1 .TH Introduction "User's Guide to Empire"
2 .NA Guide "User's Guide to Empire"
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31 User's Guide to Empire 1
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40 \&. . . . .| | . . . .
41 \& . . . . | This work copyright 1991, Geoff Cashman |. . . . .
42 \&. . . . .| All rights reserved except you may copy | . . . .
43 \& . . . . | this work using electronic methods. Non |. . . . .
44 \&. . . . .| electronic copying, hard copies for the | . . . .
45 \& . . . . | purpose of distribution and/or selling, |. . . . .
46 \&. . . . .| is strictly prohibited without author's | . . . .
47 \& . . . . | express written consent. No changes may |. . . . .
48 \&. . . . .| be made to the content of this edition. | . . . .
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58 User's Guide to Empire 2
62 This guide's intended audience is the beginning player and those players
63 who have played a game or three and would like to have some insight on some
64 more subtle aspects of the game. Some experienced players may find some
65 benefit from reading this guide as well. While you may feel you are an
66 expert, it is always possible to learn. Nothing in this guide is intended
67 to be difficult to understand, and every effort has been made to make this
68 guide an easy learning tool.
70 This publication is current to Berkeley version 1.1 patch level 5
75 User's Guide to Empire 3
79 It has been over a year now since I first sat down and thought in a serious
80 way about writing this guide. It has been a long trip with many interesting
81 turns and developments. When I first started, the version of Empire that
82 this guide has ultimately been written for had not yet been released. Now,
83 with this project nearing release I find that yet another new version of
84 Empire is coming out. I look on in near despair as I realize that this guide
85 may very well soon be outdated. Nevertheless, I feel compelled to release
86 this information in what might be considered a final form.
88 However, I hope that this is not the final form. With new versions of
89 Empire coming out in the very near future I hope that some other potential
90 author steps forward and takes up the banner of educating the new player.
91 I caution you though that such a work as this takes quite an effort.
93 To the reader and any critics or even cynics that might be reading, I say
94 that I am not writer. I never was, and I never intend to be. There are
95 certainly enough writers in the world to write almost everything the world
96 could want to know about in print. I was never skilled in the art of proper
97 style for any sort of writing. Please, be kind and keep this in mind.
99 I wrote this guide because I felt there was a great need for something of
100 this nature. I have watched so many players come to the network looking
101 for information on Empire, such as the rules, or information on how to play.
102 One can get information about the various commands available to oneself
103 within the game, but to understand how to use those commands effectively
104 and get skilled at running a country is a far greater task. Many new
105 players have despaired after playing their first game for lack of the
106 requisite knowledge to play effectively. Some come back fighting hard
107 in the next game, but many just disappear never to be heard from again.
108 This guide was written with the hope that if the new player is supplied
109 with the basics, they can advance in skill more quickly than previously
110 possible and not despair at their first defeat.
112 I am hoping that within the near future two other companion guides to
113 this one will be written and released to the net. These two guides will
114 be intended to make the average player a better player or even expert,
115 and to teach fledgling deities how to compile and establish a, solicit
116 entries for , and effectively run, a game. Some people have commented
117 to me that the time spent on these guides would be better spent if I
118 were to spend time programming for Empire instead. It is my belief that
119 in teaching players to be better players, and teaching deities how to be
120 a deity should that guide be released, the potential pool for
121 programmers of Empire will increase.
123 I can not take credit for the idea of this guide. The need for such
124 a guide I think was painfully obvious to a great many players. Some in
125 fact did engage in projects to fill that need. Every such attempt has
126 fallen short, in my humble opinion. Witness the large number of people
129 User's Guide to Empire 4
131 who still ask the network, "How do I play?" and even more importantly
132 the lack of sufficient answer to such people's questions. In my highest
133 hopes, I dream that someday soon that answer will be "Get a copy of the
134 User's Guide to Empire, which is available via FTP from xx.xx.xx".
136 This work was made possible by the contributions of several Empire players.
137 This work would not have been completed without the insights and assistance
138 of many Empire players and deities. To the Empire community as a whole,
139 I say thank you for your priceless contributions.
144 --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
147 User's Guide to Empire 5
153 1. What is Empire? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
154 2. How to get into a game of Empire. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
155 3. The primitive basics. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
156 4. Geography in Empire. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
157 5. The beginning phases of Empire. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
158 6. Diplomacy. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
159 7. Setting up your defenses. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
160 8. Nuclear warfare. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38
161 9. Technology. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42
162 10. The economy. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45
163 11. War. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54
164 12. Other helpful or not so helpful hints. . . . . . . . . . . . 57
165 13. Some tricks and subtle tactics. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59
166 14. Tools. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63
175 1. Sample of how to FTP and compile a client program
176 2. Killing a process on a remote Empire host
177 3. Example of an Empire map
178 4. Realistic version of an Empire map
179 5. Table of sector types and designations
180 6. Unexplored island prior to breaking sanctuary
181 7. Island showing exploration using theory 1
182 8. Island showing exploration using theory 2
183 9 Island showing exploration using theory 3
184 10. Results from 'show planes capability'
185 11. Results from a 'nation' report
186 12. Map of region hit by nuclear weapon
187 13. Table of types of commodities in Empire
188 14. Sample output of 'prod' command
189 15. Results of a 'census' command of a library
190 16. Map of area requiring some distribution
191 17. Results of a distribution command
192 18. Map of an area requiring delivery path
195 User's Guide to Empire 6
197 Chapter 1 :-: What is Empire?
199 Empire is a game in which you are pitted against several other
200 players in a country vs. country format. There are economies to
201 run, armies to support, policies to generate, and allies and
202 enemies to make. The game supports various features that make
203 certain aspects of the game seem to parallel the "realistic"
204 world. These include satellites, planes, banks, parks, etc.
206 Empire, in the version herein described, is a very complex
207 game. The closest game that most people will know that is
208 analogous to it is the game known as Risk. However, Empire is
209 more complex by a factor of at least one hundred. Nevertheless,
210 as a result of the computer aiding you every step of the way, the
211 game is not difficult to play, though it can be difficult to
212 learn. If you read this guide thoroughly, and use it as a
213 continuing resource, you can help make learning this game a lot
216 It should be noted that in learning to play this game, you
217 may become frustrated or feel daunted by its complexity.
218 Several players have noted that they almost gave up on Empire,
219 until one day when everything seemed to start to make sense.
220 I call it the "threshold level of understanding" after which
221 learning the art of Empire becomes several grades easier, and
222 players learn substantially faster. I urge you to stay with
223 it until you get to that level. It may take some time, but it
224 is well worth the effort. This guide is intended to get you
225 to that threshold level of understanding.
227 Games usually take two to three months depending on various factors
228 that are changeable by the person who runs the game prior to its
229 inception. Some games, known as blitz games, last a day or three
230 and will wear out your finger tips from typing too much, will cause
231 your family and loved ones to be tremendously upset with you for
232 missing breakfast, lunch and dinner for three days straight, will cause
233 your stomach to argue constantly with you about its right to
234 food, and are a tremendous amount of fun. Blitz games are not
235 for the light of heart nor are they meant for the beginner.
237 For more information concerning the basic scope of Empire,
238 refer to the game itself. Within the game, there are
239 various help entries accessible through the command 'info'.
240 This guide is intended to go well beyond the scope of help
241 available from 'info'.
243 Empire, the game, has evolved through many different forms
244 over the last decade. There are still numerous versions
245 for various computers around. The version herein discussed
246 is BSD Empire, written for the most part by Dave Pare along
247 with a lot of help from net people. As release time approaches
248 I am aware that Mr. Pare is working on BSD Empire V2.0.
249 This guide is only current to version V1.1.5 of BSD. I wish
252 User's Guide to Empire 7
254 the future author of the guide to V2.0, whomever that might be,
255 the best of luck and bequeath that person a family size bottle
256 of aspirin for personal use.
258 Summary: Empire is a very complex game that has a rather steep learning
259 curve. Most of the complexity of the game can be handled by
260 the commands available to you, the game server itself, or tools
261 that you use to better your country. Tools are described later
265 User's Guide to Empire 8
267 Chapter 2 :-: How to get into a game of Empire.
269 The most common way of finding about about games that are about to
270 happen is by monitoring the newsgroup rec.games.empire on your local
271 news reading program. Other ways are via e-mail by getting to know
272 several players with whom you correspond over the network. Some
273 games are by invitation only but these are few and far between as
274 usually a game is better with more people in it. If you do not know
275 how to use your local news reading program, ask a local site consultant
276 or find a brochure about the news programs available. One of the most
277 common newsreaders can be reached by typing 'rn' from your unix
278 prompt. If you have VMS for an operating system this may not be true.
279 To go directly to the rec.games.empire newsgroup you could type in
280 'rn rec.games.empire'.
282 Before entering a game of Empire, consider the amount of time that
283 you have available to play the game. Two hours a day for a four
284 update per day game is usually the norm. If you are inexperienced,
285 and have not fought in wars before, that two hours will dramatically
286 increase should war break out between you and another country.
288 Note that it is easy to get addicted to the game. The player should
289 be aware of this prior to playing. Play in moderation. This is
290 obviously not meant to scare you off. It is merely a word of caution
291 to some people. Remember to play in moderation.
293 If you do decide to join in an upcoming game of Empire, then you will
294 have the pleasure of playing one of the best games around. Empire has
295 been described as being the most complicated game ever created.
296 Despite the fact that the game was created for computers and has
297 been in existence for several years, as yet no robot player has been
298 developed nor is it anticipated. It is possible to build such a
299 robot, but it would be a huge task. Do not be dismayed though.
300 Most of the complexity of Empire is handled by the server and client.
301 There is a fair amount of what is called "micro-managing" that may
302 need to be done to be a highly successful nation. However, it is
303 not a necessary thing to do. Furthermore, there are many tools
304 (described later) that can handle the micromanaging aspects to
307 After you find out about a game, and decide that you do want to
308 play in that upcoming game, you need to contact the "Deity". The
309 "Deity" is the person who runs the game. You should mail him/her
310 with information about yourself and your country. A customary
311 basic form for registering your country to play might contain
312 the following information:
314 Country name: (any name you like, from Brianville to USofA)
315 Rep: (this is your *password*)
316 Net address: (the address at which you can be contacted over the net)
317 Skill level: (1-10..10 being the best, 1 being beginner)
319 It might be necessary depending on the Deity to include all addresses
322 User's Guide to Empire 9
324 from which you might be playing. With the proliferation of suns as
325 general user machines this is becoming more and more a chore, and
326 few deities require it. It might suffice to say "mickey@*.buffalo.edu"
327 which might cover all machines you play from if you played from
328 SUNY-Buffalo. Mickey, of course, is just an arbitrary username chosen
331 Empire players connect to games in progress through a program known
332 as a "client". This program handles communication between your
333 computer and the computer that the game is running on.
335 There are several versions of clients available. Some are more
336 "capable" than others in that they can make decisions easier for
337 you or make the decisions themselves. They are intended to reduce
338 the amount of work you have to do to maintain your country though
339 in some cases they actually increase the amount of work you have
340 to do. I have listed places from which you can get other types
341 of clients from in the FTP listings in appendix C.
343 Sources for basic client program is available by FTPing to
344 ucbvax.berkeley.edu. For the user's benefit, I have included
345 a copy of a session in which a user FTPs to ucbvax, retrieves the
346 source, compiles the source and establishes the appropriate
347 environment variables to connect to a game.
349 Note that the following example will work ONLY on a unix,
350 ultrix, or other flavor of unix operating system. This will
351 not work for the VMS client.
353 -----------------------------<begin sample>---------------------------------
355 (PLEASE NOTE: Walk through comments in this sample will be enclosed
356 in [** and **]. They are not part of what actually appeared on screen
357 in collecting this sample. They are meant only as guides.)
359 [** First, I create a directory to put the client in. I then cd into that
360 directory and then proceed with the ftp to ucbvax. **]
362 autarch{tmp}!>mkdir myclient
363 autarch{tmp}!>cd myclient
364 autarch{myclient}!>ftp ucbvax.berkeley.edu
365 Connected to ucbvax.berkeley.edu.
366 220 ucbvax.Berkeley.EDU FTP server (Version 5.30 Tue Mar 28 18:11:37 PST 1989) ready.
367 [** Type in anonymous for your name **]
368 Name (ucbvax.berkeley.edu:mickey): anonymous
369 [** Send your real identity for the password **]
370 331 Guest login ok, send ident as password.
372 230 Guest login ok, access restrictions apply.
373 [** I am now logged in to ucbvax's public access FTP area. Now
374 I cd into the "pub" directory, then the "games" directory, and then
375 the "bsd-empire" directory where I know the Empire client source
379 User's Guide to Empire 10
382 250 CWD command successful.
384 250 CWD command successful.
386 250 CWD command successful.
387 [** Now, I set my file transfer mode to "binary" and set hash on so that
388 I can see transmit progress on screen (# = 1024 bytes.) **]
392 Hash mark printing on (1024 bytes/hash mark).
393 [** Now, I view the directory listing to confirm the name of the client
396 200 PORT command successful.
397 150 Opening ASCII mode data connection for ..
405 [** ^^^^^^^^^^^^^ it's this one. **]
409 226 Transfer complete.
410 143 bytes received in 0.03 seconds (4.7 Kbytes/s)
411 [** Now, I "get" the file and the transmission to my directory begins. **]
412 ftp> get empclient-1.1.tar.Z
413 200 PORT command successful.
414 150 Opening BINARY mode data connection for empclient-1.1.tar.Z (20859 bytes).
415 #########################################
416 226 Transfer complete.
417 local: empclient-1.1.tar.Z remote: empclient-1.1.tar.Z
418 20859 bytes received in 1.8 seconds (11 Kbytes/s)
419 [** The client source now resides in my directory, so I log out of Berkeley **]
422 [** I next confirm that the client is in my directory. **]
423 autarch{myclient}!>ls
425 [** Next, I have to uncompress the file (the Z postfix means it is in
426 compressed format). I again ls to confirm it's presence. **]
427 autarch{myclient}!>uncompress empclient-1.1.tar.Z
428 autarch{myclient}!>ls
430 [** Next, I have to tar the file (tar postfix means it's in tar format).
431 Again, I ls to confirm operation completed. **]
432 autarch{myclient}!>tar -xf empclient-1.1.tar
433 autarch{myclient}!>ls
436 User's Guide to Empire 11
438 client/ empclient-1.1.tar
439 [** Ah, ok. I tar'ed the file and it created a directory for itself.
440 So, I cd into that directory and ls it. **]
441 autarch{myclient}!>cd client
443 Makefile empire.6 host.c main.c saveargv.c
444 README expect.c hpux.c misc.h servercmd.c
445 bit.c fnlist.h ioqueue.c proto.h serverio.c
446 bit.h globals.c ioqueue.h queue.c termio.c
447 dtable.c handle.c login.c queue.h termlib.c
448 [** There's the README file up there. That will tell me what to do next. **]
449 autarch{client}!>more README
454 This is the empire client for BSD Empire.
456 To make the program, edit globals.c and change localhost to
457 point at the machine where the game is running.
461 You can change hosts on-the-fly by using environment variables -- see
462 the man page for details.
464 [** Simple enough. I don't bother modifying globals.c since I can modify
465 the environment variables using the unix command 'setenv'. So now,
466 I just type 'make' and hope everything goes ok. NOTE: This was done
467 on a sun4. Your results may vary slightly. **]
468 autarch{client}!>make
469 [** Now, it does the compilation automatically without me having to
470 do it by hand, I just typed the make and it does it by itself. **]
472 cc -g -sun4 -c dtable.c
473 cc -g -sun4 -c expect.c
474 cc -g -sun4 -c globals.c
475 cc -g -sun4 -c handle.c
476 cc -g -sun4 -c host.c
477 cc -g -sun4 -c hpux.c
478 cc -g -sun4 -c ioqueue.c
479 cc -g -sun4 -c login.c
480 cc -g -sun4 -c main.c
481 cc -g -sun4 -c queue.c
482 cc -g -sun4 -c saveargv.c
483 cc -g -sun4 -c servercmd.c
484 cc -g -sun4 -c serverio.c
485 cc -g -sun4 -c termio.c
486 cc -g -sun4 -c termlib.c
487 cc -g -o empire bit.o dtable.o expect.o globals.o handle.o host.o hpux.o
488 ioqueue.o login.o main.o queue.o saveargv.o servercmd.o serverio.o termio.o
493 User's Guide to Empire 12
495 Makefile expect.c hpux.c misc.h serverio.c
496 README expect.o hpux.o proto.h serverio.o
497 bit.c fnlist.h ioqueue.c queue.c termio.c
498 bit.h globals.c ioqueue.h queue.h termio.o
499 bit.o globals.o ioqueue.o queue.o termlib.c
500 dtable.c handle.c login.c saveargv.c termlib.o
501 dtable.o handle.o login.o saveargv.o
502 empire* host.c main.c servercmd.c
503 empire.6 host.o main.o servercmd.o
504 [** Walla, it compiled, and now there is a file in the directory called
505 'empire' with a * next to it (meaning it's an executable. Not all
506 ls's will do this, see 'man ls' for further info on parameters for ls).
