These commands should be available in all versions of Xconq. Additional commands may be defined for some interfaces; see the interface's documentation below for more details.
You may specify a command in two ways; by typing the single letter for the command, or by using the 'o' command and typing in a long command name followed by any additional data, as appropriate to the command.
You may also specify a numerical prefix argument by entering a sequence of digits 0-9 before entering the command. The interpretation of the prefix argument depends on the command; typically it will be a repetition or size. Negative prefix arguments are not possible.
Xconq uses the "standard" letters to specify directions. While the positions of "yubn" are all analogous to their respective directions from "h" on a normal keyboard, the rationale for "hjkl" is lost in the mists of time; but those of you who are already programmed from years of vi, rogue, nethack, etc will appreciate the compatibility!
y k u
\ | /
h- . -l
/ | \
b j n
As commands, lower-case letters [yubnhjkl] indicate that the
unit(s) should move one cell in that direction. Upper-case letters
[YUBNHJKL] tell the unit(s) to move repeatedly in that direction,
either forever, or to a distance specified by the prefix. Control-case
letters are reserved for future definition.
The following list is generally in alphabetical order.
reserve) Reserve unit.
Put selected unit(s) into reserve for the remainder of this turn.
Units that are in reserve may still be selected and moved by direct
order, but will not insist on being moved before the turn can end.
detonate) Detonate.
The selected unit will detonate at its current location.
help) Display help info.
distance) Display distance to selected place.
up) Move to a higher altitude.
down) Move to a lower altitude.
recenter) Center around the current point.
For interfaces that can zoom, this command also focusses on the current
point, so that it will still be in the middle as you zoom in.
attack) Attack.
add-terrain) Add terrain.
If you supply no prefix argument, and the selected unit(s) can add any
one of several types of terrain, then you will be asked to choose the
terrain type. Then you will be asked for the cell or edge to modify.
auto) Set AI control of unit.
If you supply a prefix of 1, then the unit(s) will become AI-controlled.
If you supply a prefix of 0, then the unit(s) become manually controlled.
If you supply no prefix, then the AI control will toggle.
southwest) Move southwest.
southwest-multiple) Move southwest multiple.
If supplied, the prefix argument specifies how many cells
to move by; otherwise, the unit(s) will move as far as possible.
clear-plan) Clear unit plans.
delay) Delay unit.
Postpone doing anything with the selected unit(s) until after all
others have moved in this turn.
disband) Disband unit.
Make the selected unit(s) do one disband action.
detach)
Detach a unit from the selected multi-part unit.
The prefix argument gives the number of parts of detach;
by default, the unit will be divided in half.
embark) Embark on transport.
disembark)
Disembark from transport, staying in same location.
fire) Fire unit.
formation) Set formation.
You will be asked to designate a unit to lead the formation.
Then the selected unit(s) will get a goal to maintain the
same relative position to the leader that existed at the
time the command was entered. The prefix argument says
by how many cells the following unit may vary from its
designated position; for instance, if the value is 1,
then the unit is in formation if it is in any cell adjacent
to its nominal location. The variation defaults to 1.
fire-into) Fire into a location.
Fire indiscriminately into a designated location,
whether any target units are visible.
give) Give supplies.
Transfer non-essential supply from the selected unit(s)
to occupants and others in same and adjacent cells.
give-unit) Give unit to side.
west) Move west.
west-multiple) Move west multiple.
If supplied, the prefix argument specifies how many cells
to move by; otherwise, the unit will move as far as possible.
in) Cycle through cell's interior.
Use this command to cycle through all the units at the
location(s) of the selected unit(s). Successive
commands eventually go down through all occupants
and through each unit stacked in the cell.
idle) Do nothing for a specific number of turns.
south) Move south.
south-multiple) Move south multiple.
If supplied, the prefix argument specifies how many cells
to move by; otherwise, the unit will move as far as possible.
north) Move north.
north-multiple) Move north multiple.
If supplied, the prefix argument specifies how many cells
to move by; otherwise, the unit will move as far as possible.
east) Move east.
east-multiple) Move east multiple.
If supplied, the prefix argument specifies how many cells
to move by; otherwise, the unit will move as far as possible.
move-to) Move to a place.
You will be asked to specify a location to move to.
The prefix argument specifies how closely will be
satisfactory; the default is 0, meaning that the
unit must actually be in the chosen destination cell.
If, for instance, the prefix is 2, then the unit will
stop moving when it reaches the first cell that is 2
or fewer cells from the destination.
message) Send a message to another side or sides.
