1 Freeciv Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
3 (from http://www.freeciv.org/wiki/FAQ)
8 1.1 OK, so I installed Freeciv. How do I play?
9 1.2 How do I play multiplayer?
10 1.3 Where is the chatline you are talking about, how do I
12 1.4 Why can't I attack another player's units?
13 1.5 How do I declare war on another player?
14 1.6 How do I do diplomatic meetings?
15 1.7 How do I trade money with other players?
16 1.8 How can I change the way a Freeciv game is ended?
17 1.9 My irrigated grassland produces only 2 food. Is this a
19 1.10 How do I play against computer players?
20 1.11 Can I build up the palace or throne room as in the
21 commercial Civilization games?
22 1.12 Can I build land over sea/transform ocean to land?
23 1.13 Can I change settings or rules to get different types of
25 1.14 How compatible is Freeciv with the commercial
27 1.15 My opponents seem to be able to play two moves at once!
28 1.16 I am far superior to my opponent but their last city is on
29 a 1x1 island so I cannot conquer it, and they won't give up.
31 1.17 Why are the AI players so hard on 'novice' or 'easy'?
32 1.18 Why are the AI players so easy on 'hard'?
33 1.19 What distinguishes AI players from humans? What do the
35 1.20 How do I play on a hexagonal grid?
36 1.21 How do I create teams of AI or human players?
37 1.22 I want more action.
38 1.23 I can't see trade routes in the city dialog (GTK+)
40 2.1 Does Freeciv violate any rights of the makers of
42 2.2 How do I wake up in the morning?
43 2.3 Where can I ask questions or send improvements?
45 3.1 I've found a bug, what should I do ?
46 3.2 I've started a server but the client cannot find it!
47 3.3 I can play on my own server, but the metaserver doesn't
49 3.4 How do I change the metaserver info string?
50 3.5 Am I using the latest version? Do I need to upgrade?
51 3.6 "cannot open display :0"
52 3.7 HOME directory not set?
53 3.8 How do I start the next game?
54 3.9 How do I restart a saved game?
55 3.10 The server cannot save games!
56 3.11 Where are the save games located by default?
57 3.12 Why are some of the menus in the Freeciv client disabled?
58 3.13 How do I find out about the available units,
59 improvements, terrain types, and technologies?
60 3.14 My diagonal arrow keys do not work on Solaris.
61 3.15 The client complains it can't read the
62 .freeciv-client-rc-x.x file.
63 3.16 My Freeciv client dumps core when I start it!
64 3.17 Freeciv fails to compile due to the Xaw libraries.
65 3.18 How do I compile Freeciv under Solaris?
66 3.19 I hate isometric view! How do I play with Civilization I
68 3.20 What other GUI options do I have for the Freeciv client?
69 3.21 How do I enable/disable sound support?
70 3.22 Where can I find more information on the *.ruleset files?
71 3.23 How can I add additional civilizations in the nation/
72 subdirectory, or add cities to the list for an existing
74 3.24 How do I change the font?
75 3.25 I am having problems with accented characters. What
77 3.26 How can I change the language of my client/server?
78 3.27 How do I get the latest development code?
79 3.28 How do I disable full screen mode?
80 3.29 What are the system requirements ?
83 3.29.3 Graphic display
86 4.1 How do I use Freeciv under MS Windows?
87 4.2 Retrieving the Native Windows Freeciv
88 4.3 OK, I've downloaded and installed it, how do I run it?
89 4.4 I've started the Freeciv client, but don't know what to do
91 4.5 How do I use a different tileset?
92 4.6 How do I use a different ruleset?
93 4.7 I opened a ruleset file in Notepad and it is very hard to
96 5.1 How do I install the latest version of Freeciv or compile
98 5.2 Where is the data directory?
99 5.3 How do I install X11?
100 5.4 How do I troubleshoot Freeciv crashes?
101 5.5 Freeciv crashes because it doesn't find libXinerama
103 5.6 How do I install new tilesets?
104 5.7 How do I scroll the map?
105 5.8 Freeciv won't start on my machine
113 1.1 OK, so I installed Freeciv. How do I play?
115 Freeciv is a client/server system. But in most cases you don't have to
116 worry about this; the server is run automatically for you when you
117 start a new game. So unless you're using one of the older Freeciv
118 client programs all you have to do is run the client. Do this by
119 double-clicking on the freeciv-gtk2 executable program or by typing
120 freeciv-gtk2 in a terminal (in the case of the gtk2 client).
122 Once the client starts, select start new game. Now edit your game
123 settings (the defaults should be fine for a beginner-level
124 single-player game) and press the start button.
126 Once the game is started you can find information in its Help menu. If
127 you've never played a Civilization-style game before you may want to
128 look at the help on Strategy and Tactics.
130 You can continue to change the game settings through the Remote Server
131 menu item in the Options submenu of the Game menu. Type /help in the
132 chatline (or server command line) to get more information about server
135 Detailed explanations of how to play Freeciv are also in the
136 ./doc/README file distributed with the source code, and in the online
137 manual available on this site. The manual covers both the client and
138 the server and is available in several different versions for various
139 major Freeciv releases.
143 1.2 How do I play multiplayer?
145 You can either join a network game run by someone else, or host your
148 To join a network game, choose Connect to Network Game and then
149 Internet Metaserver. A list of active servers should come up;
150 double-click one to join it.
152 You can also choose to directly connect to a specific server (including
153 ones not on the metaserver list), provided you know the IP address and
154 port of the server you're connecting to. This server will then show up
155 under Local Area Network.
157 To host your own game, we recommend starting a separate server by hand.
158 (As of 2.4.0, it's no longer possible to host a network game from the
159 client; in any case, we didn't recommend it, as if the client crashed
160 or quit, the server and hence the game would be lost.)
