference. But whichever you
choose, build five of them as your next five improvements. And then build five of
the one
you didn�t choose before next. Or alternate until you have five of each. Then go
either
Stadium or schools for population count and happiness bonuses. The rest is really
up to
you, some like to then go clinics to a hospital, some like Police HQ, etc�

Land is another part of the maintenance of your nation. When you buy
infrastructure
your population per square mile goes up as more citizens are created for your
nation.
Generally speaking, land isn�t that important because of how cheap it is and
therefore,
how easy it is to balance out your population density with it. In the early game
you
should concentrate on buying just enough land to keep your citizens happy. They
start
to get angry around 70 people per square mile, so whatever you can do to keep it
under
that is usually a good thing.

Usually around 30 people per square mile is a good level to have. Any lower than
that,
and you�re probably spending too much on land and not enough on tech and
infrastructure.

Regarding your War/Peace mode setting. When you start your nation, it�s best to
start in
�War is an option� mode. This is because in peace mode your nation loses quite a
bit on
its economy as research and development is halted. In war mode your economy does
much better and even if you�re attacked you�re more able to recover quickly. You
can
change your War/Peace mode setting, along with many other options for your nation
by
clicking the Edit My Nation link on the left navigation menu in the game.

IV. Politics & Foreign Relations

The game itself tends not to have much direct political involvement. The Cyber
Nations
forums, however, can be an excellent source of information about the game, help
with
the game, and in-character discussion about the game. The help threads that you
find
in-game denoted by the icons are part of the Cyber Nations forums as well. The
Cyber Nations forums are separate from the game so you�ll need to register again
at the
forums to participate there but it is highly recommended that you sign up as they
are a
major part of game play. The Cyber Nations forums are a great resource for players

especially new members to the game. When creating a Cyber Nations forum account,
it�s highly recommended that you sign up with your same Cyber Nations ruler name
as
your username.

As well as discussion about the game itself, the Cyber Nations forums are where
you
can find information about alliances. Alliances are in-game player-run
organizations of
nations that ban together for protection, economic growth, etc. Some alliances are

larger than others, and some give bonuses like money or soldiers for new members
signing up. It is generally recommended that you join an alliance but this is
certainly not
a requirement. Most Alliances have separate off-site forums where the alliance is
managed from, and most have an alliance charter or set of rules that govern the
alliance. All alliances require you to sign up, usually at the Cyber Nations
forums, or at
the off-site forums. The alliances you see in the dropdown box in the image below
from
the Edit My Nation link in-game are what are called �Sanctioned Alliances.�
Sanctioned
alliances are alliances that have been given special distinctions because of the
size of
their member base, overall strength, and positive effect in the Cyber Nations
Community. Selecting one of these alliances in your profile does not automatically
make
you a member of that alliance. You must sign up on the Cyber Nations forum, or
their
offsite forum. For other alliances, you have to type the name of the alliance in
under
�specify other,�

Some alliances are color specific, where you have to be of a certain color to
join, and
some are non-color specific and accept all team colored nations. It all depends on
the
alliances and which color they choose to control.
V. Additional Tips

1. Don�t attack for no reason. Even if it�s to gain money, you end up killing your

economy for the time you�re at war. It�s just not worth it.
2. Check out the Donation Offer, and later on, the Link Offer, at the top of the
Cyber
Nations page. Donating to the game not only helps the Admin maintain the
servers but pumps up your economy by giving extra infrastructure and tech, plus
money.

3. When you feel ready, join an alliance, they�re great tools for helping young
nations and further growing them.
4. Don�t cheat. Keep only one account, because the Cyber Nations moderators will
find out every time and cheating is the number one bannable offense.
5. Always remember to follow the Cyber Nations terms and conditions at all times.
Don�t have an offensive username or use profanity in your nation�s bio, don�t be
annoying or troll on the Cyber Nations Forums, as these are all sure-fire ways to
get banned from both the forums and the game itself.
6. When you�re about to cancel a trade, send a private message to the person well
in advance, like a day or so, to let them know why. Sometimes monetary
contributions are also in order. There is almost nothing Cyber Nations players
hate more than people just randomly one day canceling trades on them.
7. Enjoy the game for what it is: A game. Nothing more, just a form of recreation
like any other computer game.
VI. Words to know (in no particular order)

ZI- Zero Infrastructure, usually caused by mass attacking a single nation until
they have
zero infrastructure and their nation�s progress is virtually destroyed.

IC- In Character- used to describe the way you refer to yourself in the forums,
this
speaking as the leader of your nation

OOC- Out of character- speaking as yourself in the CYBER NATIONS Forums

Multi- user with prohibited multiple accounts

Rogue- Player that randomly attacks other nations for personal gain.

Aligned- Player belonging to an alliance

Unaligned- Player not belonging to an alliance