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Length: 107034 (0x1a21a)
Types: TextFile
Names: »Empire_Manual«
└─⟦b20c6495f⟧ Bits:30007238 EUUGD18: Wien-båndet, efterår 1987
└─⟦this⟧ »EUUGD18/General/Empire.V/V1.1/Empire_Manual«
EMPIRE INFORMATION MANUAL
(in part)
Preliminary Edition
Peter Langston
12/25/85
Copyright (c) 1977 by P. Langston
Command : ACCEPT
The accept command allows you to sign or decline a loan offered
by another country. If you accept the money is immediately
credited to your account.
Warning : The terms of the loan are printed out... take note of
the due date; if you do not pay by then the interest will double
and you are subject to "collection".
To accept (or decline) a loan type:
[##:##] Command: accept (loan)
where (loan) is the loan number.
The command will list the conditions of the loan then ask
"accept/decline/postpone". The meaning is obvious. Loan offers
are withdrawn if not accepted within a number of days equal to
the proposed loan's duration.
See also: Financial [status], Ledger, Lend, Collect
- 3 -
Command : ASSAULT
The assault command allows your marines to "hit the beaches". To
run this command type:
[##:##] Command: assault 32,54
if sector 32,54 is to be assaulted. The program will ask which
ship is doing the assaulting and how many brave troops to disem-
bark... These suckers face the problem of reaching the beach,
i.e. they are less effective than any land troops they encounter.
Both capitals and forts fight twice as hard as other sectors
against sea assaults.
See also: Attack, Board
- 4 -
Command : ATTACK
The attack command is used to conquer sectors owned by other
countries. It should not be used to take over unoccupied sectors
("move" can do that).
To attack a sector type:
[##:##] Command: attack 12,-7
This will initiate the attack sequence against sector 12,-7
(note: you may only attack one sector at a time). You will be
informed of the sector's status, e.g.
Sector 34,45 is a 15% fortress with 40 military or so.
At this point you will be asked how many military you wish to
dedicate from each sector of yours that adjoins the victim's sec-
tor; (thus you could attack with up to 508 military).
Troops from each type of sector normally fight with equal stami-
na, however troops in fortresses fight especially hard, as do
troops defending a capital. Defending forts at 100% efficiency
give their troops a 4-to-1 advantage over ordinary troops and
100% efficient capitals give their troops a 2-to-1 advantage over
ordinary attacking troops. Attacking forts give a 2-to-1 advan-
tage over other types. Of course this effect is degraded by
lower efficiency.
Before considering an attack one should weigh the possibilities
of that sector being defended by a gun! (see "info defend") It
need not be a fort; however attacking forts can be doubly deadly;
for if the fort has a gun and is defended by another fort, both
will fire at your troops with devastating effect. In your favor
is the fact that the defending gun can only be fired from a fort
and that fort must be within range of you.
The next big question - cost?? Attacking costs you in three
ways:
B.T.U. cost
(the cost of flying desks) = # of total troops killed * .15
Mobility cost
(for gasoline & k-rations) depends on terrain:
Mobility Cost (Per Military) in Attacks
type of sector being attacked
attacking from (+) (?) (-) (^)
(+) Highway .125 .208 .291 21.3
(?) others .167 .250 .333 21.3
(-) Wasteland .208 .291 .375 21.4
(^) Mountain 10.7 10.8 10.9 31.9
and finally
Ill-will cost (distrust from peaceniks) = ???
The battle will rage until someone is wiped out (the victim
fights with all of his troops). Each time a soldier is killed a
character is typed; "!" if a defending soldier, "@" if an attack-
ing one and "*" if an entire attacking sector is lost. If you
lose, tough! However, if you win, your attacking forces that
survive will move into the victim's sector. When planning an at-
- 5 -
Command : ATTACK
tack remember that overwhelming forces greatly increases your
odds; i.e. attacking 10 men with 40 will result in your losing
fewer troops than if you had attacked with 20.
A few notes:
The deity (country 0) is pacifistic and unlikely to help attack-
ers (except in response to a large offering on sunday).
Finally, before initiating an attack you should consider whether
the real answer to your problem might be diplomacy, (you heavy-
handed clod!)
See also: Assault, Prayers, Telegram, Move, Fire, Defend
- 6 -
Command : BOARD
The board command enables two ships' crews to engage in hand-to-
hand combat. To board a ship type
[##:##] Command: board (ship)
where (ship) is the ship number you wish to attack. The program
will ask from which ship you wish to board. You may only board
from one ship at a time... One more problem --- you can not
board a freighter while it is in a fleet and protected by gun-
ships... Take note that the boarders are at a disadvantage while
swinging across to the other ship. Weather can prevent boarding
when the sea is too rough...
- 7 -
Command : BUILD
The build command is used to specify the types of ships to be
built in your harbors and the directions in which bridge spans
are to be built from bridge head sectors. Its general form is:
[##:##] Command: build (sects) <type or direction>
Given sufficient labor force, time and ore each harbor or bridge
head will accumulate up to 127 production units which can be used
to build ships or bridge spans.
HARBOR EXAMPLES
If you type:
[##:##] Command: build -4:2,3:16 ?des=h
You build in any harbor sectors within the -4:2,3:16 area. The
program responds:
37 production units in harbor at -3,14 kind of ship?
You now have your choice as to what kind of ship to build assum-
ing you have sufficient production units and money.
Your choices are :
Ship type Production Money
pt boat 30 270
minesweeper 50 450
destroyer 60 540
submarine 70 630
freighter 80 720
tender 100 900
battleship 127 1016
carrier 127 1016
Only the first letter is required to indicate your choice.
If the optional <type> argument is used the program will try to
build the specified ship type in all harbors in the given area
and will not ask you to specify ship type for each harbor.
Note that ships first appear at 50% efficiency. As time passes
they grow to 100% efficiency.
BRIDGE HEAD EXAMPLES
If you type
[##:##] Command: build 2,2
and 2,2 is a bridge head, (#), the program will respond:
Bridge head at 2,2; build span in what direction? (udlr) d
Bridge span built over 2,3
Note that bridge spans require 127 production units in the bridge
head and cost about $2000 each to build.
If the optional <direction> argument is used the program will try
to build a span in the specified direction from all bridge heads
in the given area that have the necessary 127 production units.
- 8 -
Command : BYE
The bye command is how you go bye-bye. The general form is:
[##:##] Command: bye
This command costs zero BTUs. Use it often.
If, for some obscure reason, you would like to end an Empire ses-
sion but prefer not to use the "bye" command you may achieve the
same result by typing either the quit character, (^\), or the EOT
character, (^D).
See also: shell
- 9 -
Command : CENSUS
The census command allows you to see specific information on some
or all of the sectors you occupy. The general form of the com-
mand is:
[##:##] Command: census (sects)
where (sects) is the area on which you wish information (see
"info syntax").
A typical usage might be:
[##:##] Command: census -3:3,-3:3
which would list data for the area extending three sectors out
from the capital in each direction; or
[##:##] Command: census 0:9,0:9 ?des=m
which would list data for mines to the south-east of the capital.
A census lists each of your sectors in that area followed by:
cmsgpob des eff min gold mob civ mil sh gun pl ore bar prod
These abbreviations are:
* indicates a checkpointed sector (see "info checkpoint")
cmsgpob Seven delivery columns corresponding to: civilians, mili-
tary, shells, guns, planes, ore, and bars of gold.
$ indicates a sector whose produce is being sold to The
Deity (see "info contrac t")
0-7 indicate delivery to an adjacent sector: 0 is for north,
1 is for north-east, 2 for east, 3 for south-east, etc.
% indicates a sector that is being defended (see "info de-
fend")
des the sector designation, (see "info sector-types")
eff the efficiency of the sector (affects all benefits of a
designated sector except mobility units)
min the percentage richness of non-gold minerals (not used
up, i.e. a renewable resource)
gold the amount of gold ore (in absolute tons, i.e. non-
renewable)
mob the number of mobility units, (see "move")
civ the number of civilians
mil the number of military troops
sh the number of shells in storage
gun the number of guns in storage
pl the number of planes present
ore the number of units of ore
bar the number of gold bars
- 10 -
Command : CENSUS
prod the number of production units, (an intermediate commodi-
ty between ore and products, usually ignored except in
harbors and bridge heads; see "info build").
Final example:
[##:##] Command: cens -9:9,-9:9 ?des=f&mil<25&mob>20
will list all forts in the surrounding area that have fewer than
25 military and more than 20 mobility units.
- 11 -
Command : CHANGE COUNTRY NAME, REPRESENTATIVE NAME or USER
This simple command enables you to rename your country or your
representative or to change the computer account ("user") associ-
ated with your country.
You will first be asked for your current (not new!)
representative's name (just to make sure you are legit).
[##:##] Command: change country name
I.D. check: Your name? (here you type 'goofball' or whatever)
New name -- Mountainia
This will change the name of your country to "Mountainia". Simi-
larly, to change your representative's name:
[##:##] Command: change representative
I.D. check: Your name? (goofball again)
New name -- quasimodo
Your representative's name will now be "quasimodo", (note that
although the name you typed for "I.D. check" didn't print out,
the new name you typed did print out, in case of a typing error.
As a consequence, you won't want to do this while your arch-enemy
is watching.)
[##:##] Command: change user
I.D. check: Your name? (quasimodo)
Currently only kissinger can use this country.
You may reset it to only you (kissinger) or to anyone.
Which? (answer "me" or "any") any
This will allow anyone who knows your representative's name to
log in in to your country. This would be handy if several people
were running one country as a "team" (polite word for "commit-
tee"). Similarly, to reestablish the check on user identity:
[##:##] Command: change user
I.D. check: Your name? (quasimodo)
Currently anyone can use this country.
You may reset it to only you (kissinger) or to anyone.
Which? (answer "me" or "any") me
This will disallow anyone but you to log in to mountainia. The
switch to "any" and then back to "me" could also be used to
transfer control of a country from one user to another.
See also : country-roster
- 12 -
Command : CHECKPOINT
The checkpoint command allows you to grant access privileges to
another country. Anyone knowing the checkpoint code can pass thru
the sector and/or remove anything residing in the sector.
To run this command type:
[##:##] Command: checkpoint 0:3,-2:4
The program will ask for your representative name to prevent oth-
ers from changing your codes.
It will then request the code for each sector. The code can be
any number between -128 and 127 (inclusive) but if it is 0 the
checkpoint is removed...
