Cyber Nations User Player Guide

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 exploring what all the various buttons do somewhat overwhelming at first. Moving on, let�s go in-depth with

mess around with the main portal for a little bit, before trying to really get into the game as it can be But it doesn�t take long to get the gist of the game. 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 intrateam 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