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Overview Terrain Cities Economy Units
Combat Government Technology Wonders Index
Welcome to the FreeCiv Game Manual! This document
explains the rules under which FreeCiv is played. If you need other
information, like how to run the game on your machine, or what
windows and menus it will present on your screen, you may want to
browse the other manuals that are available.
This manual is divided into sections, which are listed across the
top and bottom of each page; you can advance through the manual in
order by following the Next link at the bottom-right of each
page.
Overview
In FreeCiv you compete against several opponents to found cities,
use them to support a military and economy, and finally to complete
an empire that survives all encounters with its neighbors to emerge
victorious. Each opponent may be either another human or be
controlled by the computer. All players begin at the dawn of
history with a handful of units — typically with an explorer and a couple of settlers in 4000 BC
— and race to expand outward from those humble beginnings.
Most of your map will be blank when the game begins, save for
the terrain adjacent to your first settlers; only as your units
travel and discover the oceans and continents of the world will the
rest of the map be revealed (though players may share their maps by
arranging a pact). Note that your
map is only the record of the terrain and cities your units last
encountered in an area — you will not learn about changes in
an area until your units visit again, nor can you observe the
movement of enemy units that are out of sight of your units and
cities.
Though the game is played in turns, the players themselves do
not take turns but are all allowed to move at once. At the
beginning of each turn all units are assigned movement points,
which are spent as they move and act. Using up movement points
early in the turn may leave a unit without the ability to respond
if an opponent approaches later in the turn. Units cannot carry
extra movement points into the next turn; any movement points left
when the turn ends are lost (unless the unit has been given an
order like fortify that only
takes effect at the end of the turn). Turns can either be of
unlimited length, ending only when all players have pushed their
turn done button, or can have a time limit when the turn
ends regardless.
Criteria for Victory
Achieving success requires a balance between economic expansion,
military strength, and technological development. Not only must you
develop all three in concert to both expand and successfully defend
your empire, but any of the three may provide victory over your
opponents:
- As in other games of conquest and expansion, you are declared
the winner by default once the last city and unit of every other
civilization is destroyed.
- Once technological progress has brought you into the space age,
you may launch a
spacecraft destined for Alpha Centauri; the first civilization
whose craft reaches the system wins.
- In the absence of other means to determine victory, the game
will end in the year 2000 AD if no spacecraft have yet been
launched. The surviving civilizations are then rated, and the one
with the highest score is the winner.
Variations
This manual describes the basic rules which FreeCiv supports out of
the box. After learning this version of the rules you will be able
to play in other situations by learning the ways in which those
configurations differ from the vanilla rules described here. See
the server manual for
instructions on selecting alternate sets of rules — FreeCiv
comes with several, and others can be found on the Internet —
and for documentation of the many parameters that make more minor
adjustments to the course of play.
Overview Terrain Cities Economy Units
Combat Government Technology Wonders Index