Census will indicate checkpoints with a * in the "code" column.
Note that whereas most sectors are closed to general access un-
less they are checkpointed (and then open only to people who know
the code), highway sectors are normally open to access from
everyone (i.e. anyone can move people in and, more importantly,
out) unless they are checkpointed.
See also : census, move
- 13 -
Command : COLLECT
The collect command is the loan-shark's delight! Through the
collect command overdue loans can be "cleared up". If you should
find that you have a problem debtor who refuses to pay up on your
kind loan you can always seize one or more of his/her sectors.
Perhaps the mere threat of a collection on someone's capitol may
do the trick! To settle up accounts on overdue loan #9 you would
type:
[##:##] Command: collect 9
The program would then ask which sector you would like to claim
as just and rightful compensation for the outstanding debt.
What sector do you wish to confiscate?
To which you reply with the coordinates of a sector owned by your
debtor to which you are adjacent. The program then paws over the
sector and assesses its value:
That sector (and its contents) is valued at $2345.00
If the amount you are owed exceeds this amount the sector becomes
yours! If the value of the sector is close to the amount you are
owed the debt is considered to be repaid.
See also : Lend, Ledger, Accept
- 14 -
Empire Command Summary
This list contains one-line descriptions of each Empire command;
further information on a particular command may be obtained by
running info on that command (e.g. "info attack").
General
Bye Log out of Empire
Census Report contents of sectors
Commands Brief list of commands
Country List last access, BTUs, status and name for each country
Deliver Establish delivery routes for shells, ore, etc
Declare Formally declare alliance, neutrality or war
Designate Specify sector utilization
Dissolve Dissolve your government and country (suicide)
Execute Take commands from the specified file
Forecast Predict future weather conditions
Headlines Summarize the weeks events (part of "news")
Info Provide information on various topics
List Brief command list
Map Generate a map showing sector types, seas, etc
Move Transport ore, civilians, guns, etc
Nation The state of your nation
News The yellow press
Power Display arbitrarily measured strengths of all countries
Read Read your telegrams
Realm Print out or modify one of your four "realms"
Route Display delivery routes
Shell Spawn a shell
Update Perform updates in all sectors and set "realm"
Weather Produce a weather map
Confrontation
Attack Attempt to seize a sector from another country
Change Change country name, representative's name or user
Checkpoint Designate checkpoint code for sector(s)
Defend Specify defending artillery fire
Enlist Turn civilians into military
Fire Fire artillery from sector/ship on sector/ship
Fly Fly planes from sector/ship to sector/ship and bomb or snoop
Grant Give away sectors to another (adjacent) country
Offer Offer a treaty to another country
Spy Snoop on adjacent enemy sectors
Telegram Send "diplomatic" communique to another country
Treaty Listing of all current and pending treaties
Vote Accept, reject or postpone consideration of offered treaty
Naval
Assault Attack coastal sector from ship
Board Board enemy ship
Build Build ships or bridges in specified sectors
Create Designate members of a "fleet"
Load Load goods, people, etc onto a ship
Lookout Check from ship/sect for other ships and/or sector types
Mine Drop mines from destroyer
Navigate Move ship or fleet around
Radar Perform radar scan from ship or sector
Ship Report status of ship, fleet or ships in a given area
Tend Supply ships with guns and/or shells
- 15 -
Empire Command Summary
Torpedo Slip a torpedo to some poor sucker (from a sub)
Unload Inverse of load (above)
Finance
Accept Accept, reject or defer consideration of a loan
Collect Foreclose an overdue loan
Contract Arrange to sell production (automatically) to country #0
Ledger Report on outstanding loans
Lend Offer a loan
Repay Repay a loan (all or part)
Set Establish price for an item in an exchange sector or a ship
Trade Generate a report on items for sale and perhaps buy some
- 16 -
Command : CONTRACT
The contract command allows you to sell the output of a
particular industry directly to the outside world
(via The Deity, country 0).
For instance, to sell the production units generated in a
shell industry located at -3,3 type:
[##:##] Command: contract -3,3
and the program will reply with something like:
The Deity offers $3.15 per unit of production in -3,3 do you accept?
At which point you can take it or leave it (answer "yes" or
"no"). If you already have a contract for the given sector a
"yes" answer will reset the sale price to the current offer (the
prices offered vary slightly with time) and a "no" answer will
end the contract.
The presence of a contracted sale in a sector is indicated by a
dollar sign, ("$") in the census.
See also : census
- 17 -
Command : COUNTRY-ROSTER
The country roster command allows you to determine the number,
names and various other information about countries currently in
the game. The general form is:
[##:##] Command: country
The country roster will also contain the time that each country
last logged out of the game (or the terminal they are on if
currently logged in), the number of Bureaucratic Time Units
(B.T.U.s) remaining and each nation's status.
For example:
[123] Command : country
Wed Feb 2 18:06:51 1984
# last access time slots status country name
0 Tue Feb 1 18:14 [127] 0 0 DEITY GOD HIMSELF
1 <logged on ttyq> [127] 15 20 Active Amerika
2 Fri Jan 28 18:15 [73] 12 18 Active Bongo - Bongo
3 Tue Feb 1 18:40 [81] 16 19 Active California
4 Mon Jan 31 21:04 [54] 16 21 Active Dog Dish
5 Fri Jan 28 20:00 [106] 17 20 Active East Eden
6 Tue Feb 1 12:15 [0] 16 18 Active Frodo
7 Wed Feb 2 15:51 [127] 16 22 Active Greenland
See Also : power
- 18 -
Command : DECLARE
The declare command allows you to make official your diplomatic
relations with other countries. The general form is:
[##:##] Command: declare (position) (cno/cname)
Position may be "alliance", "neutrality", or "war"; (cno/cname)
is either the name or number of the other country in question.
Your official realtions with other countries affect various as-
pects of the game; for instance, if a country with whom you are
at war spies on one of your sectors and you catch the spy he/she
will be shot, if however, you had been neutral to the spy's coun-
try she/he would merely have been deported. (If the spy was from
an allied country he/she would never be caught in the first
place.) See also : nation, spy
- 19 -
Command : DEFEND
The defend command allows forts to defend other sectors from at-
tack. The defending fort will fire upon any attacking forces. To
run type:
[##:##] Command: defend (sects)
The program will ask from which fort this area is to be defended,
(note that forts can only protect as far as they can fire). The
census report indicates sectors that are being defended with a
percent sign ("%").
If you wish to find out which fort(s) are defending a particular
area use the following form of the defend command:
[##:##] Command: defend (sects) %
The presence of the percent sign ("%") causes the program to run
an I.D. check on you and then display the protecting fort loca-
tion for each sector in the area given.
See also : census
- 20 -
Command : DELIVER
The deliver command is used to specify to which sector the vari-
ous commodities in a sector will be delivered at each update.
The general form is:
[##:##] Command: deliver (item) (sects) <thresh>
where (sects) is the sector or sectors from which the deliveries
are made, (item) is one of the following:
c civilians
m military
s shells
g guns
p planes (believe it or not)
o ore (not gold ore, though)
b bars of gold
and <thresh> can be one of three optional arguments.
A numeric argument in parentheses, "(thresh)", specifies a
minimum amount to be left in each delivering sector.
For example, "(64)" specifies that only the amount in excess of
64 can be delivered. This is particularly handy in cases where
you wish to maintain some stock in a given sector but pass along
any extra to an adjoining sector.
A numeric argument preceded by a plus sign, "+thresh", specifies
that all thresholds in the specified area should be set to the
thresh value and no delivery destinations should be changed.
A thresh argument of "-" requests a list of deliveries and thres-
holds for all sectors in the specified area and changes nothing.
This is the only way to examine the delivery thresholds.
Except in the "+thresh" and "-" cases described above, the pro-
gram asks the destination for each sector's delivery of the
designated item.
The destination must be specified as the x,y of one of the eight
surrounding sectors or just a carriege return, (in which case the
delivery will not be changed in that sector).
You may also specify a threshold at this time which will override
any threshold specified by the command arguments by following the
destination with a number in parentheses.
The census report will indicate deliveries by the numbers 0 - 7
in the "codes" column. 0 indicates a delivery to the north, 1 to
the northeast, 2 to the east, etc.
If, when accessing the sector has caused an update to be per-
formed, and the destination sector is not owned by you the mes-
sage "delivery walkout between x,y & x,y" will be printed and
none will be delivered UNLESS the destination sector is check-
pointed in which case delivery will proceed normally. This fa-
cilitates exchange of goods between adjoining countries.
- 21 -
Command : DELIVER
Delivery routes may also be mapped out with the "route" command.
See also : census, route, innards, syntax
- 22 -
Command : DESIGNATE
In Empire all sectors (land) have a "designation". The "designa-
tion" represents the principal industry or activity taking place
in that area. When a sector is designated a harbor, for example,
the civilians in the sector start building shipyards and docks
(with a little help from any military present). At first the
sector's efficiency will drop to 0%, indicating that no harbor
facilities are available. As work progresses the efficiency will
climb toward a maximum of 100%.
The general form of the designate command is:
[##:##] Command: designate (sects)
The program will ask for each sector specified what you want the
new sector designation to be. However, if you wish to designate
one or several sectors to be one particular thing and don't want
to be asked on them you can type:
[##:##] Command: designate (sects) designation
For example:
[##:##] Command: designate -3:3,-3:3 ?des=- +
This will designate all wildernesses (that you own) within three
sectors of your capitol to be roads.
One special note on designating capitals. You can have more than
one sector designated as a capital, however the most recently
designated one is your 'real' capital. It is this capital that
is used for the computation of your B.T.U.'s and for that reason
it is also the one your enemy will try to capture during a war.
See also : sector-types
- 23 -
Command : DISSOLVE
The dissolve command is the coward's way out of Empire. It does
several things: it gives all your sectors back to The Deity, pays
off any debts that it can, voids any treaties in which you were
involved, and allows your ships to decide their own fate. Some
ships riot, some go up for sale, and some are scuttled.
Using the dissolve command is simplicity itself:
[##:##] Command: dissolve
You will be asked your name (to make sure you have the authority
to do it) and then it's curtains...
