Atlantis 3.0 Sample Turns

Sample Turn 1

Here is a sample turn, as it might appear when you first join the game:

Atlantis Report For:
Faction (4) (War 1, Trade 1, Magic 1)
October, Year 4

Account balance: $25.00

Faction Status:
Tax Regions: 0 (10)
Trade Regions: 0 (10)
Mages: 0 (1)

Events during turn:
Unit (534): Claims 20 silver for maintenance.

Declared Attitudes (default Neutral):
Hostile : none.
Unfriendly : none.
Neutral : none.
Friendly : none.
Ally : none.

Unclaimed silver: 5000.

nexus (-,-) in Atlantis Nexus.
------------------------------------------------------------
  The weather was clear last month; it will be clear next month.
  
  Atlantis Nexus is a magical place; the entryway to the world of
    Atlantis. Enjoy your stay, the city guards should keep you safe as
    long as you should choose to stay. However, rumor has it that once
    you have left the Nexus, you can never return.
  
  Wages: $0.
  Wanted: none.
  For Sale: none.
  Products: none.

Exits:
  North : plain (25,23) in Eskerfan, contains Arezzo [city].
  Northeast : plain (24,18) in Eskerfan, contains Crieff [city].
  Southeast : desert (13,27) in Prettstern, contains Gerr [city].
  South : plain (21,47) in Binhai, contains Larmet [city].
  Southwest : plain (24,18) in Eskerfan, contains Crieff [city].
  Northwest : plain (3,27) in Vaila, contains Gnoelhaala [city].

- City Guard (1), on guard, 120 leaders [LEAD], 120 swords [SWOR].
* Unit (534), Faction (4), revealing faction, leader [LEAD]. Skills:
  none.
- Unit (536), Faction (5), leader [LEAD].
- Unit (537), Faction (6), leader [LEAD].



Orders Template:

#atlantis 4

;*** nexus (-,-) in Atlantis Nexus ***

unit 534
;Unit (534), revealing faction, leader [LEAD]. Skills: none.

#end

Explanation

Ok, let's go through the various sections of the report and try to make some sense of it.

At the top of the report is some introductory information:

Atlantis Report For:
Faction (4) (War 1, Trade 1, Magic 1)
October, Year 4

This is pretty basic stuff; your faction name (currently "Faction (4)", as we just started the game and haven't had a chance to set it), faction point allocation (currently 1 each for War, Trade, and Magic, as per all new factions), and the current game month and year.

Next, is your current balance; if you have 4 or fewer turns payed for, a warning is printed that you need to contact the gamemaster and arrange further payment:

Account balance: $25.00

Next, a small section detailing your current faction usage of resources:

Faction Status:
Tax Regions: 0 (10)
Trade Regions: 0 (10)
Mages: 0 (1)

As a new faction, we aren't taxing or producing at all, and we don't have any mages.

The next part of the report details various events and errors which occured in the last turn; as a new faction, this section has little information. The only event that occured was our one unit claiming its maintenance costs:

Events during turn:
Unit (534): Claims 20 silver for maintenance.

Now, we have a list of factions that our faction has declared an attitude towards (currently, none):

Declared Attitudes (default Neutral):
Hostile : none.
Unfriendly : none.
Neutral : none.
Friendly : none.
Ally : none.

And, we next have a line which indicates how much unclaimed silver our faction currently has. New factions start out with 5000 silver; this money is important, because until we CLAIM it, no-one can take it from our faction. This keeps established factions from easily taking money away from new factions.

Unclaimed silver: 5000.

The next part of the turn report is the region reports. For each region that our faction occupies, we get a report on the overall status of the region, and a list of all of the (visible) structures and units in that region. At present, we are only in one region, the Atlantis Nexus, where every faction starts. Here is the overall information for this region:

nexus (-,-) in Atlantis Nexus.
------------------------------------------------------------

This tells us the region type, coordinates, and region name.

  The weather was clear last month; it will be clear next month.

