Sophie: xconq-7.5.0-1.20050612.5mdv2009.1 i586

xconq-7.5.0-1.20050612.5mdv2009.1.i586.rpm

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<TITLE>Xconq - Starting a Game</TITLE>
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<H2><A NAME="SEC80" HREF="xconq_toc.html#SEC80">Starting a Game</A></H2>

<P>
The common interface takes you through four dialogs or screens to set up
a game: the splash screen, the game load choice, the variant setup, and
the player setup.

</P>
<P>
<A NAME="IDX367"></A>
The splash screen gives you four choices: "New", which brings up a
list of games; "Open", which allows you to pick a file; "Connect",
which allows you to join a network game, or start your own; and
"Quit", which lets you escape.

</P>
<P>
Usually you will want to choose "New", which brings up a dialog
listing all the games.  You can select one and see a brief description
of it.

</P>
<P>
You can also load a game from a file by choosing "Open".  This just
uses a standard file-opening dialog.  You restore a saved game this way.

</P>
<P>
The use of "Connect" is described later.

</P>
<P>
You can use the "Quit" button at any time during game setup.

</P>

<UL>
<LI><A HREF="xconq_40.html#SEC81">Loading a Common Interface Game</A>
<LI><A HREF="xconq_40.html#SEC82">Choosing Common Interface Variants</A>
<LI><A HREF="xconq_40.html#SEC83">Common Interface Player Setup</A>
<LI><A HREF="xconq_40.html#SEC84">Common Interface Final Setup</A>
<LI><A HREF="xconq_40.html#SEC85">Common Interface Networked Game Setup</A>
</UL>



<H3><A NAME="SEC81" HREF="xconq_toc.html#SEC81">Loading a Game</A></H3>

<P>
Whether you've chosen to start a new game or load an old one, <I>Xconq</I>
will go through a loading process, which may take a while if the game is
large or complicated.

</P>
<P>
You may get some warning alerts, which are often benign (such as an
inability to find some images), but others are indicative of disaster
ahead.  If you see one and continue anyway, don't be surprised if the
game goes up in a cloud of smoke later!

</P>


<H3><A NAME="SEC82" HREF="xconq_toc.html#SEC82">Choosing Variants</A></H3>

<P>
<A NAME="IDX368"></A>
If the game includes any variants, you will then get a dialog with
assorted buttons and checkboxes to choose from.  For instance, some
games let you choose whether the whole world is visible when you start,
or what kind of scoring system to use.  (At present, there is no help
info for game-specific variants.)

</P>
<P>
Different games have different variants, but there are several used by
many games.

</P>
<P>
<A NAME="IDX369"></A>
The "World Seen" checkbox, when set, makes the whole world seen right
from the beginning of the game.  This only affects the initial view, and
you will only see some types of units belonging to other players, such
as their cities, but not necessarily all types.

</P>
<P>
<A NAME="IDX370"></A>
The "See All" checkbox makes everything seen all the time, right down
to each occupant of each unit of each side.  This makes <I>Xconq</I> more
like a boardgame, where little or nothing is secret.

</P>
<P>
<A NAME="IDX371"></A>
The "World Size" button brings up a dialog that you can use to change
the dimensions of the world in everybody will be playing.  In <I>Xconq</I>,
the available area of the world is either a hexagon, or a cylinder
wrapping entirely around the world.

</P>

<P>
You get the cylinder by setting the circumference equal to the width of
the area. See the generic player's info [where?] for more details about
world size and shape, and be aware that it's very easy to select a world
that is much too large for reasonable play (the default of 60x30 is a
medium-sized game; 200x100 is enormous!)

</P>
<P>
The "Real Time" button brings up a dialog that you can use to set
realtime countdowns.  You can limit both the total time allotted to a
game, to each turn, and/or to each side.

</P>


<H3><A NAME="SEC83" HREF="xconq_toc.html#SEC83">Player Setup</A></H3>

<P>
The player setup window shows the sides that will be in the game and who
will play each side.  As with the variants, you will often just want to
accept it (click "OK"), since the game's designer usually sets the
defaults reasonably.

</P>
<P>
If you want to change the setup, you first need to understand the
current set of sides and proposed players.  Each entry in the list of
sides starts off with the side's emblem (if it has one), followed by the
name of the side.  Then there is some information about the player, and
then the initial advantage for the player.  You, the person sitting in
front of the screen, is described as "You" [not currently for cif
though], while players that are actually run by the computer are
described as "AI mplayer", "AI" being short for "artificial
intelligence" (In some games, a player may be a specialized AI, named
<VAR>name</VAR>, in which case it will be described as "AI <VAR>name</VAR>".)

</P>
<P>
Most of the buttons along the side require you to have selected a
side/player pair.  Initially the first pair is selected.  You can select
any of the others by clicking anywhere in the box describing it, which
will be highlighted in response.

</P>
<P>
<A NAME="IDX372"></A>
To adjust the advantage, click on the <SAMP>`A+'</SAMP> and <SAMP>`A-'</SAMP> buttons.
Keep in mind that the advantage is literally a multiplier, so setting
your advantage to three means that you have three times as many units to
control.  In single-player games against the mplayer AI, you will
generally want to dial up the AI's advantage, since it is probably not
quite as smart as you.

