Basic Rules

Logging In Selecting and Joining Games Starting Your Turn Reconnaissance Attacking Troop Moves Reinforcements Ending Your Turn Refreshing the Map Custom Games Resigning Settings Administration Rankings

Logging In

After the Global Conflict applet has loaded, you need to log in by pressing the "Log In" button. The "Player Authentication" window is displayed:

The first time you play, you must supply your full name and e-mail address, as well as a handle. Your password will immediately be mailed to you. Your name and e-mail address are confidential; they will never be sold or given to anyone.

Once you have received your password, you can use it to log in.

Selecting and Joining Games

Press the "Select Game" button to view a list of the games. The "Game Selection" window is displayed:

There are two types of games - Standard games and Custom games. Standard games are created automatically by the game server and they affect the rankings. Custom games are created by the players and the game rules may differ from standard games. You can tell which games are custom by looking at the "Creator" column. If a player is listed then the game is custom.

To join a standard game, highlight the game and press the "Join" button. You can join any standard game that has not yet started and does not have 10 players. Note that you can play in a maximum of 3 standard games.

To join a custom game, highlight the game and press the "Select" button. A window will be displayed that shows you the game parameters and the players that have already signed up:

Press the "Join Game" button to join a custom game.

You can only join custom games that have not yet started and do not have the minumum number of players. You cannot join custom games that are invitation only if you were not invited (these games are not displayed). You can play in a maximum of 10 custom games.

Note that some custom games are for players of a particular skill level (beginner, intermediate, or expert). Please only join games that match your skill level.

You will be notified by e-mail when a game you have joined has started.

If a game has started and you are playing in it, you can "select" that game. To start playing, you must press the "Start Turn" button.

Starting Your Turn

Press the "Start Turn" button to start your turn. You are allowed to play each game once every 23 hours. You can monitor the game any time you want.

Your turn consists of three phases. You must perform your actions in the following order:

Attacks
Troop Movements
Reinforcements

When you start your turn, you are given a certain number of resources. Resources are used at the end of your turn to purchase reinforcements. The number of resources you receive is based on the number of resources you have in your countries.

You also may receive a certain number of "scientific advances." These advances are used to increase your "tech level." The number of advances you receive is based on the number of scientists you have.

When you start your turn, a window is displayed showing the number of resources and scientific advances that you received:

Once you have moved troops you can no longer attack. Likewise, once you have placed any reinforcements, you can no longer attack or move troops.

Reconnaissance

Information about each country is displayed on the map:

Press the "Log" button to see information about all countries, and a history of the events that have occurred in the last three days. Press the "Country" button to see detailed information about a particular country. Use the tabs at the top of the window to switch between continents.

Countries that you own are displayed in green. Enemy countries are red. Countries owned by barbarians are yellow. Countries that you cannot see are white. You can see countries that you own, and countries that are adjacent to you. In omniscient games you can see all countries.

The following is a brief summary of the types of information available. Detailed information is in the advanced rules.

Reconnaissance Information
Season	Spring, summer, winter, or fall. The season in the southern hemisphere is the opposite of what it is in the northern hemisphere. The season affects the weather. The season changes every 100 hours.
Tech Level	Your "Tech Level" represents the level of technology available to you. As your tech level increases, more options are available to you when buying units. Scientists are used to perform research to increase your tech level.
Terrain	Hills, mountains, jungle, etc. When attacking, the defender's terrain affects the odds. Generally, rough terrain is bad for the attacker.
Weather	Clear, rain, or snow. The season affects the weather. When attacking, the weather in the defending country affects the odds. Generally, bad weather is bad for the attacker. The weather in each country changes every 20 hours.
Factory	Indicates whether or not there is a factory in the country. A factory allows any number of reinforcements to be placed in a country.
Resources	Resources represent oil, coal, factories, etc. Resources are used to buy new units. Some countries have more resources than others.
Owner	The handle of the country's owner. Only the owner of a country may have units in that country. Note that a country does not necessarily have to contain units.
Units	There are four types of units: Land units, Air units, Strategic (nuclear) units, and Scientists. A maximum of 99 units can be in any country.
Forecast	A prediction of future weather. The accuracy of the forecast is based on your "Tech Level."