162 To start the server, enter freeciv-server in a terminal or by
163 double-clicking on the executable. This will start up a text-based
166 If all players are on the same LAN, they should launch their clients,
167 choose Connect to Network Game and then Local Area Network. You should
168 see the existing server listed; double-click on it to join.
170 To play over the Internet, players will need to enter the hostname and
171 port into their clients, so the host will need to tell the other
172 players those details. You may also start up the server with the -m
173 command-line option to make it report to the Metaserver and allow other
174 players to connect to it through the Internet Metaserver tab.
176 Note that hosting an Internet server from a home Internet connection is
177 often problematic, due to firewalling and NAT that can make the server
178 unreachable from the wider Internet. The metaserver does not currently
179 check that a server is reachable before publishing it, so unfortunately
180 it is entirely possible to publish the existence of a game that no-one
181 will be able to connect to. Safely bypassing NAT and firewalls is
182 beyond the scope of this FAQ.
186 1.3 Where is the chatline you are talking about, how do I chat?
188 The chatline is located at the bottom of the window. Sometimes you have
189 to activate a Chat tab to see it.
191 In SDL Freeciv you have to press Tab to access the chatline.
193 The chatline can be used for normal chatting, or for issuing server
194 commands by typing a forward-slash '/' followed by the server command.
198 1.4 Why can't I attack another player's units?
200 You have to declare war first. See section for How do I declare war on
201 another player below.
203 (As a note, you start out at war with all players, but you are always
204 offered a cease-fire treaty upon first contact which if accepted has to
205 be broken before you can attack the player's units or cities.)
209 1.5 How do I declare war on another player?
211 Go to the Nations report, select the player, then choose Cancel Treaty
212 from the bottom-located Diplomacy menu. This drops you from "cease
213 fire", "armistice", or "peace" into "war". If you've already signed a
214 permanent "alliance" treaty with the player, you will have to cancel
215 treaties several times to get to "war".
217 See the in-game help on Diplomacy for more detail.
221 1.6 How do I do diplomatic meetings?
223 Go to the Nations report, select a player, then choose Meet from the
224 bottom-located Diplomacy menu. But remember that you have to either
225 have contact with the player or an embassy established in one of their
230 1.7 How do I trade money with other players?
232 If you want to make a monetary exchange, first initiate a diplomatic
233 meeting as described in the section about How do I do diplomatic
234 meetings above. In the diplomacy dialog, enter the amount you wish to
235 give in the gold input field on your side or the amount you wish to
236 receive in the gold input field on their side. With the focus in either
237 input field, press Enter to insert the clause into the treaty.
241 1.8 How can I change the way a Freeciv game is ended?
243 A standard Freeciv game ends when only one player/team is left alive,
244 when a player's spaceship arrives at Alpha Centauri, or when you reach
245 the ending turn - whichever comes first.
247 You can change the default ending turn by changing the endturn setting.
248 You can do this through Remote Server (see article on Server options)
249 under the Options menu item in the Game menu or by typing into the
250 chatline something like:
253 You can end a running game immediately with:
256 For more information, try:
259 If you want to avoid the game ending by space race, you can change the
260 spacerace setting - again either through the Server Options dialog or
261 through the chatline by:
264 From 2.4, you can allow space races without them ending the game by
265 instead changing the endspaceship setting.
267 A single player who defeats all enemies will always win the game --
268 this conquest victory condition cannot be changed. An alliance of
269 players may also win the game; this is controlled by the alliedvictory
274 1.9 My irrigated grassland produces only 2 food. Is this a bug?
276 No, it isn't. It's a feature. Your government is probably despotism,
277 which has a -1 output whenever a tile produces more than 2 units of
278 food/production/trade. You should change your government (see
279 Government) to get rid of this penalty.
283 1.10 How do I play against computer players?
285 See also the How do I create teams of AI or human players? section
288 In most cases when you start a single-player game you can change the
289 number of players, and their difficulty, directly through the
290 spinbutton. Note the number of players here includes human players (an
291 aifill of 5 adds AI players until the total number of players becomes
294 If you are playing on a remote server, you'll have to do this manually.
295 Change the aifill server option through the Remote Server options
296 dialog, or do it on the chatline with something like:
299 Difficulty levels are set with the /hard, /normal, /easy, and /novice
302 You may also create AI players individually. For instance, to create
303 one hard and one easy AI player, enter:
310 More details are in the ./doc/README file supplied with Freeciv and the
311 online manual on this site.
315 1.11 Can I build up the palace or throne room as in the commercial Civilization
318 No. This feature is not present in Freeciv, and will not be until
319 someone draws the graphics for it.
323 1.12 Can I build land over sea/transform ocean to land?
325 Yes. You can do that by placing engineer units on a transport and going
326 to the ocean tile you want to build land on (this must be in a land
327 corner). Click the transport to display a list of the transported
328 engineers and activate them. Then give them the order of transforming
329 this tile to swamp. This will take a very long time though, so you'd
330 better try with 6 engineers at a time. There must be 3 adjacent land
331 tiles to the ocean tile you are transforming.
335 1.13 Can I change settings or rules to get different types of games?
