Well, this is a clear example of either false advertisement on Kalypso's part of their complete misunderstanding of what exactly the 4x strategy genre really is.

4x is understood as eXplore, eXpand, eXploit and eXterminate. At best, Grand Ages - Rome is a 3x strategy game since there is nothing to eXplore. The entire map is revealed at game start. Without having to explore you know where the resources or even barbarian villages are located.

Now the other 3 X are found in the game but most of the emphasis is put on expanding. Just like Imperium Romanum, Grand Ages - Rome focuses on the city building aspect. There are several resources that determine the stability of a city. A balance or surplus must be achieved in the are of wood, stone, brick and food. Those resources are necessary for even the most basic of cities. Marble, gold and goods are required for some of the more sophisticated structures. Iron is necessary for the production of troops. Depending on your class population, some Romans also have religious and entertainment needs. Aqueducts are responsible for the city's water supply.

Not all buildings are available immediately. Some require certain resources or order to be constructed while others require a certain researched technology. Constructing a building is not hard; constructing a building in a good place can take some practice. Each building has a radius. For example, the residents of a house will only travel in the residence's radius when looking for a job. Also, the butcher shop for instance, will only supply sausages within its radius. This makes constructing cities a very hard task. Not only do you have to construct for the present but you have to plan ahead for the future. For example, you can not construct an Arena before constructing the Forum. The Arena provides entertainment and gladiators to your city but in order for it to fully function it has to be constructed next to a slave market. If you used up all the room around your slave market you will have to demolish something in order to be able to get the Arena down within the slave market's radius. I've actually lost an entire city by initially demolishing just one building; the domino effect turned out to be devastating. Since I'm not an user guide I won't go into details on how you should try to construct your settlements; your creativity is up to you. I will give you one hint though: if you can get food quality to 50% for your Insulae (the most basic houses), they will produce a small amount of goods. Goods are required for the construction of Equites (the middle grade homes).