See also : Prayers
- 24 -
Command : ENLIST
The enlist command invokes a draft in the sectors given. To run
this command type:
[##:##] Command: enlist (sects)
The command will ask you how many troops you wish to call up. It
will then list each sector where troops answer the call and the
number who showed up. Note that only 50% of the civilians in a
sector can be called upon at any one time and that no one in an
urban area is willing to be drafted. In addition the military
become unix irreversibly (no population growth) and lazy workers.
- 25 -
Command : EXECUTE
The execute command lets you run command files in empire. Its
general form is:
[##:##] Command: execute file
where "file" is the name of the file containing (empire) com-
mands. For instance, if you had a file called "empdaily" which
looked like:
update >grunch
news >>grunch
map # >>grunch
census # >>grunch
ship >>grunch
and then you logged in to Empire and said:
[##:##] Command: execute empdaily
the program would perform an update, read the news, make a map,
output a census, list the status of each of your ships into the
file "grunch" and then prompt you for further commands.
Beware however, if your file says "bye" you will be logged off!
- 26 -
Command : FIRE
The fire command is used to shoot up land sectors or ships. The
general form for shooting at land is:
[##:##] Command: fire (sect)
Where (sect) is the sector AT which you are shooting, (NOT the
sector FROM which you are shooting).
The general form for firing at ships is:
[##:##] Command: fire (ship)
Again, (ship) is the victim ship number.
The program will then ask for the sector or ship FROM which you
are firing.
The only sector that may fire is a fortress which must have at
least 5 military for a firing crew, at least 1 shell to fire, and
a gun big enough to reach the victim location; range is equal to
the "number" of guns (with a maximum of 7) times the technology
factor (which has a maximum of 1. see "info technology").
Any ship other than a freighter may fire as long as it has at
least one gun, at least one shell, and has at least 60% efficien-
cy. If the ship can fire more than one gun the program will ask
how many you wish to fire. See info "ship-types" for gun ranges.
The program then prints a satisfying "Kaboom!!!" and, assuming
you were in range, inflicts damage.
The damages inflicted vary with efficiency of the attacker, the
size of the guns (battleship guns are four times as big as pt
boat guns), the number of guns fired, etc.
A table of approximate damages looks like:
From To Range of dmages
land land 11% .. 16%
land sea 14% .. 49%
pt * land 7%
pt * sea 9% .. 28%
bat ** land 25%
bat ** sea 30% .. 64%
* pt here is the example of the wimpiest sea gun while
** bat means a battleship firing four guns at once.
An illustrative example of shelling land:
[##:##] Command: fir 34,18
Firing on sector 34,18 from 35,18
Kaboom!!!
Meanwhile, the owner of sector 35,18 might be logged on and would
perhaps see the following:
- 27 -
Command : FIRE
[##:##] Command: cen 34,18
Sat Jul 30 16:18:01 1984
sect sgpob des eff min gold mob civ mil sh gun pl ore bar prod
34,18 4..10% i 100% 17 23 127 127 107 127 0 0 0 0 101
1 sector
You have a telegram waiting ...
[##:##] Command: read
BULLETIN! dated Sat Jul 30 16:18:26 1984
Country #19 shelled 34,18
Shall I burn it? y
[##:##] Command: cen 34,18
Sat Jul 30 16:19:26 1984
sect sgpob des eff min gold mob civ mil sh gun pl ore bar prod
34,18 4..10% i 87% 17 23 110 110 94 111 0 0 0 0 88
1 sector
Note that the shell did about 13% damage in the sector.
If the sector fired on is a fort with guns and shells it will
fire back with approximately the same damages (assuming it has
the range). If a ship fired on has guns and shells it will fire
back AND any other ships of the same nationality that are in
range will also fire on you.
See also: attack, assault, torpedo, technology
- 28 -
Command : FLEETADD
The fleetadd command is used to specify the fleet groupings of
your ships. The general form is:
[##:##] Command: fleetadd (fleet) (ships/fleet)
where (fleet) is the alphabetic character to be used as the fleet
designation, upper or lower case a-z and `~'. The pseudo-fleet
specification `~' specifies all ships not currently in any fleet.
The specification of ships, (ships/fleet), can have one of several syntaxes:
ex meaning
-- -------
23 ship 23
2/14/23 ships 2, 14, and 23
c all ships currently in fleet `c'
~ all ships currently in the "null" fleet
2,3 all ships in sector 2,3
-1:3,0:2 all ships in the area bounded by -1 & 3 (EW) and 0 & 2 (NS)
All fleets, (with the exception of the `~' fleet), are limited to
some maximum size and you will be informed how many ships can be
added when this command is run.
Having ships organized into fleets can be very helpful in load-
ing, moving, etc. in that fewer commands are required to perform
these commands on groups of ships if they can be specified by
fleet number.
Note that you can remove ships from a fleet by adding them to the
`~' fleet. e.g.
[##:##] Command: fleetadd ~ A
This command would purge all ships from fleet `A'. See also :
load, lookout, navigate, radar, ship, unload
- 29 -
Command : FLY
The "fly" command is the "move" or "navigate" of the air. It
represents a complete mission for one or several planes taking
off from one place (and perhaps ending up in one place). The
general form of the command is:
[##:##] Command: fly (sect)
or
[##:##] Command: fly (ship)
Although planes can land on any kind of sector, (with varying de-
grees of success), they can only take off from airfields and air-
craft carriers; thus (sect) must be the x,y of an airfield and
(ship) must be the ship number of an aircraft carrier.
The program requests information as to number of planes and bombs
on the mission and tells you how many of each is available to
you, (note that each plane requires 2 military as crew). And
then you're in the air.
Vital statistics such as fuel, (mobility), are displayed with the
prompt:
<7.5:6:2:-6,4>
which indicates 7.5 fuel units, 6 planes, 2 bombs (each), flying
over sector -6,4. The number of fuel units loaded in each plane
is the same and is calculated as:
fuel_available = sector_mobility * 4;
fuel_used = min(fuel_available, 32) (fuel tank size is 32)
fuel-units = technology_factor * fuel_used
If your planes are carrying no bombs, and the weather is not
stormy, they will be able to travel 1 sector, (orthogonally), per
fuel unit. If they are carrying bombs the per sector fuel cost
rises by 1 for each bomb rack required, (each bomb rack can hold
up to three bombs), and by .2 for each bomb, (although this is
often only a one-way cost). All the commands take the same
amount of fuel except the diagonal motions which take 1.414 times
as much.
The possible responses to the prompt and their meanings are:
u for up
d for down \l u /r
r for right
l for left \|/
\l for up-left l -- -- r
/r for up-right /|\
/l for down-left
\r for down-right /l d \r
b for drop a bomb from each plane
v for circle once and take a look down
e for land in the current sector or on a ship in this sector
The safest place to land is on a 100% efficient carrier or 100%
efficient airfield. If the airfield is less than 60% built your
chances of a safe landing are proportionately less than 100%.
Other sectors are also possible landing sites as in this table:
- 30 -
Command : FLY
sector efficiency
designation| 0% 50% 100%
-----------| --- --- ----
airfield 0% 83% 100%
road 40% 57% 73%
other 50% 30% 10%
When flying over land owned by another country great care should
be taken to avoid flying over sectors that automatically shoot at
you (unless they are checkpointed and you know the code). For-
tresses, capitals and airfields all fire on "foreign" aircraft
(assuming they have the guns & shells). When this happens to you
the flak will appear on your terminal along with the dying groans
of your pilots, (kinda makes it hard to sleep at night).
Three final words of caution:
1) Always keep an eye on the fuel gauge
2) Be careful where you land.
3) Don't do anything that you shouldn't.
- 31 -
Command : FORECAST
The forecast command is used to predict the weather around a
weather station. It requires one civilian for each hour in the
future you wish to peruse. The range of the prediction depends on
its efficiency. Thus a 100% weather station can predict up to 7
sectors away. To run this command type:
[##:##] Command: forecast (sects)
The program will request the location of the weather station and
list the location of the high and low at the hour you requested
and then one hour later. Thus you can plot the motion of the
weather centers.. It will also give you a map of the area as it
will appear in that future hour...
See also : weather, map, sector-types
- 32 -
Command : GRANT
The grant command is a means of donating a sector to another
country. To run this command type:
[##:##] Command: grant 3,-11
The program will request the country number to whom you wish to
donate the sector.
There are a few restrictions on the use of this command:
You can not donate a capital or a sanctuary. You can only offer
a sector to an adjacent country, ie. the recipient country must
own a sector next to the sector being sacrificed... You must own
the sector you are donating.
See also : map, spy
- 33 -
Command : HEADLINES
The headlines command lets you read just the important, summary
part of the news without boring you with the confusing details.
[##:##] Command: headlines <# days>
If you include a number in the command it will print headlines
based on the news from that many previous days. See also : news
- 34 -
Command : INFO
The info command gives a brief description of a particular aspect
or command in the empire game. To get info on a specific topic
type:
[##:##] Command: info (topic)
where (topic) is "move", "sector-types" or whatever.
The program will type out the date of the last modification to
that particular info topic and then print the first page. The
program will then wait for a <LF> before printing the second
page, and before the third, etc.
To get a list of available info topics type:
[##:##] Command: info
and a list will be given.
For example, to get information about the info command type:
[##:##] Command: info info
and this description will be typed out (again).
- 35 -
Concept : INNARDS
Sector Updates
Several characteristics of the empire game are dependent on sec-
tor updates -- mobility, efficiency, mining of ore, generation of
production units, etc. An understanding of the calculations in-
volved is often necessary in planning the timing of various ac-
tions. This info topic is included to help explain how this
(complex) task is carried out, and although it is unlikely that
it is strictly up to date, it should provide a feel for the
overall philosophy.
All commodities in a sector are kept as integers, some as 16 bits
but most in 8 bits (i.e. values range from -128 to 127). Because
of this an update that gives a population growth of .9 civilians
becomes a growth of 0. On the other hand, an update that pro-
duces 150 units of ore in a sector can at most add 127 units of
ore.