339 Before the game is started, you may change settings through the server
340 options dialog (available in the pregame screen). You may also change
341 these settings or use server commands through the chatline. If you use
342 the chatline, use the
345 command to display the most commonly-changed settings (see article on
349 to get help on a particular setting, or
350 /set <setting> <value>
352 to change a setting to a particular value (see article on server
353 options). After the game begins you may still change some settings (but
356 World maps can be created using the built-in map editor. It is also
357 possible to edit running games: Just enable Editing Mode from the Edit
358 menu. (You may also unzip and edit any savegame with a text editor, if
359 you're ambitious, although the format is not documented and is subject
362 You can create rulesets or "modpacks" - alternative sets of units,
363 buildings, and technologies. Several different rulesets come with the
364 Freeciv distribution, including a civ1 (Civilization 1 compatibility
365 mode), and civ2 (Civilization 2 compatibility mode). Use the rulesetdir
366 command (see rulesetdir) to change the ruleset (as in /rulesetdir
367 civ2). Note the ruleset mechanism is still being refined from version
368 to version. In the GTK client you are able to choose the ruleset from a
369 dropdown on the pregame screen.
371 Finally, upgrade! Freeciv continues to improve from version to version:
372 a rule may change when the mailing list agrees it is 'wrong'. See, for
377 1.14 How compatible is Freeciv with the commercial Civilization games?
379 Freeciv was created as a multiplayer version of Civilization™ with
380 players moving simultaneously. Rules and elements of Civilization II,
381 and features required for single-player use, such as AI players, were
382 added later. It is still a stated goal to let Freeciv's game engine be
383 100% compatible with Civilization™ I and II, but only as an option.
385 This is why Freeciv comes with three game configurations (rulesets):
386 the civ1 and civ2 rulesets implement game rules, elements and features
387 that bring it as close as possible to Civilization I and Civilization
388 II respectively, while the default ruleset tries to reflect the most
389 popular settings among Freeciv players. Unimplemented Civilization I
390 and II features are mainly those that would have little or no benefit
391 in multiplayer mode, and nobody is working on closing this gap.
393 Little or no work is being done on implementing features from other
394 similar games, such as SMAC, CTP or Civilization III.
396 So the goal of compatibility is mainly used as a limiting factor in
397 development: when a new feature is added to Freeciv that makes gameplay
398 different, it is generally implemented in such a way that the
399 "traditional" behaviour remains available as an option.
405 1.15 My opponents seem to be able to play two moves at once!
407 Freeciv's multiplayer facilities are asynchronous: during a turn, moves
408 from connected clients are processed in the order they are received.
409 Server managed movement is executed in between turns. This allows human
410 players to surprise their opponents by clever use of goto or quick
413 Server settings to mitigate this problem include:
414 * phasemode, which has an alternating movement mode, in which only
415 one player can move their units at a time.
416 * timeaddenemymove (which extends the turn timeout when an enemy's
417 unit is seen moving).
418 * (since 2.3.x) unitwaittime (which imposes a minimum time between
419 moves of a single unit on successive turns).
423 1.16 I am far superior to my opponent but their last city is on a 1x1 island so
424 I cannot conquer it, and they won't give up. What can I do?
426 Research 'amphibious warfare', build a marine, and get them.
427 Alternatively research 'combined arms' and either move a helicopter or
428 airdrop a paratroopers unit there.
430 If you can't build marines yet, but you do have engineers, and other
431 land is close-by, you can also build a land-bridge to the island (i.e.
432 transform the ocean).
436 1.17 Why are the AI players so hard on 'novice' or 'easy'?
438 You are not expanding fast enough. Read the How to Play article for
439 some general tips how to get a head start in the game.
441 You can also turn off Fog of War. That way, you will see the attacks of
442 the AI. Just type '/set fogofwar 0' on the chat line before the game
447 1.18 Why are the AI players so easy on 'hard'?
449 Several reasons. For example, the AI is heavily playtested under and
450 customized to the default ruleset and server settings. Although there
451 are several provisions in the code to adapt to changing rules, playing
452 under different conditions is quite a handicap for it. Though mostly
453 the AI simply doesn't have a good, all encompassing strategy besides
454 "eliminate nation x". For further details, see the article on AI.
456 To make the game harder, you could try putting some or all of the AI
457 into a team. This will ensure that they will waste no time and
458 resources negotiating with each other and spend them trying to
459 eliminate you. They will also help each other by trading techs. You can
460 use the team command to set teams before the game starts. For AI teams
461 you have to create the AI players first using the create command. For
468 You can also form more than one AI team by using any of the different
469 predefined team names, or put some AI players teamed with you.
473 1.19 What distinguishes AI players from humans? What do the skill levels mean?
475 AI players in Freeciv operate in the server, partly before all clients
476 move, partly afterwards. Unlike the clients, they can observe the full
477 state of the game, including everything about other players.
478 Additionally, Hard AI players can see every game unit even through fog
481 AI players can change production without penalty and switch governments
482 without going through anarchy. Additionally, Hard AI players can set
483 their research, tax or luxury to 100% regardless of their governments.
485 Other than this, the AI players are not known to cheat, except when on
486 Cheating skill level.
488 Further, the Novice and Easy AI are less eager to build cities, and at
489 Novice, Easy and Normal, the AI 'forgets' where huts are and cannot
490 plan attacks against enemy units they shouldn't be aware of.
494 1.20 How do I play on a hexagonal grid?
496 It is possible to play with hexagonal instead of rectangular tiles. To
497 do this you need to set your topology before the game starts
498 /set topology hex|iso|wrapx
500 and switch to a isometric hexagonal tileset (Game > Options >Local
501 options and choose a different tileset from the drop-down; isophex is
502 included with the game). Note if you do it wrong, you may end up
503 playing with a rectangular tileset on a "true" hexagonal grid or to
504 play with a hexagonal tileset on a rectangular grid - the game doesn't
505 stop you trying this, but it's probably not what you want.
507 You may also play with overhead hexagonal, in which case you want to
508 set the topology setting to 'hex|wrapx' and use the hex2t tileset.
