Welcome to the Modern Age! No more grunting, no more pooping in bushes! It's outhouses all the way from here on out. Of course, there are more advances than fancy colas and better plumbing; after all, the Modern Age is all about... RESEARCH!!!

Here, you'll find a great place to choose between resting for a while and collecting research, or progressing forward rapidly to save time overall in your progression.

So let's dive into a beautiful age of growth and enjoy it for as long as we're here.


There will be just one or two changes to this area as you progress through the Modern Age. Let's take a look at those.

Resources
Here's a change that should excite you: more resources!These bonuses will come from structures we will discuss later, under the Construct page section.

Training Workers
The other two changes you will notice are more of a good news/bad news kind of thing. You will notice right away that your maximum number of Workers has increased to 200, but another number has increased to 200 as well...

That's right, the cost to train Workers is not consistent, and from here on out is actually equal to the maximum number of Workers you can have in your current age (either 200 in this age or 1,000 in the next age).

Two changes here: 1) the cost to explore has been significantly raised, and 2) Stuart has finally achieved his dream of being your empire's fashion designer. (Please do not break his heart by telling him about his future.)

The only thing to mention here strategy-wise is to make certain you do some massive exploring expeditions with all or most of your Workers before advancing to the final age. Exploring costs are about to sky-rocket in the next age, including a hefty oil cost added to the mix, so get enough land to last you for a little while. ...Besides, they look so good in Stuart's garb, how could you let it go to waste?!
Get ready for a slew of new structures! Yes, a new slew! As usual, some will require other buildings, some will require research, and as always, we will be building from theTech Tree to help bring things together.

Key:
Building
Research

Research Facility

One of the most valuable buildings in the game... knowledge is absolute power with this baby, and it really makes Baldy (Dr. Bartholomew) happy, too, so that's a bonus. This place, where nerds gather to become empirical heroes, allows you to keep up to 165 Workers Learning at one time, all the time!

Just one note of caution, however: Just as with your School, never keep an odd number of Workers Learning, as that extra odd-ball doesn't have a lab partner and contributes nothing to society.

Research required to build: Scientific Methods

Central Intelligence

Let's get this thing out of the way now. Basically, none of us know what it does. I could give you a lengthy list of what it doesnot do, but why waste time. It may increase Spycraft attempts; it may increase Counter Intelligence or just Intel Sweeps some, or it may even have some other unknown function, but this much is known: we don't have a clue what it does--if it does anything at all.

Required to build: Spycraft (red)

Airbase

Why talk about the Airbase now? Because it's a requirement for one of the other most important buildings of the Modern Age: The Space Centre. Additionally, the Airbase allows for the building of Attack Helicopters and Bombers; it also allows for Tesla Towers, ADS's (Air Defense System's), and Gun Turret's if you have researched Defensive Capabilities.

Required to build: Airfield

Space Centre

Gotta love that European spelling. The Space Centre, in addition to being a necessary requirement for two other buildings, is also the Building requirement to advance to the Advanced Age. Build one quickly, as it will lead to a building that can increase your trading efficiency.

Required to build: Airbase and Space Travel

Spaceport

The Spaceport is yet another of the most important buildings in the game. It is a requirement for numerous other buildings, and it gives its owner's empire +15% Trading Efficiency.

Required to build: Space Centre and Market (green)

Launch Pad

Another important Building overall, but you may not appreciate it just yet. The Launch Pad is required to build a couple other buildings, but most players will find its most significant use to be that it allows an empire to launch attacks at any other empire in their galaxy.

If you live in Florida, the Launch Pad is considered the most important building for tourism, except for the Disney World buildings, which will ruin your empire's free population forever.

Required to build: Space Centre and Command Centre

Weapons Plant and Training Facility

The Weapons Plant allows you to build Heavy Tanks and Rocket Artillery to your militant little heart's content.

The Training Facility allows you to train Snipers, Grenadiers, and Commandos. It also gives you a measly--but still appreciated--60 additional space for training Units.