Here is an approximate description of the algorithm that is
called whenever a sector is accessed:
Variables used are:
curup = the present time (in half hours)
lstup = the time of the last update for the sector
dt = curup - lstup, elapsed time since last update
civ, mil = civilians & military for the sector
desig, effic = designation & efficiency for the sector
miner, gmin = regular & gold mineral content of the sector
t_level, r_level = technology & research level of the country
p_stage, p_time = plague stage & plague stage duration
workforce = an intermediate variable that represents work potential
iwork = the amount of work done in the sector
If lstup == 0 (i.e. never been updated) set lstup=curup
workforce = (civ + mil / 5) / 100
If workforce = 0 go away and don't update anything
dt = curup - lstup
If dt > 256 then set it to 256
iwork = dt * workforce
If t < 1 and we weren't told to ignore time,
go away and don't update anything
A few other strange considerations enter here, e.g. if the sector
does not belong to the current plasyer and iwork is less than 48
then don't update, etc
Check the weather, if it's bad enough do some damage to the sector
If the weather is good enough for construction then
effic becomes effic + t (if possible) and costs $1 for each
percentage point gained.
Set q equal to dt * civ
If desig is urban then
set q = min(127, civ + min(q/100, ore)) - civ
set civ = civ + 10 * q
set ore = ore - q
Else if desig is bridge span
set civ = civ - q / 400
Else If civ > 31 and civ < 97
- 36 -
Concept : INNARDS
set civ = min(127, civ + q / 200)
Else
set civ = min(127, civ + q / 400)
Add dt to mobil (to a max of 127)
Add dt to lstup
Pay for military supplies and amount equal to
((mil / 32) * dt) / 8 dollars
Check for plague conditions:
If p_stage = "third" kill off a bunch of people,
alert the owner and the news and decrement p_time by dt.
If p_time <= 0 set p_stage = zero
(the plague has burned itself out).
If p_stage = "second" report
to the owner and the news and decrement p_time by dt.
If p_time <= 0 set p_stage = "third"
and randomly reset p_time in the range of 32 to 64.
If p_stage = "first" decrement p_time by dt.
If p_time <= 0 set p_stage = "second"
and randomly reset p_time in the range of 32 to 64.
If p_stage = zero and a random number in the range 0-99
is less than the following figure:
(civ + mil) (t_level + ore + 100)
----------- * -------------------------------
254 (r_level + effic + mobil + 100)
then set p_stage = "first" and set p_time to a random number
of half hours between 32 and 64.
If anything is being delivered from this sector and there is
more of it than the delivery threshold deliver as much of
the excess as mobility allows. If plague_stage is "second"
(the infectious stage) set plague_stage and plague_time in
the delivered sector.
If effic is less than 60 or the current player is broke skip
the rest.
If desig is bank then accrue dt * $.125 interest per gold
bar
If desig is capital, radar, or wethr pay dt * $1 for utili-
ties
If desig is technology or research then pay dt * $1 for
utilities, convert units of production into tecnological
or medical advances, and then turn up to effic * iwork
units of ore into production units
If desig is defense plant, shell industry or airport then
convert units of production into guns, shells or planes
then turn up to effic * iwork units of ore into produc-
tion units If production is being sold (contract) collect
money for it
If desig is harbor or bridge head then turn up to effic *
iwork units of ore into production units If production is
being sold (contract) collect money for it
If desig is goldmine then turn production units into gold
bars, turn up to effic * iwork units of ore into produc-
tion units If production is being sold (contract) collect
- 37 -
Concept : INNARDS
money for it Dig up gmin * iwork / 100 units of ore de-
crement gmin by gmin * iwork / 200
If desig is mine then dig up miner * effic * iwork / 10000
units of ore If ore is being sold (contract) collect mo-
ney for it
Note that the work done in a sector (ore dug up, efficiency
growth, population growth, production units generated, etc)
is dependent on the product of time since last update and
work force (iwork above) while the accumulation of mobility
is independent of work force.
Also note that civilian populations between 32 and 96 grow
at twice the rate of those lower or higher.
Finally, note that if the population of a sector is very low
it may take a long time before t is greater than 1 so the
sector may not be updated for quite a while.
Ship Updates
Ships are also updated only when accessed however the
mechanism is much simpler. The only characteristics that
are changed by ship updates are the mobility units and the
efficiency (if less than 100%).
The algorithm here is:
t = curup - lstup
if t < 3 don't update anything
add t to mobility (with a maximum of 127)
add t to efficiency (with a maximum of 100)
Note that since an Empire Time Unit is half an hour, ships
will only be updated every one and a half hours.
Bureaucratic Time Units
There is one further update that is not handled in the sec-
tor update routine; that is the update of bureaucracy time
units (B.T.U.). These are the numbers printed in brackets
before the command prompt. Most commands given use B.T.U.s,
some use 1/2, some use 1 and some use more, making B.T.U.s a
vital commodity. The generation of B.T.U.s is dependent on
the efficiency and the work force in the capital sector.
Note that no capital implies no B.T.U.s.
The relationship governing the accumulation of B.T.U.s is:
B.T.U. = B.T.U. + (curup-lstup) * civil * effic / 50
Therefore, a 100% capital with 100 civilians gains 96 B.T.U.
a day, while a 30% capital with 38 civilians only gains 11
(10.94) B.T.U. a day.
- 38 -
Command : LEDGER
The ledger command prints the information on all outstanding
loans in which you are involved. The general form is:
[##:##] Command: ledger
The loan number, loaner's name, loanee's name, principal, in-
terest rate, expiration date, amount due, etc. will be printed
for each loan.
See also : lend, finances, accept
- 39 -
Command : LEND
The lend command is used to offer loans to other countries. The
general form is:
[##:##] Command: lend (cno/cname)
where (cno/cname) is the number or name of the country to whom
you are offering the loan. The program then prompts with various
questions concerning the terms of the loan and sends a telegram
to (cno/cname) informing them of the loan offer.
See also : ledger, accept, collect, repay
- 40 -
Command : LIST
The list command gets you a list of commands with their associat-
ed B.T.U. costs, (see "info time" for description of B.T.U.s).
This should not be confused with "info commands" which generates
a brief summary of each command.
The general form is:
[##:##] Command: list
or
[##:##] Command: command list
See also : Commands, Time
- 41 -
Command : LOAD
The load command enables the loading of ships. To run type:
[##:##] Command: load (ship) (percent)
where (ship) is the ship number. The ship must be in a harbor.
If the harbor is not yours but has been checkpointed you may
still load from it if you know the checkpoint code. The optional
percent argument indicates that you wish to load the the speci-
fied percentage of the maximum amount possible of each commodity.
If you do not use the percent argument the program will interac-
tively ask you how many of each item to load.
The maximum each ship can hold is:
type civil milit guns shells ore gold planes
pt 0 10 1 10 0 0 0
sub 0 25 2 25 0 0 0
des 0 80 2 40 0 0 0
bat 0 127 4 127 0 0 0
fre 127 0 127 127 127 20 0
min 0 25 1 10 0 0 0
ten 0 100 30 127 0 0 0
car 0 60 2 40 0 0 127
See also : unload, checkpoint, navigate
- 42 -
Command : LOOKOUT
The lookout command allows ships to report sightings of other
ships and land sectors and allows coastal sectors to report
sightings of ships. The general form is:
[##:##] Command: lookout (ship/fleet/sect)
The various ranges over which lookout is effective break down
into three groups:
ship to ship
This range is dependent on both the visibility of the ship being
observed and the visual range of the observing ship. (see "info
ship-types") Destroyers seeing Submarines is a special case; if
the sub is out of "regular" visual range (i.e. not in the same
sector) but within 3 or so of the destroyer the message "Snorkel
at X,Y" is printed.
ship to land
This range is either 1.4 in good weather (barometer > 700.) or 1.
in bad weather (barometer < 700.).
land to ship
In good weather this range is essentially equal to twice the sec-
tor efficiency expressed as a decimal; e.g. 100% can see 2 sec-
tors away. The exception is radar installations which have a
range approximately equal to seven times the sector efficiency.
See also : Ship-types, Sector-types, Radar
- 43 -
Command : MAP
A map gives you a graphic image of all or part of your country.
Your own sectors show up as a designation mnemonic (see "sector-
types") while sectors held by other countries appear as question
marks ("?"). Mountains and seas appear as '^^' and '..' (respec-
tively) but, if the map is being sent to a file or the printer,
the mountains will appear as '##' for greater printer legibility.
The form of the map command is:
[##:##] Command: map (sects)
where (sects) is the area for which you wish a map.
Examples:
[##:##] Command: map -8:8,-5:3
generates a 17 x 9 sector map based on data supplied by the sec-
tors in the area specified.
-5
? ^ ? ? ? -4
. - ? ^ ^ ^ ? - ^ - ? -3
. f . ^ b ^ a f ? f f - -2
. f a m m m a i . g * . -1
. . ) m i c c ^ u g . 0
. h h ! h * h x . . 1
. . . . . . . . 2
3
- - - - - - - - 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
[##:##] Command: map # >mapfil
where your "realm" ( or '#', see "update") is -5:5,-6:6 will type
out a 11 by 13 sector map and also put the map in the file "map-
fil".
- 44 -
Command : MINE
The mine command drops mines in the sea and is only functional
from destroyers. Each mine introduces a 5% chance that a passing
ship will be hit. The damage is severe but dependent upon the
size of the ship.
To drop mines type:
[##:##] Command: mine (ship)
Where (ship) is the number of one of your destroyers.
You will be asked how many mines you wish to drop and that number
of shells (assuming you got 'em) will be dropped in the sector
that (ship) occupies, magically becoming mines as they hit the
water.
Mines can only be removed safely by a minesweeper. (Other ships
can remove them by hitting them, but...)
For various reasons harbors and bridge spans can not be mined.
Note that the sector is checked for possible mine hits only when
a ship moves into it; thus, a destroyer may safely drop mines in
a sector and then move out. On the other hand, the mines know no
allegiance, so moving back into a mined sector is foolish at
best.
See also : navigate
- 45 -
Command : MOVE
The move command is crucial to Empire; it facillitates the move-
ment of civilians, military, ore, guns, shells, planes, and gold
bars. To run it type:
[##:##] Command: move ITEM
where ITEM is one of:
c civilians
m military
o ore
g guns
s shells
p planes
b bars of gold
The program will request the starting sector then display the
number of mobility units in that sector and its coordinates in
the form:
<97.0: -6,4>
which indicates 97 mobility units and sector -6,4. You may
respond with any combination of:
u for up
d for down \l u /r
r for right
l for left \|/
\l for up-left l -- -- r
/r for up-right /|\
/l for down-left
\r for down-right /l d \r
v for view
e for end of movement
Typical mobility costs are:
1 mu per 5 civilians
1 mu per 5 military
1 mu per 5 tons of ore
2 mu per gun
2 mu per 5 shells
4 mu per plane
10 mu per bar of gold
These costs are for an orthogonal move, (u, d, l or r), through a
100% efficient "regular" sector in "good" weather; diagonal moves
cost 1.414 times as much, wastelands cost twice as much, moun-
tains cost lots more & highways can cost as little as nothing (if
100% efficient).