510 If you start a new game in the client, the grid (topology) will
511 automatically be set to match your tileset. However since you can't
512 change the tileset in pre-game this may not be helpful. You can try
513 running the client as
514 freeciv-gtk2 -t isophex
517 freeciv-gtk2 -t hex2t
519 to set the tileset immediately on startup. (This assumes that you are
520 using the gtk2 client.)
524 1.21 How do I create teams of AI or human players?
526 See also the How do I play against computer players? section.
528 The GTK client has a GUI for setting up teams - just right click on any
529 player and assign it to any team. You may also use the command-line
530 interface (through the chatline.)
532 First of all try the /list command. This will show you all players
533 created, including human players and created AI players. To assign AI
534 players to teams you have to create them first, as in /create ai1 to
535 create an AI player named "ai1".
537 Now, you're ready to assign players to teams. To do this you use the
538 team command. For example, to create two AI players and put them on the
545 You may also assign teams for human players, of course. If in doubt use
546 the /list command again; it will show you the name of the team each
547 player is on. Make sure you double-check the teams before starting the
548 game; you can't change teams after the game has started.
552 1.22 I want more action.
554 In Freeciv, expansion is everything, even more so than in the
555 single-player commercial Civilization games. Some players find it very
556 tedious to build on an empire for hours and hours without even meeting
559 There are various techniques to speed up the game. The best idea is to
560 reduce the time and space allowed for expansion as much as possible.
561 One idea for multiplayer mode is to add AI players: they reduce the
562 space per player further, and you can toy around with them early on
563 without other humans being aware of it. This only works after you can
564 beat the AI, of course.
566 Another idea is to create starting situations in which the players are
567 already fully developed. There is no automated support for this yet,
568 but you can create populated maps with the built-in editor.
572 1.23 I can't see trade routes in the city dialog (GTK+)
574 In the GTK client, you can see the effect of trade routes by left
575 clicking and holding on the trade value in the Info panel of the city
584 2.1 Does Freeciv violate any rights of the makers of Civilization I or II?
586 There have been debates on this in the past and the honest answer seems
587 to be: We don't know.
589 Freeciv doesn't contain any actual material from the commercial
590 Civilization games. (The Freeciv maintainers have always been very
591 strict in ensuring that materials contributed to the Freeciv
592 distribution or website do not violate anyone's copyright.) The name of
593 Freeciv is probably not a trademark infringement. The user interface is
594 similar, but with many (deliberate) differences. The game itself can be
595 configured to be practically identical to Civilization I or II, so if
596 the rules of a game are patentable, and those of the said games are
597 patented, then Freeciv may infringe on that patent, but we don't
598 believe this to be the case.
600 Incidentally, there are good reasons to assume that Freeciv doesn't
601 harm the sales of any of the commercial Civilization games in any way.
605 2.2 How do I wake up in the morning?
607 We're open to suggestions on this one.
609 You can try to give Freeciv to your boss. There is no guarantee, but he
610 may wake up later than you. Remind yourself that if you run into him at
611 Civilization Anonymous, it's time to change jobs.
615 2.3 Where can I ask questions or send improvements?
617 Please ask questions about the game, its installation, or the rest of
618 this site at the Freeciv Forums.
620 Patches and bug reports are best reported to the Freeciv bug tracking
621 system at https://www.hostedredmine.com/projects/freeciv.
629 3.1 I've found a bug, what should I do ?
631 See the article on Bug Reporting.
635 3.2 I've started a server but the client cannot find it!
637 By default, your server will be available on host localhost (your own
638 machine), port 5556; these are the default values your client uses when
639 asking which game you want to connect to.
641 So if you don't get a connection with these values, your server isn't
642 running, or you used -p to start it on a different port, or your
643 system's network configuration is broken.
645 To start your local server, run freeciv-server. Then type start at the
646 server prompt to begin!
647 mike@localhost:/usr/local/bin$ ./freeciv-server
648 This is the server for Freeciv version 2.5.0
649 You can learn a lot about Freeciv at http://www.freeciv.org/
651 2: AI*1 has been added as Easy level AI-controlled player (classic).
652 2: AI*2 has been added as Easy level AI-controlled player (classic).
653 2: AI*3 has been added as Easy level AI-controlled player (classic).
654 2: AI*4 has been added as Easy level AI-controlled player (classic).
655 2: AI*5 has been added as Easy level AI-controlled player (classic).
656 2: Now accepting new client connections.
658 For introductory help, type 'help'.
663 If the server is not running, you will NOT be able to connect to your
666 If you can't connect to any of the other games listed, e.g. those on
667 metaserver, a firewall in your organisation/ISP is probably blocking
670 If you are running a personal firewall, make sure that you allow
671 communication for freeciv-server and the Freeciv client to the trusted
672 zone. If you want to allow others to play on your server, allow
673 freeciv-server to act as a server on the Internet zone.
677 3.3 I can play on my own server, but the metaserver doesn't seem to work.
679 If your Metaserver tab turns up an empty list, there might something
680 wrong with your setup.
682 First, check your Freeciv version. Freeciv 1.9.0 up to and including
683 1.14.2 use the old metaserver, 2.0 and higher use the new metaserver;
684 if you're mixing versions, you may be getting the wrong list.
686 If you can view the metaserver page with your web browser, and servers
687 are listed, but the client's Metaserver tab still fails to list them,
688 you may be behind a non-transparent proxy. See article on proxy
689 settings for a detailed explanation.
693 3.4 How do I change the metaserver info string?
695 Use the /metamessage command. See /help metamessage.
699 3.5 Am I using the latest version? Do I need to upgrade?
701 The current stable Freeciv version is 2.4.2. For an overview of changes
702 that went into this release, see the NEWS-2.4.2 article.