Attacking

To attack an enemy country, press the "Attack" button. Use the mouse to select your country that is attacking, and then select the enemy country that you wish to attack. The "Attack" window will be displayed:

The "Attack" window shows information about both countries, and the number of units in each country. Perform the attack by pressing the "Attack" button. The results of your attack are displayed in the "Att Loss" and "Def Loss" columns. You may attack as many times as you wish, as long as there are units in both countries.

The "Simulate Round" and "Simulate Battle" buttons are used to simulate attacks without actually losing any units. These buttons may be useful to decide if you wish to attack. The "Simulate Round" button simulates a single attack. The "Simulate Battle" button simulates a battle to the death; you continue to attack until all the units on one side are destroyed.

If you have Nukes, you can use the "Nukes" slider to use them in the attack. Nukes are covered in the advanced rules.

Press "Quit" to stop attacking.

You may perform as many attacks as you wish, but you must perform all your attacks before any troop movements or reinforcements.

Troop Moves

After performing all your attacks, you can move troops between countries. Troops can be moved from a country that you own to another country that you own, or to an enemy country that contains no units.

Note that once a country has received troops, it may not send troops to another country during the current turn.

Press the "Troop Move" button to move troops. Use the mouse to select the country to move troops from, and then the country to move troops to. The "Troop Movement" window is displayed:

Information about both countries is displayed, including the quantity and types of units in each country. Use the mouse to select the type of unit to move, and use the VCR buttons to indicate how many units should be moved. No units are actually moved until the "Move" button is pressed. You can abort the move at any time by pressing "Quit."

There are restrictions regarding which units may capture enemy countries, or move into newly captured countries:

Movement Restrictions
Unit Type	Capture Enemy Country?	Move Into Captured Country?
Scientists	No	No
Land Units (excluding Scientists)	Yes	Yes
Planes	Only in custom games where planes can advance and only if accompanied by land units	Only in custom games where planes can advance
Strategic Units (Nukes and SDI's)	Only if accompanied by land units	Yes

Most units can only move to an adjacent country. However tanks and planes can move a distance of two countries, as long as you own the country you are moving through.

Once you have moved a unit, no more attacks can be performed during this turn.

Reinforcements

After performing all your attacks and all your troop movements, you can purchase reinforcements. Reinforcements can be placed in any country that you owned at the beginning of your turn. They cannot be placed in newly captured countries.

Reinforcements are purchased with resources. At the beginning of your turn, you received resources from the countries that you owned. Unspent resources are saved for your next turn.

Press the "Reinforce" button to purchase reinforcements. Use the mouse to select the country to reinforce. The "Purchase Reinforcements" window is displayed:

This window shows a variety of information about the country, the units that are in the country, and the units that can be purchased. To purchase units, use the mouse to select the type of units to be purchased. Then use the VCR buttons to indicate how many units should be purchased. No units are actually purchased until the "Purchase" button is pressed. You can abort the purchase at any time by pressing "Quit."

The number of reinforcements you may place in a country is limited by the number of resources in that country. For example, if a country has 5 resources, you may place up to 5 reinforcements in that country. If you had a factory in the country at the beginning of your turn, you may place any number of reinforcements in the country.

You can purchase a factory by pressing the "Purchase Factory" button. The cost of a factory is 5 resources. If the country already has a factory, you can destroy it by pressing the "Destroy Factory" button. It may be desirable to destroy a factory rather than allow it to be captured by the enemy. There is no cost to destroy a factory.

Your choice of units is limited by your "Tech Level." As your tech level increases, more types of units will become available to you. Use Scientists to increase your tech level.

Once you have purchased a unit, no more attacks or troop movements can be performed during this turn.

Ending Your Turn

When you have completed all your attacks, troop movements, and reinforcements, press the "End Turn" button to end your turn. You can play in another game, or press the "Log Out" button to end your session. You can play again in 23 hours.

Custom Games

Custom games are created by the players and the rule parameters may be changed. These types of games are intended to be played for fun, in order to try out different rule parameters, or to play against specific players.