  Atlantis Nexus is a magical place; the entryway to the world of
    Atlantis. Enjoy your stay, the city guards should keep you safe as
    long as you should choose to stay. However, rumor has it that once
    you have left the Nexus, you can never return.

  Wages: $0.
  Wanted: none.
  For Sale: none.
  Products: none.

The Atlantis Nexus is not a very interesting region; it serves no purpose except to give an exit into the world of Atlantis. So, there are no wages, products, or marketplaces.

Next, we have the exits from the region:

Exits:
  North : plain (25,23) in Eskerfan, contains Arezzo [city].
  Northeast : plain (24,28) in Blorp, contains Roddendor [city].
  Southeast : desert (13,27) in Prettstern, contains Gerr [city].
  South : plain (21,47) in Binhai, contains Larmet [city].
  Southwest : plain (24,18) in Eskerfan, contains Crieff [city].
  Northwest : plain (3,27) in Vaila, contains Gnoelhaala [city].

This tells us which regions we can move to from this region. Regions are indicated by region type, coordinates (in parentheses), region name, and (optionally) which village, town, or city is located in that region. Normally, the coordinates of the regions are evenly spaced, as per a hexagonal grid. However, the Atlantis Nexus is a special region, which allows travel to cities scattered across the map. So, we can see that the exits are scattered all around the map, and also that each exit region contains a city.

Under each region is a list of the visible units in that region:

- City Guard (1), on guard, 120 leaders [LEAD], 120 swords [SWOR].
* Unit (534), Faction (4), revealing faction, leader [LEAD]. Skills:
  none.
- Unit (536), Faction (5), leader [LEAD].
- Unit (537), Faction (6), leader [LEAD].

The first unit is the City Guard, who will defend any unit who is attacked in this region. These guardsmen occupy any city, town, or village that is not controlled by a player. Guardsmen in the Atlantis Nexus, and the six exit cities, have Amulets of Invincibility, which make them impossible to defeat. So, violence in any of these regions is probably a bad idea.

The next unit is in our faction, as you can see both by the * which precedes the unit (as opposed to - for other faction's units), and the faction name ("Faction (4)"). The unit's name is "Unit (534)"; it contains one man, a leader, and has no skills. The "revealing faction" line tells you that this unit will tell any other units what faction it is in, as per the REVEAL order.

The two units below our unit have apparently also just started the game; we can see what faction they are in because new factions start the game "revealing faction", so that new factions can have an easier time communicating.

The last section on our turn report is the Orders Template:

Orders Template:

#atlantis 4

;*** nexus (-,-) in Atlantis Nexus ***

unit 534
;Unit (534), revealing faction, leader [LEAD]. Skills: none.

#end

The orders template is set up formatted so you can input your orders into it, and send it off to the game address. All of your units are listed, arranged as they are on your report. You can use the OPTION order to indicate how much information you want on your template, or turn it off altogether.

Sample Orders 1

There aren't too many things to be done on the first turn, in terms of orders to write. However, this is your best time to communicate with other players, and determine any alliances or arrangements you wish to make. Once you have moved into the world of Atlantis, dealings with other players may be thrust upon you.

That being said, these are generally the orders that you want to issue in your first turn. We want to name our faction and unit, set a password, and move into one of the exit cities. Note that all of the must be under a UNIT header! A common mistake for new players is to put their orders directly under the #ATLANTIS line, before a UNIT header. These orders will not get processed.

Here is our filled in template (note that everything after a semicolon ";" on a line is a comment):

#atlantis 4

;*** nexus (-,-) in Atlantis Nexus ***

unit 534
;Unit (534), revealing faction, leader [LEAD]. Skills: none.
name faction "Phil's Pilgrims"    ;Name our faction
name unit "Phil"                  ;Name our unit
password "xyzzy"                  ;Set our faction's password
move southwest                    ;Move to plain (24,18)

#end

Sample Turn 2

Now, here is a later sample turn for the same faction:

Atlantis Report For:
Phil's Pilgrims (4) (War 1, Trade 1, Magic 1)
February, Year 5

Account balance: $21.00

Faction Status:
Tax Regions: 1 (10)
Trade Regions: 0 (10)
Mages: 0 (1)

Errors during turn:
Phil's Scout (545): MOVE: Unit does not have enough movement points.

