In this section... |
 System RequirementsQuickstart |
Fortunes of War is a multiplayer strategic wargame played through the internet. Each player takes the role of the ruler of an ancient empire.
Every turn you issue various commands which are compressed into a small file and sent to our server. The server takes all players' command files and executes them simultaneously. It then sends back the results to each player. The process repeats.
Fortunes of War requires Windows 95 or NT 4.0 and a connection to the Internet.
In this section we'll list just what you need to start playing as soon as possible. Unfortunately, "Quickstart" is a most relative term when it comes to turn-based games. You'll have to join a game first, and once the game is filled with players you will receive your first turn's result. Only then can you actually start playing.
Before you can do anything you must join a game. While connected to the internet, select "Join Game" from the webwars list on the left. You may always return to this list by hitting the large brown "Webwars" button above the main window.
The join game page will give you a list of games currently available. Note that demo players only have access to a small number of scenarios specifically designed for short games. Subscribers will see a much larger list.
After you've browsed the available scenarios and found one you want to play, select the "Join game" button on that scenario's page and fill in any other info you might need, like an alias or choice of nation. Some scenarios make these choices for you, others do not.
Once the scenario is filled with players, the first turn's results are sent out to everyone playing. This means there will be a delay between the time you join and the time you can start playing. As more players join the Webwars Continuum, this delay will shrink.
After you join a game, you can always check the status of that particular game by returning to that scenario's join page. It will list the players who have currently signed up and how many slots remain open. But the best thing to do is just hit send and receive once a day and see if you get any game moves. Every time you hit send and receive a small program called the "postman" will pop up and connect to our servers. If you have a game move, it will download and decrypt it. You'll see this activity reflected in the postman's progress bar. "Send and receive" is accessible from the Social Geometries control on the Webwars screen and it's also available from the Games window.
When a game is filled, all players have three days to respond by sending in their first set of commands. After the first turn, games are recalculated (we usually use the word "recalced") every day. If all players submit their moves early, the game is recalced immediately. This allows for multiple turns to be played by the especially keen.
Once the postman downloads and decrypts your game move, it will then be available from your games directory. Hit the "Games" button and you should see it listed with a small crown beside it. The crown ("
") means that no commands have yet been entered for this result. Select the game and load it.
If no games are listed in the games dialogue, it means you have not yet received any games. This usually means that the games you've joined haven't started yet, or it could possibly mean that you hit the games button before the postman was finished decrypting your result file.
Now that you have your game loaded, you can make your first move.
To begin, examine the five large brown buttons above the main window -- Webwars, Reports, Diplomacy, Espionage, and Economics. They control the contents of the main window. If none of them are selected, the map will be displayed.
Try selecting all of the brown buttons to familiarize yourself with the various options within Fortunes. Most of them are pretty intuitive, and the manual will answer most of your questions. If you can't abide reading the manual until you've played around a bit, try these commands:
There are three ways to win a game.
Next section: Interface