Atlantis 3.0 Hints

This document is now defunct; the Atlantis 3.0 game is over, and any references or addresses in here may no longer be valid.

What is Atlantis?

Atlantis is an open ended, computer moderated play-by-email fantasy role playing game. This document is not the proper place to describe Atlantis more fully; visit the World Wide Web page www.prankster.com , or email atlantis@prankster.com if you want more general information about Atlantis 3.0.

The most important document for an Atlantis player is the Atlantis 3.0 Rules . They describe the mechanics, and all of the "official" knowledge about Atlantis 3.0. This document attempts to point out some things that, while they are in the rules, are not always completely obvious.

Atlantis 3.0 is a fantasy role-playing/wargame, on a large scale. The world is enormous, able to support hundreds of players, and depending on your goals and position, you may be battling many of them, or hardly ever see other players. In general, though, one of the most important parts of Atlantis is player interaction; you will find that your allies and enemies have tremendous impact on your game position. A common misconception that players have before playing Atlantis is that they will be able to role play a character in peace; this of course depends on your neighbors, allies, and enemies.

Starting Out:

Here are some tips that I can offer to new players to Atlantis. Keep in mind that I haven't played Atlantis in quite some time, and my advice may not always be right on target. In general, though, these should hold:

Be sure to read the section on the Atlantis Nexus in the rules, as it describes the starting regions for new factions.
Control of the land around the starting cities will likely be very hotly contested. If you plan to build a kingdom near them, you had better plan on fighting to keep it. If you plan on moving through them, you may want to get permission from the land's controllers.
Ship travel and Gate Lore (one of the magic arts, though I won't say more about it) are both good ways to move away from the starting cities. They may be good alternatives to leaving the cities by land.
In all cases, communications with other players can be very important. Having good allies, or at least knowing where potential enemies might be, can be quite helpful.
Be careful with your starting silver. 5000 silver can go a long way, but it can evaporate quickly as well. If you plan to use a lot of it quickly, be sure you have another source of income to keep your faction going.

Common Mistakes:

Here is a list of mistakes that players often make in Atlantis:

The first line of your orders should be:
```
#ATLANTIS [faction number]
```
and not:
```
# ATLANTIS [faction number]
```
If you submit orders correctly, you should get a Receipt, indicating that orders were submitted, and a message from the Orders Checker checking your orders for basic syntax errors.
Make sure all of your orders are given by a unit.
Use CLAIM to get your unclaimed silver. This silver is for your faction only, and is unclaimed so that other players cannot attack you and take it from you.
Make sure you specify an alias when forming a new unit. There is an extensive section on how to do this in the rules, under the FORM order.
Make sure you always have the latest edition of the rules. Older copies have some confusing errors and misinformation in them.

Differences between Atlantis 3.0 and Atlantis 2.0

The following is a partial list of differences between Atlantis 2.0 and Atlantis 3.0. It is not guaranteed to be complete, but just to give you a flavor of what's new.

The Magic system is all new, designed by Russell Wallace, the original designer of Atlantis.
- There are now only three Foundation skills. However, there are many Magic skills which take knowledge of Foundation skills (and other Magic skills) as prequisites for study. Exploration and specialization in the Magic arts should be much more interesting than in Atlantis 2.0.
- Magic spells are now the same as Magic skills, so further study into a Magic skill increases the power of the spell.
- The Magic system has been much more tightly designed with the combat system, so the strategy of magic combat is now far more interesting.

The Trade system has many improvements on Atlantis 2.0.
- Livestock, grain, and fish are low end Trade items, which can be produced to make money, or use for maintenance costs.
- There are now a number of expensive Trade only items, which may be transported between cities at a profit.
- The trade activity in a region now has an effect on population and prosperity in that region. This is especially true in villages, towns, and cities, which will grow and shrink depending on the Trade activity.
- A number of new Trade structures may be constructed in order to boost production of certain items in a region.
- The faction point system is now much more flexible; the concept of an all around faction is much more evident. Though, specialized factions are still given advantages.
- The underworld has been much more fully developed; more details will doubtlessly be provided by intrepid explorers.
- The movement/advance system has been programmed correctly this time, so that you may advance through multiple regions in one turn, provided that you conquer any defenders in each region without losing any men.
- The coordinate system has been adjusted to make a little more sense (although there are holes in the coordinate system now).
- All items and skills now have 4 letter abbreviations, to aid in orders writing.
- The starting city system has been changed, hopefully for the better. The cities are now fixed in location, but totally safe, and offering many useful items for sale.
- Those mysterious lairs that were in evidence in Atlantis 2.0 now have more of a purpose. And in general, the monster system is much more sensible.
- The orders template has been greatly improved; you can now specify the amount of detail you want included. Also, any order preceded with a '@' will appear on the template in your next report.