Battles during turn:
Murom Garrison (214) attacks Phil's Scout (537) in Gresir!

Attackers:
Murom Garrison (214), 40 high elves [HELF], combat 2.
Sir Boris (538), leader [LEAD], tactics 1; A stern, powerful man.
Murom Garrison (301), 40 vikings [VIKI], combat 3.
Grink, the Duke of Murom (124), leader [LEAD], tactics 1; The big
  cheese.
Army of Murom (462), 44 high elves [HELF], viking [VIKI], 60 plainsmen
  [PLAI], 40 nomads [NOMA], 120 swords [SWOR], combat 2.

Defenders:
Phil's Scout (537), viking [VIKI].

Murom Garrison (214) gets a free round of attacks.
Phil's Scout (537) loses 1.

Phil's Scout (537) is routed!
Total Casualties:
Phil's Scout (537) loses 1.
Murom Garrison (214) loses 0.

Spoils: 15 silver [SILV].

Events during turn:
Phil's Workmen (547): Claims $200.
Phil's Guardsmen (546): Collects $500 in taxes.
Phil's Scout (543): Walks from plain (23,21) in Gresir to plain
  (23,23) in Gresir.
Phil's Scout (543): Walks from plain (23,23) in Gresir to desert
  (23,25) in Lynton.
Phil (534): Studies observation.
Phil's Guardsmen (546): Studies combat.
Phil's Workmen (547): Studies farming.

Skill reports:
observation [OBSE] 1: A unit with this skill can see stealthy units
  whose stealth rating is less than or equal to the observing unit's
  Observation level. The unit can also determine the faction owning a
  unit, provided its Observation level is higher than the other unit's
  Stealth level.

Declared Attitudes (default Neutral):
Hostile : none.
Unfriendly : none.
Neutral : none.
Friendly : none.
Ally : none.

Unclaimed silver: 1760.

plain (23,17) in Gresir, 663 peasants (high elves), $3315.
------------------------------------------------------------
  It was winter last month; it will be clear next month.
  Wages: $15.
  Wanted: none.
  For Sale: 132 high elves [HELF] at $60, 26 leaders [LEAD] at $120.
  Entertainment available: $165.
  Products: 68 livestock [LIVE], 21 horses [HORS].

Exits:
  North : swamp (23,15) in Deveron.
  Northeast : forest (24,16) in Lorthalm.
  Southeast : plain (24,18) in Eskerfan, contains Crieff [city].
  South : plain (23,19) in Gresir.
  Southwest : plain (22,18) in Gresir.
  Northwest : swamp (22,16) in Deveron.

* Phil's Scout (545), Phil's Pilgrims (4), revealing faction,
  receiving no aid, 20 silver [SILV], viking [VIKI]. Skills: none.


plain (23,19) in Gresir, 799 peasants (vikings), $3995.
------------------------------------------------------------
  It was winter last month; it will be clear next month.
  Wages: $15.
  Wanted: none.
  For Sale: 159 vikings [VIKI] at $60, 31 leaders [LEAD] at $120.
  Entertainment available: $199.
  Products: 58 grain [GRAI], 28 horses [HORS].

Exits:
  North : plain (23,17) in Gresir.
  Northeast : plain (24,18) in Eskerfan, contains Crieff [city].
  Southeast : ocean (24,20) in Atlantis Ocean.
  South : plain (23,21) in Gresir.
  Southwest : plain (22,20) in Gresir.
  Northwest : plain (22,18) in Gresir.

