Your units are represented on the map by square counters (much like in the old Avalon Hill board games). Ships are light blue, lands are dark green, and planes are yellow. I have not put in individual counters for different types of units (i.e. pt boats, battleships, and nuclear attack subs all use the same blue counter with an anchor in the middle). For the most part, single units show one counter, two units in the same sector show a double counter, and three or more units show a triple counter. Exception: when multiple types of units are in one hex, there is a limit of three counters total.

Enemy units use the same symbols as yours, but are bright red (ships and planes) or maroon (lands) if they are hostile to you, light red if they are neutral, and deep blue if they are friendly or allied..

Tip: If you need to see what's under a unit, you can toggle display of units on and off with Hide/Show Units option off the View Menu.

Tip: You can Zoom and Unzoom the map with options off the View Menu or by pressing F5/ Shift F5

Tip: The X in the upper right corner of the map window will cause the map to expand to take up the whole screen. Clicking it again will take it back to its normal position. A similar X exists for the Unit Tab in the Sector Box

Tip: The Map Window is the main window of WinACE. Closing the map window will exit the program. Closing any of the other windows will just cause them to minimized back down to the task bar.

To the right of the Map is the Sector Information Box. When you click on an owned sector, this tabbed box will display information about that sector. If you click on an enemy sector, this box will contain any intelligence you have gathered on that sector.

In addition to the information from the commodity, census, and resource command, the Census display has five calculated fields.

• FR - Food required - This is the food required to feed the population of the sector AND insure maximum growth. It does not take into account any that could be grown and harvested in the sector, so it is a conservative number, usually larger than the "prevent starvation" requirement. If there is less food than required in the sector, this number will show up in red. This number is not calculated for blitz games.
• Pd - Production. Shows how much the sector will produce at the update (you should know what it produces) based on the workforce and the resource limits. Harbors, airports, and headquarters show avail. Does not consider that if you starve people this turn you will not get full production. It assumes you have provided enough food for full population growth.
• Mx - Maximum Production. The max that could be produced based on the workforce currently in the hex if all the raw materials needed were present.
• Civ - Excess or Shortage of Civs. If there are more civs in a hex than needed to bring the hex to 100% and convert all the raw materials, the excess is shown here in black. If more civs are needed to process all the raw materials available and there is room for more in the sector, the civilian shortage is shown here in red. Note that harbors, airports, headquarters, and mines can always use more civs, up to MAX SAFE POP (768 in most 60 ETU games) so if they are below that number, the difference will show in red. Warehouses, radar, bridges, etc will show everyone but one in black once they are 100%, since they don't need a staff.
• NE - New efficiency. The efficiency of the hex after the next update.

The Unit Tab on the Sector Information box displays detailed information on the units in the sector. To view details on a unit or a stack of units, double click it and this will automatically switch the Sector Box to the Unit Tab.

Note: WinACE defines units as planes, ships, and lands. WinAce will let you do a few things with Nukes, (build, transport, arm, disarm), but they are not represented on the map. They do show up in the sector box, however.

Tip: If you click on one of the column headers on the Unit Grid in the Sector Box, WinACE will sort the units by the values in that columns. (Example: When your air defense has been shot up some, pull up all your fighters in an airport, then click on "mob" or "eff" to sort out the remaining effectives.)

Tip: The Unit Window also contains filters on the toolbar to let you see all units, or all units in a certain fleet/wing/army, etc or only units of a certain type. There are additional buttons that allow you to select only units with mobility or above a certain efficiency. (Example: When your air defense has been shot up some, pull up just your fighters in an airport, then click on "mob" and "eff" buttons to sort out the remaining effectives.) When you use these options, its possible to see units in multiple sectors in one display.

Tip: WinACE tries to keep track if you have missions or order set for your units. The Unit Tab text for units with missions will appear in red. Text for ships with orders will appear in blue. If the ship has both orders and a mission, it will appear in purple. To see the mission/orders detail, put the cursor over the unit text, and the mission will be displayed in the status bar.