If you wish you may give all or part of the information for a
move on the command line:
[##:##] Command: move c -3,0 20 rrre
This command will try to move 20 civilians from -3,0 to your cap-
ital, (0,0).
- 46 -
Command : NATION
The nation command displays various data about your country. Its
usage is:
[##:##] Command: nation
The data displayed by the nation command should be self explana-
tory, but if not let country #0 know and more descriptive text
will appear.
See also : power, country-roster
- 47 -
Command : NAVIGATE
The navigate command is the move command applied to the sea. You
can control one ship or a fleet. To run type:
[##:##] Command: navigate (ship/fleet)
where (ship/fleet) is the ship number or the fleet letter.
If you are moving a fleet and the flagship stops, the fleet
stops. (The lowest numbered ship is considered the flagship.)
The program will prompt with the mobility of the flagship, the
minimum mobility value for the fleet and the current sector coor-
dinates in the form:
<97.0:23.5: -6,4>
which means the flagship has 97 mobility units, some other ship
in the fleet has 23.5 mobility units and the flagship is in sec-
tor -6,4. You may indicate the direction you would like the
fleet to move by typing a string of letters consisting of any
combination of the following:
u for up
d for down \l u /r
r for right
l for left \|/
\l for up-left l -- -- r
/r for up-right /|\
/l for down-left
\r for down-right /l d \r
v for view
e for end of movement
Typical orthogonal, (u, d, l or r), moving costs in good weather
are:
ship 25% tech factor 50% tech factor 100% tech factor
type cost/sector cost/sector cost/sector
------ ---- ---- ----
pt boat 7.68 6.4 4.8
submarine 15.36 12.8 9.6
battleship 15.36 12.8 9.6
destroyer 10.96 9.13 6.85
freighter 19.2 16.0 12.0
minesweep 19.2 16.0 12.0
tender 12.8 10.67 8.0
carrier 15.36 12.8 9.6
In bad weather movement costs more (on the order of 10%); in very
bad weather ships may be damaged by moving them.
Moving a ship through a sector that has been mined by a destroyer
introduces a 5% chance per mine (cumulative) that you will be
damaged by "detecting" one of the little cuties. Minesweeps can
remove up to five mines per pass through a sector (indicated by
the message "Sweep...").
See also : mine, weather, ship types
- 48 -
Command : NEWS
The news command is the local newspaper run by The Deity. This
"morning after" daily recounts financial exploits, the telegram
traffic between countries, and political maneuvering in addition
to the chronicling of such mundanities as shelling and attacking.
It's great breakfast reading!
Type:
[##:##] Command: news
or:
[##:##] Command: news 2
if you only wish to see the news for the last two days. See also
: headlines
- 49 -
Command : OFFER
The offer command allows you to suggest a written treaty to
another country. The treaty once signed is not binding!
To run type:
[##:##] Command: offer (cno/cname)
where (cno/cname) is the name or number of the country to whom
you wish to offer a treaty.
You will be asked to set both the conditions for yourself and for
the other country. The conditions from which you may choose are:
Condition Command(s) affected
No ship attacks assault, board
No ship shelling fire
No sector attack attack
No sector shelling fire
No peeking (spying) spy
No enlistments enlist
No building ships build
See also : vote, treaty
- 50 -
Overview of the Empire game
(as of 5/78)
The game empire is the most recent in a series of territorial
conquest games inspired by a board game of the same name played
at Reed College (Portland, Oregon). Earlier versions have been
written at Reed by Peter Langston and at The Evergreen State Col-
lege (Olympia, Washington) by Chuck Douglas, Peter Langston, Ben
Norton and Mike Rainwater. The current version was written part-
ly on the HRSTS Unix system at the Harvard Science Center, (Cam-
bridge, Mass.), partly on the Unix system at Commercial Union
Leasing Corporation, (New York, N. Y.) and partly on the Unix
system at Davis Polk & Wardwell, (New York, N. Y.) by Peter
Langston with invaluable goading from Joe Stetson, Robert Brad-
bury, Nat Howard and others.
Empire falls into the broad category of simulation games, involv-
ing both military and economic factors. Although no goal is ex-
plicitly stated, players rapidly derive their own, ranging from
the mundane desire to be the biggest, mightiest country in the
game and conquer all others to the more refined goals of having
the most efficient land use possible or the lowest ratio of mili-
tary to civilians while still surviving, etcetera.
The role of the computer in Empire is that of modeling the
physical/economic system. Players interact through the computer
rather than with the computer. The games is played in a "real-
time" environment; players log on and allocate resources, attack
neighbors, send diplomatic communiques, etc. whenever they have
time and the program keeps track of their activities such that
when they are not logged on the time accumulates until they do
log on; (accumulated time is expressed in "bureaucratic time un-
its" or B.T.U.s).
The purpose of the B.T.U. Concept is three-fold:
I) The fact that commands use up B.T.U.s limits the amount of
time that any player can spend developing his/her country so that
the insomniacs won't necessarily out-play (or perhaps over-play)
the players with less free time;
II) The build up of B.T.U.s not being dependent on being logged
on at any particular time allows players to participate when it
is convenient rather than at some fixed time (as in the case of
monopoly, the stock market, etc);
III) The B.T.U. arrangement helps compensate for the fact that in
concept, the governments of each country are always "playing"
although the player representing that country may only play
periodically.
The geography of the game is embodied in a rectangular map parti-
tioned into M x N sectors (where M and N are typically but not
necessarily powers of two, usually 32, 64 or 128) that is approx-
imately 50% sea, 45% habitable land and 5% uninhabitable moun-
tains. This "map" is generated by a program (the "creation")
that places volcanoes pseudo-randomly forming land masses, (con-
tinental drift was too complicated), and then pseudo-randomly
places veins of gold and iron ore.
- 51 -
Overview of the Empire game
New countries may join the game at any time; upon entry into the
game a new country is given two adjacent sectors. These sectors
are initially designated "sanctuaries" and are inviolable. (Each
country uses its own coordinate system with sector 0,0 being the
current capital, a sanctuary, initially. The initial two sectors
are always numbered 0,0 and 1,0.) The new nation may stay in
these two sectors for any length of time and thereby be safe from
attack. However, in order to build or expand it is necessary to
leave the safety of the sanctuary. The sector of land that was a
sanctuary can then be redesignated as one of a multitude of other
land-use types ranging from weather stations to gold mines to
munitions plants.
For further information, here are a few "info" command topics
that are basic to the understanding of the game:
build designate prayers update
bye info sector-types weather
census innards spy
commands map telegram
country move time
- 52 -
Concept : PLAGUE
Plague is used in Empire to symbolize all forms of communicable
disease and is the only health hazard associated with the Empire
game. The characteristics of plague are, therefore, an unavoid-
able compromise of disease features (or "bugs").
The Empire Plague takes between 96 and 189 time periods to run
its course in a particular sector (i.e. 2 to 3.9 days) and in so
doing goes through three stages:
Stage I -- The gestatory phase in which no symptoms appear.
Stage II -- The infectious phase in which the symptoms first ap-
pear; blue and orange blotches on the face and hands, some-
times accompanied by grey stripes on the genitalia, itching of
the heart and liver, an uncontrollable fear of ripe tomatoes,
etc. During this phase the plague is extremely communicable,
a simple delivery of ore from an infectious sector is certain
to infect the destination sector.
Stage II -- The terminal phase in which almost everybody dies,
usually in the act of fleeing from real or imagined tomatoes.
All three phases are of roughly equal duration (about 48 time
periods or 1 day).
Plague usually arises in countries with high technological
development and comparatively little medical research and specif-
ically in sectors with high population and low efficiency. Dr.
M. Welby in his pioneering work "Demographic considerations and
the Empire Plague" wrote:
It appeared that our original hypothesis based
on the high percentage of Lumbagan Legionnaires
among the afflicted had led us down a blind al-
ley and that if we were to solve this complex
puzzle before the end of the series in the
spring [probably a reference to the series of
tests leading to the mysterious Neilson Rating]
we would have to turn to other disciplines for
help. It was only by the merest lucky coin-
cidence that as I drove home one evening ...
[here he relates an amusing anecdote about a
Girl Scout and a film director] ... leading us
to the following amazing formulation of the re-
lationship between medical research, technolo-
gy, population, standard of living and the Em-
pire Plague.
likelihood (civ + mil) (t_level + ore + 100)
of = ----------- * -------------------------------
plague 254 (r_level + effic + mobil + 100)
Later formulations of this relationship show great similarity to
his statement (see info "innards").
- 53 -
Concept : PLAGUE
Fortunately the plague is not infectious during the gestatory
stage so that the most effective method for curing plague has
been to isolate it by emptying adjoining sectors during the ges-
tation period.
See also : innards sector-types technology research
- 54 -
Command : POWER
The power report will give you an accurate picture of world
strengths. It is particularly worthwhile in planning defense
strategies and treaty voting.
A power report is obtained by typing:
[##:##] Command: power
If someone has generated a power report within the last hour, you
will be graced with an immediate output of that information. Oth-
erwise it will take 1-2 minutes to obtain the report.
Output consists of the following information :
a # of sectors
b # of civilians
c # of military
d # of guns
e # of shells
f # of planes
g average sector efficiency
h # gold bars
i # of ships
ii tons of ships (not displayed)
j # of dollars
k power - a measure of military/industrial capability
k is determined by the following relation:
k = (a*g+d)/3 + (b+c+e+ii)/10 + j/100 + f + i + 5*h
See also : census, country-roster
- 55 -
Concept : PRAYERS
There is one country in the game that has no material possessions
yet owns everything... That country is country #0 (often called
"The Deity"). The power of this ethereal country is unbounded --
it can do anything from creating a civilian (as was the case with
the first civilian), to literally moving mountains.
Despite this great power The Deity is the champion of the meek
and it is to country #0 that the downtrodden turn when in need of
aid. The most common form of prayer is the telegram; if you
should be in need of aid type:
[##:##] Command: telegram 0
When the program asks your message for The Deity
state it simply, e.g.