Each player is allowed to create one custom game. After the game has completed, the player may create a new custom game. Players must play in the games that they create.

The results of custom games do not affect player scores.

Each player may participate in up to 10 custom games as well as 3 standard games. Unlike in standard games, players may see who has signed up so far for a game before deciding if they want to play.

When a custom game is created, the creator chooses the rule parameters:

Custom Game Parameters
Parameter	Range of Values	Description
Invitation Only	Yes, No	If "Yes", then only invited players may participate. Multiple players from the same location (same IP address) may play in invitation only games.
Minimum Players	2 - 30	Minimum number of players required.
Maximum Players	2 - 30	Maximum number of players who may participate.
Starting Countries	1 - 10	Number of countries that each player starts with.
Starting Units	Low, Medium, High	Relative number of units each player starts with. "Low" indicates that each player starts with 60% of the standard number of units. "High" indicates 150%.
Starting Tech Level	1 - 5	The tech level that each player starts at. Players start with appropriate units for that tech level. Barbarians also start with appropriate units.
Resource Levels	Low, Medium, High	Relative number of resources in the countries. "Low" indicates that each country starts with 60% of the standard number of resources. "High" indicates 150%.
Omniscient Players	Yes, No	If "Yes", then players can view all countries and all events in the game. People not playing in the game may also view the game.
Planes Can Advance	Yes, No	If "Yes", then planes can advance into a newly captured territory if there is at least one land unit present.
Skill Level	Any, Beginner, Intermediate, Expert	By setting this parameter to a specific skill level, the game creator requests that only players of the appropriate level join the game. Note that it is the players themselves who decide if they are of the appropriate skill level.

When creating a game, the creator may invite one or more other players. Mail messages are sent to invited players. Players who are invited may choose to join the game, or they may decline the invitation. Prior to the start of the game, the creator may invite additional players or remove invitations. If a game is invitation only, then the game will only be accessible to invited players.

Refreshing the Map

Because multiple players may be taking their turns simultaneously, it is possible for the game information to be changed by someone else while you are playing. If the applet determines that it's information is out of sync with the game server, a message will be displayed asking you to refresh the map. Press the "Refresh" button to synchronize the game information that you see with the information on the game server. You can refresh the map at any time.

Settings

You can change a number of settings, including the charity you are supporting and your e-mail address by pressing the "Settings" button:

If you turn on "Expert Mode", fewer warning messages will be displayed during the game.

If your turn off "Espionage Reports", you will not receive daily e-mail messages from the game server.

When the "Auto Pilot" switch is turned on, the game server will automatically take your turn for you each day, one hour after you are eligible to start your turn. This feature is intended for times when you will be unable to play for a few days. The Auto Pilot does not attack or move units; it merely purchases reinforcements for you. A cost/benefit algorithm is used to determine which countries should be reinforced and what units should be purchased.

Resigning

You can resign from a game by pressing the "Resign" button. Since you are only permitted to play in three games at once, it may be beneficial to resign from games that you are certain to lose. When you resign from a game, all your countries are overtaken by barbarians.

Rankings

The ultimate goal is to have your handle permanently engraved on the "Wall of Flame." When you win a standard game you receive a number of points equal to the number of players that started the game. For example, if you win a standard game with 8 players, you receive 8 points. When you lose a standard game, 1 point is deducted. When a player has 100 points, he or she is added to the "Wall of Flame" and all scores are reset.

The results of custom games do not affect scores.

Press the "Rankings" button to view the current scores. Information about money raised for charities is also displayed.

Administration

When you are taking your turn, if two hours pass without you performing any action (attack, troop movement, etc.), your turn will automatically be completed for you.

In any game, if seven days pass without you playing your turn, you will automatically be removed from the game.

If 28 days pass without you performing any activity, your account will automatically be deleted.

Global Conflict will not allow two players from the same location to play in the same game (except for invitation only games). This helps to prevent family members or co-workers from colluding against other players.

Custom games that have not started within 14 days of when they were created are automatically deleted.

Invitations expire after 3 days. A player may not join an invitation only game if his or her invitation has expired. The creator of a game may delete an expired invitation and reissue it.