Game Controls
Mouse
Most things can be done with the mouse. Use it to point, select, give commands, and move around the game world.
Left-Click - Select a unit or location. Also, left-click anywhere on the Navigation Map to jump to that location.
Right-Click - Give "context commands" to selected units. For instance, if a group of workers are selected, right-clicking
on a block of Ice will issue the GATHER command to all of them, and they will begin mining that particular block of Ice.
But if a building were selected instead, they would REPAIR (if damaged) or CONSTRUCT (if unbuilt) the building.
If an enemy unit were selected, the workers would attack that unit. You can even right-click on the Navigation Map!
Useful for sending an army to attack the enemy's city.
Scroll Wheel - If your mouse has a scroll wheel, you can use it to scroll up/down in the game world.
Keyboard
[F5] - "Main Menu"
Brings up the Main Menu. From there, you can save/load your game, restart the current level, or quit the game. You can also set Game Options here:
- Turbo Speed - For slower computers, or those who like a faster pace of gameplay, you can turn on this option.
- Sound Effects - If you don't want to share the drama of battle with those around you, you can turn off all game sounds.
- Background Music - If you prefer to "bring your own background music", you can turn off the built-in background music here.
[Up] [Down] [Left] [Right] Arrow Keys - "World Navigation"
The game world is 60 X 60 blocks, but the screen only displays 17 X 10 blocks. To decide WHERE you want to view at any given moment, use the arrow keys. For convenience and speed, movement happens 2 blocks at a time.
[SPACEBAR] - "Take me to the battle!"
A quick tap of the spacebar brings you to the MOST RECENT scene of violence. If two battles are raging at once, you will be brought to the place where the most recent punch was thrown. No need to scroll all over the place trying to find out where the action is!
[BACKSPACE] - "Show/Hide the Resource Stats window"
The Resource Stats window is that small window in the upper-left which shows how much Stone, Ice and Fish you have. If you have plenty of all resources, you might prefer to have this small window stop obstructing your view of the action. Do you want to take back that 2 square inches of screen real estate? You can hide this window by pressing [BACKSPACE], and show it again by pressing the same key.
[ESC] - "Cancel"
If you select BUILD and then accidentally click the Igloo icon instead of the School icon, you can back up a step by pressing [ESC].
[CTRL] - "Pause"
If you need to obey the call of Nature, or grab a can of Spaghetti O's (don't forget to bring a can opener), you can pause the game at any time by pressing this key.
[ALT] - "Select all nearby of this type"
Do you have a group of soldiers that you want to send on an attack? Just press [ALT] and select one of them -- every other soldier within a 4 block radius will be selected as well.
[SHIFT] - "Select/Unselect additional units"
Used for fine-tuning your attack/expansion/defense party. Do you want to select a number of units at once, but they are different types? Select multiple units one at a time by holding [SHIFT] as you click on each unit. If a unit is already selected, holding [SHIFT] and clicking him again will UNSELECT him.
HOTKEYS - "Build/Create units the fast way"
As you hover over the different Command icons, you will notice that a description is displayed below the icons. The description will have one letter in YELLOW -- that is the hotkey for the icon you are hovering over. Moreover, a small amount of pop-up text will appear, with the hotkey in brackets. Example:
"Create [W]orker". In this case, pressing 'W' will tell the Base to create another Worker, just like clicking on the Command icon.
Complete Hotkey List
A - Guard Area, Build Academy
B - Enter Build Menu, Build Base, Create Bomber, Cast Bombard
C - Build School, Create Captain, Cannon Attack
D - Detonate, Learn about Death
E - Learn Efficiency
F - Fight
G - Gather, Build Gym
H - Upgrade Health, Build Hospital, Create Ghost, Cast Heal
I - Build Igloo, Cast Ice Missile
M - Move, Create Mage
N - Create Cannon
P - Set Gather Point, Upgrade Speed, Learn Philosophy
R - Build Barracks
S - Stop, Create Soldier, Hospital Stay
T - Build Tower, Upgrade Strength, Takeover Enemy
V - Build Graveyard
W - Create Worker