The telegram box takes up the bottom right corner of the screen. Incoming telegrams, bulletins, and flashes are displayed here.

Back on the left hand side, below the Map is the Response Box. Any command entered from a command line will have its server response displayed here. Even when taken from a menu, many of the commands that have short server responses will have there results displayed in this box. Menu Commands that invoke longer responses from the server use the popup Report Box to display those responses.

Tip: The Response Box supports copying to the clipboard. To copy, highlight the text you want, and press CTRL-C. If no text is highlighted, CTRL-C will copy the entire contents.

Tip: You can change the font used the Response Box by pressing Alt-F.

Below the Response box is the Command line. To manually enter commands, type the empire command onto the command line, and press Enter. When you use the command line, all responses will go to the Response Box. If you want to quickly enter a sector number when entering a command, hold the CTRL key down and click on that sector on the Map. The sector number will appended to the current command line.

On the bottom of the screen is the Status Bar. This contains several panels:

• The processor lights. These two lights let you know the state of the empire server. When the light is red, the server is still busy processing a command you have submitted. When the light is green, the server is ready for a new command. Note that commands can still be entered while the server is busy. They are just queued up to be submitted as soon as the server becomes available. An identical set of lights are found on the Command Window
• The Telegram indicator. This shows "TELE" when you have mail waiting. The next panel over shows the number of pending telgrams. Clicking on either panel loads the latest mail and displays the telegram window. The panel shows "WAIT" it means a read request has been sent to the server.

• The sector indicator. This panel shows information about the sector currently under the mouse, and units in that sector

When WinACE is informed a telegram has arrived, it submits a read request (if Autoread is on), and displays the result in the Telegram box of the map window. If autoread is off, the telegram indicator will show on the status bar of the Map. You must then click on the TELE indicator to get a read.

In addition to being displaying in the telegram box, incoming telegrams are written into the local database, for later review. You can use the Telegram Window to review received telegrams.

In the Telegram Window, all telegrams will be found the appropriate historical folder. They will be stored into the next time the Telegram box is filled. The stored folders also can save reports from the report box, and sent telegrams as well.

Tip: If you wish to view all the new telegrams in a single report box, or preview the telegrams without loading them into the telegram box, take the Quick Read option off the Report Menu on the Map Window.

When a new announcement arrives, the ANNO indicator will appear in the Status panel of the Map Window. Click on the indicator to view the announcements. (You can also take the Wire option off the Report Menu on the Map Window.)

Tip: Announcements are not automatically saved into the local database. To save announcements, hit the "Save to Log" button in the report box when you view them. The Report Box also supports copying to the clipboard. To copy, highlight the text you want, and press CTRL-C. If no text is highlighted, CTRL-C will copy the entire contents.

Incoming flashes are displayed in the telegram box on the map window, but are not saved.

To send a telegram, first click on the new telegram or the reply button on the toolbar of the Telegram Window. Type your message, select your recipient(s), and click send. To cancel without sending, click Delete.

To make an announcement or flash, follow the same procedure as a telegram, but click on the announcement or flash button before sending.

Tip: The telegram box supports copy/paste. To copy, highlight and press CTRL-C. To paste, position the cursor and press CTRL-V.

Tip: The Telegram Windows is also used to display saved reports. Any time the "Save to Log" button is hit on the report box, a copy of the contents of the report box is put in the "Saved Reports" folder.

The command window show you a history of what's been sent to the server, and what response has been sent back. You can scroll back and forward through the history list box, which covers everything done in the current session. To manually enter commands, click on text box on the bottom of the screen, type the empire command, and press enter.

Tip: Pressing F9 when the text box has the focus will bring up the last command executed. Repeatedly press F9 to scroll through all the previous commands.

Tip: The history list box supports copying its contents to the clipboard. To copy, highlight your selection and press CTRL-C.

Tip: Dump (and sdump/ldump/pdump) is one of the few commands not fully echoed to the history window. Because so many dumps are done to keep the local database in sync, the history window only shows the dump command, the header to the server response, and the number of sector's dumped. The full dump is echoed only if it requested from the command line

Tip: To pipe the output from a command to a text file, put >filename after the command. To append the output to an existing file, use >>filename.