Required to build either: Specialist Forces

Solar and Fusion Plants

Solar Plants give you +200 additional power to use per plant, while Fusion--costing slightly less to build--gives you +140 power per plant. Solar is widely preferred during this age.

Required to build: Solar Energy or Fusion

Grain Elevators

Grain Elevators are a beloved form a food storage, replacing silos quite efficiently. They hold 5,000 food for 5 land each, meaning that they hold 10 times more food than silos for each block of land used (remember that silos hold 100 Food each). The catch it that they take twice as long to build and are twice as expensive for the amount of Food they hold.

Required to build: Crop Rotation

Refineries

Refineries, Mills, and Processing Plants are all buildings that give as much as a 200% bonus to different resource productions. The percentage bonus, capped at 200%, is dependent upon the percentages of buildings you have.

Refineries, for example, give a bonus to Gold and Iron. If you have 10 Gold and Iron mines, then 10 Refineries is 100% as many Refineries as Gold or Iron mines, so you get a 100% bonus to each.

Getting the maximum bonus is easy: just build twice as many Refineries as you have of Gold Mines or Iron Mines, and you will receive a 200% bonus to the production of both. Since Refineries affect two different types of resources, it is best to just pick the one you have most of, Iron or Gold Mines, and build twice that may. That way, you get the full 200% bonus on both of them.

Required to build: Open Cut Mining

Mills

Mills function for Wood exactly how Refineries function for Gold or Iron. Just build twice as many Mills as you have Lumber Yards to receive a 200% bonus to your Wood production.

Required to build: Chain Saw

Pointless Defensive Structures of the Modern Age

They are: Tesla Tower, Gun Turret, and ADS.

Required to build: Airbase and Defensive Capabilities

Well, after all those buildings, you probably think I was way off when I said this age was all about Research, but I think you'll be quite excited to see what your favorite doctor has in store for you. So let's take a glance at what your bookworms can sink their meek teeth into:

Key:
Building
Research

Core Sampling

Core Sampling used to be THE single most useless thing to research in the game, now it is vital to anyone who wants to get anything good out of their exploration. It gives you a 10% increase in deposits found (get those oil wells!) and a 5% increase in Oil production. This should be high up on any players list of things to research.

Required to research: N/A

Space Travel

An important point of research, Space Travel allows you to build a Space Centre.

Required to research: Research Center

Specialist Forces

Allows you to build the wonderfully helpful Sniper-producing Training Facility and the wonderfully useless tank-barfing Weapons Plant.

Required to research: Armed Forces

Solar Energy and Fusion

Each allows for an empire to construct the respective power plant, and contrary to the myth, Fusion is not necessary to build Fusion Bombers later on in the game.

Required to research: Research Center

Communications

Required to research Military Intelligence, Diplomacy

Military Intelligence

Required to research Spycraft (red), Communications

Spycraft

Get ready for a whole new dimension to UWars. Call it NeWars now, if you want, though that's just corny. Spycraft will allow to do a number of things. First, you can now build that seemingly pointless Central Intelligence building; you may commence rejoicing.

Second, you can now begin performing Empire Intel Sweeps to catch Moles, and you can perform Space Intel Sweeps to eliminate Spy Satellites and Stealth Spy Satellites, though they will, thankfully, not eliminate Communications Satellites.

Third, you can now send the unpopular kids, Red Ops, to other empires to learn how much of three computer-selected, random military entities your target has (like Attack Dogs, Artillery, and Stealth Bombers, for an example).

Fourth and finally, you can now research Counter Intelligence to improve the effectiveness of both kinds of Intel Sweeps.

Access Spycraft from the Military page, under its own tab near the top-right of the screen.

Required to research:Military Intelligence

Counter Intelligence 1-3

Researching Counter Intelligence improves the likelihood that you'll catch Spycraft attempts as they enter your empire, and it also improves the likelihood that your Intel Sweeps will catch the appropriate enemy Spycraft entities if they have been successfully planted in your empire. Levels 4-5 are available once you enter the final age.