507 That file is the client. I could delete all of the '.c', '.h', and
508 '.o' files right now to clean things up, but I am anxious to get into
509 the Empire game that is already in progress. So, I next setup my
510 environment variables so my client knows which computer to call and
511 which port to use on that computer. **]
512 autarch{client}!>setenv EMPIREHOST oleander.cs.odu.edu
513 autarch{client}!>setenv EMPIREPORT 1617
514 [** EMPIREHOST and EMPIREPORT variables will have been given to you by
515 the deity running the game.
516 With that done, I can now run my client and connect to the game. **]
517 autarch{client}!>empire
518 Country name? [** I type in my country name **]
519 Your name? [** And my password, NOT my real name. **]
523 You have six new telegrams waiting...
526 [** And you are now connected to the game and are ready to play dictator **]
530 Sample of how to FTP and compile a client program
532 -------------------------------<end sample>-----------------------------------
535 Since you are playing across a network of computers, it is possible
536 that there will be problems along the way in connecting to the server
537 from the computer you play on. What follows are some common connection
541 autarch{client}!>empire
542 connect: Connection refused
544 Problem This generally means that you have either set your environment
545 variables wrong (see 'setenv' from earlier in this chapter), or
546 the server at the host site is not currently running.
547 Solution (1) Check your environment variables by issuing a 'setenv' command.
550 User's Guide to Empire 13
552 (2) Wait for the server to come up.
555 autarch{client}!>empire
556 connect: Connection timed out
558 Problem This generally means that there is a network outage somewhere
560 Solution (1) You can monitor the network by using two unix commands located in
561 /usr/etc on most unix systems. These are 'ping' and 'traceroute'.
562 /usr/etc/ping 128.205.7.3 for instance will send a ping at the
563 host with ip address 128.205.7.3. If that machine can be reached
564 from your machine across the network it will return:
566 traceroute 128.205.7.3 will request responses from each site along
567 the way. This is useful for seeing which site along the way is
569 (2) This solution is easier, but more frustrating. Wait.
572 autarch{client}!>empire
573 Country name? <your country name>
574 Your name? <your password>
577 3 country in use by mickey@lictor.acsu.buffalo.edu (pid=5797)
579 Problem This one is potentially nasty. It means that another process is
580 logged into your country. This could be from multiple sources.
581 1: Your friend who is playing your country as well.
582 2: A process of yours that got accidentally hung.
583 3: The network hung your remote process even though your local
584 process is now terminated.
585 Solution (1) Go kick your friend in the head :-)
586 (2) Kill your process 'nicely'. To find the process execute a
587 'ps -x' command and find the appropriate process number:
589 PID TT STAT TIME COMMAND
590 3555 t1 S 0:00 -usr/new/csh (csh)
592 3559 ? S 0:00 -usr/new/csh (csh)
593 3560 ? S 0:00 (empire)
594 The offending process number in this list is 3560. To kill it,
595 simply type the command 'kill 3560'. After that, all should be
596 well. Try entering the game again.
597 (3) If your process is hung on the server machine, you can
598 do one of two things. First, you can mail the Deity with the
599 "pid", or process identification number. This number is listed
600 in the original error message and in our case is 5797. Secondly,
601 you can log in to the remote site and kill the process yourself
602 via the process illustrated below. Note that in the first line
603 of the illustrated process that the name storm.tamu.edu is the
604 host site for the particular game I am using for this example.
607 User's Guide to Empire 14
609 Also, 1617 is the port on that machine that Empire is being run
610 through. Commands that you should type in are indicated
611 by a "<----" at the end of the line.
613 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
615 % telnet storm.tamu.edu 1617 <----
616 Trying 128.194.15.98 ...
617 Connected to storm.tamu.edu.
618 Escape character is '^]'.
619 2 Empire server ready <---- [** your country name in quotes **]
621 0 country name Terminus
622 pass "busyemperor" <---- [** your password in quotes **]
624 kill <---- [** this terminates the hung process **]
625 3 process 1056 (from mickey@autarch.acsu.buffalo.edu) terminated
626 [** next type in 'ctrl-]' and then type 'close' **]
633 Killing a process on a remote Empire host
635 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
637 Your process is now unhung, and your country should be ready to play
641 autarch{myclient}empire
642 Country name? <your country name>
643 Your name? <your password>
647 Problem The server does not accept the password you typed as being correct.
648 Solution Try typing it again. Try using capital letters at the beginning of
649 the password as well, or the entire password in caps. If this does
650 not work, mail the Deity and inform him or her of the problem
651 and what the password should be.
654 autarch{myclient}empire
657 Problem Your connection to the server is not responding.
658 Solution The delay time for waiting for a response that is built into
659 the client is not exceedingly long. The theory behind this being
660 that if it is taking you that long to get a response from the
661 Empire server then it is not worth playing, since response times
664 User's Guide to Empire 15
666 for information from the game are going to be pretty unbearable.
667 Keep trying is probably the best solution.
670 These are most of the problems that you will encounter in connecting to
671 the game server. There are some more problems that you might
672 encounter, but generally they are not common. If you can not reach
673 your game server for more than a day, contact your deity and let
674 him/her know that you can not connect.
676 Summary: Getting into a game of Empire is not terribly difficult. Setting up
677 a client program should be a fairly painless task. If it is not,
678 do not be dismayed. Get help from a consultant or another player
679 if you can. Some problems with the network may temporarily prevent
680 you from playing. Be patient, the network is a horse that should
681 be shot, but generally it comes around after a while.
684 User's Guide to Empire 16
686 Chapter 3 :-: The primitive basics.
689 There are a few basic commands and ideas that will help you get
690 acquainted with Empire. These are here summarized.
693 All players begin a game of Empire in what is known as a sanctuary.
694 While you are in a sanctuary state you can not be attacked, overrun, or
695 otherwise hurt. However, while you are in sanctuary you can not do
696 very many things. In order to really begin playing the game you need
697 to do what is known as "break sanctuary". You can do this using the
698 \&'break' command. When you do this, your two sanctuary sectors (which
699 everyone starts with) will become capital sectors. You are no longer
700 protected from attacks from enemy countries.
702 Concept: Movement in Empire.
703 Paths of movement are indicated by several keys. Path indicators
704 exist in a hex shape around the letter H on your keyboard. Thus, y means
705 travel North-West, u for North-East, j for East, n for South-East, b for
706 South-West, and g for West. Also, h means "stop" which terminates movement
707 of whatever you are moving. There is one other key, v which "views" the
708 sector you are currently moving through. Thus if I gave a movement path
709 of gggvgh the game would move whatever I am moving three sectors West, view
710 the sector at three sectors west of my starting point, then move one more
711 sector west and then stop.
714 Empire games have "turns" known as updates. When an update occurs,
715 your country goes through economic growth or decline, interests are paid
716 on gold bars, military costs are paid for, mobility increases in your
717 sectors, etc. You can do a great many things between updates, an update
718 merely does book keeping more or less, at a predetermined time. To find
719 out when the next update is going to happen, you can type 'update' as
722 Command: map -10:10,-7:7
723 This command will give you a map of the area immediately surrounding
724 your beginning two sectors. Specifically, it will give you a map from ten
725 sectors West of your 0,0 to ten sectors East and from seven sectors North to
726 seven sectors South of your 0,0.
728 Command: explore civ 0,0 1
729 This command allows you to move one civilian from your 0,0 and
730 "explore" into wilderness and mountain sectors.
732 Command: info commands
733 This command will list the various commands available in Empire.
734 It is a very good idea to go through the information on each command
735 by typing 'info <name of command>'. This will help you get more acquainted
736 with the game. Though this guide shows many commands and how to use them,
737 it is no substitute for the game's help itself.
740 User's Guide to Empire 17
742 Command: designate 1,1 +
743 This command will enable you to designate a sector you own into
744 whatever you desire. Usually, in the beginning of the game you will designate
745 sectors that you will not be using actively for a while into highways.
746 The above shown example of the command will designate your 1,1 sector into
749 Command: telegram <country name>
750 Countries in Empire communicate with each other via telegrams.
751 These are private letters sent just like a telegram would be. They have
752 a size limit, but there is usually more than enough room to say what you
753 want to say. There is no limit to the number of telegrams you may send.
756 Countries broadcast to the world via the command 'announce'. These
757 announcements are similar to telegrams except instead of one country reading
758 the telegram the entire world can read it.
761 This command allows you to read any incoming telegrams or
762 announcements. Empire will notify you when you have new incoming traffic.
764 Command: news {x number of days}
765 This command will allow you to peruse the Empire newspaper. It does
766 not make for great reading. However, it is useful for intelligence gathering.
767 If you just enter 'news' as a command, it will print all the news since you
768 last read the news. Entering 'news 3' will give you the news for the last
769 three days. In big games, the news file gets quite large.
771 Summary: These are the basic ideas and commands of Empire. Empire has a great
772 many commands however, and the player should endeavor to learn them.
773 Empire can be played with only a few commands but the additional
774 commands are there for your best interests. If you do not understand
775 a command shown here, simply type 'info <command>' while in the
779 User's Guide to Empire 18
781 Chapter 4 :-: Geography in Empire.
783 Maps in Empire are based on a simple hex design. For example:
786 ---------------------------------- There are three basic sector types in
787 Empire (note: "type" is different than
788 / \ / \ / \ / \ / \ "designation". Designation refers to what
789 / \ / \ / \ / \ / \ that sector has on it, a factory or school
790 -4 | . | ^ | - | ^ | . | for example. Type refers to what it is
791 \ / \ / \ / \ / \ / built on). There are:
792 \ / \ / \ / \ / \ / seas : .
793 -3 | - | - | . | . | mountains : ^
794 / \ / \ / \ / \ / \ wilderness : -
795 / \ / \ / \ / \ / \ When using the Empire map, you use an "X,Y"
796 -2 | . | - | - | - | . | system. The X coordinate refers to how far
797 \ / \ / \ / \ / \ / along the horizontal you are, the Y referring
798 \ / \ / \ / \ / \ / to the vertical. Thus, there are seas on
799 -1 | - | - | . | . | example map at 5,-1 7,-1 0,-2 8,-2
800 / \ / \ / \ / \ / \ 5,-3 7,-3 0,-4 and 8,-4. Negative X is
801 / \ / \ / \ / \ / \ to the left (to the East) of 0,0 just as
802 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 in your high school math courses. However,
803 negative Y is above (to the North of) 0,0.
804 Figure 3 This is different from high school math.
805 Example of an Empire map Why the maps have coordinates in this way
806 is one of the great mysteries of Empire.
807 ----------------------------------
810 Figure 4 below is a real map of Empire, in its real size and form.
811 Figure 3 is "zoomed in". Note that the '?' marks on the right part of
812 the map belong to a neighboring country. In this figure all wilderness
813 type sectors have been designated into something other than a
814 wilderness There are several mountains, and a lot of ocean visible as
819 User's Guide to Empire 19
821 --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
823 [309:112] Command : map #1
824 33333322222222221111111111---------00000000001111111111222222
825 5432109876543210987654321098765432101234567890123456789012345
826 -3 + + + + + . . . . . . . . + . . . . . . . -3
827 -2 a ^ + m ^ + . . . . o . + . . . . . . . . -2
828 -1 + + + + + + + + . . . a o a . + + + . . . . -1
829 0 + + + + + + + g o o o + + + . + o c m . . . 0
830 1 + + ^ o + a j m g w g ^ ^ m + j j + . + . . . 1
831 2 + + a + + + + + + + + . b j + m + w + . . . . . . 2
832 3 + a . a a + b + m o j + t + + + + + + . + . + + + . . ? ? ? 3
833 4 . . . . . a g + ^ + m + + l ^ ^ ^ + o + + + + + + + + ? + ? 4
834 5 + . . + + + + + ^ + ^ m + j ^ ^ c + m + + + + + + + ^ + + + ^ 5
835 6 . . . + + ^ + + + + m + + o o + k + + + + + + ^ ^ + + + + 6
836 7 . + + + + + + + + o m + a o + e + + + ^ ^ a + + + + + ? 7
837 8 . + + + + a + ^ + g d m + w m + m + + + + + ^ + + + + ? 8
838 9 . + + + + + + + + + + + k + g t + + + + + + + + ? ? ? ? 9
839 10 . . + + + + ^ + ^ ^ g + + + p g + i g + + + + ? 10
840 11 . + + + + + ^ + + + ^ + + m + g o + g + + + + + ? ? ? ? 11
841 12 . + + + + + + + + + + + g g + + + + g + + + + + + + + ? 12
842 13 . + + + + + + + + + + + + + g + g m + w + + + + + + + + ? 13
843 14 . . . + + + + + + + + + + + g + + m + + + + + + + + + + 14
844 15 . + + + + + + a + + + + + + + + m + + + + + + + a + + + + 15
845 33333322222222221111111111---------00000000001111111111222222
846 5432109876543210987654321098765432101234567890123456789012345
849 Realistic version of an Empire map
851 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
853 The following listing is taken directly from the command
854 'info sector-types' in the game. There is a lengthy description of
855 each sector type also in this command, but I have omitted it here
859 User's Guide to Empire 20
862 --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
865 BASICS INDUSTRIES MILITARY / SCIENTIFIC
866 . sea d defense plant t technical center
867 ^ mountain i shell industry f fortress
868 s sanctuary m mine r research lab
869 / wasteland g gold mine n nuclear plant
870 - wilderness h harbor l library/school
871 c capital w warehouse e enlistment center
872 p park u uranium mine
873 COMMUNICATIONS * airfield FINANCIAL
874 + highway a agribusiness b bank
875 ) radar installation o oil field
876 j light manufacturing
877 # bridge head k heavy manufacturing
878 = bridge span % refinery
881 Table of sector types and designations
883 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
885 As you can see, there are a wide variety of sector types in Empire.
886 However, until your country becomes populated the most useful sector
887 is the highway ('+'), for it allows you to move things around easier,
888 even if the highway has only begun being constructed
891 Summary: Empire maps are based on a simple hex design, with the movement
892 keys based similarly around the letter h on standard keyboards.
893 These movement keys are a basic tool in Empire and must be learned.
896 User's Guide to Empire 21
898 Chapter 5 :-: The beginning phases of Empire.
901 Typically a game starts with a `speed' phase. If it does not, then
902 initial play can get boring quickly. A `speed' opening also demands
903 more time for the period when the updates are frequent, but hopefully,
904 that will be balanced by your efficient country and the less time
905 spent running it when your classes/real life demand more time.
907 There are several opening strategies for Empire players. I am going
908 to go through a few of them here. If you feel you can make a better
909 strategy feel free to do so.
911 Basically, all strategies for the opening phases revolve around a
912 few basic ideas. First, you want to secure as much land for yourself
913 as possible. Secondly, if you share an island with some other person,
914 you want to leave yourself in a strategically advantageous position
915 against your opponent, optimally to surround him/her before s/he breaks
916 sanctuary. These two ideas are the most important things to consider
917 prior to the first update. There are other things to consider, which
918 will be reviewed later.
920 It is highly important for you, the player, to begin playing the game
921 as soon as the game begins. If you do not, you risk being surrounded
922 before the first update. Furthermore, not breaking sanctuary prior to
923 the first update can cost you a great deal in terms of population
924 growth and the establishment of your economy.
926 Some players will use tools, which are reviewed in chapter 14, to
927 break sanctuary and occupy land from the beginning. There are other
928 means to aid your land occupation as well. If you have a programmable
929 terminal, or terminal program, you can program a key to contain a
930 particular command such as "explore civ 0,0 1 jjjujuuu". This could
931 be a path along a line of land that you have already occupied, and
932 wish to expand beyond. If you had to repeatedly type in that command
933 and path you would take a much greater amount of time to occupy land.
934 This can also be done through X windows, using the mouse and cut/paste
937 There are a few different theories on how to explore out from your
938 sanctuaries to claim as much land as possible for yourself.
940 In the following maps, the square island shown is entirely wilderness
941 except for the two sanctuaries in the middle. It is important to note
942 that prior to exploring the entire island, the only thing you would
943 be able to see on your map would be this:
946 User's Guide to Empire 22
957 It is your job to explore the island, while occupying, or securing for
958 yourself, as much land as possible. Note that for the sake of
959 simplicity I have not placed another country on this example island.
960 If a sector is a "+","c", or "s" it is an occupied (by you) sector.
961 If it's a "-" it's a wilderness sector, and if you can move into it,
962 it is unoccupied. This is an important piece of information. If you
963 can note move into a wilderness sector it means that it is occupied by
964 another country. Note that "." are seas, as indicated in chapter 5.
965 The basic commands to complete this exploration are 'explore' and
966 'designate'. Learn about those commands either from chapter 4 or
967 the game before attempting these theories.
969 First, I show the entire island prior to your breaking sanctuary and
972 --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
974 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
975 . - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - .
976 . - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - .
977 . - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - .
978 . - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - .
979 . - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - .
980 . - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - .
981 . - - - - - - - - - - - - - s s - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - .
982 . - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - .
983 . - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - .
984 . - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - .
985 . - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - .
986 . - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - .
987 . - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - .
988 . - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - .
