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This page will serve as a basic how to play guide for Ancient Cities. While there is very little information available at this time, we urge you to check back often, as new information is being added all the time! Feel free to edit this guide with any tips, tricks, and suggestions.
**As of 8/26/21 the game is in early release and what is posted/listed here is subject to change as the game is still under development.
Basic gameplay
Resources
Current resources that the settlement has are displayed in the main settlement menu on the left, which can be viewed at any time by pressing the settlement flag in the top left of the screen, or by clicking right mouse button to exit any game control menus.
TIP: Create a storage area and select the icon of the resource you want and then click the production symbol, looks like a gear, and the gathering group will go find that resource.
Storage/gathering tip
Hay
Can be found sporadically, looks similar to grass but a bit taller.
Stick
Can be found under trees. Is used for some buildings and to craft into fine sticks.
Raw stone
Can be found sporadically, they are in a general circle shape, is used for some buildings.
Fine Raw Stone
Wild fine raw stones can not be seen right now until they have been collected.
TIP: Create a storage area and select the fine raw stone icon and then click the production symbol so the gathering group will go out and find them.
Plant Fiber
Small shrub like bushes, can be found sporadically.
Gathering
Citizens are not directly controlled, but rather resources are gathered by allocating storage areas or gathering areas. Gathering areas must be designated by selecting the Gather tool (hand above a triangle), or by pressing G, then by drawing a lasso area around a resource (e.g. sticks). The number of resources available in this area is displayed in the main settlement menu, under tasks.
Storage Areas
Storage areas are spaces allocated for a specific resource. Once established, citizens will gather resources to this area, or, in the case of crafted items, will craft the items and then store them here. To create a storage area, select the building tab (house icon), then the storage tab (domino icon) and then select storage area. Click and drag an area, then right click to exit the storage area mode. Click the storage area you created and in the left hand menu, choose which resource you would like to store. You can only choose one resource to be stored in a storage area at once.
Work Groups
You can also create work groups to specify how many people, how high a priority, and which resources you would like them to gather. For instance, you can create a work group to gather only food. To create a work group, click the workgroups tab (the six dots) and then press the '+' button. Choose the green gathering group button, and the game will generate an automatic name for this gathering group. Click the newly generated group, e.g. ''Gather People", and click on which resource you would like them to gather to the storage areas. Drag the the members scroll bar to determine how many people are in this gathering group. TIP: You can create more than one of the same type of work group.
Wood choppers group
Crafting Group
Fishing Group
Gathering Group
Hunting Group
Building
In the main window on the right is the build option at the bottom, it looks like a house with a + symbol. A new window pops up on the right of the main window with 7 different build menu, Housing, Storage, Production, Services, Defense, Religion, and Decorations. Each menu has a list of what can be built. Each building shows you a picture and the resources needed to construct it.
As you add buildings and areas they will show up in the "building" tab of the main window making it easy to keep track of what you have so far. Once you choose what to build you will see the layout on the screen showing green for a good space to build or areas of red indicating a bad spot. TIP: an area can show green even if there is a tree there, the tree will need to be cut down though so if you do not have the proper tools the building will not get built.
Crafting
To craft anything first you have to create a crafting group and add people vaccines then choose items to craft. First click on the "open work group UI" button on the right, this is four circles and a + sign. This opens the group tab and a list on the right of the group options, choose the "crafting group" option, you will see the new group now on the left for you to choose. After opening the new crafting group on the left you will need to open vaccines for member to fill it when ready to work. There will be a "craft" button on the right, two gears and a + sign, that you need to select which open the crafting window. Currently there are two tab on the top, one for tool and one for materials. Each tab show you what you can make, there is a picture and below the picture it shows the resources needed and how many. TIP: if you hover over the resource and wait a few second the info screen expands telling you the name and some info. Currently the info displayed is a mix of a description and sometime where to find that resource.
After choosing what you want to craft it will show up on the left under the "tasks" window. Currently it starts off making everything indefinitely and you can click on the infinity symbol and then a quantity option show up. If you choose the quantity option, once they make the amount listed the item disappears and you would need to re-add it from the crafting list. If a resource is missing you will see an ! symbol and you can hover over it to see what is missing.
Citizens
Citizen Characteristics
All humans have 5 attributes, each of with a value going from 0 to 100: charisma, fitness, intelligence, skill and will.
There are several traits that will have effects on those attributes:
- negative traits (marked in red):
- rather clumsy, clumsy, very clumsy (= less skill).
- stupid, dumb, fool (= less intelligence).
- unfriendly, repellent, nasty (= less charisma).
- spineless, reeble, soft (= less will).
- weak, pretty weak, very weak (= less fitness).
- positive traits (marked in green):
- friendly, charismatic (= more charisma).
- determined, resolved (= more will).
- able, skillful (= more skill).
- quick, smart (= more intelligence).
- robust, strong (= more fitness).
There are other traits that may not have effects on those attributes (marked in blue):
- according to sex: male or female (can appear as pregnant).
- according to size: small, pretty big, very big (no size trait = normal size).
- according to age: young, elder (no age trait = adult).
Temporary traits (due to circumstances, marked in yellow or red, may have effects on attributes):
- hunger: starvation (red, less fitness) [...]
- comfort: bothered (yellow), dying (yellow, less will, intelligence and skill) [...]
Children
New citizens will be born if things go well in the settlement. Pregnant women give birth to babies and carry them until they grow old and become children. Both babies and children won't survive to long starvation periods.
Gathering Groups
Controls
Keyboard controls 'WASD' move the camera around the map area. Holding the mouse scroll button rotates the camera. Right clicking the mouse will exit any build menus during gameplay.
Selecting areas, e.g. gathering tool, or storage areas initially work using the lasso method. This can be changed to circle drag or square drag at the centre bottom of the screen.