Enter message for The Deity; end with ^D
<122> Fumia took my capital and then deleted my account!
<71> HELP!!
<64> ^D
If this doesn't get helpful results then you should
send a second prayer with more specific details.
e.g.
<122> I'll donate a bar of gold (to charity)
<83> for 20% more efficiency in my capital.
<43> okay?
<38> ^D
This last message is sure to move the compassionate
Deity to provide help.
Note that The Deity wouldn't consider providing instruments of
destruction like guns & shells (unless, of course, the church had
a particularly great need for a new set of gold candlesticks or
the like).
See also : telegram
- 56 -
Command : RADAR
The radar command bears every resemblance to modern high-
resolution radar. It has a circular range dependent upon its ef-
ficiency.
To run land radar type:
[##:##] Command: radar (sect)
where (sect) must be the sector where the radar station resides.
The program will respond with the station's efficiency and range
and then display the area. What is displayed is dependent upon
the range, i.e. sectors and ships within 1/2 of its range are
displayed with their sector or ship designations. At further
distances a '?' is used to indicate the presence of another pil-
grim not of your faith.
A 100% radar station has a range of 6.1. The range is linearly
related to efficiency so a 25% radar can see 1.525 sectors away.
!!WARNING!! Radar cannot spot submarines. Even worse, should you
possess a cunning enemy he might move troops right to your
doorstop leaving the sector designated a wilderness which would
show up on your very efficient radar as '-'. Thus you would never
know he was there....well almost never. If you worry about this
try taking a map -- he can't hide there!
To run naval radar type:
[##:##] Command: radar (ship)
where (ship) is the number of the ship.. The sea radar is highly
dependent upon what kind of ship you have and what kind the op-
ponent has... e.g. Battleships can see battleships far away but
not pt boats.. Battleships have a 100% range of 6 while p.t.
boats, destroyers and carriers have a range of 4 and all other
ships see only 3. On the other hand, the ships vary in size and
consequently, vary in visibility: battleships and carriers are
the easiest to see (25), next come freighters, minesweeps and
tenders (20) followed by destroyers (15), pt boats (10) and last-
ly, submarines (2).
Note that although subs can not be found via radar that des-
troyers automatically use sonar too so they will see subs up to
2.86 sectors away..
See also : census, map, ship-types
- 57 -
Command : READ
The read command is used to read the telegrams sent you by other
countries and by the game (e.g. when you make a sale or are at-
tacked). When telegrams arrive you are informed with:
"You have a new telegram waiting ..." if there is just one new one, or
"You have ten new telegrams waiting ..." if there are ten of them, or
"You have several new telegrams waiting ..." if there are very many.
The command to read them is:
[##:##] Command: read
After reading them all you may discard them by answering "yes" to
the question posed. If you answer "no" the telegrams will remain
pending but you will not be reminded of them.
See also : Telegram
- 58 -
Command : REALM
The realm command allows you to manipulate the contents of the
four "realm"s associated with your country which provide a con-
venient way to save coordinates that are frequently used, (see
"info syntax" for use of realm arguments). The general form of
the realm command is:
[##:##] Command: realm (number) <(sects)>
(Number) is the number of the realm to be set and must be in the
range 0:3. Note that the update command manipulates realm 0 (see
"info update").
The (sects) argument is optional; if included the specified realm
will be set to (sects), if ommitted the coordinates of the speci-
fied realm will be printed. e.g.
[##:##] Command: realm 1 -3:2,4
[##:##] Command: realm 1
Realm 1 is -3:2,4:4
Also note that "#"-type arguments may be used in the (sects) ar-
gument.
[##:##] Command: realm 0 #1
Now realm 0 is set to -3:2,4:4.
The nation report includes the coordinates of all four realms.
See also : syntax, nation, update
- 59 -
Command : REPAY
The repay command is used to repay loans from other countries.
The general form is:
[##:##] Command: repay (loan)
where (loan) is the number of the loan you are repaying. You can
repay all or part of the loan with this command, however beware
of letting the loan become overdue -- the lender may decide to
force collection (see "info collect"). When you repay on a loan
a telegram is sent to the lender informing them of the amount
repaid.
See also : lend, ledger, accept, collect
- 60 -
Concept : RESEARCH
The research level of an Empire country is determined by the out-
put of research sectors in the following way. Whenever a
research sector is updated and there are 25 or more units of pro-
duction they are turned into "medical discoveries"; for each 25
units of production the research level of the country is raised
by 1. The research level decays away however with time, (the
diseases get smarter) at a rate of 1% per day (48 time units).
Therefore if a country has 5 research labs each of which is able
to produce 40 units of production a day the total daily produc-
tion of medical discoveries will be 200 / 25 ( = 8) and the
research level of the country will approach 800, where the 1%
daily loss exactly equals the daily gain of 8.
The research level affects the likelihood of plague outbreaks.
See also : innards technology
- 61 -
Command : ROUTE
The route command generates a graphic display of the delivery
specifications for the various deliverable items in a given sec-
tor area. The general form of the command is:
[##:##] Command: route (item) (sects)
(sects) is as described in "info syntax" and (item) is one of the
following:
s shells
g guns (not gold)
p planes
o ore
b bars of gold
The delivery routes are indicated with "go-to's" (as opposed to
"come-from's") using the following codes (assuming sector in
question is a mine):
^m^ up (0 in census)
m/ up-right (1 in census)
m> right (2 in census)
m\ down-right (etc)
vmv down
/m down-left
<m left
\m up-left
An example:
[XX] Command : rou o # ( := ore delivery for the whole "realm")
3 2 1 0 1 2 3
-3
-2
) /h <h /h -1
h\<* c ^*^ f \i 0
+ v+v +\ + + ^+^ 1
+ + a/ f m\ w ^a^ 2
x m/ f 3
See Also: deliver, census, syntax
- 62 -
Empire Sector Designations
Basics
. sea ^ mountain s sanctuary
- wilderness c capital u urban area
Industries
d defense plant i shell ind. m mine
g gold mine h harbor w warehouse
* airfield a agribusiness (farm)
Military / Scientific
t technical center f fortress r research lab
Communications
+ highway ) radar station ! weather station
# bridge head = bridge span
Financial
b bank x exchange
-sea- Sea sectors form natural barriers that can only be crossed
by ships (made in harbors, below). You can not designate any-
thing else to be sea nor sea to be anything else.
-mountain- Mountain sectors form another natural barrier that
cannot be redesignated; however, they can be moved through (at
great expense in terms of mobility units).
-sanctuary- Sanctuary sectors are created when a new nation is
created. They are inviolate in that no one can fire at them or
attack them. This protection ends when the new country first
moves out of the sanctuary (called "breaking sanctuary"); the
sector then becomes a capital.
-wilderness- Most of the world is wilderness at the beginning of
the game. Wilderness has no particular attributes; you can move
into it if unoccupied, thereby making it your territory, but will
probably want to designate it as something else once you own it.
-capital- Capitols are the source of bureaucracy time units
(B.T.U.s) they accrue in proportion to the efficiency of the cap-
ital and the number of civilians at work in it. If a country has
a 100% efficient capital with 100 civilians in it B.T.U.s will
accrue at the rate of 4 per hour. Most commands use up B.T.U.s,
(see "list of commands" for numbers of B.T.U.s used per command).
A nation may only have one active capital at a time (although
many sectors may be designated as capitals). The last sector
designated as a capital is the currently active one. If an ac-
tive capital is captured by an attack a new one must be designat-
ed by the victim. Capitals are twice as efficient at defending
against attack as other sectors (except fortresses).
-urban area- Urban areas are cities. People move into and out of
cities in groups of 10 (families). An urban sector can hold up
to 1270 civilians but only 127 military. The urban area consumes
ore in providing essential services for the city-dwellers leaving
them more time to "fool around" therefore the birth rate in ci-
ties is particularly high. However, if no ore is supplied to an
- 63 -
Empire Sector Designations
urban area the lack of essential services allows the death rate
to be as high as the birth rate.
-defense plant- In these sectors ore is turned into guns, going
through the intermediate form of "production units". It takes 10
units of ore and 5 hours in a 100% efficient defense plant with
100 civilians working in it to produce 10 units of production (
or 10 hours for 50 civil, etc). It takes 10 units of production
to make a gun. The rate at which ore is converted to production
is dependent on the efficiency of the sector, the number of civi-
lians in the sector and the presence of ore. Only 127 production
units can be kept in any one sector so if there is ore and 127
production units already in a "d" sector the production of guns
ceases until the production units are converted into guns (see
info "innards") and the message "production bottleneck in x,y" is
printed.
-shell industry- These sectors are similar to defense plant sec-
tors except they turn ore into production into shells. It takes
2 units of production to produce one shell and the maximum number
of shells that can be kept in one sector is 127; in case of over-
flow, production stops and "production bottleneck in x,y" is
printed. One shell is used each time you fire, (except for sub-
marines which use three shells to make one torpedo).
-mine- Ore comes from mines. The rate at which it is produced is
dependent on three factors; the efficiency of the mine, the
number of civilians working in the mine, and the mineral sample
for the sector ("min" on the census report). Mines start produc-
ing ore at about 60% effic, assuming a reasonably high mineral
sample and 80-100 civilians.
-gold mine- Gold mines are similar to ordinary mines, (above),
except that they dig up gold ore and include a smelter to refine
the ore to gold bars. The raw ore can not be transported to any
sector other than gold mines as in the case of ordinary minerals.
Gold ore is a non-renewable resource; a gold mine with a 70% gold
sample can only yield 140 units of gold ore after which it will
have a 0% gold sample. One half unit of gold mineral converts to
one unit of ore which converts to one unit of production which
converts to 1/5 of a gold bar (see info "innards" for further
specifics).
-harbor- Harbors combine shipyard facilities and docks. Ore is
turned into production in harbors to build ships and the ships
can be loaded and unloaded in the harbor. The rate at which pro-
duction units are generated depends on efficiency and civilian
workforce as in other industries. Ships are built using the
"build" command, (see "info build"). Ships vary in their "pro-
duction cost"; p.t. boats require 30 production units whereas
battleships require 127 (see info "ship-types" for further info).
-warehouse- Warehouses are used to store shells, guns, and ore.
These items are stored in lots of ten (containerized) so that
they may be moved more cheaply (costing 1/10 as many mobility un-
its). Note that moving 19 shells into a warehouse will only
result in a lot of ten being stored, with the other 9 being re-
turned to the originating sector.