704 The NEWS-#.#.# article is only updated for a new release; updates to
705 Subversion are listed in the freeciv-commits archives (see Mailing
706 Lists) and the actual code changes can be reviewed using our online
709 If you decide to upgrade, see the Download page for source code or
710 contributed binaries.
712 It's unlikely that all precompiled binaries and ports have been updated
713 to 2.4.2 yet. If you can contribute, please do! Prepare a package and
714 announce it to freeciv-dev@freelists.org.
716 Clients and servers of different major versions are generally
717 incompatible due to changes in the client/server protocol. You will see
718 incompatibilities as a 'mismatched capabilities' error. Different minor
719 versions should be compatible, however. For example, 2.0.0 and 2.0.8
720 are compatible; 2.0.0 and 2.4.2 are not.
724 3.6 "cannot open display :0"
726 The Freeciv client is unable to open a window on your local X display.
727 Are you running an X server at all? Maybe you need to install and run
728 one, or switch to a Freeciv client that doesn't need X; see the
731 Under Mac OS X, try starting the Freeciv client from the xterm session
736 3.7 HOME directory not set?
738 The Freeciv client wants to write a configuration file named
739 .freeciv-client-rc-2.2 (for Freeciv 2.2.x) in your $HOME directory. On
740 Windows XP $HOME is usually "C:\Documents and
741 Settings\username\Application Data" On Windows 7 it can be found under
742 "C:\Users\username\AppData\Roaming".The $HOME directory can be set from
743 the DOS prompt or a .bat file, for example:
746 To set the environment variable permanently, right-click This Computer,
747 select Properties and find the proper dialog.
749 You can still play if this error message appears, but your client
750 options won't be saved.
754 3.8 How do I start the next game?
756 A running Freeciv server can only run a single game. Once the game has
757 been started with the /start command, restarting is impossible.
759 To start a new game, /quit the server and start a new one, then
760 reconnect the client to it.
764 3.9 How do I restart a saved game?
766 If for some reason you can't use the start-screen interface for loading
767 a game, you can load one directly through the server command line (see
768 Command-line options). You can start freeciv-server with the -f option,
770 freeciv-server -f freeciv-T0175-Y01250-auto.sav.bz2
772 Or you can use the /load command inside the server before starting the
777 3.10 The server cannot save games!
779 In a local game started from the client, the games will be saved into
780 the default Freeciv save directory (typically ~/.freeciv/saves/). If
781 you are running the server from the command line, however, any
782 savegames will be stored in the current directory. If the saveturns
783 server variable is set, the server will periodically save the game
784 automatically (which can take a lot of disk space in some cases). In
785 any case, you should check the ownership, permissions, and disk
786 space/quota for the directory or partition you're trying to save to.
790 3.11 Where are the save games located by default?
792 On Unix like system, it will be in ~/.freeciv/saves On Windows XP, it
793 will be in $HOME\.freeciv\saves where $HOME is usually "C:\Documents
794 and Settings\username\Application Data" On Windows 7 it can be found
795 under "C:\Users\username\AppData\Roaming"
797 You could change this by setting the HOME environment variable, or
798 using the --saves command line argument to the server (you would have
799 to run it separately).
803 3.12 Why are some of the menus in the Freeciv client disabled?
805 Menus that cannot be used will be disabled. This means some menus are
806 disabled during pregame, or unless you select a unit, or if the game
809 It's also possible that you're not connected to a game server at all.
810 If you start the client it should allow you to create a new game
811 automatically (by pressing the Start New Game button). You may also try
812 running the server from the command line (as freeciv-server) then
813 connecting to it manually with the client (connect to localhost). Use
814 the /start command to begin the game once you have connected. The
815 server will now load some configuration files that some of the menus
820 3.13 How do I find out about the available units, improvements, terrain types, and
823 There is extensive help on this in the Help menu, but only once the
824 game has been started - this is because all of these things are
825 configurable up to that point; see also section on Why are some of the
826 menus in the Freeciv client disabled? above. (Some work needs to be
827 done to make this more intuitive.)
829 The game comes shipped with an interactive tutorial scenario. To run
830 it, select Start Scenario Game from the main menu, then load the
833 Outside the Freeciv client, we have some online tutorials in the Docs
834 section of the wiki. A graph of the (default) technology tree is
835 available on the wiki.
839 3.14 My diagonal arrow keys do not work on Solaris.
841 Why exactly, I don't know, but you have to xmodmap a few keys around.
843 xmodmap -e 'keycode 27 = Up' \
844 -e 'keycode 31 = Left' \
845 -e 'keycode 34 = Down' \
846 -e 'keycode 35 = Right' \
847 -e 'keycode 76 = Up' \
848 -e 'keycode 98 = Left' \
849 -e 'keycode 120 = Down' \
850 -e 'keycode 100 = Right'
854 3.15 The client complains it can't read the .freeciv-client-rc-x.x file.
856 This is harmless: the file will be created to store your client
857 options, as soon as you save them; but it isn't supplied initially.
861 3.16 My Freeciv client dumps core when I start it!
863 Read on if you are using the Xaw client under certain Linux
864 distributions or IRIX.
866 In all likelihood, the problem is an enhanced version of the Xaw
867 library, (Xaw3d, Xaw95,or neXtaw). A Freeciv binary compiled against
868 the 'plain' Xaw library will segfault upon startup when used with
872 * Freeciv can be recompiled to use Xaw3d, if you have it: use
874 configure --with-xaw3d
875 * Make sure the libXaw.so Freeciv is seeing is an unenhanced version
876 (by installing the appropriate package, pointing to the right
877 version using environment variables, or whatever; details depend on
879 * If for some reason you can't, but there is a 'plain' libXaw.a
880 somewhere: hunt through the Makefiles and change lines which
881 contain -lXaw to /usr/X11/lib/libXaw.a, or wherever libXaw.a is
882 stored on your machine, then recompile (this was suggested by <dva
884 * Install GTK+ (if not installed already), compile and use the GTK+
885 client instead of the Xaw one.