The Map Window contains a number of menus across the top. Options taken off these menu will either submit a command directly to the server, or pull up a prompt box specific to the command. Commands off the Map Window Main menu are usually general in nature (i.e. not sector or unit specific).

Right clicking on an owned sector will pull up a popup menu of sector commands. Choosing options off this menu will usually pull up a prompt box specific to the command chosen. By default, WinACE will fill in the sector clicked into the appropriate place in the prompt box.

To access unit commands, put your cursor over the sector the unit is in, and right click. This will pull up a popup menu. Choose options off this menu in the same manner as when you execute sector commands.

Tip: On the Land Units menu, many of the Land command are shown as "load, look, radar", etc, when the equivalent empire server commands are really "lload, llook, lradar", etc. Don't be confused. WInACE handles the translation. (The method used seemed like it would be easier for newbies)

Once you choose a unit command from the popup menu, a prompt box will pop up. WinAce will also bring up the Unit Tab of the Sector Box (if not already up) to show you the units available in the sector) If there is only one eligible unit, WinAce will put that units number in the prompt box for you. Otherwise, you must fill in the unit numbers. The simplest way to do this is to highlight the units in the sector box, and WinACE will fill them in the text field that currently has the focus.

Tip: You can also bring up the unit menu by right-clicking on the units in the Unit Box of the Map Window.

Commands can be submitted by clicking icons in the Status Box, pressing buttons on the Telegram Window, and thru the Script File Tool. In addition, the server may automatically submit commands based on the update clock. These are all covered in more detail in the appropriate sections.

 Prompts Boxes

The prompt boxes let you enter the commands without having to memorize or worry about the syntax requirement of the empire server. Each prompt box is different, depending on the information needed to execute the command. Many times, the prompt boxes appear all ready filled in, and all that needs done is to click OK.

Prompt boxes are designed to be flexible, and allow quick input. Prompt boxes pass information directly as entered on to the empire server. This means that prompt boxes do ABSOLUTELY NO syntax checking before submitting command. If you type in a bad sector designation, or a unit number you don't have, or an illegal command (like designating a sea hex as your capital), the prompt box will cheerfully pass this request on to the server, who will inform you of your syntax error at that time. Spaces left empty are passed as blanks. In some cases, this works fine, as the server will prompt you for the missing information. In others, a syntax error is the result.

Tip: Because of the no syntax checking, you can manually append selection parameters into the text fields of prompt box in the same way you would on a command line.

Tip: Also because of the no syntax checking, you can enter commands that would be illegal based on the local database, but may actually be correct when executed. (Either because the local database is out of sync, or because command is part of a recorded script file to be save for later execution.)

Prompt boxes are also responsible for submitting the various dump commands immediately following the main command to keep the local database in sync.

Most information is entered into prompt boxes is entered in text fields. The most common text fields are used over and over again are text fields for Single Sectors, Single/Multiple Sectors, Units, Paths, and Destination/Paths. You can directly key information into these fields, but you will find you rarely do so. Instead, taking some other actions usually fills these fields

Single Sector: - If the cursor is on these text fields, clicking on the map will put the designation of the sectors you just clicked into the Single Sector Text Box. These are usually filled with the default sector when the prompt appears.

Single/Multiple Sectors: - Same as the single sector box, but if the empire server allows multiple sectors to be specified on the command, you can double click on the this fields to pull up the Select Sectors prompt in order to enter a range of sectors.

Units: - If the cursor is on these text fields, clicking on the desired unit in the Sector Box will cause WinACE to fill that unit number into the field. If there are already units there, the new unit will be added to the end of the list. If you hold the mouse down, and select several units in the unit box, all their numbers will be entered into the prompt. When the prompt box appears, this field may be filled with a default unit number if only one unit existed in the sector clicked.

Tip: If you hold down the CTRL key when clicking a unit in the Unit Window, that unit will REPLACE any units already in the prompt text box, rather than just being added to it.