* Phil (534), Phil's Pilgrims (4), revealing faction, leader [LEAD].
  Skills: tactics [TACT] 1 (30), observation [OBSE] 1 (30).
* Phil's Guardsmen (546), Phil's Pilgrims (4), revealing faction,
  taxing, 10 vikings [VIKI], 110 silver [SILV]. Skills: combat [COMB]
  1 (60).
* Phil's Workmen (547), Phil's Pilgrims (4), revealing faction, 20
  vikings [VIKI]. Skills: farming [FARM] 1 (60).


desert (23,25) in Lynton, 188 peasants (desert dwarves), $376.
------------------------------------------------------------
  The weather was clear last month; it will be clear next month.
  Wages: $12.
  Wanted: none.
  For Sale: 37 desert dwarves [DDWA] at $48, 7 leaders [LEAD] at $96.
  Entertainment available: $18.
  Products: 14 livestock [LIVE], 19 iron [IRON], 19 stone [STON].

Exits:
  North : plain (23,23) in Gresir.
  Northeast : mountain (24,24) in Olenek.
  Southeast : mountain (24,26) in Olenek.
  South : desert (23,27) in Lynton.
  Southwest : desert (22,26) in Lynton.
  Northwest : desert (22,24) in Lynton.

* Phil's Scout (543), Phil's Pilgrims (4), revealing faction,
  receiving no aid, 20 silver [SILV], viking [VIKI]. Skills: none.



Orders Template:

#atlantis 4

;*** plain (23,17) in Gresir ***

unit 545
;Phil's Scout (545), revealing faction, receiving no aid, 20 silver
;  [SILV], viking [VIKI]. Skills: none.

;*** plain (23,19) in Gresir ***

unit 534
;Phil (534), revealing faction, leader [LEAD]. Skills: tactics [TACT] 1
;  (30), observation [OBSE] 1 (30).

unit 546
;Phil's Guardsmen (546), revealing faction, taxing, 10 vikings [VIKI],
;  110 silver [SILV]. Skills: combat [COMB] 1 (60).
@study combat

unit 547
;Phil's Workmen (547), revealing faction, 20 vikings [VIKI]. Skills:
;  farming [FARM] 1 (60).
@study farming

;*** desert (23,25) in Lynton ***

unit 543
;Phil's Scout (543), revealing faction, receiving no aid, 20 silver
;  [SILV], viking [VIKI]. Skills: none.

#end

Explanation

First, we have the basic report information:

Atlantis Report For:
Phil's Pilgrims (4) (War 1, Trade 1, Magic 1)
February, Year 5

Account balance: $21.00

Faction Status:
Tax Regions: 1 (10)
Trade Regions: 0 (10)
Mages: 0 (1)

Nothing of too much note here, except that we are now taxing in one region ("Tax Regions: 1 (10)"), out of a possible 10.

The next section details any errors or failed orders that occured, and why:

Errors during turn:
Phil's Scout (545): MOVE: Unit does not have enough movement points.

This turn, our faction was involved in a battle. Unfortunately, this involved one of our scouts being slaughtered by a large aggressive faction:

Battles during turn:
Murom Garrison (214) attacks Phil's Scout (537) in Gresir!

Attackers:
Murom Garrison (214), 40 high elves [HELF], combat 2.
Sir Boris (538), leader [LEAD], tactics 1; A stern, powerful man.
Murom Garrison (301), 40 vikings [VIKI], combat 3.
Grink, the Duke of Murom (124), leader [LEAD], tactics 1; The big
  cheese.
Army of Murom (462), 44 high elves [HELF], viking [VIKI], 60 plainsmen
  [PLAI], 40 nomads [NOMA], 120 swords [SWOR], combat 2.

Defenders:
Phil's Scout (537), viking [VIKI].

Murom Garrison (214) gets a free round of attacks.
Phil's Scout (537) loses 1.

Phil's Scout (537) is routed!
Total Casualties:
Phil's Scout (537) loses 1.
Murom Garrison (214) loses 0.