The default is to broadcast to all sides; if you wish
to send a message to only one side, prefix the command
with the side's number (1 for the first side in the list
of sides, and so forth).
By default, you will be identified as the sender.
To send an anonymous message, begin the message with
"(anon)". Note that the parentheses are required.
The message %reveal is special; if you send this,
then the receiving sides will receive information
on the positions of your units. This is obviously
useful for allies; it is useful for enemies, if you
want to convince them to resign. (Of course, if they're
stronger than you think and don't resign, then you just
gave away your secrets!)
end-turn) End activity for this turn.
(This is the "return" key.)
This command indicates that you are done with your moves,
and that the game may proceed to the next turn. If sides
are moving sequentially one-at-a-time, then the next side
will become the only one actually moving, and you will not
be able to have any of your units do anything more (although
you may set orders to be executed during the next turn).
If sides are moving simultaneously, then you may still
do actions, but you will have to select the units manually.
southeast) Move southeast.
southeast-multiple) Move southeast multiple.
If supplied, the prefix argument specifies how many cells
to move by; otherwise, the unit will move as far as possible.
other) Do other commands.
This command brings up a dialog or prompt that lets you enter
a long-name command and additional data for it, all as text.
When you indicate that you are done composing (either by typing
return or by clicking OK, as appropriate), Xconq) will
attempt to interpret and then execute the command.
The parenthesized names in this list are the long names to use
for single-character commands, should you wish to do so.)
produce) Set material production.
produce-unit) Set up unit construction.
Xconq will ask you for a unit type to construct, then
sets up a construction task to produce one or more of that
type. You can use the prefix argument to request the number
to build; the default comes from the side's doctrine,
and is usually 99.
repair) Repair a unit.
quit) Quit the game.
If the game is still in progress, then you will be asked
if you wish to draw or resign. If no other players are
willing to declare a draw, then you must resign in order
to get out.
return) Return to a resupply point.
The unit will search for the closest unit which has supplies
of the types that it needs, and attempt to move there.
If it cannot find such a unit within the radius that it
expects to survive without resupplying, the command will
fail and the unit will do nothing.
remove-terrain) Remove terrain.
This command will usually ask for a type of terrain to remove and
a location/direction for the removal.
refresh) Redraw display.
For various reasons, an Xconq) display might become incorrect.
This command will erase all windows and redraw them.
sleep) Sleep.
Put selected unit(s) to sleep. A sleeping unit will not ask to move
again until it wakes up. Units may be woken explicitly, or may wake
up if an unfriendly unit gets too close.
save) Save the game.
Xconq) will save the complete state of the game into a file.
You may or may not get a choice of file name, depending on
the interface you're using.
take) Take supplies.
Transfer materials from a "nearby" unit into the selected one(s).
First choice of donor unit is the transport if there is one,
then units stacked in the same cell, then occupants.
northeast) Move northeast.
northeast-multiple) Move northeast multiple.
If supplied, the prefix argument specifies how many cells
to move by; otherwise, the unit will move as far as possible.
wake) Wake up.
Selected units that are asleep or in reserve will be woken up.
The prefix argument specifies a radius of effect around each
unit, in which all units not in transports will also be awakened.
wakeall) Wake up all.
Similar to "wake", but all occupants will be affected also.
northwest) Move northwest.
northwest-multiple) Move northwest multiple.
If supplied, the prefix argument specifies how many cells
to move by; otherwise, the unit will move as far as possible.
survey) Switch between survey and move modes.
The following commands are not guaranteed to be available except by using their long names, but some interfaces may have shortcuts for some of these.
Some of these commands may take arguments. Whitespace (spaces and tabs) spearates the arguments from the command name, and from each other. If any argument, such as the name of a unit, must include a space or tab, you may enclose the argument in double quotes.
add-playeraicopyingdistrustdoctrine type prop valdrawfollow-actionif condition tasknameprintrate slow fastreleasereplanresignsubmittrustversionwarrantyThe following commands are intended for game designers, and are only available if designing has been compiled into Xconq. See the chapters on game design and GDL for more information.
designgdlThe following commands are intended for debugging, and are only available if debugging support has been compiled into Xconq.
They act as toggles, and are independent of each other, so you can control what kind of information is output. The transcript will go to standard output or to a file, depending on the interface and system. These commands are really only of use to Xconq hackers and sometimes to game designers.
DDGDMThe current set of commands is somewhat different from that of Xconq 5.x. The most common ones have generally been retained, but others have been renamed or dropped.