989 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
992 Unexplored island prior to breaking sanctuary
994 --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
996 Next, I show theory 1, occupying in a concentric circle.
997 Note that once you have broken sanctuary (using the 'break'
998 command) that your two sanctuary sectors immediately become
999 capitals, with your real capital at 0,0.
1002 User's Guide to Empire 23
1005 --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1007 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
1008 . - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - .
1009 . - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - .
1010 . - - - - - - - - - - - + + + + + + - - - - - - - - - - - - - .
1011 . - - - - - - - - - + + + + + + + + + - - - - - - - - - - - - .
1012 . - - - - - - - - - + + + + + + + + + + - - - - - - - - - - - .
1013 . - - - - - - - - + + + + + + + + + + + - - - - - - - - - - - .
1014 . - - - - - - - - + + + + + c c + + + + + - - - - - - - - - - .
1015 . - - - - - - - - + + + + + + + + + + + - - - - - - - - - - - .
1016 . - - - - - - - - - + + + + + + + + + + - - - - - - - - - - - .
1017 . - - - - - - - - - + + + + + + + + + - - - - - - - - - - - - .
1018 . - - - - - - - - - - + + + + + + + + - - - - - - - - - - - - .
1019 . - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - .
1020 . - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - .
1021 . - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - .
1022 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
1025 Island showing exploration using theory 1
1027 --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1029 So far, 84 sectors have been occupied. Now I show theory 2,
1030 occupying in spokes with concentric hexes spaced every few sectors
1033 --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1035 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
1036 . - - - - - - - - - - + + + + + + + + - - - - - - - - - - - - .
1037 . - - - - - - - - - + + - - - - - + + - - - - - - - - - - - - .
1038 . - - - - - - - - - + - + - - - - + - + - - - - - - - - - - - .
1039 . - - - - - - - - + - - + + + + + - - + - - - - - - - - - - - .
1040 . - - - - - - - - + - - + + - - + + - - + - - - - - - - - - - .
1041 . - - - - - - - + - - + - + + + - + - - + - - - - - - - - - - .
1042 . - - - - - - - + + + + + + c c + + + + + + - - - - - - - - - .
1043 . - - - - - - - + - - + - + + + - + - - + - - - - - - - - - - .
1044 . - - - - - - - - + - - + + - - + + - - + - - - - - - - - - - .
1045 . - - - - - - - - + - - + + + + + - - + - - - - - - - - - - - .
1046 . - - - - - - - - - + - + - - - - + - + - - - - - - - - - - - .
1047 . - - - - - - - - - + + - - - - - + + - - - - - - - - - - - - .
1048 . - - - - - - - - - - + + + + + + + + - - - - - - - - - - - - .
1049 . - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - .
1050 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
1053 Island showing exploration using theory 2
1055 --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1059 User's Guide to Empire 24
1061 Now, 84 sectors have once again been occupied. However, an additional
1062 56 sectors are now within the borders of your country. Thus, securing
1063 a total of 140 sectors for yourself. The disadvantage? You have three
1064 lines of occupation ( the "+" sectors) between the center of your
1065 country and unsecured wilderness. In theory 1, the same number of
1066 sectors provides for 4 lines for most of the country. Another
1067 disadvantage is that it costs more mobility to use theory 2. The more
1068 lines of occupation you have between the central areas of your
1069 country and the unexplored wilderness or an enemy the easier it is
1070 to defend your country.
1072 A third theory is the idea of coastal occupation as a means of securing
1073 a large island. The idea being to secure the land immediately around
1074 you and then explore in one direction until you find seas, and then
1075 proceed to occupy the coast:
1077 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1079 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
1080 . + + + + + + + + + + + - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - .
1081 . + - - - - - - - - - + - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - .
1082 . + - - - - - - - - - - + - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - .
1083 . + - - - - - - - - - - + - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - .
1084 . + - - - - - - - - - - - + + + + - - - - - - - - - - - - - - .
1085 . + - - - - - - - - - - + + + + + - - - - - - - - - - - - - - .
1086 . + - - - - - - - - - - + + c c + + + + + + + - - - - - - - - .
1087 . + - - - - - - - - - - + + + + + - - - - - + - - - - - - - - .
1088 . + - - - - - - - - - - - + + + + - - - - - - + - - - - - - - .
1089 . + - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - + - - - - - - - .
1090 . + - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - + - - - - - - .
1091 . + - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - + - - - - - - .
1092 . + - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - + - - - - - .
1093 . + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + - - - - - .
1094 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
1097 Island showing exploration using theory 3
1099 --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1101 Here, once again, 84 sectors have been occupied. In addition, 179
1102 sectors of wilderness have been secured, ie cut off from another
1103 country. This brings a total of 263 sectors occupied or secured.
1104 This is obviously impressive. However, it has its drawbacks as well.
1105 If there was a country bordering this country, that country would
1106 need only to attack and occupy one of your sectors and then they
1107 could explore into all of the "secured" sectors. In addition, there
1108 are only 2-3 lines of occupied sectors between the borders and the
1109 center of the country. This also costs more in terms of mobility than
1110 either theory 1 or 2.
1112 The next section contains a strategy submitted by Scott Yelich. Scott
1113 adheres in this summary to theory 1 as his method of exploration:
1116 User's Guide to Empire 25
1119 "Designate one of the two initial [sanctuary] capital sectors to
1120 an agricultural center. Then move a civ out from either sector to
1121 either 1,-1 or 1,1 and designate it a +. Then, I continue to move out
1122 one civilian at a time from both of my initial sectors. Only move
1123 the civ one spot into the wilderness and then I designate that sector
1124 as a highway (+). Then, do a map to see if there is anything
1125 especially interesting... such as, a mountain, more land or ANOTHER
1126 PLAYER. Of course, Only do that map at certain times... it's not
1127 necessary to do a map after EVERY explore since explore will show you
1128 a one sector radius!
1130 [Editor's note: exploring with one civilian across a wilderness sector
1131 takes .8 mobility. Across a highway, even a 0% highway, it will cost
1132 only .2 mobility. Thus, the reason for designating new land as soon
1133 as you occupy it. You will conserve mobility if you only explore into
1134 lands bordering your new highways.]
1136 "Here is where quick action comes into play. If you spot any controlled
1137 sectors (?) or a (-) that can't be entered (if you can note move into the
1138 sector it is occupied by someone else! hurry!), try to make a boarder as
1139 quick as possible by following the pattern above... move one civ, look,
1140 repeat. If you don't find any controlled sectors, simply [try] to
1141 AVOID MOUNTAINS at ALL costs... especially during the first couple of
1142 updates. Typically, from 30 to 70 sectors can be grabbed this way
1143 within the first minute or two.
1145 "To sum up, the strategy for this is: 1) You want to see who is out there,
1146 2) You want to see what land is out there, 3) when you take more sectors
1147 during the initial updates, you will get more mobility each update
1148 (typically 8, 'version' will tell...). Anyway, the more sectors you grab
1149 with the first update, the more you can grab the second. It's like an
1150 exponential function."
1153 This next section is a strategy submitted by Geoff Cashman. Geoff
1154 adheres in this summary to theory 2 as his method for exploration:
1156 "The basic strategy of moving one sector into the wilderness and then
1157 designate them with a command such as this: designate #1 ?des=- + which will
1158 designate all sectors in realm #1 that are wilderness into highways, is a
1159 common one. Using it wisely is not always done. My personal method is to
1160 expand only in a few directions, ie 3-6 different directions from your 0,0 2,0
1161 area. The idea here being to make "spokes" of exploration radiating out from
1162 your 0,0 and 2,0 area. Using this method, you can use less mobility and see
1163 more land though not actually own more land until after the first update.
1164 Another advantage is you might reach an opponent before s/he reaches you. A
1165 weakness is that an opponent can explore inbetween your spokes. If I feel
1166 this is possible inbetween two spokes then I connect the spokes via concentric
1167 (on 2,0 0,0 ) arc several sectors out from the 0,0. If you do not use this
1168 method, then you would use up all of your mobility to achieve the same number
1169 of sectors by the second update.
1173 User's Guide to Empire 26
1175 "Why save mobility? Mobility in the 0,0 sector is especially critical.
1176 The reason is because the 0,0 starts out with 999 civs. If a sector has
1177 999 or more civs it will not give birth to more civilians. Half of the
1178 battle in winning Empire is population explosion at the beginning of the
1179 game...ESPECIALLY if you get involved in a low tech war with a neighbor
1180 early on. More population means more resources mined, more supportable
1181 military, and more taxpayers. If you are going to be a tech producer then
1182 it may be desireable to limit population, but early on I do not recommend
1183 it. So, with 999 civs in your 0,0 sector you need to be able to move out
1184 many civs (depends on the number of ETUs per update (see the version command)
1185 as to how many you should move out, see number of births per 1,000 civs per
1186 etu in the version command). Thus, my strategy is slightly different.
1187 I concentrate on getting a 100% highway built at 1,-1 or 1,1. Why those
1188 sectors? because I can then use the mobility in 1,-1 or 1,1 to move civs
1189 or products into 2,0."
1192 The use of the third theory requires a player with some experience
1193 to deal with its shortcomings. For the beginner, I do not recommend
1196 The following was submitted by another player to point out their means
1197 of establishing their production and the beginning stages of their
1200 "Setting up a distribution network, even with inefficient warehouses, is
1201 fairly critical early on. If you starve civilians in the beginning of the
1202 game, you will fall behind in production. It is not uncommon to lose
1203 contact with the game for a day or more due to net failures. Do not
1204 depend on your capability to connect to the game to feed your civilians.
1206 "Some people never leave their 0,0 or 2,0 designated as a capital during the
1207 beginning of the game. They check the resources in 0,0 and then determine if
1208 it's suitable for being a mine or a gold mine. If neither, then they designate
1209 2,0 into a mine. If mine, then 2,0 becomes a gold mine. Using this method
1210 they can get maximum production from their civilians that are essentially
1211 trapped for the time being in their 0,0 and 2,0 sectors due to lack of
1212 mobility. Note that in doing this that you must conserve BTUs. Having
1213 a 0% efficient capital somewhere else will cause a lack of production of
1214 BTUs. You must be careful not to run out of BTUs completely, or it could
1215 cause you a great deal of grief.
1218 "NOTE: IT IS EXTREMELY DANGEROUS TO LEAVE A CAPITAL ON THE COAST AFTER
1219 ANYONE PRODUCES A BOAT. Until that time, a capital on the coast is
1220 an advantage in some ways. It is easier to defend (less places that
1221 it can be attacked from). You MUST get some civilians into the capital
1222 at -2,0 (about 50) before the first update along with some food.
1223 In general, your capital will not produce BTUs for a while, but neither
1224 do you need them for a while. However, leave your 0,0 sector as your
1225 capital until JUST prior (like 2-4 minutes, make it 10 to be safe) to
1226 the update. Does this all sound complicated? Yep. But it works.
1230 User's Guide to Empire 27
1233 "After the first or second update I will occupy the remaining wilderness
1234 that I can see, using the mobility from the sectors that I explored into
1235 in the previous update. I will then continue to move civs out of 0,0 and
1236 into 1,-1 or 1,1 (the highway that I am trying to make 100%) and move from
1237 there. If I am not going for tech production then I don't need the library
1238 or parks (you can still make education, it helps in some regards, but for
1239 the most part you don't need it if you are not going the way of tech.
1241 You can then pretty much do as you please and work towards the goals you
1242 think are reasonable for your country. "
1244 One matter that can not be overlooked by any player is the simple
1245 fact that people need food to survive. If a sector has less than
1246 60 people in it total, including civs, soldiers, and uws, then it
1247 will not starve. But if after the update it has more than 60 total
1248 people will starve. Make sure to feed your people!
1250 Ultimately, you want to take over every sector on your island.
1251 If you have neighbors on your island, you will probably have to share.
1252 Just try to get a bigger portion of it than your neighbors do.
1254 Summary: There are several basic ideas expressed in this chapter:
1255 1) Break sanctuary as soon as the game begins.
1256 2) Secure as much land for yourself as possible.
1257 3) Use your civilians efficiently.
1258 4) Do not allow your 0,0 sector to have a lot of civs in it.
1259 5) Get a distribution system set up early (explained later).
1263 User's Guide to Empire 28
1265 Chapter 6 :-: Diplomacy.
1267 It's your own ruin or success. One of the best players of the game
1268 (who shall go un-named) has had severe problems due to lack of skill
1269 in diplomacy. Remember, there is another person on the other end of
1270 that telegram. They are human like you are, and like to be treated
1271 like it for the most part. There are jerks, and there are non-jerks.
1272 Determine for yourself and go along with what you think is best, but
1273 remember, it is ok to lose a few battles so long as you win the war.
1274 A diplomatic loss can be an overall victory.
1276 One of the most powerful weapons in the game is information.
1277 What types of information can you use to your benefit? Information on;
1278 the locality of other countries, the plans of opponents, the trading
1279 going on between certain countries, etc. There is also a very powerful
1280 tool right here in this document: how to play the game well. There
1281 was a classic case of a country (myself) who accidentally announced
1282 his attention to attack a bordering country. The bordering country
1283 happened to be on, an began an attack. The attack stalemated for the
1284 most part because of the obvious inexperience of the person running
1285 that country. I offered information to him on how to play the game
1286 better in exchange for his surrender and some other terms of agreement.
1287 I turned a horrendous diplomatic mistake into a diplomatic success
1288 within two hours. This is obviously the rare case (surprised me too),
1289 but is a good example of the power of information.
1291 Another aspect of diplomacy is style. You project a style in your
1292 telegrams and announcements whether it is intentional or not. If
1293 people like you they tend to side with you more than the next guy.
1294 Of course, if you are a jerk but a powerful one people tend to
1295 reluctantly side with you. Then again, they are more likely to
1298 While I am on that subject: Backstabbing is a bad idea in general.
1299 It leads to distrust of many players with regards to yourself and tends
1300 to give yourself backstabbist's wrist if you do it too much. Even if
1301 you change your country name from game to game people tend to pick
1302 out who the major jerks are and their previous names or even net
1303 addresses. Trust is important. If you have allies you can trust
1304 implicitly you will sleep a lot better at night and also have people
1305 who you can trust to run your country for you while you are away for a
1306 few days pursuing real world goals. If you are going to backstab
1307 someone crush them while you can and make sure their allies can not
1308 get at you. Furthermore, make the world see that the person was a
1309 fool for trusting you in the first place (like, due to previous war
1310 or some such). Sometimes, that extra attack you get without
1311 interference from automatic defenses due to a declaration of alliance
1312 with your opponent can be critical. You can also map an opponent
1313 country if you are allied with them and they will never know it.
1314 Thus another good reason why you should be trustable and can trust
1315 other close allies. Having allies is important, especially
1316 in the current market games.
1320 User's Guide to Empire 29
1322 A) What is diplomacy?
1323 The dictionary defines diplomacy as "1: The art and practice of
1324 conducting negotiations between nations. 2: Skill in handling
1325 affairs without arousing hostility." The second definition may
1326 not be entirely accurate in that in Empire, diplomacy can sometimes
1327 be used to cause battles, rather than avoid them, to gain a particular
1328 end. I will go into this later.
1330 B) What purpose, diplomacy?
1331 Since Empire is a multi-user game the diplomacy side of the game
1332 is one of the main factors inherent to its playing. Being able
1333 to interact with other players, make bargains, treaties, alliances,
1334 sales, war, etc. leads to an incredibly variety of possible
1335 scenarios among various countries. In asking, what purpose is
1336 there to diplomacy, it must first be realized that diplomacy in
1337 the game of Empire is virtually unavoidable. To what degree
1338 you involve yourself in diplomacy is the true measure.
1340 Diplomacy can be utterly disastrous for you. It can also be
1341 very beneficial. It can also be a mediocre tool that goes mostly
1342 unused. If you master the techniques of diplomacy you will find
1343 yourself with a very valuable and powerful tool. If you fail
1344 at grasping the basic concepts of diplomacy, then you may find
1345 yourself the quick victim of a diplomatic trick.
1347 C) General types of relations amongst nations in Empire
1348 1) No contact. The two countries have never been in contact.
1349 2) Allies. Several types:
1350 a) Old friends, or local site friends.
1351 b) People whom you trust more than other people
1352 in the game, but are not entirely comfortable with.
1353 Nevertheless, you ally with them for lack of allies.
1354 c) Enemy allies. People whom you ally with whom you
1356 d) Undeclared allies. You conduct a lot of business with
1357 the country, but you do not officially declare your
1359 3) Hostile. Generally speaking, any country who is unfriendly
1360 towards you. May not necessarily be declared hostile.
1361 4) At war. If you have not figured out what this means, stop
1362 reading, never play Empire, and go back to elementary school :-)
1363 5) Neutral. The broadest category. You've dealt with this person
1364 but have not decided one way or another your relations. It might
1365 be a person from a previous game or a total unknown.
1367 d) Types of diplomacy
1369 You interact with the country on a very high level. Whatever
1370 their relations with you, a lot of correspondence is going on.
1371 This is probably the easiest form of diplomacy to invoke.
1372 2) Passive diplomacy
1373 Low level contact only. In essence, you do not work with
1374 this country. Some goals served by this: Country in question
1377 User's Guide to Empire 30
1379 learns little about you; Country in question may give you more
1380 info than you give him or her; etc..