887 This problem used to be documented in the SuSE Linux support database.
889 If your SEGV at startup is due to a different problem, please report it
890 to the developers' bug reporting system.
894 3.17 Freeciv fails to compile due to the Xaw libraries.
896 As reported with Debian 2.1:
897 > make[2]: Entering directory `/usr/src/freeciv/client'
898 > Making all in gui-xaw
899 > make[3]: Entering directory `/usr/src/freeciv/client/gui-xaw'
900 > gcc -DHAVE_CONFIG_H -I. -I. -I../.. -I. -I./.. -I./../include
901 > -I../../common -I../../intl -I/usr/X11R6/include -g -O2 -Wall -c
903 > In file included from pixcomm.c:54:
904 > pixcommp.h:54: X11/Xaw3d/CommandP.h: No such file or directory
905 > make[3]: *** [pixcomm.o] Error 1
908 This is, again, an Xaw/Xaw3d confusion problem. In this particular
909 case, the Debian xaw3dg package is not installed on the system.
911 To select plain Xaw or Xaw3d explicitly, use:
912 ./configure --with-xaw [...]
913 ./configure --with-xaw3d [...]
917 3.18 How do I compile Freeciv under Solaris?
919 Solaris (2.5 and up) has its own version of X in /usr/openwin, its own
920 version of make in /usr/ccs/bin/make, and its own compiler (to be
921 purchased separately) which, if you have it, is available in
922 /opt/SUNWspro/bin. Solaris does not provide the XPM library, which is
923 required for the Xaw client; it doesn't provide any of the stuff
924 required for imlib, gdk and gtk, either, which is required to build the
925 GTK+ client. (This stuff can be compiled however, and is now more
926 readily installable with the Ximian GNOME distribution.)
928 To confuse matters further, many local systems administrators add MIT X
929 (usually, in /usr/X11), GNU make, and the gcc compiler. If you're
933 procedure will get confused about these different versions of tools.
935 However, with some patience, everything can be compiled without
936 problems. Details are provided in the Freeciv INSTALL document.
940 3.19 I hate isometric view! How do I play with Civilization I style graphics?
943 freeciv-gtk2 --tiles trident
947 There is also a client option in the Local Client sub-menu under
948 Options (gtk client) or Local Settings (xaw client) menu.
952 3.20 What other GUI options do I have for the Freeciv client?
954 The look and feel of your GUI is mainly determined by the Freeciv
957 The recommended client is the Gtk client. This has the most features.
959 The Qt client is a newer client using the Qt toolkit. It has a more
960 immersive main map screen, but still lacks some features.
962 The SDL client provides a more immersive experience, but lags behind
963 somewhat in features.
965 The original client was based on the Athena widget set (Xaw), which is
966 fast and and the time more widely available, but it is no longer as
967 well-maintained as the Gtk client and lacks some features. Many users
968 find it old-fashioned, but it does still have a speed advantage. The
969 client can also be compiled to use Xaw3d.
971 All of these clients should compile and run on any Unix variant we are
972 aware of, not just the ones for which our download section provides
973 native installation support.
975 For Windows, the Gtk and SDL clients are recommended.
977 Some details of the GUI can be configured from the running client.
979 A larger impact is made by the tileset used to display terrain, cities,
980 units, etcetera. A tileset can be specified when the client is started
983 Other tilesets in both categories are separately available from our
986 We do not distribute commercial Civilization™ game tiles for obvious
991 3.21 How do I enable/disable sound support?
993 The client can be started without sound by supplying the commandline
996 Further instructions are in ./doc/README.sound in the source tarball.
998 Please note that the stdsounds are extracted to data/stdsounds with
999 soundspec file data/stdsounds.soundspec. For a system-wide installation
1000 you can extract that into /usr/local/share/freeciv, such that a
1001 directory /usr/local/share/freeciv/data/stdsounds will exist.
1003 You can then start the (gtk2) client as follows:
1004 freeciv-gtk2 -P <plugin> -S stdsounds
1006 If that does not work, try:
1007 freeciv-gtk2 -d 3 -P <plugin> -S stdsounds
1009 This will help you get some debug information (e.g. why the sound does
1014 3.22 Where can I find more information on the *.ruleset files?
1016 There is some documentation in the ./doc/ directory, such as
1017 ./doc/README.effects. The default ruleset also has a minimal
1018 explanation of what all the fields mean, so default/buildings.ruleset
1019 would for instance list the meaning of the fields in the
1020 buildings.ruleset. Also of interest might be the rulesets page on
1021 freeciv.org; currently it contains little in the way of documentation
1022 but you may help change this by contributing some.
1026 3.23 How can I add additional civilizations in the nation/ subdirectory, or add
1027 cities to the list for an existing nation?
1029 See the Nations article or ./doc/README.nations in the source tarball.
1033 3.24 How do I change the font?
1035 For the Gtk client, once the game has started, you can change the fonts
1036 in Game > Options > Local Client, on the Font tab.
1038 For the Xaw client, you can change the font with X resources. You can
1039 specify them on the command line with the -xrm command-line option, or
1040 put them in your .Xdefaults file or the Freeciv app-defaults file.
1042 To change the main font, try something like:
1043 freeciv-xaw -- -xrm "Freeciv*.font: 8x16"
1045 If the font isn't fixed-width, some of the dialogs won't look right,
1046 but they'll still work.