Spoils: 15 silver [SILV].

Next, we are given a detailed list of events which involved our units:

Events during turn:
Phil's Workmen (547): Claims $200.
Phil's Guardsmen (546): Collects $500 in taxes.
Phil's Scout (543): Walks from plain (23,21) in Gresir to plain
  (23,23) in Gresir.
Phil's Scout (543): Walks from plain (23,23) in Gresir to desert
  (23,25) in Lynton.
Phil (534): Studies observation.
Phil's Guardsmen (546): Studies combat.
Phil's Workmen (547): Studies farming.

Skills reports are given if our faction has learned any new skills in the last turn:

Skill reports:
observation [OBSE] 1: A unit with this skill can see stealthy units
  whose stealth rating is less than or equal to the observing unit's
  Observation level. The unit can also determine the faction owning a
  unit, provided its Observation level is higher than the other unit's
  Stealth level.

Next, our declared attitudes section is still empty, and we still have some of our unclaimed silver left:

Declared Attitudes (default Neutral):
Hostile : none.
Unfriendly : none.
Neutral : none.
Friendly : none.
Ally : none.

Unclaimed silver: 1760.

Now, we have the region reports. Our faction is present in many more regions now, with more interesting information than in the Atlantis Nexus:

plain (23,17) in Gresir, 663 peasants (high elves), $3315.
------------------------------------------------------------
  It was winter last month; it will be clear next month.
  Wages: $15.
  Wanted: none.
  For Sale: 132 high elves [HELF] at $60, 26 leaders [LEAD] at $120.
  Entertainment available: $165.
  Products: 68 livestock [LIVE], 21 horses [HORS].

Exits:
  North : swamp (23,15) in Deveron.
  Northeast : forest (24,16) in Lorthalm.
  Southeast : plain (24,18) in Eskerfan, contains Crieff [city].
  South : plain (23,19) in Gresir.
  Southwest : plain (22,18) in Gresir.
  Northwest : swamp (22,16) in Deveron.

- Scout 7 (443), eskimo [ESKI].
* Phil's Scout (545), Phil's Pilgrims (4), revealing faction,
  receiving no aid, 20 silver [SILV], viking [VIKI]. Skills: none.

It looks like someone else is scouting this region, as well as our unit.

plain (23,19) in Gresir, 799 peasants (vikings), $3995.
------------------------------------------------------------
  It was winter last month; it will be clear next month.
  Wages: $15.
  Wanted: none.
  For Sale: 159 vikings [VIKI] at $60, 31 leaders [LEAD] at $120.
  Entertainment available: $199.
  Products: 58 grain [GRAI], 28 horses [HORS].

Exits:
  North : plain (23,17) in Gresir.
  Northeast : plain (24,18) in Eskerfan, contains Crieff [city].
  Southeast : ocean (24,20) in Atlantis Ocean.
  South : plain (23,21) in Gresir.
  Southwest : plain (22,20) in Gresir.
  Northwest : plain (22,18) in Gresir.

* Phil (534), Phil's Pilgrims (4), revealing faction, leader [LEAD].
  Skills: tactics [TACT] 1 (30), observation [OBSE] 1 (30).
* Phil's Guardsmen (546), Phil's Pilgrims (4), revealing faction,
  taxing, 10 vikings [VIKI], 110 silver [SILV]. Skills: combat [COMB]
  1 (60).
* Phil's Workmen (547), Phil's Pilgrims (4), revealing faction, 20
  vikings [VIKI]. Skills: farming [FARM] 1 (60).

In this region, we have set up our main operation. We have begun training our men to farm the land, and also a small contingent to serve as guardsmen. (Note that any strategy shown here is highly questionable; I'm just trying to show what a report looks like and means, not how to play)

desert (23,25) in Lynton, 188 peasants (desert dwarves), $376.
------------------------------------------------------------
  The weather was clear last month; it will be clear next month.
  Wages: $12.
  Wanted: none.
  For Sale: 37 desert dwarves [DDWA] at $48, 7 leaders [LEAD] at $96.
  Entertainment available: $18.
  Products: 14 livestock [LIVE], 19 iron [IRON], 19 stone [STON].