1381 3) Indirect diplomacy
1382 Diplomacy through a middle country to another country. This
1383 is most often seen in situations where a known friend is an
1384 ally of a country you want to be allied with. You attempt
1385 to use your friend to convince the prospective ally to ally
1388 Being the middle person in a triad or more of allies that
1389 may not be already allied. This can be a VERY dangerous
1390 position to be in. The other sides of the triad or more
1391 may have certain expectations of you, which go against what
1392 another country may want from you. This is essentially
1395 E) Some goals that can be achieved through diplomacy:
1396 1) Getting another country to ally with you so that you can
1397 overfly his country at will without planes scrambling.
1398 2) Getting two countries whom you dislike to go to war against
1400 3) Getting another country to perform an act that is beneficial
1401 to you or your allies.
1402 4) Getting a reduction in price of certain commodities or articles
1403 from another country.
1405 6) Assisting in destroying an enemy.
1409 One of the most dangerous means by which diplomacy can be used was
1410 written about in the book "Red Storm Rising" by Tom Clancy. If you
1411 have not already read this book and you are an Empire buff, it is
1412 strongly recommended reading. This method is referred to as "The
1413 Maskirovka" or "Masquerade". It is often referred to as the "big lie"
1414 by the victims of this trick. Essentially it works as follows:
1416 a) You wish to attack another country, but would like to have things
1417 sightly different before the attack begins.
1418 o You may want that person to be your ally before the attack
1419 so you can overfly him/her without being shot down.
1420 o You might want to get him/her to give you a loan prior to
1422 o You might want them to move their fleet off in another
1423 direction or in closer to your forts.
1424 o You might want them to give you certain materials of war
1425 that you can use in your attack against them.
1426 All of these things and much more can be accomplished with
1427 the concept of maskirovka. Decide what you want to achieve.
1428 b) You set out to give the impression to the target country that you
1429 are in a particular state of matters. This can be accomplished
1430 in various ways depending on what you are trying to achieve.
1431 You can have another country attack you for instance to make it
1434 User's Guide to Empire 31
1436 appear that you need military arms or supplies to hold them off.
1437 This is one small example of what can be done. Ensure that the
1438 image you are presenting can ultimately lead to getting what you
1439 want to achieve accomplished.
1440 c) You must be convincing in your impression. Use all means reasonable
1441 to ensure the target country is getting the right image. Using
1442 e-mail with collaborating countries to coordinate such matters
1444 d) As you begin feeling that you have achieved the correct image,
1445 begin asking the target country for whatever it is you are trying
1446 to achieve. Do not come right out and say it. That may cause
1447 the whole trick to collapse on you. Approach it sideways so to
1448 speak, and try to get the target country to offer whatever it is
1449 without you directly asking for it.
1450 e) If the country agrees to the transaction of events you are seeking,
1451 all is well and good. You have achieved your goal. Keep in mind
1452 that if you have played the maskirovka well, you have not yet
1453 committed yourself in any particular direction with any sense of
1454 strong commitment. At this point, you can always back down from
1455 your further goals for which the maskirovka was designed to help.
1456 The maskirovka at this point will have given you a more favorable
1457 situation without having committed yourself. It may also have
1458 enabled you to see more into the mind of your opponent, often
1459 a valuable commodity.
1460 f) If you have failed in your maskirovka, you may still have made
1461 some gains. You again might know more about your opponent than
1462 before. You might have reached some of your goals that the
1463 maskirovka set out to accomplish. Lastly, you have not committed
1464 yourself in any particular direction, yet you have tried to
1465 enhance your position. Not a bad proposition.
1467 There are many variations to maskirovkas. The guides listed above are
1468 very general at best, and are meant more to give you an idea of how to
1469 build a plan for maskirovka than anything else.
1471 Chess players who have ever played in matches or tournaments will
1472 probably feel right at home in scheming a maskirovka. You must try to
1473 get into the mind of your opponent, understand what s/he sees from
1474 his/her vantage point and get a feel for how you think s/he will
1475 respond. You must think as if you were your opponent. Understand
1476 their vantage point as best as you can. Do not think of what you
1477 would do in a given situation, think what they would do. Think
1478 consequences to every action you can take.
1480 This usage of diplomacy is "active diplomacy", sometimes mixed with
1481 "indirect diplomacy".
1483 Another oft seen ploy of sorts is one in which you befriend a dying
1484 rich country. They may be on there way out, and there may not be a
1485 whole hell of a lot you can do for them. However, befriending them
1486 towards the end may bring you gifts of money or lower market prices
1487 from them when they dissolve. Show sympathy for their situation.
1488 You can be sincere, or you may chose not to be. Sometimes a dying
1491 User's Guide to Empire 32
1493 country has no friends to whom they will leave their money. If your
1494 the first to show sympathy, they may be willing to give you much in
1495 return. This is an active form of diplomacy, but is rarely seen
1496 except after a long period of passiveness relative to that country.
1498 Posturing. Probably the most common form of diplomacy. This basically
1499 means presenting an image to a possible attacker that you are more
1500 capable than you appear. In general, people tend to believe it.
1501 Consider the simple fact that generally speaking a good Empire player
1502 spends a lot of time working on his or her country. Then, let them
1503 believe through posturing that they are at a greater risk than
1504 they actually are. They may tend to get possessive about their
1505 country and not want to risk its destruction and the eventual loss
1506 of so many sleepless nights and hours building the country in the
1510 Summary: Diplomacy is a powerful tool. Some players consider it the
1511 most powerful aspect of the game. In many ways that can be shown
1512 to be true. However, do not let other facets of your country
1513 decline and spend a huge amount of time building an excellent
1514 diplomatic situation. The success or failure of diplomacy depends a
1515 great deal on the other players perception of your words. If your
1516 diplomacy fails, you may find that you will be forced to back up what
1517 you say with military force.
1521 User's Guide to Empire 33
1523 Chapter 7 :-: Setting up your defenses.
1525 There are various means of "automatic" defense that Empire employs
1526 against enemy invaders. These can be outlined in three major areas:
1528 1: Home air defenses
1530 Empire has numerous planes and plane capabilities. The higher
1531 your tech level, the better the planes you can build. For
1532 automatic defenses you are concerned with planes that have the
1533 "intercept" capability listed next to them in the command,
1536 Generally speaking, as some games diverge from this list, the
1537 planes that have intercept capability are:
1538 a: Fighter 1 (also has VTOL capability)
1540 c: Escort 2 (in SOME games)
1542 e: Jet fighter 2 (also has VTOL capability)
1544 These planes are based out of airbases (except for the VTOL
1545 planes which can scramble from airbases and non-airbase
1546 sectors) and will automatically intercept incoming enemy
1549 notes: 1: Planes will only scramble if there is petrol in
1550 the sector they are scrambling from.
1551 2: Airbases must be at 60% or better efficiency to
1552 scramble. This does not apply to other sectors
1553 from which VTOL planes are scrambling, nor does it
1554 apply to VTOL planes in airports.
1556 In this version of Empire it is VERY important to have a good
1557 home air defense network. Having a great many planes with
1558 intercept capability without proper planning is not a good
1559 defense. You must learn to use the planes wisely.
1561 Hints for good home air defense:
1562 1: Have airports within intercept range of each other.
1563 A plane's intercept range is 1/2 of its range indicated
1564 in the command 'show planes c'. For example:
1567 User's Guide to Empire 34
1570 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1572 [513:36] Command : show planes c
1573 acc load att def ran fuel abilities
1574 Sopwith Camel, fight 30 1 3 2 6 1 tactical intercept VTOL light
1575 TBD-1 Devastator, lt 30 2 1 2 8 1 bomber tactical VTOL light
1576 C-56 Lodestar, trans 0 7 0 1 15 2 cargo
1577 B-26B Marauder, hvy 85 6 2 3 15 2 bomber
1580 Results from 'show planes capability'
1582 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1584 In this list of planes, only the Sopwith Camel plane is
1585 capable of interception. It has a range of 6, and thus
1586 it can intercept enemy planes up to 3 sectors away from
1587 the sector it is based in. Have your planes based in
1588 sectors that are three sectors away from each other.
1589 2: Always have a substantial number of military in your
1590 airports. It is all too easy for an enemy to track
1591 down your airport and capture it, thus possibly destroying
1592 all your planes, and in the very least taking them
1594 3: Ensure that all sectors that you have planes based in
1595 have a sufficient amount of petrol for them. Note that in
1596 the above figure, the Sopwith Camel uses 1 fuel per
1597 mission. Thus, having 10 or more petrol per Sopwith
1598 would be sufficient.
1599 4: Do not base your entire defense on non-VTOL capable
1600 interceptors. If you do, then your enemy can remove
1601 your air defenses just by taking out your airports.
1602 Sopwith Camels (Fighter 1s) and Jet Fighter 2s are
1603 the VTOL intercept capable planes. Sopwith Camels
1604 generally become useless for intercept duty as the
1605 game wears on. After all, a paper airplane can not
1606 put up with cannon fire from an F-15 for very long!
1607 5: It is a good idea to have each sector in your country
1608 covered by at least two airbases (or non airbases from
1609 which your are basing VTOL planes). This makes it more
1610 difficult for your enemy to locate where your airbases are.
1614 Forts will automatically fire on any enemy army units that
1615 attack land of the defending nation, assuming that the guns
1616 in the fort have the range to reach the aggressor. This
1617 also assumes that the fort has shells and military.
1619 Fort gun range is determined by multiplying the number of guns
1620 in the fort by the technology factor of the nation. This
1621 number can be found in the nation report [see command: nation].
1624 User's Guide to Empire 35
1626 Here's an example of calculating your gun range:
1628 --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1630 [77:144] Command : nation
1632 Terminus Nation Report Sun Oct 20 18:27:08 1991
1633 Nation status is ACTIVE Bureaucratic Time Units: 144
1634 100% eff capital at -3,5 has 999 civilians & 0 military
1635 # 0 -70:-40,-30:-16 # 1 -35:25,-3:15 # 2 -30:15,-4:7
1636 # 3 -45:5,7:22 # 4 -45:5,7:17 # 5 -65:-20,-31:0
1637 # 6 -65:-20,-12:0 # 7 -80:-30,-5:10 # 8 -8:10,-5:5
1638 # 9 -32:32,11:22 #10 -50:18,-12:10 #11 -40:-10,-5:5
1639 #12 -38:29,-3:23 #13 -65:30,-18:6 #14 -20:20,16:22
1640 #15 -30:30,-3:23 #16 -40:20,7:25 #17 -80:30,-30:23
1641 The treasury has $57485.00 Military reserves: 1676
1642 Education.......... 17.78 Happiness....... 13.42
1643 Technology......... 52.78 Research........ 1.44
1644 Technology factor : 40.66% Plague factor : 1.51%
1647 Results from a 'nation' report
1649 --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1651 To calculate the gun range, multiply the number of guns in
1652 the fort (up to a maximum of seven) by the number listed in
1653 "Technology factor" which is shown in this figure as 40.66.
1654 Then, divide the resulting number by one hundred and that
1655 is the number of sectors away the gun can fire at. In this
1656 case, if you have seven guns the resulting range is 2.85
1657 sectors. Effectively, the fort can fire just short of three
1660 There is an additional aspect of forts which make them
1661 useful as defensive sectors. Military forces inside of
1662 a fort have four times the defensive factor of military in
1663 most other sectors. Ie, 100 soldiers in a fort is equal to
1664 400 regular troops if they are defending the fort.
1666 Also note that forts can not be taken by paratroops dropped
1667 from planes. They can only be taken via amphibious assault
1668 and overland attack.
1670 Forts are generally useful along your border sectors early
1671 in the game and later on in the game throughout your country.
1672 Ensure that they each have sufficient (seven or more) guns
1673 and shells each, when you are able to devote that many guns
1674 and shells to them. Forts are sometimes very critical when
1675 your country is being over run.
1679 User's Guide to Empire 36
1683 Your navy will defend itself if it has the capability to do
1684 so. Ships do not automatically come with guns when they are
1685 built; they must be provided with guns and shells by loading
1686 them onto the respective ship. Most ships have the capability
1687 to fire guns. Should a ship of your nation be attacked, it
1688 will defend itself if it can. In addition, ships within range
1689 will also retaliate. Note that submarines will *not* fire
1690 no matter how often they are fired at.
1692 Ships will not defend your land sectors.
1694 If ships are attacked from the air, they will fire their
1695 anti-aircraft guns (which are the same as your regular guns,
1696 and again are not automatically installed upon their
1697 construction). Anti-aircraft guns on ships are pretty much
1698 worthless on defense. Additionally, if enemy planes fly
1699 over your ships but do not attack those ships, your ships
1700 will not fire on them. Thus having a line of ships as
1701 radar pickets will not work.
1703 In addition to these three major modes of automatic defense, there
1704 are a few more minor ones.
1706 Any gun in any sector of yours that is overflown by enemy planes
1707 will fire on those planes if it has shells, guns, and military
1710 Military in any sector of yours that is attacked will automatically
1711 fight back to the best of its ability. There is no such thing as
1712 retreat in automatic military fighting. In addition, there are three
1713 sectors which multiply the effectiveness of military within them.
1714 We have already mentioned forts in this capacity, in that they
1715 multiply the effectiveness of troops within them by four. Capitals
1716 and Banks multiply troops effectiveness by two, when on the defensive.
1718 Also note that Capitals and Forts, as previously mentioned, can not
1719 be taken by airborne paratroopers. Neither can mountains.
1721 Lastly, should sectors of yours be taken, the enemy will have to deal
1722 with your patriotic guerillas. Guerillas will attempt to retake
1723 sectors from the enemy every update until they are defeated (which
1724 takes some time). They are large in numbers, but have been known to
1725 reach strengths of a hundred or more soldiers, though this is rare.
1726 If they can not hope to retake the sector they may try to blow things
1727 up in the sector the enemy has conquered. This results in loss of
1728 efficiency to the sector as well as reduction in the work capability
1731 You have *no* control over your guerillas whatsoever. They are
1732 completely automatic. Should guerillas win a sector back from your
1733 enemy then the surviving guerillas become members of your regular
1736 User's Guide to Empire 37
1738 military, and you can use them as such.
1740 If your guerillas manage to take a sector back behind enemy lines
1741 it is possible for you to enlist reservists in that sector. In
1742 so doing, you may throw a major thorn into the side of your attacker.
1743 This is a major reason for maintaining a large amount of reserves.
1745 Summary: Automatic defenses in Empire are a critical part of every country.
1746 If your country can not defend itself then you can expect to be
1747 quickly over run. Use the automatic defenses described in this
1748 chapter, and you will become a more difficult opponent. Remember
1749 the three basic areas of automatic defense. In addition, keep in
1750 mind that your airforce is probably the most important component of
1751 your automatic defenses.
1755 User's Guide to Empire 38
1757 Chapter 8 :-: Nuclear warfare.
1759 Nuclear war in Empire is not currently the dreaded end of the world
1760 doomsday machine it is in the real world. Nuclear weapons in the
1761 standard release of Empire have no fallout, no radiation, no dust
1762 clouds, etc. Nuclear weapons in Empire are essentially big
1763 conventional bombs. They are "clean" weapons in that the only
1764 difference between them and conventional bombs is that they are
1765 bigger and create nuclear wasteland.
1767 As such, a nuclear war is much more survivable.
1769 There are several things that you need in order to wage nuclear
1770 war against an enemy. First, you need the nuclear warheads themselves.
1771 You will also need a missile or plane of sufficient type and range to
1772 launch the warheads on. Lastly, you need to have target information,
1773 ie where to land the nuclear warhead to cause the damage you want it
1776 Next, you need to decide if it is worth the cost to wage a nuclear
1777 war. Should the enemy country know where you are, and have the means
1778 to retaliate in kind, s/he will most likely do so. This can cause
1779 grave damage to your own country, and eliminate any gains you may have
1780 achieved by beginning a nuclear war.
1782 There is also the large chance of great diplomatic cost. Most
1783 countries do not tend to favor countries that rely on nuclear weapons
1784 for victory, since it is the "easy" way out.
1786 However, the scenario that the beginner needs to be most concerned
1787 about is being the victim of a nuclear attack. Most beginners never
1788 come close to achieving enough strength to have an effective nuclear
1789 force. It may take several games before you become practiced enough
1790 to maintain an economy and military that is capable of having the
1791 resources, etc. necessary for such a force. Nuclear weapons can be
1792 bought from larger powers, however the beginner still rarely tends
1795 In the event that you are attacked with nuclear weapons you need
1796 to take immediate steps in order to ensure your survival. You must
1797 first decide if it is in fact worth it for you to continue. Most
1798 nuclear attacks are survivable. In many cases, you may be hit by
1799 only one warhead. Depending on the size of your country, a small
1800 number of warheads hitting you is survivable. This all assumes the
1801 warheads are of the 5mt variety. 5mt warheads create a wasteland
1802 that is 5 sectors long from left to right. 3mt warheads create
1803 wasteland that is 3 sectors from left to right. Diameter in both
1804 cases is the same north-south as east-west. These are the only
1805 nuclear weapons that can really create serious problems for you.
