Playing Multiplayer Games
From OPU Wiki
Scenario Types
You may choose one of five types of scenarios for your Multiplayer Games.
Last One Standing. Play continues until either only one player remains (that is, only one player has a Command Center that is Active) or all remaining players are allied with each other. (See The Allies/Chat Display, below.) Midas. Play lasts for a fixed amount of time. The player with the highest total of Common Metals and Rare Metals in storage when play ends is the winner. Resource Race. Play continues until one player has a predetermined amount of Common Metals and Rare Metals in storage.
Space Race. Play continues until one player has completed construction of a starship. Land Rush. Instead of having a pre-deployed base, play begins with a number of vehicles; place your base anywhere you choose before your Food supply runs out. Once each player has either placed their Command Center or is dead (that is, all of their Colonists have starved to death or all of their vehicles have been destroyed), play continues as in Last One Standing.
The Allies/Chat Display
In multiplayer games, your Communications report gains a Allies/Chat button. The Allies/Chat display contains two sets of check boxes. The top set lets you select which players will receive your outgoing chat messages; useful for negotiating alliances or setting strategy with your allies. The bottom set of check boxes lets you ally with other players. When you ally with someone, four things happen. First, your vehicles will not fire on theirs unless you specifically order it. Second, they will be able to see all of the mining beacons that you have surveyed. Third, they will always be able to see your vehicles in their Mini-Map, even if the vehicles have the lights turned out and are in the dark. Finally, they will be able to see the status lights on your structures, so they will know which of your structures are Active, Idled, and Disabled. Keep in mind that allying with someone does not mean they are allied with you.
When someone has allied with you, their name will have A- in front of it on this display.
Trade Centers
A special structure, available only in multiplayer games, allows you to transfer vehicles to other players. The Trade Center can be built at any time. At any time that you have an Active Trade Center, your vehicles will have a special Command Icon in the center of the bottom row of their Vehicle Command Grid. This is the Transfer button. When you click this button, the Command Pane will ask you to select a player to whom you wish to transfer the selected vehicle. A vehicle's cargo is transferred with it, so you may trade Common or Rare Ore, Metals or Rubble, Food, starship components or satellites, or structure kits. Should you receive a structure kit for a structure that you would not normally be able to build, it will function normally, though you will not be able to research any improvements to the function of the structure. An Eden player receiving an Arachnid Factory structure kit would be able to deploy it and build Spiders, but could never develop the ability to build Scorpions. Structure Factories and Vehicle Factories deployed from kits received in this way can only build what the owner can build. A Plymouth player receiving a Structure Factory kit from an Eden player could only build Plymouth structure kits at the Factory once it is deployed.
