When creating a state, a player will have to choose from the available templates.

There are eight templates available. They are:

• Superpower
• Industrial Power
• Industrial Country
• Emerging Nation
• Resource Power
• Developing Country
• Postcommunistic
• Fundamentalist

If the state is a classic state, then the player templates will be, respectively:

• USA
• Germany
• Turkey
• India
• Russia
• Columbia
• GDR
• Iran

When a state is created in the classic version, the player is able to choose freely from each of the eight templates available. On creation of a world state, a player is allowed to indicate his or her preference of template, but the actual type of state received mostly depends on how many experience points the player has earned in comparison to other players in the world. The players with the most experience are given the first opportuntiy to take control of the most valuable states. In terms of military and economic strength, these are USA (superpower), Germany (Industrial Power) and Russia (Resource Power).

There is little difference in the starting situation between the classic and world states, however, classic states will allways mention the template used in the overview page by mentioning the line "formerly USA". The world states instead use the generic template names.