1806 Other nuclear weapons cause problems, but are essentially nuisances
1807 that can be easily overcome.
1809 The following is a map of your -20:0,-10:3 region. You have been
1812 User's Guide to Empire 39
1814 hit with a 3mt nuclear warhead at your sector -12,-6. It wastelanded
1815 7 of your sectors and damaged nearly the entire area.
1818 --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1820 21111111111----------
1821 098765432109876543210
1822 10 . . . . . . . . . . . 10
1823 9 . . ) . . h f . . . 9
1824 8 . . a m g o + m . . . 8
1825 7 . a + \ \ + * m . . 7
1826 6 = # + \ \ \ w b ) . . 6
1827 5 . . h \ \ + e f . . 5
1828 4 . . f + + c f l . . . 4
1829 3 . . k j + f m m . . 3
1830 211111111119876543210
1831 09876543210----------
1834 Map of area hit by 3mt nuclear warhead
1836 --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1839 Here is a basic outline of what you will need to do should you be hit
1840 with one or more 3mt or greater warheads:
1842 1: Get food to the people in areas that need food. Especially areas
1843 that are partially or totally cut off from the rest of your country.
1844 ON THE MAP ABOVE: This would probably be necessary for all sectors
1845 east of -12 and/or north of -4.
1847 2: Distribution routes *will* be cut off by a nuclear hit. Redo your
1848 distribution routes around the nuclear wasteland areas. Make sure
1849 that your new distribution center has enough food to feed the people
1850 you are trying to support with it.
1851 ON THE MAP ABOVE: This would probably be necessary for all sectors
1853 3: Move people into the area affected by the blast. Get highways in
1854 the area back up to efficiency as soon as possible. This will
1855 allow for increased movement in the immediate area of the blast
1856 which could be critical to the survival of the people in that area
1857 as well as defense of the area.
1858 ON THE MAP ABOVE: You will probably need to restructure your
1859 highway system in the region. Move people in
1860 from the south-east (off the map).
1861 4: Lastly, try to get production back online in the area. This is
1862 not as critical as the first three things.
1864 Those are the essentials for recovering from a nuclear blast. The
1867 User's Guide to Empire 40
1869 first three items should be done as soon as possible top to bottom,
1870 ie number one is priority one.
1872 There are also defense considerations after you have been hit by
1873 a nuclear blast. Your air defenses in the area might be wiped out
1874 which would allow your opponent to take over your land in that area.
1875 There are also steps you can use to shore up your defenses in the
1876 area while you are getting the area back on its feet:
1878 1: Enlist military in the region. Looking at the map in figure 12,
1879 You might do something like:
1881 [23:210] Command: enlist -20:0,-10:3 -25
1883 That would enlist military in the region so that every sector had
1884 at least 25 military in it. Note that you can only enlist half of
1885 the population in a sector at one time, but you can enlist in the
1886 same sector over and over again.
1888 Doing this would hamper an enemy's progress should they attempt a
1889 paradrop assault in the region.
1891 2: Move undamaged or nearly undamaged VTOL fighter planes from the
1892 south-east (off the map) into the area. Do not put them on
1893 the airbase. Provide them with petrol as well. This will
1894 shore up your air defenses which were damaged by the blast. It
1895 will also make it much more difficult for an enemy power to attack
1896 by air in the region.
1898 3: Move guns and shells into the forts on the map if they are not
1899 already there. Make sure there is at least 7 guns and a lot of
1900 shells in each fort. Also make sure there are substantial military
1901 forces in each. This will help prevent extended military action
1902 on land by an enemy.
1904 4: Move naval forces into the region if possible. This will help
1905 to prevent amphibious assaults.
1907 If you do all of these things, recovery from the blast will not
1908 take long at all. These things will minimize the effect of the
1909 blast and get the area back on its feet again.
1911 Do not be dismayed by loss of resources etc. You *can* recover.
1912 I have been a victim of nuclear war probably half a dozen times,
1913 and so far have found only one case in which I was crippled by
1914 the effects. My entire homeland (of ~100 sectors) was
1915 wastelanded except for less than 10 sectors. No, I could no
1916 longer hope to win the game, but I did hang on long enough to
1917 purchase a nuclear warhead and missile and attack the person
1918 who nuked me. Doing something like this will make the player
1919 who nuked you respect you more in future games, and consider
1920 the consequences before pushing that button.
1924 User's Guide to Empire 41
1926 It has become fairly routine lately for games to end with a world
1927 wide nuke-off. Generally speaking, nations having nuclear weapons
1928 threaten the world with destruction if they are not acknowledged
1929 as victors. Other people protest of course, and nuclear war happens.
1930 A game that has taken eight weeks to evolve to that point can be
1931 destroyed in less than an hour in the hottest nuclear wars. This
1932 of course does not lead to any clear cut winner, and is rather
1933 pointless but people do it anyway. It is after all, a game, and
1934 people want to have fun. Nuclear war, to many people in Empire,
1937 Summary: Do not be demoralized by a nuclear attack. Powers using nuclear
1938 weapons expect their opponents to get demoralized. Recovery from a
1939 nuclear attack of larger degree is possible as well. It takes
1940 perseverance and sometimes hard work. Don't be dismayed by mass
1941 starvations. Populations can recover if you work at it. Your
1942 reputation may be greatly improved if you do recover from a nuclear
1947 User's Guide to Empire 42
1949 Chapter 9 :-: Technology.
1951 By most people's definitions technology or the means to purchase
1952 technological weapons from another country is one of the most
1953 critical elements in doing well in Empire.
1955 Having technology allows you to:
1956 1. Have increased ranges on your land based radar.
1957 2. Build higher capability planes.
1958 3. Build more advanced types of planes.
1959 4. Build higher capability ships (not as great an effect as in planes)
1960 5. Build more advanced types of ships.
1962 7. Build nuclear weapons.
1963 8. Have increased ranges on your guns in forts.
1965 Thus, having a high technology country is a very useful thing.
1966 However, attaining a high technology level is very difficult for
1967 the beginner. Running a country that has an economy balanced well
1968 enough to produce technology at a rate sufficient to stay in the
1969 technology race is a very difficult task, even for players who are
1970 more experienced and/or have a lot of allies supporting their
1973 Producing tech is expensive. It costs a lot in terms of money
1974 and materials. Not only do you have to produce tech, but you
1975 have to educate your people to a high enough degree that tech
1976 production can be done efficiently. Doing this takes a great
1977 many light construction materials (lcms) for education, and a
1978 large amount of oil, gold dust and lcms for tech production.
1980 It is not uncommon for tech nations to be one of the smallest
1981 and poorest nations around. Most of their time and resources
1982 have to be devoted to tech production rather than ships for
1983 exploration and military to defend outlying colonies.
1985 Do not fantasize. If you are a beginner, forget about producing
1986 tech no matter how good you think you are. You will be wasting
1987 your resources in doing so and crippling your economy while other
1988 countries will run far far ahead of you in production.
1990 In general, until you have played a few games it is far better to
1991 purchase high technology items from other players. Diplomacy,
1992 discussed at length in chapter 7, is an effective tool for
1993 purchasing technologically superior items.
1995 Should you decide to run tech, there are several things you should
1996 know. If you are able to take these into account, and balance these
1997 factors against each other you may be able to produce tech at a
1998 sufficient rate to stay with the leaders.
2000 Education is important to produce tech. You have to have an
2001 education level of at least five before you can produce any. However,
2004 User's Guide to Empire 43
2006 an education level of five will produce tech only in an inefficient
2007 manner. The higher your education level, the more efficiently tech
2008 will be produced. This means that a single tech center can produce
2009 more tech per update, and cost you less in raw materials, though it
2010 will cost the same per unit of tech produced. The savings in raw
2011 materials is critical.
2013 Some countries feel it is better to keep your population low when
2014 they are planning on having a high education level. The reasoning
2015 behind this is that it takes less effort to educate a small number
2016 of people and costs less money as well. There is a bad side to this
2017 plan though. With a small population it is hard to produce things
2018 in large quantities, and exploring into and occupying new lands is
2021 Technology production demands a large amount of resources. Especially
2022 oil. However, the higher tech you are the more oil you are able to
2023 refine per amount of crude oil in the ground. Thus, it is better to
2024 only take out of the ground what oil you need to keep your country
2025 running, and leave the rest for later on when you have higher tech,
2026 and get more per barrel of crude. Thus, if you were to do the
2029 [23:512] Command: resource 4,0
2031 You might see that your 4,0 sector has 100 units of oil in the ground.
2032 At tech 0 you'll be lucky if you get 500 barrels of oil out of that.
2033 However, at tech 100 you will probably get somewhere around 700-750.
2034 That's a big difference. So, only take approximately what oil you will
2035 need for each update out of the ground, and leave the rest for later.
2037 Tech production also requires gold dust. Gold dust mining is not
2038 affected by tech like oil wells are. Thus, mining the gold dust
2039 right away or saving it later has no impact on how much is produced
2040 per unit of gold dust in the ground. There are other considerations
2041 though. If you have a lot of gold dust sitting around in your
2042 warehouse or other storage place, other countries will see via the
2043 power report that you have a lot of dust. If they are low on dust they
2044 just might look at you as a possible target. So, if you are going to
2045 mine a lot of your dust right away you might want to consider putting
2046 a good portion of it into banks where the dust gets converted into
2047 bars, which will give you more money per update. This especially
2048 applies to the Kent State version of Empire, where you can grind up
2049 your gold bars into gold dust at a loss of 20% of the original amount
2050 of dust put into the bars.
2052 Uncompensated workers are also useful for tech production, as well
2053 as many other things. However, it has been noticed that a tech
2054 center with 999 uws will produce tech less efficiently than one with
2055 500 uws. The loss in efficiency is greater than what is expected
2056 from the tech limitation function, which is a non-linear function
2057 designed to limit fast tech production. Most players do not feel that
2058 the loss in efficiency is worth it for the greater amount of tech
2061 User's Guide to Empire 44
2063 production, especially in small countries where having two or even
2064 three tech centers is unrealistic due to the small amount of land
2067 As your technology increases, the possibility of there being an
2068 outbreak of plague in your country increases. This is not of great
2069 concern until such time as your plague factor (found by the command
2070 "nation") increases above a factor of 3.0 or more. Even if plague
2071 does break out in your country, if the plague factor is less than
2072 3.0 or so, the plague will have minimal effect on your country.
2073 During your first outbreaks of plague, you will lose some civilians
2074 but the birth rate of the civilians will be greater than the death
2075 rate. Thus, increasing your research level (by opening and operating
2076 a research center, which requires the same materials as a tech center)
2077 prior to your plague factor reaching 3.0 is actually a waste of
2078 resources, time, money and effort. This fact has been lost on a
2079 great many people and it is not uncommon to find many players
2080 boasting of a high research level long before you would have a
2081 plague factor of 3.0 without any research production. While we
2082 have emphasised "3.0" as a point at which things start getting
2083 bad with plague, that is a vague figure. Things start getting
2084 bad before that point, and get worse afterwards. Its a matter of
2085 how much you want to put up with civilians dying off.
2087 There is a command called "report" which will list other countries,
2088 their status, and their levels of tech, research, and education
2089 relative to you. If your tech is significantly higher than
2090 say a country called 'Canada' then report will indicate that
2091 Canada's technological level is 'backward' relative to you.
2092 If Canada's technological level is significantly higher, than
2093 report will indicate 'advanced', meaning Canada is advanced
2094 relative to you. If its roughly the same, 'similar' will be
2095 shown. There are two other possibilities, 'primitive' and
2096 'superior' which are used for extreme differences in levels.
2097 It should be noted that report is inaccurate at best, and only
2098 gives a very vague idea of levels.
2100 Summary: Technology is one of the basic aspects of having a country that
2101 lasts to the end of the game. Generally, the higher tech you are
2102 the greater chance of your survival. However, if you have a high
2103 technology friend, you chances of survival are still increased
2104 greatly. Empire is a classic case of cold war as far as
2105 technological development is concerned. As a beginner, you are
2106 probably better off not producing a great deal of tech until you
2107 become well versed in how to run a strong economy.
2111 User's Guide to Empire 45
2113 Chapter 10 :-: The economy.
2115 There are several products produced in Empire economies.
2117 --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2120 1. Gold dust 8. Light Construction Materials (LCM) (3)
2121 2. Oil 9. Heavy Construction Materials (HCM) (3)
2122 3. Iron 10. Gold bars (1)
2123 4. Rads 11. Petrol (2)
2124 5. Food 12. Soldiers (6)
2126 7. Uncompensated workers
2129 13. Education (8) 17. Ships (8,9)
2130 14. Research (1,2,8,13) 18. Planes (8,9)
2131 15. Technology (1,2,8,13) 19. Bridges (9)
2132 16. Money (6 or 7 or 10) 20. Nuclear weapons (2,4,8,9) ????
2134 Special items: Beaurocratic Time Units (BTUs), Available work (Avail)
2138 Table of types of commodities in Empire
2140 --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2142 Beaurocratic Time Units (BTUs) are used when executing a command, such
2143 as "build" for example. They are also used to shuffle paperwork
2144 around, say for soldiers killed in combat.
2146 Available Work (Avail) is used up by producing sectors and those
2147 sectors in which you build things (planes, for example). It is an
2148 indices of the amount of labor hours available for work.
2150 Running your economy efficiently as possible is one of the keys to
2151 being a good Empire player. Without a good economy it is impossible
2152 to wage a long lasting war, especially an offensive one. It is
2153 possible to last a long time defensively even with a weak economy
2154 but your chances are greatly increased if you have a strong economy.
2156 So, what defines an efficient and strong economy? An efficient
2157 economy is one in which the amount of a product being produced in a
2158 sector is nearly equal to the amount that the civilians can produce in
2159 one turn. For example, if a light construction materials (LCM) plant
2160 can produce two hundred LCMs an update, but is only producing one
2161 hundred, then fifty percent of the people in that plant are basically
2162 doing nothing. They could be used elsewhere on something that needs
2163 more civilians or you could put more iron into the LCM plant to allow
2164 the civilians to make more LCMs.
2168 User's Guide to Empire 46
2170 A strong economy is an economy that produces a lot of materials,
2171 resources, etc relative to the size of the country. If your country
2172 has only say ten thousand civilians but is producing a large amount
2173 of materials per update then your country may in fact be a strong
2174 country. This is a very unlikely scenario, but it is a good example.
2175 A strong economy is usually the result of an efficient economy,
2176 though there are other factors, those mainly referring to population
2177 growth. To find out how much work your civilians are going to perform
2178 at an update you can issue the "prod" command to get a production
2179 simulation. Using this you can see if all the civilians in a given
2180 sector will be making something or if some will be sitting around and
2181 doing nothing. Here is a sample output from a prod command:
2183 --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2185 [138:250] Command: prod #1
2186 Mon Sep 30 20:18:37 1991
2187 PRODUCTION SIMULATION
2188 sect des eff wkfc will make- p.e. cost use1 use2 use3 max1 max2 max3 max
2189 -2,0 o 39% 422 39 oil 0.50 $0 39
2190 2,0 m 100% 807 387 iron 1.00 $0 387
2191 -10,2 b 100% 653 36 bars 1.00 $360 180d 310d 62
2192 -8,2 j 100% 576 138 lcm 0.50 $0 276i 276i 138
2193 -4,2 g 27% 615 79 dust 1.00 $0 79
2194 -11,3 t 100% 620 0.00 tech 0.00 $0 0d 0o 0l 0d 0o 0l 0.00
2195 -8,4 l 100% 499 40 edu 1.00 $360 40l 239l 239
2199 Sample output of the 'prod' command
2201 --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2203 The important columns to note here are the "will" and "max" columns.
2204 If the number indicated in the "will" column is less than the "max"
2205 column by more than 1, then you have civilians who are sitting around
2206 doing nothing. The way you calculate the number of civilians you have
2207 sitting around is fairly simple. First, it is important to note that
2208 the number indicated in the "wkfc" column is the number of civilians
2209 and uncompensated workers (UWs) you will have in the sector *after* the
2210 next update. You need to reduce the number of civs and/or UWs in the
2211 sector to optimum *before* the next update.
2213 For this example, and for sake of ease, I am going to assume that
2214 there are no UWs or soldiers in this sector, which both produce work.
2215 We will assume that there are only civilians, and happy, content ones
2216 at that. Civilians that are starved, or recently starved do not work
2219 In the above shown production simulation there are two sectors which
2220 have civilians sitting around idle. These two sectors are the bank
2221 ('b') at -10,2, and the library ('l') at -8,4. We will use the library
2226 User's Guide to Empire 47
2228 The library is going to produce 40 education, but it is capable of
2229 producing 239. It doesn't have enough lcms (the only material needed
2230 to produce education) to produce 239 education. Thus, only the civs
2231 necessary to produce 40 education are actually working. The remaining
2232 number of civilians, as a percentage, is calculated by this simple
2235 ((# in max column) - (# in 'will' column)) / (# in max column)
2237 Thus, the percentage of civilians in the library not actually doing
2238 work is (239 - 40) / 239, or 83.26%. That's a large percentage! Now,
2239 to calculate how many civilians you can move out of the sector without
2240 reducing your production beneath 40 education in that sector, multiply
2241 .8326 * the number of civilians currently in that sector. So, you need
2242 to do a census command:
2244 --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2246 [162:166] Command : cen -8,4
2247 Mon Sep 30 20:19:07 1991
2249 sect eff mob uf uf * civ mil uw food work avail ter fallout
2250 -8,4 l 100% 127 .. .0 403 0 0 49 100% 54 0 0
2253 Results of a 'census' command of a library
2255 --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2257 There are 403 civilians listed in the 'civ' column for the library at
2258 sector -8,4. Thus, you multiply 403 by .8326 and you find that you can
2259 safely remove 355 civilians from that sector and still be producing
2260 40 education. That's 355 civilians that can be doing valuable work
2261 elsewhere instead of sitting around doing nothing!