Paths: - These fields expect a path in empire path form. To enter the path interactively, double click on the path field. This will bring up the Path Prompt. On the map, the starting hex will now be outlined in red. Build a path by clicking on adjacent hexes. Once you have your desired path laid out, click on "OK" and the path will be transferred back to the path field.

Path/Destination: - These fields expect either a path or a sector designation. They act like a combination single sector field and path fields.

Note: There is no special visual clue used that will allow you to determine if a text field on a prompt box is one of the above special types. However, you can usually figure it out pretty quickly from looking at the command syntax. When in doubt, try double clicking on the text field.

Tip: When you use the nav, or march prompt box, the prompt box will usually let you click on the destination, and do everything in one step. If you prefer to move interactively, leave the destination box blank. This will bring up the interactive navigation tool. With these boxes, you also have the option to set a mission and/or a retreat path to take effect at the end of the move.

Tip: To graphically see where your ship can reach this turn, use the Navigation Markers tool on the popup ship menu. For land units, you can pull up the March Prompt box and layout a path, and WinACE will calculate the cost in mobility for you unit.

Tip: For fly, bomb, transport, and paradrop prompts, you can either just click on the destination hex, or you can lay the flight path out using the path selection tool (double click on the path/designation box to activate this)

Tip: For bombing runs, if you know the type of run you want (pinbomb mil, for example), you can enter this in ahead of time in the prompt box, and WinAce will automatically fill in the answer when the server prompts you. This lets you run multiple bombing runs at once, or script bombing runs.

Tip: The Move Prompt and the Transport prompt allow the use of WayPoints: Occasionally, you will not want to have enough mobility to move commodities directly from sector a to sector e. To facilitate this, you often end up moving the commodities from a to b, b to c, c to d, and then d to e, using four separate move commands. WinACE lets you do this quickly with one command. On the Move/Transport prompt, when the cursor is in the destination text box, hit the space bar. This will bring up the WayPoints prompt. Click on the WayPoint text box, and then click on the sectors where you want to stop and restart, ending with the destination sector. WinACE will fill those sectors into the WayPoint list. When your are done, take OK, then OK from the Move/Transport Prompt, and WinACE will submit the multiple move or transport commands.

Tip: When entering commands from the command line, holding down the CTRL key and left-clicking on a sector with the mouse will put that sector x,y coordinates at the cursor position on the command line

Tip: &s is a special designator when used on the command line. It is used in place of sector x,y co-ordinates. When you hold down the CTRL key and left-clicking on a sector, if a command with &s in it is present, it will substute the sector co-ordinates for the &s and immediately submit the command. It will then leave the &s version of the command on the command line so you can repeat it by clicking on another sector. This is good when you have to do a bunch of repetitive commands, like spreading guns and shells around an island for flak from a central warehouse.

Tip: WinACE will put units on the map when it first spies them, but once they are there it will not automatically remove them unless it gets some message to do so. You must manually remove them by using the "Delete" button on the Unit Box toolbar. (Example: You do a coastwatch and pick up a battleship and a heavy cruiser off your coast. You send out a sub and torp the bb until it sinks. It immediately drops off your display. The hc takes off out of coastwatch range. You do another coastwatch, which now shows nothing. However, the hc will still show on your map in its last known positions. You will need to manually delete the hc (since you no longer know where it is)

Tip: Ships showing on radar are not automatically added to the Enemy database.

Tip: To clear all enemy information at once, take the "clear" option from the file menu. This is especially handy if you are re-using a database from a previous game (such as a blitz database).

WinACE gets information about enemy sectors from five sources: spy, recon, look, satellite and bmap. Enemy sector information is displayed with you click on that sector (if you have any info on it!). The time stamp at the bottom of the display tells you how old the information is. Last known information will always be displayed. Each enemy's sectors are assigned a different color. You can use the Set Owner tool to assign a color to sectors you are pretty sure belong to a player, but haven't verified yet.

When script files are created and run, they do not include the steps to update the empire database that are embedded in the normal commands (ie the various dump commands are suppressed). Therefore, you may need to manually refresh your database upon the script files completion.