- 64 -
Empire Sector Designations
-airfield- Airfields are where planes are built (ore becomes pro-
duction, becomes planes). Airfields are also particularly good
for landing and taking off, and as a matter of fact it is virtu-
ally impossible to take off from any other sector, although you
can often land in other sectors.
-agribusiness- These sectors are large farms and provide food.
Food is currently not implemented.
-technology center- These sectors are actually universities with
massive defense department grants. They turn ore into production
units into technological advances thereby raising the technology
level of the country (which affects gun ranges and pollution).
-fortress- Fortress sectors have many special characteristics;
you can fire guns from fortresses, whenever an attack is launched
from a fort or on a fort the military in the fort are stronger
than military in any other type of sector by an amount propor-
tional to the efficiency of the fort. e.g. 100 military in a
wilderness attacking a 100% efficient fort that has 25 military
gives even odds.
-research lab- The research lab is a bastion of "pure" medical
research which is to say it is a large university with massive
March-of-Dimes funding. The research lab turns ore into produc-
tion units into medical discoveries which raise the research lev-
el of the country and help retard the spread of disease, (usually
caused by the pollution from technical centers).
-highway- Whenever you move civilians, ore, gold, etc, mobility
units ("mu" on the census) are consumed dependent on how far and
how much you move. If the movement is over 100% efficient high-
way however it costs nothing to move. In addition, highway sec-
tors are useful for international trade in that any nation may
move onto and/or from highway sectors owned by any other nation
unless the sector has been checkpointed (see "info checkpoint").
-radar- Radar stations can scan the surrounding area (up to 6 un-
its away for 100% efficiency) and generate a radar plot identify-
ing sector types at distances up to 1/3 their range and ships up
to their full range.
-weather station- Weather stations are used to forecast the
weather conditions at any particular spot or spots for a given
time in the future. The area for which they can predict is
governed by their efficiency and the length of time in the future
that they can foresee is dependent on the size of their civilian
staff.
-bridge head- Bridge heads are the land based ends of bridges.
They, like harbors, turn ore into units of production which are
then used to build bridge spans.
-bridge span- A bridge span is the suspended part of a bridge
that crosses water sectors. They are built and supported by
bridge heads and are much like highways except for two things:
(1) Bridge spans can't even provide the minimal amount of food
that any other land sector provides, therefore civilians or mili-
- 65 -
Empire Sector Designations
tary left on bridges for long periods of time will slowly die
off, (negative population growth). (2) Bridge spans must main-
tain at least 20% efficiency or else they collapse.
-bank- Banks are of the fort knox variety; they are more impervi-
ous to shelling than any other sector and military in them fight
twice as hard against attack as those in industries. Banks are
also particularly adept at moving gold bars around; bars are
moved and stored in groups of four and half as many mobility un-
its are required to move a gold bar out of a bank as anywhere
else.
-exchange- Exchanges are the trading posts of empire, they are
used to put commodities up for sale and to buy those being sold
by other countries, (see "info trade").
See also : designate
- 66 -
Command : SET PRICE
The set price command allows you to set the prices on items for
sale. To run type:
[##:##] Command: set (sect) (item)
or
[##:##] Command: set (ship)
where (sect) is the coordinates of your exchange sector, (ship)
is a ship number, and (item) is one of "s | g | p | o | b" as
follows:
s shells
g guns
p planes
o ore
b bars (gold)
If you specify a ship number it will ask the price per ton for
the ship. Ship tonnages (number of production units to build)
are:
pt 30
min 50
des 60
sub 70
fre 80
ten 100
bat 127
car 127
If you are offering "s | g | p | o | b" the program will ask the
per item cost. You may withdraw an offer by simply moving the
item out of the exchange sector or setting the price to zero.
See also: Trade report, Buy
- 67 -
Command : SHELL
Empire, not wanting to be left standing alone by teco, ppl,
ingres and basic, has a shell command which will spawn a shell
below empire allowing you to "sub-shell", print your census, then
hit ctrl-d and return to empire..great huh??!!
To run type:
[##:##] Command: shell
For example:
[36:101] Command : map -3:3,-1:1 >mapfile
[36:101] Command : shell
Toodles...type '^D' to return to Empire
$ print mapfile
$ ^D
Welcome back to Empire.
[37:100] Command :
See also : syntax, map
- 68 -
Command : SHIP REPORT
The ship report command is a census of your ships and lists all
the info available in readable format.
To run type:
[##:##] Command: ship <ship/fleet/sects> (arguments in <>
The <ship/fleet/sects> is in case you only wish to look at one
ship or one fleet or all ships within a given area. If no argu-
ment is given your entire navy will be listed. The report format
is:
# type x,y f eff c/m sh gun pln ore gold mu
where # is ship number, type is "pt boat", "submarine", etc, x,y
is its location (relative to your capitol), f is the fleet desig-
nation letter (set by "create" command), eff is the ship's effi-
ciency, c/m is the number of crew (civilians on a freighter, mil-
itary otherwise), sh is shells, guns is guns, pln is planes, ore
is ore, gold is gold bars, mu is mobility units.
For example:
[6:119] Command : ship b
# type x,y f eff c/m sh gun pln ore gold mu
0 pt boat 6,29 b 100% 10 10 1 0 0 0 10
4 carrier 6,31 b 100% 35 16 2 3 0 0 104
16 pt boat 3,-31 b 100% 10 0 0 0 0 0 40
20 submarine 6,29 b 100% 15 12 2 0 0 0 10
See also : create, navigate, load
- 69 -
Empire Ship Types
At present there are 8 different ship types:
pt boat submarine battleship
destroyer freighter minesweep
tender carrier
These ship types differ in their fundamental capabilities; some
can carry (and fire) two guns, the sizes of the guns differ on
all of them; freighters can carry 127 guns but can't fire them;
etc. The following table contains all these parameters:
cost sp vis rng civ mil sh gun plns ore gold vrng
pt 30 50 6 1 - 10 10 1 - - - 4
sub 70 25 1 2 - 25 25 2 - - - 3
bat 127 25 25 8 - 127 127 4 - - - 6
des 60 35 15 3 - 80 40 2 - - - 4
fre 80 20 20 - 127 - 127 127 - 127 127 3
min 50 20 20 1 - 25 10 1 - - - 3
ten 100 30 20 1 - 100 127 30 - - - 3
car 127 25 25 2 - 60 40 2 127 - - 4
where:
cost is the number of production units required to build
it
sp is the distance/mu for moving in relative units
vis is how visible the ship is
rng is twice the distance the guns can fire (assuming a
very high techno logy level)
civ, mil, sh, gun, ore & gold are the amounts of civili-
ans, military, shells, guns, ore & gold the ships can carry
vrng is how far the ship can see (i.e. how good the com-
munication equipment is) again in relative units
- 70 -
Command : SPY
The spy command allows reconnaisance operations to enforce an
oral treaty or as preparation for an attack (or even for a prayer
to the Deity). The spy report will reveal (in round figures) the
numbers of troops, civilians, guns, shells, and the sector desig-
nation and efficiency in neighboring sectors.
To perform this type of research type:
[##:##] Command: spy (sects)
The sectors denoted by "(sects)" are those from which you are
spying, (see "info syntax" for format).
Note that the number of BTUs consumed is dependent upon the
number of sectors into which you spy, e.g. A 5x8 area costs one
full BTU.
Warning!! If you are spying on an unallied country your spy could
be apprehended... his/her chances are dependent upon the number
of patrolling military in the sector. If the other country has
declared itself at war with you the spy will be shot and the oth-
er country (and the rest of the world, through the news) will be
warned that you tried to spy on him... If the other country is
neutral towards you the spy will be deported.
See also : census, read, declare
- 71 -
Concept : COMMAND SYNTAX
The Empire command interpreter, (shell), expects input in the
form:
[##:##] Command: VERB ARG1 ARG2 ...
VERB is any one of the command words in "command list", ("map",
"move", "info", etc).
The ARGs will vary from command to command, but certain basic ar-
gument types recur often and are abbreviated in the following
ways.
(cname) ::= country name
(cno) ::= country number
(item) ::= any one (or unambiguous abbreviation) of:
efficiency minerals gold (mineral)
mobility production checkpoint
defended contracted civilians
military shells guns
planes ore bars (of gold)
(loan) ::= loan number
(sect) ::= sector coordinates in the form: x,y
(sects) ::= sector(s) in the form:
lox:hix,loy:hiy ?cond&cond&...
"lox", "hix", "loy", "hiy" are coordinates bounding the
rectangular area to be considered
"cond" is a condition of the form:
(value)(operator)(value)
(value) is either an (item), as above, a number in the
range 0 to 127, or a sector designation, ("m" for mine,
"c" for capital, etc),
(operator) can be any one of "<", "=", ">" or "#",
Thus "mob>100", "ore#0", "7=guns", "civ<mil", "des=b" are
examples of legitimate conditions, (note lack of imbedded
spaces), and "census -3:3,-3:3 ?des=+&gun=5&mil>civ" will
list all highways within 3 of your capital with exactly 5
guns and more military than civilians.
Note that "hix", "hiy", and "?cond" are all optional.
Also, the entire "lox:hix,loy:hiy" section may be re-
placed by either "#", "#0", "#1", "#2", or "#3" which
refer to the four "realm"s that you can define. (See
"info realm".) Note that "#" and "#0" are equivalent.
(ship) ::= one ship number
(fleet) ::= fleet designation, which may be a single ship, a
list of ships separated by slashes, `/', a fleet letter,
- 72 -
Concept : COMMAND SYNTAX
the character `~' which means all ships not in a specific
fleet, or a rectangular sector area.
Note that (fleet) specifications may have an optional
?cond&cond... argument like that used for (sects) argu-
ments. In the case of ships either "civ" or "mil" may be
used for the "crew" of a ship and "designation" is used
for ship type. For instance, "ship ~ ?des=d&mil>5", will
list all destroyers not currently in any fleet with more
than 5 crew.
The output from commands may also be sent to a file or another
process by utilizing these alternate syntaxes:
[##:##] Command: VERB ARG1 ARG2 ... >FILE
which sends the output to the file "FILE".
[##:##] Command: VERB ARG1 ARG2 ... >>FILE
which appends the output to the file "FILE".