2263 The other alternative to get the sector producing efficiently
2264 is to move lcms into the library up to the number that the library can
2265 possibly process with the current number of civilians. Once again, we
2266 refer to the production report and note the 'use1' and 'max1' columns.
2267 The library will use 40l (40 lcms) at the next update unless you put
2268 more lcms into the library. It can use up to 239 (239l in 'max1')
2269 lcms. Thus, it can process an additional 199 lcms. So, you find lcms
2270 somewhere else in your country and move the 199 lcms into the library.
2271 At the next update your library will produce 239 education. Once
2272 again, all of the civilians in the sector are now doing something.
2274 Of course, you can also use a combination of these two methods to
2275 achieve an equitable balance.
2277 There are other aspects to running an efficient economy as well.
2278 Ideally, you do not want to have an abundance of raw materials lying
2279 around especially in the early stages of the game. The best situation
2280 is to have your economy using the same amount of resources per update
2283 User's Guide to Empire 48
2285 as it is making, thus having a zero delta situation with respect to
2286 all materials in your economy, you neither gain nor lose surplus of
2287 materials. Keep in mind however that it is important to create and
2288 maintain a surplus of materials from which to draw on in times of war,
2289 especially later on in the game. Without spare materials, you can not
2290 wage war very effectively. In doing this you are getting the best
2291 balance of production, and are producing finished items at a faster
2292 pace then if you spent more work producing raw materials. If you
2293 spent more work producing finished materials, you would run out of
2294 raw materials, and find that you have to move your civilians around
2295 to produce more raw materials or have them sitting idle doing nothing
2296 while your other civilians produce sufficient raw materials for them
2297 to do work. The benefits of a balanced economy are obvious.
2299 There are additional tasks that are somewhat rewarding in running an
2300 efficient economy, but they become increasingly technical in nature
2301 and their impact as a whole against your economy is significantly less.
2303 As you become more experienced you will no doubt discover these thing
2304 yourself, or hear about them in a game or on the network. These basic
2305 elements are more than enough for you to run smooth production if you
2308 There are still more elements of an economy which, while very useful,
2309 are not exactly related to the strength or efficiency with which your
2310 economy is running. Your country, should it live for some time and
2311 develop a well balanced economy, will produce a huge amount of
2312 materials. It is impossible for you to keep track of everything in
2313 each and every sector of your country. Of course, the Empire creators
2314 realized this and have developed some critical commands for reducing
2315 by a very large amount the quantity of time you need to spend adjusting
2316 your economy. These are the 'distribute' and 'deliver' commands.
2318 'Distribute' and 'deliver' are commands in Empire which allow
2319 you to set up your economy to run automatically, with little
2320 intervention from yourself. Distribution is the most commonly used
2321 command in doing this. However, deliver has certain features which
2324 Distribute is based on the central warehouse scheme of production
2325 and consumption of materials. An iron mine produces iron, which it
2326 ships off to the central warehouse. A light construction materials
2327 plant needs iron to make lcms, and thus requests iron to be sent to it
2328 from the warehouse. The lcm factory produces lcms, and sends them
2329 off to the warehouse. A library plant needs lcms to produce
2330 education, and requests lcms from the warehouse to do so. The
2331 warehouse handles regional traffic for your economy. Some smaller
2332 countries only have one warehouse.
2334 Deliver is based on the local delivery truck idea. A nearby farm
2335 produces a certain amount of food per update, and sends it directly to
2336 the neighboring sector. You know that the neighboring sector can
2337 consume more food per update than that farm can produce (this is very
2340 User's Guide to Empire 49
2342 rarely true, this is just an example). So, the farm sends all the
2343 food it produces to the neighboring sector. The neighboring sector
2344 notes how much food has been delivered from the farm, and then requests
2345 from the warehouse enough food to feed the rest of the civilians in
2346 the sector. In so doing things in this manner, you are possibly saving
2347 mobility by not having the food automatically move to the warehouse
2348 from the neighboring farm and then to the neighboring sector. The same
2349 result would be achieved however, though as stated at a possible
2350 greater loss of mobility. Nevertheless, most people prefer to depend
2351 entirely on 'distribute' to handle automatic distribution of materials
2352 around their country.
2354 To set up a distribution system, or network, you have to set a
2355 distribution 'path' *from* every sector *to* the warehouse. I
2356 emphasize the direction that the path is moving in because all
2357 distribution paths go *to* the warehouse, not from the warehouse
2358 to the sector, though materials can and will go from the warehouse
2359 to the sector along that same path. The idea here is say a farm
2360 outside of St. Louis about 50 miles produces 500 units of food, the
2361 farm needs to know the route by which it should send its trucks to get
2362 to a warehouse in St. Louis before it can send the food to that
2363 warehouse (this of course being a real life scenario). The best path
2364 to choose is across highways. A 100% highway requires no mobility to
2365 move anything in to it. Obviously you don't want to travel the 50
2366 miles to St. Louis across dirt roads. You would prefer an interstate
2367 if you were a truck. In Empire, a 100% highway is essentially an
2368 interstate. Your goal is to have a distribution path from each sector
2369 to the warehouse travel the route over the least mobility cost path.
2370 The greater the percentage of that path that is 100% highways the
2371 better. It is important to note that distribution paths have a maximum
2372 length of 10 sectors. For example:
2375 User's Guide to Empire 50
2378 --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2380 [529:32] Command : map -20:10,-3:6
2381 21111111111---------00000000001
2382 0987654321098765432101234567890
2383 -3 . . . . . ) . . . . . . . -3
2384 -2 . . . f . o . . . . . . . . -2
2385 -1 . . . a k a . a a h . . . . -1
2386 0 k l k a + + + . + + c m . . . 0
2387 1 m w o ^ ^ m + j j + . + . . . 1
2388 2 + + + + . b j + m + w + . . . . 2
2389 3 m j j + t + + + + + + . ) . + 3
2390 4 + ^ j m + + l ^ ^ ^ + * a a o m 4
2391 5 ^ + ^ m + j ^ ^ c + m m + + + 5
2392 6 + + + g m + + m b + k o + j w g 6
2393 21111111111---------00000000001
2394 0987654321098765432101234567890
2399 Map of area requiring some distribution
2401 --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2403 Let's say that in the previous figure you wanted to set up a
2404 distribution path from the oil well at -15,1 (the 'o' sector left of
2405 the middle of the map) to the warehouse at 0,2 (the 'w' sector right
2406 of the middle of the map). The command to set up the distribution
2407 path from that oil well to the warehouse would be:
2409 --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2411 [529:32] Command : distribute -15,1 nnnjujjjuj
2412 oil field at -15,1 has no distribution path.
2414 New path distributes to 0,2
2419 Results of a distribution command
2421 --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2423 Now there is a path along highways from the oil well to the warehouse.
2424 If you do not understand the nnnjujjjuj command above, refer to chapter
2425 3 and the section under "movement in Empire".
2427 Next, you need to set thresholds for the sector. This sector is an
2428 oil well, and it produces, you guessed it, oil. So, you want the oil
2429 that is produced to be shipped to the warehouse. You have to tell the
2432 User's Guide to Empire 51
2434 people in the oil well that all oil over 1 unit is to be shipped.
2435 This is called a "threshold", a level at which any quantity of that
2436 unit over that amount if shipped to the warehouse. Note that the
2437 lowest threshold you can have and still have the item shipped is 1.
2438 If the threshold is 0, then it will not be shipped. The command to set
2439 the threshold in the sector -15,1 for oil is:
2441 [534:31] Command : threshold oil -15,1 1
2443 Next, you want to make sure that food gets out to the oil well. The
2444 other aspect of thresholds is that if there is less than the threshold
2445 of a commodity, then the warehouse will send out enough of that
2446 commodity to equal the threshold, assuming it has such commodities in
2447 the warehouse. The command to set the threshold for for in the sector
2448 so that food will go to the sector from the warehouse could be this:
2450 [534:30] Command: threshold food -15,1 50
2452 Which means at each update, the warehouse will attempt to ensure
2453 that there is 50 food in the oil well at -15,1 by sending enough
2454 food, if it can, to raise the stockpile of food in that sector to
2457 Again, distribution paths must be set up for every sector that you
2458 intend on doing anything with. Essentially, as the game progresses,
2459 this means all of your sectors. You must also set appropriate
2460 thresholds as well. Some sectors need iron from the warehouse to
2461 produce, and thus a threshold will be required for iron. Some need
2462 more than one commodity, so thresholds must be set for each of those
2463 commodities. EVERY sector should have a threshold value set for food.
2464 You do not want to starve your civilians! To find out what
2465 commodities a sector needs to produce an item, use the 'production'
2466 command discussed earlier in this chapter.
2468 Some things to note about distribute:
2470 1) No distribution path may be longer than 10 sectors.
2471 2) A distribution path must go through sectors controlled by you.
2472 3) Sometimes it may seem that the warehouse is not getting the commodities
2473 to the sectors requesting it. Empire updates sectors one at a time, and
2474 as such the warehouse may actually run out of a commodity, receive the
2475 request for that commodity, be unable to fill it and move on the the
2476 sectors it updates after that sector. Those sectors in turn may send
2477 commodities to the warehouse, thus giving it enough to fill the previous
2478 request. However, since it has already updated that sector, it will not
2479 fulfill the backlogged request. Empire updates the world left to right
2480 and top to bottom. Thus in a map of your country the most north-west
2481 sector gets updated first and the most south-east sector gets updated last.
2482 4) The warehouse has to spend mobility to send commodities to the requesting
2483 sectors. Warehouses do this at a great reduction in the cost to the
2484 normal mobility. However, if the warehouse runs out of mobility it
2485 will NOT distribute any more commodities for that update.
2486 5) Do NOT set thresholds for all commodities in a sector. Only set the
2489 User's Guide to Empire 52
2491 thresholds for the commodities you KNOW that sector will need. Distribute
2492 will not distribute commodities to sectors with the thresholds set for
2496 Deliver is much more basic. As a result however, it is much less
2497 powerful, though it is useful. Deliver works as explained earlier in
2498 that it does local deliveries of a specified commodity. Deliver is
2499 capable of delivering an item to only neighboring sectors. During the
2500 update, deliver is done before distribute. It is important to note
2501 that. Let's say that a farm has a lot of food to send to the
2502 warehouse. It may not have the mobility to send it all to the
2503 warehouse, and thus you get a large surplus left over in the farm.
2504 Eventually, the farm will not have room to store the surplus anymore.
2505 This is of course bad, since the farm will no longer produce very much
2506 food. It will produce only enough food to replace what was taken from
2507 the storage at the farm.
2509 The solution to this is to have the farm sends its surplus to a
2510 neighboring 100% efficient highway. This will cost the farm no
2511 mobility and will open up its storage areas for new production at the
2512 farm. The highway can then spend mobility sending the food to the
2513 warehouse. Once again, we use the map:
2515 --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2517 [529:32] Command : map -20:10,-3:6
2518 21111111111---------00000000001
2519 0987654321098765432101234567890
2520 -3 . . . . . ) . . . . . . . -3
2521 -2 . . . f . o . . . . . . . . -2
2522 -1 . . . a k a . a a h . . . . -1
2523 0 k l k a + + + . + + c m . . . 0
2524 1 m w o ^ ^ m + j j + . + . . . 1
2525 2 + + + + . b j + m + w + . . . . 2
2526 3 m j j + t + + + + + + . ) . + 3
2527 4 + ^ j m + + l ^ ^ ^ + * a a o m 4
2528 5 ^ + ^ m + j ^ ^ c + m m + + + 5
2529 6 + + + g m + + m b + k o + j w g 6
2530 21111111111---------00000000001
2531 0987654321098765432101234567890
2534 Map of an area requiring delivery path
2536 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2538 Let's say the farm at -5,-1 (just north of the middle) has a huge
2539 surplus of food. You can send that surplus to the highway at -4,0 by
2540 issuing this command:
2542 [566:115] Command : deliver food -5,-1 n (50)
2546 User's Guide to Empire 53
2548 Which means, deliver all food in the sector at -5,-1 in excess of 50
2549 units in the 'n' direction. Note the deliver threshold in parentheses
2550 must be in parentheses and that deliver thresholds are different than
2551 distribute thresholds.
2553 While I have described how to use the basics of deliver, I do not
2554 recommend it for the beginner. Using a distribution network is quite
2555 sufficient for the beginning player, and you will not notice any great
2556 difficulty in running your economy without using the deliver command.
2557 In fact, some of the best players in Empire do not use deliver at all.
2560 Summary: The things discussed in this chapter may seem time consuming, and
2561 may seem to require a lot of detail. However, these things are
2562 important to you as an Empire player to learn and understand. They
2563 become easy to use after only a short while. Having a strong
2564 economy is the basic element in having a strong country. If you
2565 have not understood this chapter, read it again. Better yet, read
2566 it while experimenting with a couple of your own sectors in a game.
2567 While understanding 'deliver' is not very important, understanding
2572 User's Guide to Empire 54
2576 The art of waging war is certainly beyond the scope of this guide.
2577 There are a great number of books written on the history of man's wish
2578 to destroy themselves. In this chapter, I only intend to give the
2579 player some rudimentary basics for waging Empire style wars. Even more
2580 pertinent in the case of the beginner, how to defend against or
2581 hopefully repulse an invader.
2583 Keep in mind that as a beginner, you stand a very good chance of losing
2584 your first war. Consider it a learning experience. The person who
2585 defeated you is better than you are in most circumstances, and just by
2586 their actions you can learn how best to wage an offensive or defensive
2589 There are several things that you can do to defend your country
2590 in the event of an attack. However, it is always best to be prepared
2591 for an attack before it happens. There are some basics already
2592 discussed in this guide on these preparations. Refer to chapter 8
2593 for information on automatic defenses, and how they can help your
2594 country. I will review the essentials here.
2596 1) Have a strong airforce with many fighter planes with the intercept
2597 capability. Make sure they are used as indicated in chapter 8.
2598 2) Have forts with overlapping fields of fire.
2599 3) Have a large number of reserves (typically 1/10 of your population).
2600 4) Have at least two enlistment centers ready to produce more fresh
2601 recruits. Ie, at 100%. You can "shut off" enlistment centers, that
2602 is stop them from producing recruits, by leaving 1 civ in them
2603 or having a military population in the sector equal to one half
2604 of the civilian population. To turn them on, put in more civs or
2605 reduce the number of military.
2606 5) Have a strong navy to guard your coast.
2607 6) Mine your own coast. This prevents many amphibious assaults.
2608 It also helps to prevent people from mapping your coastline.
2609 7) Have a good highway network. This allows you to move materials
2610 and armies around your country quickly and with ease.
2611 8) Have more than one capital. If your real one is taken, you will
2612 need a back up immediately.
2613 9) Have a lot of food in all of your sectors if possible. This allows
2614 sectors that are cut off from your warehouse to be self sufficient
2615 at least with respects to feeding the people with food for a few
2616 updates until you can open up a path to them.
2618 These are just *basic* hints. Some more hints are given later in this
2619 guide. These are meant to get you started.
2621 Of course, it is better to not be attacked at all. But, how do you
2622 avoid being attacked? This is not simple, but there are some things
2623 that you can do to make yourself less of a target.
2625 One, do NOT allow people to map your coast using their ships,
2626 especially patrol boats. Maps of your coastline are deadly.
2629 User's Guide to Empire 55
2631 The opposing country knows where your country lies, and can furthermore
2632 send that information on to another player who might be interested
2633 in attacking you in exchange for some commodity or assistance.
2634 Maps are a critical piece of intelligence gathering. Some of the
2635 best players in the game sink ships on sight without warning. If you
2636 warn a ship off it might be able to use some of its mobility to
2637 make a final swing along your coast before going away, and seemingly
2638 out of your hair without having caused further trouble. Every piece
2639 of information about your coast is valuable military intelligence.
2640 Additionally, it is a good idea to try to map other people. Do not
2641 get upset when your ships get sunk. They will get sunk. Just consider
2642 them expendable commodities that are doing a temporary job with
2645 Two, if you appear tough people generally will not attack you.
2646 Posturing can be an effective tool. Furthermore, if you have a large
2647 airforce and/or army, people tend to avoid you. It does not matter if
2648 your airforce only has wimpy planes in it, your opponent can only
2649 tell the quantity of planes that you have, not the quality. They
2650 might have a general idea of the quality of your airforce, but a large
2651 airforce is still an intimidating presence.
