There are three types of resources in Empire Earth III: Raw Materials, Wealth and Tech Points.
Raw Material[]
Maps can differ in the number and types of raw material sites they have. A map’s climate may also play a factor as to what types of sites are most likely to be there. The types of raw material sites are:
- Mines (Ore)
- Forests (Wood)
- Quarries (Stone)
- Fish schools (Fish)
Once collected, all Raw Materials are interchangeable and go into the same stockpile. Raw Materials are used primarily to purchase units and buildings.
A player must build a Warehouse adjacent to a Raw Material site in order to begin collecting the resource. Warehouses have three workers to start, but additional workers can be purchased by filling the slots in the Warehouse. Each additional worker costs more than the one previously purchased for that building.
Wealth[]
Wealth is generated by building a Market and establishing trade routes. Once a Market has been built, the player’s first trade cart will appear and establish a trade route with the player’s nearest City Center. Wealth is generated by each trade cart when it reaches its destination, either a City Center or Dock, and when it returns to its origin market. The amount of wealth that is generated is determined by the straight-line distance between the trade cart’s origin and its destination. The further away, the more wealth that is generated, but increased distance also exposes the trade cart to possible attack.
Markets, like Warehouses, have slots that can be purchased. Each slot represents a trade cart, which spawns a short time after the slot is purchased. Trade carts move along their routes automatically once a route is set up. You can change the destination of a route by selecting the market or the trade cart and right-clicking a new destination. In addition to Markets, each Dock is allowed one trade route with another Dock via a trade ship. You can establish trade routes with other players if you first research the “Foreign Trade” technology.
Tech Points[]
The player purchases worker slots in the City Center to hire “scholars”, which generate a steady stream of tech points. City Centers do not come with any slots—all slots must be bought. All slots produce tech at the same static rate. However, each new slot bought (per building) costs more than the previous slot. Tech research and Era advancement cost tech points, in addition to other resources.
Note: During battle mode in World Domination games, you don’t need scholars until the Modern Era, so you can’t hire them in earlier eras.