If you enter commands from the prompt boxes, you may see some of WinACE's "macro" commands (such as the navigation autostop macro "as1") in addition to the commands you expect. In general it is best to leave these in place.

The timer button on the Script File Editor lets you set scripts to run at a specific number of seconds before the update, or immediately after the update. These timers setting are not retained when you exit the program, however.

Click on a harbor, airport, or headquarters and then choose this tool. It will bring up a projection of how your ships/planes/units will increase in efficiency in that sector at the update, including showing you where your short. You can change the starting amounts of materials to project "what if" figures. You can even "add" units by using the build queue, which shows you the effect of building new units without your having to actually start them.

Best/Average/Worst Case - when building a unit, empire does not use fractions of a materials. Instead, there is a % chance that either zero or one unit is used. (Example - if a linf needs 1 gun to be built, and its going from 30 - 100 %, then it needs .7 guns. This translates into a 70% chance it will use 1 gun, and a 30% chance it will use 0.)

Lets say your bringing 10 linf up from 30%-100%

If you select best case, the build projector will assume you always make the 30% chance, and thus use no guns. This is a "best you can get" for when you are short on materials and need to know how much cash could be spent.

If you select worst case, the build projector will assume you always miss the 30% chance, and thus use 10 guns. Making sure you have enough materials to cover worst case will insure all your units fully build, regardless of how the odds play out. This is the default setting.

If you select average case, then it will try to balance things out, and you will use ABOUT 7 guns.

Range specifies the maximum distance it will distribute the food. Food and mob specify how much food/mob must be left in the hex after distribution is done. If numbers show red in the grid, it means the source site does not have enough food or mob to reach that sector. You can change the distribution order by clicking on the top of the columns so that it goes by shortest path or shortest mob cost first if you want it that way.

If you don't want to feed everyone on the list, you can toggle sectors not to be feed by clicking on them in the grid.

Note that sometimes the starvation command from the empire server will think that the sector needs one more food than WinACE does. I've always found WinACE to be right in these cases (and no one starved), but it usually doesn't hurt to use the starvation setting to ship out the extra units of food.

(Example: If I put 100 more lcms in the library, what will my edu be next turn ?)

Only thing not predicted is tech/research bleed. You have to fill the estimate for that in yourself.

This tool will let you select a production telegram (usually the latest) and will mark the sectors where che were encountered. This is most useful when you are getting ready to initiate anti-terrorist actions to clear the che.

This tool gives a summary of what is being produced and consumed at the update, either for the country as a whole or for a particular distribution center. It is best used to check for distribution problems and shortages. This is a first draft of the tool, and as such it does not take into account some things, such a delivery, or the fact that the warehouse itself might not have the incoming supplies to meet all the delivery demands.

WinACE parses incoming air combat telegrams, and keeps track of the results in an internal database. This tool lets you see are report on what enemy planes you have encountered, and their current efficiency.

This tool uses the excess mobility your units will lose at the update to fortify them. (i.e. if they are doing nothing else, they might as well dig in.) Best if run shortly before the update when you know you won't be doing any more unit moving. You can click on individual units in the grid to customize if or how they are fortified.

This tool is not enabled yet.

Again, the tool does not work quite as well with the Changling blitz, since its emphasis is getting the dust and oil out first, which is not as important with GO_RENEW

Once common occurrence that will cause the database to be out of sync is enemy action. Shelling, bombing, and attacks all cause changes to the sector and unit data on the server, but don't trigger any automatic updates so that the local database is refreshed. You must manually trigger these updates.

After an update, usually all the data becomes outdated. WinACE keeps a countdown clock that tracks the time remaining before the next update. Each time the update clock reaches zero, WinACE will submit a full set of dumps to re-sync the database.

You can manually force the local database to be in sync with the server by using the Refresh Database options on the View menu.

The local database also contains received telegrams, version information, a player list, enemy sector information, and enemy unit information. This information is gradually gathered, and can not be "re-synced" by submitting a command, thus it is carried over from session to session. To manually clear this information, take the Clear option from the File menu.