2653 Three, do not make yourself a target by having a lot of valuable
2654 commodities showing up on your power report. Having lots of money
2655 in a money poor game for example makes you a juicy target. The same
2656 holds true with gold dust or oil. You need not worry about iron and
2657 food, since those are renewable resources. Try to use gold dust and
2658 oil as you make it. Having some surplus around is fine, but the more
2659 you have sitting around the more of a target you become.
2661 If you are attacked, it is always best if you are logged on to the game
2662 so that you can actively defend your country rather than relying
2663 entirely on automatic defenses. However, as can obviously be seen, you
2664 probably will not know that your enemy is going to attack you. Neither
2665 will s/he broadcast that they are going to attack unless they are very
2666 foolish or extremely confident.
2668 In light of this, your opponent will try to attack you at a time when
2669 they know you are not logged on. Thus, a great many Empire wars begin
2670 in the wee hours of the morning, when most people are asleep. What can
2671 you do to overcome this shortcoming? Have allies for one. If one of
2672 your allies is going to be up most of the night you can have them
2673 telephone you if you are being attacked. Of course, this is for the
2674 more diehard types :-)
2676 There are many tactics that an enemy will use against you. Again,
2677 these tactics are beyond the scope of this guide, but there are some
2678 general tactics that you should be aware of. An opponent may try one
2679 or more (usually more) of the following tactics:
2681 1) Remove your airforce as an effective retaliatory force.
2682 2) Remove your airforce as an effective defensive force.
2683 3) Take your capital (you lose half your money).
2686 User's Guide to Empire 56
2688 4) Take your banks (you could lose all your gold bars, very valuable!).
2689 5) Destroy your highway system.
2690 6) Take your warehouses (lose your stored commodities. OUCH!).
2691 7) Bomb your enlistment centers.
2692 8) Take your radar stations.
2695 In addition, your opponent may try to destroy your distribution and/or
2696 delivery system (if you so opt to use deliver). After you take a
2697 sector back from your enemy check the thresholds and distribution path
2698 in the sector. Sometimes if you take a great deal of sectors back it
2699 is best to just use the 'wipe' command and start from scratch.
2700 Remember to check your delivery thresholds as well, by issuing a
2701 'level' command. Your opponent will probably also redesignate the
2702 sector to something useless or even detrimental to you.
2704 It is important to be on around update times when you are at war,
2705 either defensively or offensively. Things can go very quickly right
2706 before and after an update.
2708 One of the best ways of being a good military tactician is to be
2709 imaginative. Think of ways to do things that might surprise your
2710 opponent. Think of ways to do things that will cost you less lives,
2711 or less resources than your original way.
2713 There is a saying that sometimes the best defense is a good offense.
2714 This can be very true in Empire. If you are attacked it might be a
2715 good idea to launch a counter attack against your opponent's homeland
2716 if you are able to. This will certainly surprise them, and may lead
2717 them to think you are stronger than you actually are. This can be a
2720 If you want to win the war, be resilient and tenacious. Fight as hard
2721 as you can with every last soldier and resource. If you make your
2722 enemy pay a heavy price they may withdraw. Sometimes breaking an
2723 opponent's will to fight is the most important factor in winning a
2724 tactical or strategic situation. Even if they do not withdraw, or you
2725 do not win, you may at least be helping to defend the future of your
2726 allies. That in itself is an honorable achievement. There is also the
2727 point that if you are a tenacious fighter your opponent will respect
2728 you more in future games than if you just roll over and play dead while
2729 his/her armies pillage your country. Reputation does count for a lot in
2730 Empire. You may lose now, but your defiance in losing can help you a
2731 great deal in future games. Some countries simply will not attack
2732 another country because they know that country's reputation as a good
2733 player. Alternatively, some countries have a poor reputation and
2734 are attacked in every game they play in!
2737 Summary: The art of Empire war is one that is different from the real life
2738 world that we live in. However, many tactics from the real world
2739 can be applied to Empire. Remember to be imaginative, learn from
2740 your mistakes. Learn from your allies and your opponents. Fight
2741 as if it was a real world nation, and you are the leader.
2746 User's Guide to Empire 57
2748 Chapter 12 :-: Other helpful or not so helpful hints:
2751 Here are some hints on how you might be better able to run
2752 your country. Note that a lot of these hints were garnered through
2753 many player years of play. You are free to disagree with them, and
2754 are certainly encouraged to come up with your own ideas. However,
2755 keep in mind these recommendations.
2757 - Build your military reserves to a reasonably high level
2758 (I try to aim for 5-10% of my total population). Reserves are
2759 not expensive to maintain, and it is a commodity that can not
2760 be destroyed by any military action.
2761 - As soon as someone starts building ships guard your coastal
2762 sectors with at least 1 military in each. This prevents an
2763 opponent from making landings in mass quantity on your homeland
2764 with measly cargo ships. If you have military in a coastal sector
2765 then opponent ships really need the "land" capability (see
2766 show ship capability command for further insight) in order to be
2767 truly effective. Guard harbors with more military, say 50 or
2768 so. Else an opponent can assault a harbor, move his or her invasion
2769 fleet in, unload the ships and walla several hundred foreign military
2770 are sitting in your former harbor.
2771 - As soon as planes start being built, try to get at least 10 military
2772 into every sector. This makes it more difficult for a country to
2773 wipe you out quickly. In this manner they usually need 2 or more
2774 transports to take a single sector. This makes it costly in air
2775 mobility for them and softens the blow of their attack. In addition
2776 reinforce capitals with a lot of military. Same with banks, airbases,
2778 - Do not base your entire air defenses on non-VTOL (vertical take off
2779 and landing) planes. Base your VTOL planes in non airport sectors.
2780 In doing this, you prevent your enemy from knocking out your airbases
2781 through any number of means and then flying at liberty over your
2782 country. There are two VTOL fighters. Fighter 1s, which are
2783 essentially biplanes with very brave souls in them and Jet Fighter 2s
2784 which are akin to the British Harrier jet. Fighter 1s are not
2785 necessarily a bad plane. Against low tech transports they do not
2786 fair too badly. There are two other means of air defense if your
2787 airbases are knocked out. Anti-aircraft guns exist in any sector
2788 that has guns and shells. They will fire if the sector in question
2789 is at war with the planes in question. They are mostly worthless.
2790 The other method is SAMs (surface to air missiles). These can be
2791 quite effective but are shoot once only weapons.
2792 - Forts are an integral part of any home auto-defense scheme. They
2793 will fire on any enemy aggressors that are within range whenever
2794 any sector of yours within range is attacked.
2795 - Naval units become essentially useless later on in the game except
2796 for some actions. Nevertheless, be careful to have naval units in
2797 appropriate places around your coast for coastal defense. Especially
2798 until you have planes that can pinpoint bomb well (jet lt bombers,
2799 jet f/bs, helicopters).
2800 - Always have several fake capitals in reserve.
2803 User's Guide to Empire 58
2805 - If you are not using planes that are 100% and are not planes used
2806 in air defense, get them off your airports. Otherwise they become
2807 easy targets for air assault and bombs.
2808 - Bridge span sectors are effective means of food production and
2809 are especially useful in that role in countries with few sectors
2810 or countries with limited fertility. They are usually somewhat
2811 expensive to build, but pay for themselves quickly.
2812 - Keep in mind that allies are important. You might want to go it
2813 alone, but at some point along the way you will need an ally or
2814 three. Allies can do many things for you, not the least of which
2815 is call you over the phone when you are under attack at four in the
2816 morning. Its nice to know that even though your country is not
2817 being played, someone is watching it from a distance and seeing
2818 whether it gets attacked or not. You sleep easier :-)
2819 - If you are positive there is no one else on your island with you
2820 at the beginning of the game then demobilise your military and
2821 put them on reserve. This will save you a lot of money, and help
2822 in population growth.
2823 - Never put airports, banks, or capitals on your coast. They are
2824 easy targets for your enemies if you do. Sometimes it is necessary
2825 to place an airport on your coast to get that extra one sector
2826 of range for your planes in an attack. If you do that, don't leave
2827 your planes in that sector for very long. You might be surprised.
2829 Summary: Many of these ideas can only be gained through experience. Do not
2830 be come distraught for lack of knowledge. Experience is a wonderful
2831 teacher. These hints cover some of the major pitfalls of beginners,
2832 and that is all. There are far more things to be learned that can
2833 only be taught through experience.
2836 User's Guide to Empire 59
2838 Chapter 13 :-: Some tricks and subtle tactics
2840 I have listed here some of the tricks used by the more advanced
2841 players in victimizing the beginning players. I divulge this hard won
2842 information because I feel it will make for a better Empire game for
2843 everyone. In reading these, I hope that you will be encouraged to
2844 develop tactics of your own. It is not hard to be imaginative.
2846 Note that not all tricks and subtle tactics will work as advertised.
2847 Some games have slightly different implementations that have a
2848 negative effect on these hints.
2850 - Sacking a warehouse. This is an old tactic that is useful
2851 only in those games that have a market. Essentially the trick is to
2852 take an opponent's warehouses or distribution points and sell off
2853 everything that is in the sector to the market. You don't need a
2854 buyer immediately, just sell everything off. If you want the items
2855 for yourself, sell them to the market at an exhorbinately high price
2856 and wait for a friend to buy them and sell them back.
2857 - Tracking an airbase. This is a less known trick. Non-VTOL planes
2858 intercept from airbases. They also intercept from airbases in a hex
2859 pattern. Ie, if the plane has a six sector intercept range it will
2860 intercept up to six sectors west, six sectors north-west, etc in all
2861 the six directions. If you can find two corners of that plane's
2862 interception hex you can triangulate to find the sector from which it
2863 is intercepting. This does work for VTOL planes as well, but isn't
2864 as useful since airbases usually have far more planes in them to be
2865 dealt with. Once you have tracked the originating sector of the
2866 intercepting planes, what you do to that sector is your option. Most
2867 often, a concerted effort will be made to crack the defensive fighter
2868 cover and blast the airbase. Sometimes countries will use their
2869 surface to surface missiles (which do not get intercepted) to take
2870 out the airbase. For non-VTOL planes taking out an airbase just
2871 means getting it below 60% efficiency.
2872 - Fort "walking". If you have a land border with a country, you can
2873 use your forts to demolish a bordering sector with that country.
2874 By demolishing it, your are completely destroying every living
2875 civilian and soldier in that sector. When that is accomplished you
2876 can explore into that sector as if it were wilderness. You can then
2877 designate that sector into a 0% fort, which it will become
2878 immediately, and then move guns and shells into that sector.
2879 Then, you can do the same thing to a sector bordering your new
2880 sector. In this manner you can slowly invade another country
2881 beyond a one sector advance in one update without the use of
2882 planes or ships. This costs A LOT of BTUs and shells, but in
2883 critical situations is very useful.
2884 - Fire base. This tactic has some relation to the tactic used in
2885 the Vietnam conflict by U.S. Forces. The idea is to take an enemy
2886 sector in an area that you want to wreak havoc on. Next, use your
2887 pinpoint bombing capable planes to bomb your own position's sector
2888 efficiency. You will have some collateral damage on your troops,
2889 but it is well worth it. When the efficiency drops below 5% you can
2890 then designate the sector into a 0% fort, place guns and shells
2893 User's Guide to Empire 60
2895 in it using air transports, and then have a base from which to
2896 blast away at your enemy without the use of much airpower. It is
2897 possible to use the fort walking tactic from this position.
2898 - Messing up a country's distribution paths and or thresholds.
2899 This is most often an "annoyance" tactic. Most players know about it
2900 and check the distribution paths and thresholds of sectors they take
2901 back from an invading country. The idea is to set the thresholds so
2902 that a lot of commodities will be distributed to the sector from the
2903 warehouse of your opponent after your opponent takes the sector
2904 back. Then you can take the sector again and get the commodities
2905 if s/he has not noticed they are there. Even if s/he notices it is
2906 a pain getting the commodities back to the warehouse.
2907 Alternatively, you can screw up the distribution path to run through
2908 a mountain and then to his warehouse, and also set the thresholds
2909 of the commodities quite high. This will cause mobility in her/his
2910 warehouse to be used in great quantities to get the commodities to
2911 the recaptured sector. Either of these ideas can get particularly
2912 nasty. Say you conquer a sector, and set the thresholds on food to
2913 9000 units. Your opponent takes back the sector, and neglects to
2914 reset the threshold. At the next update the warehouse moves 9000
2915 food (or at least as much as it can) into the sector. This might
2916 leave your warehouse without food to deliver to the rest of the
2917 country. Food stocks begin to drop, with obvious repercussions.
2918 - Messing up a country's delivery routes and thresholds.
2919 Same as above except using deliver. Many countries do not use
2920 deliver at all, and as a result are susceptible to this tactic.
2921 You can cause mass starvation in a country that you attacked, but
2922 no longer control without the leader ever knowing how.
2923 - Destroyer trap. Move a submarine near a destroyer, say one sector
2924 away. Lay some mines from the submarine, and then send out an active
2925 sonar ping using the "sonar" command. Enemy destroyer rushes over to
2926 see what it is and KAWHOMP! hits a mine. You can leave a sector that
2927 has mines in it safely but can not necessarily enter safely. Every
2928 mine laid in a sector increases the chance of a ship hitting a mine
2929 while entering that sector by five percent.
2930 - Determining if someone is on. You can get an idea of when someone
2931 is usually logged on by doing something like this:
2933 [65:255] Command : news 10 | grep <name of country you want to learn about>
2935 This will scan the news file from the server for the last ten days
2936 (or however many days up to ten are being preserved in the news).
2937 You can then get an idea of when your opponent is logged on.
2938 There are tools that can do this for you, but so far none has
2939 reached public distribution.
2940 - Attacking any sector with one soldier repeatedly. Within the code
2941 there is a small chance that against incredible odds a small
2942 collection of soldiers might win. Taken to the extreme, there is
2943 a chance for one soldier to win, even against 400 soldiers, or so
2944 says the game. Thus a player who wants a particular sector bad
2945 enough, may spend thirty minutes attacking a sector of yours
2946 over and over again with one military. They might win eventually,
2947 and if it is important enough then they have gained a major sector.
2950 User's Guide to Empire 61
2952 - A player might offer to sell you a type of commodity in several
2953 batches. Or, you might just start buying batches of a commodity
2954 from any given commodity. If the player you are buying from is on,
2955 they might change the price on you between batches that you are
2956 purchasing. For example, DoDo starts buying food in batches of
2957 9000 from WabbleHead at 10 cents per food. This costs DoDo $900
2958 per batch of food. Suddenly between DoDo's 2nd and 3rd purchase
2959 of 9000 food, WabbleHead changes the price on the food from 10 cents
2960 to 10 dollars per unit. DoDo never realizes it and pays $90,000
2961 for the 3rd batch of food. Moral: Don't purchase anything without
2962 checking the price first, and never buy in several batches at once.
2963 This applies to market and trade.
2964 - It is possible to move small quantities of a commodity across any
2965 sector in your country and not have it cost mobility. To do this,
2966 you have to have the commodity moving from a warehouse to whatever
2967 sector you want to move it to. The basic trick, is to move the
2968 commodity in batches of 5 or less. Note this does not work for
2969 bars, and some other commodities. It does work for food, shells,
2970 etc; items that do not take a great deal of mobility to move to
2971 begin with. This trick is very effective for getting supplies
2972 to a region cut off from your main area without highway access
2973 and possibly even a mountain range separating you from it.
2974 - Mine your coast. This prevents your opponents from effectively
2975 mapping your coast, and you can catch their ships in the act since
2976 a damaged ship moves a lot slower than a 100% ship. Some people
2977 might even scuttle the ship in question to avoid detection.
2978 - Be aware that submarines will try to map your coast. Use your
2979 submarines and destroyers to find them. Use minefields as a
2980 preventative measure.
2981 - Do not give out your net address to anyone except the Deity unless
2982 people offsite can not finger you, or you have an account on
2983 another machine, and can regularly play from it. People can finger
2984 you over the net to see if you are logged in or not. If you're not,
2985 it's a good time to attack probably.
2986 - Beware of people offering you loans. Make sure you know the terms
2987 of the loan. Someone might offer you a loan that looks nice, say
2988 for $30,000. But, the loan might expire in one day and have an
2989 interest rate of 127%. The lending country can collect sectors
2990 directly from you without your permission if you are in arrears
2992 - Defend your radar stations. Always have at least 20 military in
2993 each of your radar stations, especially ones that are on the coast.
2994 Otherwise a passing ship might decide to capture it and take a
2995 snapshot of your country.
2996 - If a sub attacks one of your ships, it is possible to wander around
2997 the area with a ship that is not capable of sonar or depth charging,
2998 and still find that sub. How? Try boarding the sub by its hull
2999 number. If a sub attacks you, you will get a message saying that
3000 sub number so and so did such and such to your ship. Use a ship
3001 in the area to wander from sector to sector trying to board the
3002 sub. If you find it, you will get a message saying that you can not
3003 board a sub. Walla, you have found the sub without sonar, which
3004 other ships can hear anyways. This is a nice quiet form of anti-
3007 User's Guide to Empire 62
3010 - You can load a missile cruiser full of anti-shipping missiles, and
3011 then create a script file with firing commands for every ship in
3012 existence. Remove your own ships of course. Then execute the
3013 script, and the missile cruiser will fire at only those ships
3014 that are in range, regardless of whether the ships are in radar
3015 range of the cruiser or not. They need only be in range of the
3016 anti-shipping missiles. This is an effective, if blundering, way
3017 of removing approaching fleets before you see them on your radars.