1048 Note that on Microsoft Windows systems the $HOME environment variable
1049 usually isn't set by default, so you have to set it. In that case,
1050 create a directory for Freeciv settings somewhere (an obvious place
1052 C:\Documents And Settings\(your username goes here)\Application Data
1054 ), then open a command shell and typing something like:
1055 set HOME="C:\Documents And Settings\(your username goes here)\Application Data"
1057 If $HOME is already in use by other applications, just use that
1058 directory. Now copy the settings file to it as instructed above (note
1059 the . at the start of the resulting filename) and change some font
1060 settings ((e.g. replace Sans with Utopia here and there) and you should
1061 notice the effect. (See also this forum thread.)
1065 3.25 I am having problems with accented characters. What gives?
1067 The problem is that Freeciv (the server or client) simply cannot
1068 display the characters properly in the character encoding it is set to
1069 use. This is particularly a problem in older clients like the XAW
1071 * In the server, this can be fixed by changing your locale to use
1072 UTF-8. Normally this is done by changing the $LANG environment
1073 variable (you can see your current $LANG with echo $LANG). A full
1074 explanation is beyond the scope of this document, but here are a
1075 few common examples. If your $LANG is empty, try setting it to
1076 en_US.UTF-8 (for US English). If it is ru_RU.KOI8-R, try setting it
1077 to ru_RU.UTF-8. Note that the $LANG of the server only affects
1078 terminal input and output of the server, and will not have any
1079 effect on client behavior.
1081 * In the XAW client, the problem occurs for the exact same reason as
1082 in the server. The solution is the same: change your locale to use
1083 UTF-8. If this isn't possible you may improve things by installing
1084 GNU libiconv. GNU's iconv library has better transliteration
1085 support than the iconv that comes on most unix-like systems.
1087 * The GTK+ client should not have any character problems. If you do
1088 it is probably a font issue.
1092 3.26 How can I change the language of my client/server?
1094 See Interface Language.
1098 3.27 How do I get the latest development code?
1100 Use Subversion (SVN) directly:
1101 1. Obtain and install SVN on your Unix machine. On modern
1102 distributions it is already there; look for the svn command. You
1103 can get SVN from Apache.org.
1106 $ svn co svn://svn.gna.org/svn/freeciv/trunk freeciv
1108 Once you're retrieved the source, to update it, cd into the freeciv
1109 directory and issue svn update.
1111 Another useful svn command is svn diff.
1113 This shows the changes between the version you have on disk and the
1114 current development code.
1116 This is development code; it may contain new features, bugs, and
1117 incompatibilities with older versions.
1119 See also How to Contribute to Freeciv development.
1121 If you'd like to know more about SVN, try here.
1125 3.28 How do I disable full screen mode?
1127 In the GTK client, go to View and select Full Screen. It may not take
1128 effect until the next time you start the client.
1130 In the SDL client, open the Options dialogue, select Video options,
1131 deselect the Fullscreen Mode check box and then select the resolution
1132 of your choice. The change will take effect immediately.
1136 3.29 What are the system requirements ?
1142 In a typical game the server takes about 30MB of memory and the client
1143 needs about 200MB. These values may change with larger maps or
1144 tilesets. For a single player game you need to run both the client and
1151 We recommend at least a 200MHz processor. If you find your game running
1152 too slow, these may be the reasons:
1155 Swapping memory pages on disc (virtual memory) is really slow.
1156 Look at the memory requirements above.
1159 Larger map doesn't necessary mean a more challenging or
1160 enjoyable game. You may try a smaller map.
1163 Again, having more players doesn't necessary mean a more
1164 challenging or enjoyable game.
1167 This is a really useful client side agent which helps you to
1168 organize our citizens. However, it consumes many CPU cycles.
1172 3.29.3 Graphic display
1174 The GTK client works well on 1024x800 or higher resolutions. On smaller
1175 screens you may want to enable the Arrange widgets for small displays
1176 option under Interface tab in local options.
1182 A 56Kb modem should be enough to play a typical online game. However,
1183 many players suggest that a large ping is a big disadvantage. Your ISP
1184 mustn't block ports 5556 - 5600, because these are the ports which
1185 typical servers are run on.
1193 4.1 How do I use Freeciv under MS Windows?
1195 Precompiled binaries can be downloaded from www.freeciv.org.
1197 If you want to compile the source code yourself, you will need mingw or
1202 4.2 Retrieving the Native Windows Freeciv
1204 The Native Windows packages come as self-extracting installers.
1206 Simply download and install one of the .EXE installers. There are two
1207 different packages available, one using the GTK+ 2.0 toolkit, and one
1208 using the SDL libraries. The GTK version requires Windows NT, 2000, XP
1213 4.3 OK, I've downloaded and installed it, how do I run it?
1215 If you used one of the self installer versions then there's a program
1216 group with the name chosen at installation time (for example,
1217 Freeciv 2.4.2 (GTK+2 client).) Just go to click on
1218 Start→Programs→Freeciv 2.4.2 (GTK+2 client)→Freeciv
1220 That's it! You should be up and running.
1224 4.4 I've started the Freeciv client, but don't know what to do next?
1226 The following steps should get you started:
1227 1. The Freeciv client will pop up and after a second you will be taken
1229 2. If you want to play against other humans (I think they're human
1230 anyway :-) then click on the Connect to Network Game button in the
1231 main menu. Then either type in the IP address of the server or
1232 select the Internet Metaserver tab to play on online public
1233 servers. Then select an available game and click the Connect
1234 button. (You may need to click the Update button to get the list of
1235 servers initially and to update it after a while.)
1236 3. If you want to play on your local machine against the AI (all other
1237 players are AI controlled) then click on the Start New Game button.
