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Changes in Game Manual

Editor Comment

Merging some old outdated pages into the main manual.


Revision Differences of Revision 2

This page is still work in progress and should contain more helpful information... ¶

##Overview ¶
There are three different tribes in Widelands: Barbarians, Empire (Imperials), and Atlanteans. They have different wares, workers and buildings. This gives rise to different strong points and shortcomings. Find out which is your favorite tribe! ¶

In Widelands, you are the regent of a small clan of one of the three tribes. You start out with nothing but your headquarters, where all your resources are stored. ¶

In the course of the game, you will build an ever growing settlement. Every member of your clan will do his or her part to produce more resources - wood, food, iron, gold and more - to further this growth. The economic network is complex and different in the three tribes (Barbarians, Imperials, and Atlanteans). ¶

As you are not alone in the world, you will meet other clans sooner or later. Some of them may be friendly and you may eventually trade with them. However, if you want to rule the world, you will have to train soldiers and fight. ¶

Widelands offers a unique style of play. For example, a system of roads plays a central role in your economy: all the goods that are harvested and processed by the tribe must be transported from one building to the next. This is done by carriers, and those carriers always walk along the roads. It is your job to lay out the roads as efficiently as possible. ¶

Another refreshing aspect of the game is the way you command your clan. There is no need to tell every single one of your subjects what to do - that would be impossible, because there can be thousands of them! Instead, all you need to do is order them to build a building somewhere, and the builders will come. Similarly, whenever you want to attack an enemy, just place an order to attack one of their barracks, and your soldiers will march to fight. You're really a ruler: You delegate in times of war and in times of peace! ¶

Widelands offers single-player mode with different campaigns; the campaigns all tell stories of tribes and their struggle in the Widelands universe! However, settling really starts when you unite with friends over the Internet or LAN to build up new empires together - or to crush each other in the dusts of war. Widelands also offers an Artificial Intelligence to challenge you. ¶

In the end, Widelands will be extensible, so that you can create your own tribe with their own set of buildings, create new worlds to play in, and even create new types of worlds (who says you can't build a settlement on the moon?). ¶

##Start playing ¶
See the links below and try out the Tutorial (main menu of Widelands) and the Campaigns (main menu --> single player). There are tutorial Campaigns for each of the tribes so you can learn the differences between them. ¶

## Links ¶
* [Basic Interface](../GameHelpbasicInterface) - Explains all the basics: what does every button in the game do? What do the different game options mean? ¶
* [Quickstart](../GameHelpquickstart) - I ¶
* [The Tribes](../TheTribes) - Information about the playable tribes in Widelands ¶
* BarbariansPage (specific info for Barbarian (economy and history) ¶
* ImperialsPage (specific info for Imperial economy and history) ¶
* AtlanteansPage (specific info for Atlanteans economy and history) ¶
* [Building a New Economy](../GameHelpbuildingANewEconomy) - Some strategies for building houses and producing wares. ¶
* [Military and Warfare](../GameHelpmilitaryAndWarfare) - Explains the specifics of warfare. ¶
* [Multiplayer](../GameHelpMultiplayer) - How to play Widelands with other human players. ¶
* GeneralInfo ¶
* [Forum Technical Help](http://wl.widelands.org/forum/forum/1/) ¶
* WidelandsFaqTechnical ¶
* WidelandsFaqPlaying ¶
* DownloadPage ¶
* [Customizing Widelands](/wiki/GameCustomizing/) ¶
* WannaHelp ¶
* ReportingBugs ¶
* [Donations](http://sourceforge.net/project/project_donations.php?group_id=40163)

##Todo ¶
The above topics need to be sorted into sections so it is easier to find what you need to know, lots more topics will be added in each section . ¶
Code development continues, please join in discussions on the forum to help improve Widelands. ¶
The Campaign/tutorials are in development. ¶
Ideally the Manual needs to be translated as it expands.