[##:##] Command: VERB ARG1 ARG2 ... |
which sends the output to the program "PROG" along with the
specified arguments, (which can also include redirection of out-
put or further piping). To get the output to go to both the ter-
minal and a file use:
[##:##] Command: VERB ARG1 ARG2 ... |
The Empire shell also recognizes a few control characters:
name code meaning
---- ---- -------
interrupt <DEL> Abort command and return to Empire command level
quit ^\ Exit Empire
EOT ^D Exit Empire
See also: realm, command
- 73 -
Concept : TECHNOLOGY
The technological level of an Empire country is determined by the
output of technology sectors in the following way. Whenever a
technology sector is updated and there are 25 or more units of
production they are turned into "technological breakthroughs";
for each 25 units of production the technology level of the coun-
try is raised by 1. The technology level decays away however
with time, (the technology becomes passe) at a rate of 1% per day
(48 time units). Therefore if a country has 5 technology centers
each of which is able to produce 40 units of production a day the
total daily production of technological breakthroughs will be 200
/ 25 ( = 8) and the technology level of the country will approach
800, where the 1% daily loss exactly equals the daily gain of 8.
The technological level affects the range that guns can fire, the
range over which radar is effective, the range that planes can
fly and the range that torpedoes can travel. The "nation" com-
mand will display, among other things, your current technology
level.
See also : innards research nation
- 74 -
Command : TELEGRAM
The telegram command allows non-treaty communication to take
place between representatives. Currently you are given only 512
characters per telegram, so telegrams encourage succinct diploma-
cy.
The general form is:
[##:##] Command: telegram (cno/cname)
where (cno/cname) is either the number or name of the recipient
nation. Telegrams sent to country #0 appear as prayers, (favors
are best obtained in this manner.)
While entering your telegram you may use ^U to delete the current
line, <DEL> (or <RUBOUT>) to delete the previous character, (in-
cluding <LF>s) and ^R to print the number of characters left and
re-type the telegram so far. For example:
[##:##] Command: tel 7
Enter telegram for Groonland; end with ^D
B.F.D. Pouncetrifle
Groonland Embassy
Dear Ambassador Pouncetrifle,
Just a little note to express the friendly wishes that all of us
in Curmudgeon feel toward you backward savages in Groonland. As
to the matter of the treaty you've proposed please remember that
if we wished we could TRASH your capital.
As always I remain,
Your humble and obedient servant, etc, etc
E. D. Amen Dada
Under Asst. West Coast Promo.
the Sovereign State of Curmudgeon
An alternate form of the telegram command allows you to send a
telegram from a file. It is:
[##:##] Command: telegram (cno/cname) (file)
which sends the file to the specified country. For example:
[##:##] Command: telegram Groonland threat
would send the file "threat" to Groonland.
See also : Read, Prayers
- 75 -
Command : TEND
The tend command allows your tender ships to resupply pt boats,
submarines, battleships, destroyers and minesweeps while at sea.
To tend ship #16 type:
[##:##] Command: tend 16
You will then be asked the number of the tender providing the
goodies. If the tender is in the same sector as the tendee, and
they're both yours, etc the program will ask how many military,
guns and shells you want to transfer.
See also : load, unload
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Concept : TIME
Because of the unique nature of Empire governments (i.e. the de-
cision makers spend most of their time on vacation) and the fact
that ideally the Empire "environment" will mirror the "real"
world, various heuristics dealing with time have been implement-
ed.
The first is the Bureaucratic Time Unit (BTU) concept which keeps
track of the potential for doing "work" posessed by your govern-
ment.
The second heuristic (i.e. hack) is the Elapsed Time Limit which
limits the amount of time that players may be logged on each day.
The ETL is not cumulative and is reset to a value X (defined when
the game is built and installed), typically somewhere between 30
minutes and two hours, every night at midnight.
The ETL and BTU counts are displayed with each command prompt as
follows:
[##:##] Command:
See also : overview, innards
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Command : TORPEDO
The torpedo command is used to shoot up ships. The general form
is:
[##:##] Command: torpedo (ship)
Where (ship) is the victim ship number.
The program will then ask for your sub number and check that it
meets the following criteria:
1) It must be a submarine
2) It must have at least 1 gun (torpedo tube)
3) It must have at least 3 shells (3 shells = 1 torpedo)
4) It must be at least 60% efficient
Meeting all these criteria, your torp will be launched toward the
victim ship... A countdown of seconds until the expected detona-
tion will commence. Since the range of torpedos is a maximum of
1.99999 or so, anything a distance of 2 or more from you will be
out of range and you will be told so, (after your torp is in the
water). If you are in range, your chance of making a hit will be
dependent on your distance from the target: 90% if you're in the
same sector, 22% if you're orthogonally adjacent and 13% if
you're diagonally adjacent. A hit which will be reported to you
as "BOOM!" followed by a report of the damage done to the victim
ship. The damage done is dependent on the size of the victim
ship. A torpedo does between 63% and 100% damage to a pt boat
and between 28% and 56% damage to a battleship or aircraft car-
rier.
In order to simulate the "real-time" situation your mobility will
go negative (forcing you to stick around). Your first torp will
make your mobility go to -10; the second will make it -20; etc.
If your torpedo scores a hit your victim will be informed of the
fact and will be told the number of the sub, but not the country
(so you can deny it).
The victim's only automatic protection against sub attacks is
that any destroyer of his (hers) that is in the same sector as
you and that has shells will drop them on you as depth charges.
Each depth charge does 30% to 40% damage to your sub.
See also: attack, assault, fire
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Command : TRADE REPORT
The trade report lists all items for sale in exchange sectors
and/or all ships that are being sold and allows you to buy these
items. The three forms of the trade command are:
[##:##] Command: trade
[##:##] Command: trade land
and
[##:##] Command: trade naval
The "land" and "naval" forms deal only in exchange items and
ships, respectively. The first form deals with both. Because
the first and second forms require a scan of the entire world
they take a few moments to run. Typical output looks like:
[##:##] Command: trade
Empire Trade Report
Thu Aug 25 11:47:21 1977
2 guns @ $133.35 100 shells @ $8.40 Lot #0
3 bars of gold @ $850.50 18 shells @ $7.35 Lot #1
100% submarine crew:25 guns:1 shells:4 @$3675.00 lot #0
54% battleship crew:3 guns:0 shells:4 @$17742.00 lot #1
Which lot? (<CR> for none) 0
To be delivered to exchange at 12,7
How many guns? <max 2> 2
You are now $266.70 poorer.
See also: Set [prices]
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Command : TREATY
The treaty command will report on all outstanding treaties and
all pending treaties. The conditions and durations are
displayed...
To run type:
[##:##] Command: treaty
See also: Vote [on treaty]
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Command : UNLOAD
The unload command is the opposite of load and follows the exact
same syntax...so why are you looking here for documentation?
type:
[##:##] Command: unload (ship)
where (ship) is the ship number..
See also (instead) load
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Command : UPDATE
The update command causes all your sectors to be brought up to
date in terms of digging up ore, building efficiency, generating
mobility units, etc. It also defines the coordinates associated
with"realm 0" ("#" or "#0").
The general form is:
[##:##] Command: update
or
[##:##] Command: update (sects)
In the first example the entire world would be scanned for sec-
tors of yours that need updating, and realm 0 ("#") would be set
to include all of your sectors. In the second case only the area
specified would be scanned and "#" would be set to encompass all
sectors of yours in that area.
For example:
[37:105] Command : update -1:1,-1:1
Production bottleneck in 0,-1
guns built in 0,1
Your "realm 0"(#0) is -1:1,-1:1 and consists of 7 sectors.
[37:105] Command : update
Your "realm 0"(#0) is -3:1,-1:1 and consists of 9 sectors.
Note that the first time through only the sectors in the area
specified were counted and that some of them produced messages
when they were updated, while the second time through caught all
the sectors, (and took 2 minutes) but the middle sectors had al-
ready been updated so they did not produce further messages.
An additional argument to update allows you to control the print-
ing of the update messages. If the argument "quiet" is speci-
fied, (e.g. "update 12:15,-3:4 quiet"), NO update messages will
be printed except the "realm" message and certain emergency mes-
sages. If, on the other hand "verbose" is specified not only
will the standard messages be printed but also messages describ-
ing attempts to deliver blivets to sectors that are already full
of blivets will be printed.
See also : innards, syntax, realm
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Command : VOTE
The vote command allows you decide on a written treaty. You may
vote yes, no , or abstain. Yes - of course you accept. No - i
guess you turn it down. Abstain - you haven't got the guts to
say no but are too ambitious to say yes (i.e. You can come back
to vote again another day). To run type:
[##:##] Command: vote (treaty)
where (treaty) is the treaty number.
See also: Treaty report
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Command : WEATHER
For each sector in a weather map an integer indicates the local
barometric pressure Negative integers show low-pressure sectors
(bad weather), and positive integers show high-pressure sectors
(good weather). A map gives you an instantaneous picture of the
pressure centers, (for weather prediction you must build a weath-
er station). To get a weather map type:
[##:##] Command: weather (sects)
where (sects) is the area to be covered by the map.
A typical example might be:
[##:##] Command: weat -23:0,-8:2
2 2 2 2 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 - - - - - - - - - 0
3 2 1 0 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 0 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 0
-8 3 3 3 3 2 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1 -8
-7 4 4 4 4 3 2 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1 -7
-6 8 8 8 4 3 2 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0-1-1-1-1-1-2-2-2-2 -6
-5 8 9 8 4 3 2 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0-1-1-1-1-1-2-2-2-2 -5
-4 8 8 8 4 3 2 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0-1-1-1-1-1-2-2-2-2-2 -4
-3 4 4 4 4 3 2 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0-1-1-1-1-2-2-2-3-3-3 -3
-2 3 3 3 3 2 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0-1-1-1-1-2-2-3-3-3-3 -2
-1 2 2 2 2 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0-1-1-1-2-2-2-3-3-4-4 -1
0 1 1 1 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0-1-1-1-1-2-2-2-3-4-6-6 0
1 1 1 1 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0-1-1-1-1-2-2-2-3-4-6-9 1
2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0-1-1-1-1-2-2-3-3-4-6-9 2
2 2 2 2 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 - - - - - - - - - 0
3 2 1 0 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 0 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 0
extreme low pressure center at 1,2; extreme high at -22,-5
(this weather map was taken during the great storm of '77 when
two ships sank off the coast of East Eden at 0,1.)
See also : forecast
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