3018 Note: anti-shipping missiles are not available in standard BSD code,
3019 but are available in some other versions, namely the Kent State
3023 Summary: Be sneaky. Be imaginative. Think of tricks you can pull on your
3024 opponent. Quite often, they will in fact work. Most players of this
3025 game are not Rommels, Pattons, or Montgomerys. Many can be duped
3026 by very simple tricks.
3030 User's Guide to Empire 63
3032 Chapter 14 :-: Tools
3034 Tools are programs used by players on their local machines to
3035 assist them in developing their country, analyzing another country,
3036 conducting war on another country, etc. Tools are very powerful
3037 devices at times. As such, many players have tools that they consider
3038 to be military secrets and they do not release copies of them. As a
3039 result, many programs doing basically identical tasks have been
3040 written. I encourage those players that are reading this that have
3041 such secret tools to release them to an anonymous FTP site with a
3042 directory for Empire. Not only does this make the game better for the
3043 beginners, but it also helps to keep the experts on their toes, and
3044 give a challenge to those of us who have been playing for quite some
3047 Some players feel that playing with tools takes something away from
3048 the playing aspect of the game, and feel that in so doing they are not
3049 really playing the game anymore. This has lately turned into a
3050 religious war of sorts in the Empire community, with many people taking
3051 both sides of the coin.
3053 You do not need tools other than your client to play Empire.
3054 Empire is designed such that any player can play the game without
3055 hindrance without the use of a tool other than the basic client itself.
3057 What follows is a list of tools that are most commonly found
3058 among players of the game. Most of these are publically available at
3059 an FTP site listed in Appendix C.
3062 autodist Automatically sets distribution paths for an entire
3063 country or realm within the country.
3064 autofeed automatically feeds the people in your country.
3065 pmvr,civmvr Automatically redistributes your population so that sectors
3066 will be able to have population growth rather than maxing
3067 out at the limit of 999 civilians.
3068 econ Provides an analysis of your country's economic progress
3070 GEET Gnu-Emacs Empire Tool. An emacs interface for Empire that
3071 has a great many capabilities and functions. Provides for
3072 better automatic defenses as well.
3073 EIF A more advanced client than the basic client. Allows
3074 for aliasing commands, command editing, etc.
3075 XEMP Empire client for X windows. Provides many nice features
3076 including an on screen map constantly displayed. A very
3077 nice interface that unfortunately still has several bugs.
3079 These are just a few of the Empire tools out there. There are still
3080 many more programs not listed. Some cover news analyses, country
3081 analyses over several updates, etc.
3083 Most tools come with documentation on how to use them, and it is
3084 beyond the scope of this guide to illustrate how each one of them
3087 User's Guide to Empire 64
3091 There are other aids that are often called tools which are called
3092 scripts. Scripts can do a great many things for you. The most common
3093 of these applications are simply files containing a list of commands
3094 that you want to execute in Empire.
3096 For example, let's say that at each update you wanted to dump the
3097 current news into a file in your local directory, get a new power
3098 report and dump that into another file, and dump all current telegrams
3099 into yet another file. This would be three commands that you could
3100 consolidate into one command by doing this:
3102 Construct a file in your local directory that has the appropriate
3103 commands in it. In this case you could write a file with three lines:
3106 power new >>powerfile
3109 You could call this file update.do
3111 While in Empire you could then request the Empire client to access
3112 that file and execute those commands by using the exec command followed
3113 by the file name. Thus:
3115 [102:253] Command: exec update.do
3117 Building such a simple script is useful for doing a set of commands
3118 over and over again without typing it in each and every time.
3120 Lastly, remember to exercise wisdom in the use of tools. It is
3121 possible that the execution of a simple tool can damage your country
3122 irrepairably. Use tools, especially those written by others, with
3123 caution. Try them out on small sections of your country first. Look
3124 at the source code prior to running it if you have access to the
3125 source code. It is theoretically possible for someone to write
3126 a tool that will scan the list of countries in a game, and if the
3127 author's country name is in that list, send valuable information
3128 about your country to him or her. Yes, it is true, some people
3129 have no morals believe it or not.
3132 Summary: Tools are very powerful items if used wisely. It is not necessary
3133 to have tools to play Empire effectively. Some experts of the game
3134 refuse to use tools of any type, and they remain among the best
3135 players. Tools are no replacement for skill. Be careful when using
3136 tools, they can ruin your country.
3140 User's Guide to Empire 65
3142 ******************************* Appendices ************************************
3145 Appendix A :-: Glossary of terms, names, and etc.
3147 Amphibious assault - Attacking a sector using ships, usually landing ships.
3148 Avail - A unit of measuring available labor hours in a sector.
3149 Backstab - To harm another country with whom you had prior treaties
3150 and or alliances that were in effect at the time of your
3151 harmful action. Usually a severe action.
3152 Blitz game - An implementation of an Empire game that is very fast paced.
3153 Usually these games last no more than two days.
3154 BSD - Berkeley Standard Distribution. A term borrowed from Unix.
3155 It indicates that the version is a release version from Berkeley,
3157 BTU - Beaurocratic Time Unit. A unit of government activity. Used
3158 by various commands as cost for executing that command.
3159 Capital - The government center of a country. BTUs are produced by
3160 only one capital in a country, regardless of how many are
3161 designated. Only the actual capital of the country produces.
3162 Client - A program that allows you to connect to the Empire server.
3163 Commodity - Just as in the real world; any of a plethora of raw and refined
3164 materials that can be traded, stolen, etc.
3165 Dave Pare - Not the original author of Empire, but the person who has
3166 made it possible for it to be what it is. THE major author
3167 of Empire. Also known as Mr. Frog.
3168 Deity - Person (yes, a real life human) who runs/referees a game.
3169 Deliver - A means of managing economic resource allocation via orders
3170 from neighboring sectors.
3171 Designation - What the sector has been ordered to be, ie a highway for example.
3172 Distribution- A means of managing economic resource allocation via a central
3173 warehouse scheme. Often referred to as a "distribution
3175 Education - Activity on the part of a country to raise the overall
3176 intelligence level of a country, to promote research and
3177 technological development.
3178 Eif - "Empire Interface". A version of the client with certain
3180 Empire host - The computer the server is running on.
3181 ETU - Empire Time Unit - A subdivision of an update. An update's
3182 value is measured in terms of ETUs.
3183 FTP - "File Transfer Program". This is a means of transferring
3184 files over the computer networks. Most computers are capable
3185 of using FTP. For more information you may refer to your
3186 host computer's help. For example, "man ftp" or "help ftp".
3187 GEET - Gnu-Emacs Empire Tool. An emacs based client, also known
3188 (to the chagrin of the author of GEET) as GEEK.
3189 Geurilla - A patriot behind enemy lines. They will attempt to do damage
3190 to the enemy's military or the sector the enemy is occupying.
3191 You can not control guerilla actions.
3192 HCM - Heavy construction material. A unit of material used in
3193 Empire economies for bridges, planes, etc.
3194 KSU, Kent State code - refers to the version of Empire based on the Berkeley
3197 User's Guide to Empire 66
3199 release. There are several enhancements in this version, and
3200 many think it is better than the Berkeley release.
3201 LCM - Light construction material. A unit of material used in
3202 Empire economies for education, technology, research, planes,
3204 Megatons - A unit of measure of nuclear warhead yield. One megaton
3205 equals one million tons of TNT explosive power. Often
3206 represented as 'mt' as in '5mt'.
3207 Mobility - A number indices indicating the available amount of moving
3208 capability in a sector, for a plane, or for a ship.
3209 Plague - An all encompassing term representing disease in the Empire
3210 world. Can be kept in check by the country doing research.
3211 Representative,Rep - Your password for your country in the game. NOT your
3213 Research - Activity on the part of a country that keeps plague in check.
3214 Reserves - Civilian soldier. A soldier not on active duty who is paid
3215 a small sum to retain training in case of times of need.
3216 Sanctuary - Your starting area in any game. Usually comprised of two
3217 sectors. Can not be attacked, or otherwise affected by
3219 Script - A file containing several Empire commands that can be
3220 automatically run or run manually from the client.
3221 Sector - A unit of geography, comprising an area represented by a
3222 single character on maps.
3223 Server - The program (running usually at a remote site) that handles
3224 the functioning of the game. In essence, the game itself.
3225 Spy - A member of your military forces sent across neighboring
3226 country borders to gather information.
3227 Technology - The scientific development of a country. Relates most directly
3228 to a country's capability to create better weapons. Also known
3230 Threshold - A break off point for the 'deliver' and 'distribute' commands
3231 that indicates a quantity beyond which every unit of a
3232 specific commodity is moved automatically at an update.
3233 Tool - A program used on a player's local machine to aid in there
3235 Update - A 'turn' in Empire. Mobility is increased in sectors,
3236 civilians multiply and eat food, military is paid for, etc.
3237 UW - Uncompensated worker. A nicer name for slave.
3238 VTOL - Vertical Take Off and Landing capability for planes. Requires
3239 no runways or other developed airport like structures.
3240 Wasteland - A permanent sector designation caused by a nuclear blast of
3241 one megaton or larger. Can not be traveled across by land,
3242 but can be flown over.
3243 Warehouse - A central collection and distribution point for products
3245 Wilderness - Undesignated areas other than mountains and ocean. Represented
3246 by a '-' character on maps.
3247 XEMP - An X windows based client.
3251 User's Guide to Empire 67
3253 Appendix B :-: Known exploitable bugs
3255 As a result of Empire having several thousand lines of code, there
3256 are numerous bugs. Some are simply annoying, others you never notice. Some,
3257 like the following, are bugs that you can be used against you.
3259 a) "Intercept" bug - Non-VTOL planes can and will rise and intercept
3260 hostile planes from any sector as long as there is petrol in the
3261 sector, the plane has the intercept capability (see show plane c),
3262 it is at least 40% efficient, and it has mobility.
3264 b) "Escort" bug - Planes that are capable of escort duty can escort
3265 themselves on various missions, as long as they are capable of
3266 the mission in question (such as a bombing raid). Say for example
3267 that you want to fly a reconnaissance mission over enemy territory,
3268 but you know that enemy planes are going to intercept you.
3269 When the game asks you for the plane that will be doing the recon,
3270 you can give it plane 345 for example, which for the sake of
3271 this guide is a jet fighter. When it asks you for the planes
3272 that are going to escort it, you can say 345 again. The game will
3273 respond as if two planes are flying the mission when in fact only
3274 one is. Enemy planes will think there are two planes. Enemy planes
3275 will first do battle with the escort. Let's say they did 16% damage
3276 to the escort, and the escort did 14% damage to one of the enemy
3277 interceptors. Next, the enemy interceptor attacks the recon plane,
3278 which is the same plane, and inflicts 21% damage. The recon plane
3279 inflicts 13% damage on the interceptor, and the recon plane aborts
3280 the mission. It looks like you lost the dogfight. In actuality,
3281 you did not. The intercepting plane suffered a total of 27% damage.
3282 It looks like you suffered 37% damage. However, you actually only
3283 suffered the *last* damage inflicted, which was to the recon plane.
3284 Thus, you only suffered 21% damage and you won the dogfight.
3286 c) "Flying Bridge" bug - Say for example you have a 100% bridgehead
3287 sector with enough HCMs, workers, and avail to build a bridge.
3288 Normally, you would say "build bridge x,y" and then it would ask
3289 you for a direction to build the bridge. If after you built the
3290 bridge you were to redesignate the bridgehead, the bridge would
3291 collapse. However, if you redesignate the bridgehead sector
3292 before you build the bridge, the bridge will be built and will
3293 not collapse. At the next update, the bridgehead will become
3294 the sector you redesignated it to (say, a highway) and the bridge
3295 will still be there. Note: It is believed that most current
3296 games of Empire have a new patch that prevents this bug.
3298 d) "Resource sucker" bug - Let's say you have a sector with 23 gold
3299 content left, and it is a gold mine. Normally it might produce
3300 say, 111 gold dust at the next update. If you were to put 9000
3301 civilians into that sector, it would produce over 900 dust at
3302 the next update. The sector's resource content of gold will go
3303 to 0, but instead of getting a roughly 115 dust from the sector
3304 with the remaining content, you have gotten over 900 dust.
3305 Civilians reproduce quickly enough that losing 8000 civs this way
3308 User's Guide to Empire 68
3310 is really of no concern especially when you consider what you
3311 have gained. This bug works also for oil wells and uranium
3314 I have listed the bugs here because it is important that players
3315 know about these bugs in case they are used against them. I do not
3316 condone the use of these bugs, nor do many players of the game.
3317 Many deities (the people who run the game) take action against
3318 players using these bugs, such as taking away your technology or
3319 your money. Do not use them. Simply be aware that others may use
3320 them and come up with ways to counter their use. If you are aware
3321 that another player is using one of these bugs, report it to the
3322 deity of the game. S/he might give you a reward of some sort.
3324 Also note that since these bugs have been published> here, it is likely
3325 that some programmer has written bug fixes for these. Most, and
3326 possible all of these bugs might not work in a game you are
3331 User's Guide to Empire 69
3333 Appendix C :-: FTP sites and other sources for Empire related items
3335 Herein listed are the net address of computers that have files
3336 related to Empire in there anonymous FTP directories. An example of
3337 anonymous FTP is found in chapter 2 of this guide, and that method
3338 with appropriate substitutions for file names can be used to retrieve
3339 files off of these FTP sites. If you have trouble using anonymous FTP
3340 seek out your local site consultant for more information.
3342 Host Directory Files available
3343 ucbvax.berkeley.edu - pub/games/empire/bsd Empire client, server,
3344 various tools, this guide.
3345 empire.bbn.com - pub/Emp Various tools, VMS client,
3347 star.cs.vu.nl - xemp Xemp
3348 hylka.helsinki.fi - public/vax/games-etc/empireclient.dir
3350 uunet.uu.net - games Tools, server.
3351 alcazar.cd.chalmers.se - pub/emp Various tools, patches, eif
3355 User's Guide to Empire 70
3359 Agriculture centers 25,49,51 Naval operations
3360 Announcements 17 Defensive 36,54,57
3361 Avail 45 In mapping 55,61
3362 Backstabbing 28 Anti-submarine 61
3363 Banks 56 Amphibious 35,40,54,57
3364 Bridges 42,45,58,67 Mining 54,60,61
3365 BTUs 26,45 Nuclear weapons
3366 Capitals 16,26,36,54,55,57 Damage from 38
3367 Clients 9 Ending games 41
3368 Basic client 9 Getting 38,42
3369 Compiling 9-12 Recovering from 39
3370 Deliver 48,52-53,56,60 Defense of areas hit by 40
3371 Designate 17,21,25 Oil 42,43,45,50,54,55,67
3372 Diplomacy 28-32 Paratroops
3373 Distribution network 27,48-52,56,60 In nuclear war 40
3374 Education 42-43,44,45,47,48 Against capitals 36
3375 Empire Against forts 35,36
3376 Addictive 8 Against defended sectors 57
3377 Blitz games 6 Plague 44
3378 Compared to Risk 6 Planes
3379 Description 6 In defense 33-34,54,57
3380 Game length 6 In mapping 28
3381 Time needed to play 6 VTOL 33,34,40
3382 Enlistment 40,54 Out of airbases 33,34,59
3383 ETU, Empire Time Units 26 In nuclear war 38,40
3384 Exploring 16,21-25 Defending from 57
3385 Food in sectors 27,54 In escort 67
3386 Forts 30,34-35,40,54,57,59-60 Population 26,43
3387 FTP 9,63 Posturing 32
3388 Gold dust 26,42,43,45,54,55,67 Registering
3389 Guerillas 36-37 Hearing of games 8
3390 Guns 34-35,36,40 Standard registration 8-9
3391 HCMs 45,67 Rec.games.empire 8
3392 Help 16,17 "Red Storm Rising" 30
3393 Kent State Empire 43, 62 Research 44,45
3394 LCMs 42,45,47,48 Reserves 37,54,57
3395 Loans 30,61 Sanctuary 16,21,22,25,27
3396 Mapping 28,54,55,61 Scripts 64
3397 Maps 16,18-20 Sectors 20
3398 Maskirovka 30-31 Server, connecting problems 12-15,26
3399 Missiles Starvation 26,46,51,54
3400 In nuclear war 38 Technology 26,27,33,34,42-44
3401 Against planes 57 Telegrams 17
3402 Against airbases 59 Thresholds 50-53,56,60
3403 Against ships 62 Tools 7,8,21,63-64
3404 Mobility 24,25,26,49,51,61 Uncompensated workers 43,46
3405 Mountains 25,36 Updates 16,21,25,26,27,36,46,51,56
3406 Movement 16,20 Warehouse 26,43,48,49-51,56,59,60,61
3407 Wilderness 20,21,22,23,24,25
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