Quick Guide: Entering and Finalizing Orders

[jaelis]

How to enter orders:

Entering orders using the PlayDip interface is very easy. Start by clicking on the unit you wish to order. After a brief pause, a menu window appears and displays the possible order types. Select the order you wish to give.

Many orders require additional information. For instance, if you order an army to move, you need to tell it where to move to. Whenever an order requires additional information, instructions are listed below the lower left corner of the map. So when you order your army to move, the lower corner will say "Please click destination zone!" Follow these instructions by clicking on the desired territory with your mouse.

Some orders are complicated. For instance, when you order a support, you need to specify both which unit to support and what territory to support it in (and possibly which coast of that territory!) In such cases, a series of prompts will be presented until all the information needed has been entered. It is important to keep following the instructions until your order is complete. Once you are done, your order will be displayed in the lower corner and also listed in the Orders tab.

The Orders tab:

The Orders tab is located in the gray bar above the deadline timer. Clicking it shows you a list of the orders you have entered, most recent first. It is a very good idea to double check all your orders here to make sure you haven’t made any mistakes. You can leave the Orders tab open while you enter orders. As soon as an order is complete, it will appear in the tab.

Changing and cancelling orders:

If you’ve entered an order and later change your mind, you can simply enter a new order for that unit. Only the most recent order is used. If you want to cancel an order without entering a new one, you can do so using the Orders tab: click the ‘X’ next to the order you wish to cancel.

You cannot change or cancel an order while you are still entering information for it. For instance, if you mean to have Moscow move to Warsaw, but accidentally click “Support” instead of “Move,” then the system will ask what territory you want to support Warsaw in. You’ll have to complete the order by entering that information before you can fix your error. If you've gotten confused and can't figure out how to complete an order, you can refresh the web page to start over.

Illegal orders:

The system allows you to enter illegal orders, such as Moscow MOVE Paris. When the orders are processed, all illegal orders are treated as orders to hold. It is up to you to make sure your orders are legal, though you might sometimes use illegal orders as a means of communication in gunboat games.

Finalizing Orders:

If you are satisfied with all your orders and don’t expect to make any further changes, you can finalize your orders by clicking “finalize orders” in the Orders tab. If all players finalize, the turn will end immediately instead of waiting for the deadline to expire.

You don’t need to finalize. If the deadline expires before all players have finalized, then the most recent orders from each player will be executed, regardless of finalization. Finalizing is simply an option to let the game move faster if you want.

If you do finalize, you can still change or cancel your orders any time prior to the turn ending. If you change an order, you will no longer be finalized, but if you cancel an order, you still will be. If you've finalized by mistake, you can reenter any existing order to cancel the finalize.

If you don't have any orders to make for a turn, such as in a retreat phase when you have no units to retreat, then you don't need to finalize. The turn will process as soon as all players with orders to enter have finalized.

Finalizing and Surrendered Countries

During the turn in which a country surrenders, finalization for it works as usual: if the player finalized before surrendering then the game will progress when everyone else finalizes, otherwise the game will wait until the deadline expires.

On subsequent turns, the game will progress as soon as all active players finalize, without waiting for surrendered countries. However, in the particular case of a retreat or build phase in which only the surrendered power has actions to take, the game will wait until the deadline rather than progressing immediately. This is to ensure that there is an opportunity for a new player to take up the surrendered power. In this case, any active player can trigger the game to progress by manually finalizing (even though he has no orders).

[Parmesan]

Thought this might be helpful since the question comes up a bit. Taken from viewtopic.php?f=2&t=29860&start=10

During the turn in which a country surrenders, the turn will not process if the surrendered country is not finalized. The deadline will run to its full length, but of course a new player could take up the surrendered country and then finalize as usual.

After that, the process is as follows. Whenever a player with active players finalizes, the game checks to see if he or she was the LAST active player to finalize. During this check, surrendered countries (that were surrendered in a previous turn and are still surrendered) will NOT be counted. So once all active players finalize, the game will proceed immediately regardless of the surrendered countries. But there is a special case. In a retreat or build phase, it is possible that the ONLY country (or countries) with actions is a surrendered country. In this scenario, the turn does not finish immediately (as might be implied from the previous sentence) but instead starts normally, once again to offer a potential joiner the opportunity to join the game as the surrendered country and enter a proper retreat or build phase order. However, as soon as ONE other player clicks finalize (even though they have no orders) then the turn will now process. This is to avoid players having to wait for the entire phase deadline every time.

I hope this helps. I know it is tricky, just ask if you are still unclear. In case it helps, here is some pseudo-logic for you.

WHEN FINALIZE IS CLICKED BY A PLAYER:
- If a country surrendered THIS PHASE and has not been replaced yet, continue to wait for the phase deadline
- Else
- If all active countries THAT HAVE ACTIONS are finalized, process turn immediately
- Otherwise continue to wait until the phase deadline

ON PHASE COMPLETION:
- Next phase ALWAYS happens, even if only surrendered countries have actions
- (but see above when finalize is clicked by a player)

[jaelis]

That is pretty interesting.

[Belisarius]

I had a quick look but gave up quickly due to luck of time. Can someone remind me the auto-destroy sequence. I remember its fleets first, but is the on furthest from home irrespective of whether it occupies a SC and in case of a tie it goes alphabetically?

[cspieker]

Here's the algorithm

1. Furthest from the closest home supply center.
2. Fleets before armies
3. By alphabetical order

The first sort, 1, can actually be sort of complicated because it takes into account how many spaces the unit would need to legally move to get there. Like, a Russian fleet in Prussia would be two spaces away from a home SC (Liv-StP) because it can't get to Warsaw. Armies can be considered able to get across sea spaces though via convoy, but each sea space of the convoy counts as one space away. So, I think, a Russian army in Kiel would be three spaces away from a home SC (StP) via convoy through Baltic and Gulf of Bothnia, then to StP.

[Belisarius]

Thanks!