</P>
<P>
In games that allow you to have more than the default number of sides,
you can just click the <SAMP>`Add'</SAMP> button.

</P>

<P>
The <SAMP>`Side Name'</SAMP> popup menu lets you choose a different name and
emblem for the selected side.  This only works in games for which there
is a list of different possible sides.  The choice of side name and
emblem does not have any effect on game play.

</P>
<P>
The <SAMP>`Random'</SAMP> button just chooses a random new name for your side.

</P>
<P>
The <SAMP>`Computer'</SAMP> button toggles the AI for that side.  You can add an
AI to any side, including your own.  You can also remove the AI from any
side; a side with no AI and no human player will just sit quietly and do
nothing throughout the entire game.  Units on the side will fight back
if attacked, just like any other units, but if you capture things like
cities, the side won't even attempt to take them back.

</P>
<P>
If you don't like the side you're on, you can use the <SAMP>`Exchange'</SAMP>
button to switch.  The ordering of the sides is fixed, so the exchange
just exchanges players between the currently selected side/player pair
and the next one.  It can take a little experimentation to get the hang
of using this, but you can generate any arrangement of players using a
combination of selection and exchange.

</P>
<P>
The <SAMP>`Indep Units'</SAMP> button brings up an additional dialog that allows
you to choose how to handle the independent units in the game.  The
usual default is for the independent units to do nothing, but by
choosing the <SAMP>`Units have AI'</SAMP> option for instance, independents will
be set up with a simplified AI (the <SAMP>`iplayer'</SAMP>) that knows about
basic defense and such.  Experimentation with these options will yield
some unusual games, and is only recommended for the experienced player
looking for a change.

</P>


<H3><A NAME="SEC84" HREF="xconq_toc.html#SEC84">Final Setup</A></H3>

<P>
When you have OKed all the setup dialogs, <I>Xconq</I> will finish setting
up the game.  For some games, this will take quite a while - <I>Xconq</I>
generates random terrain, positions countries so that they are neither
too close nor too far apart, and does many other things to set up the
game, so just kick back and wait.

</P>
<P>
Once everything is set up, <I>Xconq</I> then opens up a main map window.
The map shows you terrain with different patterns, and your playing
pieces (units) with small pictures.

</P>
<P>
Note that <I>Xconq</I> allows all players, including AIs, to start doing
things as soon as the windows come up.  You may even find yourself being
attacked before you know what's happening!  (This is a feature; the AI
isn't good enough to afford to give you any breaks...)

</P>


<H3><A NAME="SEC85" HREF="xconq_toc.html#SEC85">Networked Game Setup</A></H3>

<P>
<I>Xconq</I> uses a peer-to-peer networking strategy, which means that all
players in the game run their own copies of the full program; there is
no separate server program.

</P>
<P>
To set up a networked game, choose "Connect" from the initial setup
dialog.  This will cause a second dialog to appear.  This dialog is a
combination connection setup and chat dialog, similar to what some other
games call a "lobby".

</P>
<P>
The connection setup is at the top of the connect/chat dialog.  It
include text boxes to set the hostname and TCP port number.  The
hostname should be the name of the computer where the game will be
running.  The default port number of 3075 is standard for <I>Xconq</I>
games, but you may use any value (and will need to, if running multiple
games on a single machine).

</P>
<P>
Then you need to click on "Host the Game" or "Join the Game".  The
first player in the game should be the host.  Once the host button has
been clicked, the status display will say "Accepting Connections".
All the other player should edit their hostname boxes to specify the
computer on which the host is running, then click on their join buttons.
When the connection is successful, all players' chat areas will get an
announcement, and a prompt to type into the chat area.

</P>
<P>
The chat area allows players to discuss setup options and game play.  It
may remain up during the entire game, and may be also be closed and
reopened at any time.  Anything that you type into the chat area will
appear in other peoples' chat areas immediately, although on a separate
line so everybody's words don't get mixed up.

</P>
<P>
At this point the host may now choose New or Open as with a
single-player game.  When this happens, the other players' setup screens
are blanked, waiting for the host to choose a game.  When the host has
chosen, the game is loaded, then downloaded to all the other players.
(This is to ensure that all players are running with the same game
rules.)

</P>
<P>
When all downloads are complete, every person's setup screen will change
to variant setup.  At this point, any player can click on any variant to
change it.  However, only the host can OK the setup.  (The chat area may
prove helpful when arguing about the choice of variant--and the quit
button is always available too.)

</P>
<P>
When the variants are OKed, then the player setup screen comes up.
Again, all participants can select any of the side/player assignments,
and may click on any of the buttons, even if the side is not going
to be played by them.  But also again, only the host brings order
out of chaos by OKing the setup.

</P>
<P>
When each participant receives the host's OK for the player setup, the
map window comes up and play can begin.  At this point the host becomes
just another one of the players.  The host does remain pivotal though;
it does tiebreaking when two players try to do something at the same
time, and it holds the TCP channels open, which means that when the host
quits, the game cannot continue.  (A future version of <I>Xconq</I> may be
able to designate one of the other programs as host, and shift all the
connections over.)

</P>
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