1238 Then select your difficulty level and the Total players (it
1239 includes yourself, so if you wanted to play against four AI
1240 players, you'd select 5).
1241 4. Click the Pick Nation button to choose your nation, leader name,
1242 sex, and city style.
1243 5. Click the Start button.
1249 4.5 How do I use a different tileset?
1251 Since 2.3, some popular tilesets are available through the "Freeciv
1252 Modpack Installer" utility. To install these, just launch the installer
1253 from the Start menu, and choose the one you want; it should then be
1254 automatically downloaded and made available for the current user.
1256 Otherwise, the first thing to do is to download the tileset you want to
1257 use (e.g., from Tilesets).
1259 Then you have to unpack the tileset into the DATA or root directory in
1260 your Freeciv directory (so if your Freeciv directory is
1261 C:\FREECIV-2.4.2, then you'd tell 7-Zip to extract to
1262 C:\FREECIV-2.4.2\DATA.) Make sure you tell your extraction program to
1263 extract into the subdirectories in the file.
1265 Once that's done you can start using the new tileset (FINALLY!)
1267 The more advanced Freeciv clients, including the gtk version, have an
1268 in-game GUI option to select tileset. Find it under local client
1271 Another way to accomplish this is to pass a command-line argument to
1272 the Freeciv client when you start it. Open a Command Prompt (from
1273 Start→Programs→Accessories→Command Prompt in my case, sometimes called
1274 an MS-DOS Window). Change to the Freeciv directory (for example, cd
1275 \FREECIV-2.4.2) and start the client with the --tiles tilesetname
1276 option. For example for the gtk2 client,
1277 FREECIV-GTK2 --tiles freeland
1279 You should be good to go then!
1283 4.6 How do I use a different ruleset?
1285 Again, this is easiest if the ruleset is available through the "Freeciv
1286 Modpack Installer" utility that's shipped with Freeciv since 2.3.
1288 Otherwise, a different ruleset can be used by downloading the ruleset
1289 and extracting it in the Freeciv root or data directory
1290 (C:\FREECIV-2.4.2\DATA, for example). This should create a subdirectory
1291 with the ruleset name (ancients, for example.)
1293 Then you need to tell the server to use it. This is done by typing
1294 /rulesetdir ''ruleset directory''
1296 in the chat line of the client before pressing the Start Game button.
1300 4.7 I opened a ruleset file in Notepad and it is very hard to read
1302 The ruleset files (and other configuration files) are stored with UNIX
1303 line endings which Notepad doesn't handle correctly. Please use an
1304 alternative editor like WordPad, notepad2, or notepad++ instead.
1312 5.1 How do I install the latest version of Freeciv or compile it myself?
1314 * See the Install-MacOSX article.
1318 5.2 Where is the data directory?
1324 5.3 How do I install X11?
1326 X11 is an application, part of OS X provided by Apple, but not
1327 installed by default.
1329 If you have 10.4 "Tiger":
1330 * Find your Tiger install disc and insert it
1331 * Open the "Optional installs.mpkg" from the CD
1332 * Select Applications > X11 in the installer
1334 * Visit this website and download the installer.
1336 If you have 10.3 "Panther":
1337 * Download the X11User.pkg installer from Apple
1338 * Open the file and install
1342 5.4 How do I troubleshoot Freeciv crashes?
1344 Freeciv writes some information to the system log if crashes. To see
1345 this, open /Applications/Utilities/Console.app immediately after a
1346 crash. Freeciv-related stuff should appear in the bottom.
1350 5.5 Freeciv crashes because it doesn't find libXinerama something?
1352 This bug could appear in 10.3 or incomplete X11 installations. To fix
1353 it requires either reinstallation of X11 (see above), or some knowledge
1357 1. Download the Xbin.tgz distro from
1358 http://ftp.xfree86.org/pub/XFree86/4.5.0/binaries/Darwin-ppc-5.x/
1359 2. Unpack it and locate libXinerama.1.0.dylib in the lib directory
1360 3. Put libXinerama.1.0.dylib in /usr/X11R6/lib
1361 4. Symlink libXinerama.1.0.dylib to libXinerama.dylib and to
1362 libXinerama.1.dylib in that directory
1366 5.6 How do I install new tilesets?
1368 First, the Linux way works fine on OS X (put tilesets in ~/.freeciv).
1370 There is also an OSX-specific solution (taken from the Freeciv Forums):
1371 1. Download your favorite tileset and unpack it.
1372 2. Right (or ctrl) click on the client executable and select Show
1373 Package Contents from the context menu.
1374 3. Go to this directory:
1375 Contents/Resources/freeciv-x.y.z/share/freeciv
1376 4. Put the *.tileset file and corresponding folder into this
1378 5. Start the client and the new tileset should show up in the Local
1381 Note: Not just tilesets, but other data like scenarios should also be
1382 installed in the same location.
1386 5.7 How do I scroll the map?
1388 To recenter the view, you can right-click either on the overview or the
1389 large map (the playfield). To simulate a right click on a single-button
1390 mouse, hold the command key (apple symbol key) while clicking. You can
1391 also try scrolling the map using two fingers on the trackpad while the
1392 view window is active.
1396 5.8 Freeciv won't start on my machine
1398 There can be many reasons for this. Here are a few tips:
1399 * You need Apple X11 installed to run the official release. Install
1400 from your system DVD/CDs (10.4 Tiger or later) or download and
1401 install from Apple's developer website (10.3 Panther).
1403 * Freeciv may not start if you are logged in as Admin. Log in as a
1404 Standard user and try again.
1406 * Official releases later than 2.0.3 are built to run on OS X Tiger
1407 or later and won't start on earlier versions of OS X.