Required to research: Spycraft and any prior levels of Counter Intelligence

Weapon Upgrades

Weapon Upgrades give specific military entities greater attack power according to the highest level of a weapon-type that has been researched.

Required to research: Any prior levels of a specific Weapon Upgrade

Armor Upgrades

These work similarly to Weapon Upgrades, except they increase an entity's defense. The first level for any upgrade is a +2 bonus, then +6, then +14.

Required to research: Defensive Capabilities and any prior levels of a specific Armor Upgrade

For a quick breakdown of what upgrades go with what Units, Tanks, and Aircraft, try the Unit Stats Chart.

Crop Rotation

This research raises your Food production bonus to +30% from research alone. It also gives you the option to construct Grain Elevators.

Required to research: Plowing Techniques

Open Cut Mining

This research raises your Gold and Iron production bonus to +30% from research alone. It also gives you the option to construct Refineries.

Required to research: Shaft Mining

Chain Saw

This research raises your Wood production bonus to +30% from research alone. It also gives you the option to construct Mills.

Required to research: Hand Saw

Units

Snipers, which result from Researching Specialist Forces and building a Training Facility, are the best unit and overall military entity of the Modern Age.

Tanks

Two new tanks, same old story: don't build tanks (except Heavy Artillery) unless you find them extremely fun to build. Their functioning has not improved, and their cost is still too great.

Aircraft

Attack Helicopters are considered decent craft, but their worth is very, very high for their power, making them a less-than-ideal choice for mass production in the end.

When Do I Advance?
The question of advancement arises yet again, so let's go over the priorities you should have taken care of before even considering advancement to the final age.

Resources

You can produce resources quickly, and getting the extra 300-700 Workers in the next age will only help, so do not feel a great deal of pressure to set aside any number of any resource before advancing. If you should have anything available, it should be a small amount of Oil, which will be required for Exploring in the next age.

Exploring

Do a great deal of exploring before advancing. It will be hard to do so at first in the Advanced Age due to the higher cost and the attention other projects will be getting from your pockets.

Constructing

Most things you may find most useful could be built during the 25 tick advancement period, so things like a Spaceport can wait until advancement if need be, though construction should begin as soon the Space Centre is completed.

The Launch Pad is not as necessary if you do not want to attack, but its expense is low for what it offers. Additionally, it is better to build it early, before you need it, than to be building it in a rush later.

Try to have a minimum of 200,000 Silo storage by the time advancement comes up, as trades on the Market should be getting bigger and Food needs should be getting more drastically high and low.

Cargo Warehouse space should reflect either your trading needs, your trade size to advance a Skill Rank, or both. Never get caught unable to trade when you really need to, and avoid wasting trades that could have been increased a little for a potential Skill Rank increase.

If you researched Open Cut Mining and/or Chain Saw, begin building as many Refineries and/or Mills as you can until you reach the 200% bonuses.

Research

You can rush through by researching nothing but Space Travel, and you will not necessarily suffer for it later, but if you wish to take a quick breather from the pressures to advance, then spend some time beginning your Spycraft research. Consider advancing after researching the first level of Counter Intelligence, however, so you don't wait too long before advancing.

If you need power, research Solar if you like, or you can always build Gas Plants now and replace them with more efficient power plants later.

If you want to use Snipers as your primary military force, then now would be a fine time to begin research on Specialist forces, though you could save up the Knowledge during the 25 tick waiting period, as well.

Military

Whether you are still using or recently began using Attack Dogs, whether you are just now using Snipers, or whether you are waiting for Flamethrowers or some other force will determine the use for you to build your military at this point. Most individuals will not need much military strength before advancing, but some planets and galaxies prove more hostile at times than others. If you need to build a military to survive, then by all means build the best military you can muster at this point. Even if you'd prefer to wait for Flamethrowers, consider just training some Attack Dogs in the meantime to help you defend.

Now best of luck to you throughout this fun age and fast-paced age! Enjoy this one, it goes fast and doesn't come around again until the end of the universe!