Exits:
  North : plain (23,23) in Gresir.
  Northeast : mountain (24,24) in Olenek.
  Southeast : mountain (24,26) in Olenek.
  South : desert (23,27) in Lynton.
  Southwest : desert (22,26) in Lynton.
  Northwest : desert (22,24) in Lynton.

- Dwarven Miners (375), 10 desert dwarves [DDWA], 29 iron [IRON].
- Shipping (401), nomad [NOMA], 5 horses [HORS].
* Phil's Scout (543), Phil's Pilgrims (4), revealing faction,
  receiving no aid, 20 silver [SILV], viking [VIKI]. Skills: none.

In this region, our scouts have encountered a pair of units who seem to be involved in producing and transporting iron.

And last is the Orders Template:

Orders Template:

#atlantis 4

;*** plain (23,17) in Gresir ***

unit 545
;Phil's Scout (545), revealing faction, receiving no aid, 20 silver
;  [SILV], viking [VIKI]. Skills: none.

;*** plain (23,19) in Gresir ***

unit 534
;Phil (534), revealing faction, leader [LEAD]. Skills: tactics [TACT] 1
;  (30), observation [OBSE] 1 (30).

unit 546
;Phil's Guardsmen (546), revealing faction, taxing, 10 vikings [VIKI],
;  110 silver [SILV]. Skills: combat [COMB] 1 (60).
@study combat

unit 547
;Phil's Workmen (547), revealing faction, 20 vikings [VIKI]. Skills:
;  farming [FARM] 1 (60).
@study farming

;*** desert (23,25) in Lynton ***

unit 543
;Phil's Scout (543), revealing faction, receiving no aid, 20 silver
;  [SILV], viking [VIKI]. Skills: none.

#end

Sample Orders 2

As I said above, this document is meant to show you how to read reports, and write orders; not how to play. So, our faction foolishly ignores the scout that was just killed next to most of our units, and continues on as if nothing had happened. So, our scouts are going to continue scouting, and we will produce some grain in our main region. We'll form up a new scout, and send him after the other one, in case the attack last time was some sort of mistake. Also, we will form a mage, by studying one of the Foundation Skills.

Now you see why I gamemaster these games, instead of playing them.

#atlantis 4

;*** plain (23,17) in Gresir ***

unit 545
;Phil's Scout (545), revealing faction, receiving no aid, 20 silver
;  [SILV], viking [VIKI]. Skills: none.
move north     ;Keep scouting to the north

;*** plain (23,19) in Gresir ***

unit 534
;Phil (534), revealing faction, leader [LEAD]. Skills: tactics [TACT] 1
;  (30), observation [OBSE] 1 (30).
claim 200      ;Need silver to study
study force    ;This will make Phil a mage

form 1         ;Make a new unit
claim 100      ;Claim some silver
buy 1 viking   ;Buy a viking
name unit "Phil's Scout"
move southwest     ;Following our recently deceased scout
noaid 1        ;We don't want to drag our units into combat
end

unit 546
;Phil's Guardsmen (546), revealing faction, taxing, 10 vikings [VIKI],
;  110 silver [SILV]. Skills: combat [COMB] 1 (60).
@study combat     ;Train our soldiers
                  ;The '@' means this order will show up in the next
                  ;Orders Template

unit 547
;Phil's Workmen (547), revealing faction, 20 vikings [VIKI]. Skills:
;  farming [FARM] 1 (60).
@produce grain     ;Produce some grain

;*** desert (23,25) in Lynton ***

unit 543
;Phil's Scout (543), revealing faction, receiving no aid, 20 silver
;  [SILV], viking [VIKI]. Skills: none.
move south south     ;Keep scouting to the south

#end