Four IslandsWelcome to Four Islands the roleplay of civilisations. I'm sure you've heard of, or even played, other civilisation, city or planet-controlling roleplays in the past, this one is different. While this is, at it's very core, a roleplaying game, it is also a forum game of strategy and cunning. In Four Islands, you control one of four islands located in the middle of an endless ocean. The game starts off with all four islands (players) being at the bottom stage of technological or magical growth, with only a handful of people and a Shaman (your human voice on earth -- you've gotta get your plans of destruction to your people somehow, right?) the four islands must grow their populations from a meek force into one to be reckoned with, and then, must conquer the other three islands. The first to sucessfully conquer all four islands is declared the winner and the game ends.
Four Islands Manual Ver. 1.0
Index:
I. Starting The Game: What To Do First
II. The First Steps Of The Tribe: How To Start Playing
II.aThe First Steps of The Tribe: Custom Rules and Scenarios
III. Forgot To Say The Magic Word
IV. Technology Vs Magic: An Explanation of Affinities
V. From Tribe To Nation: How Your People Grow
V.a From Tribe To Nation: Allies Explained
VI. The Real Games Begin: Attacking And Conquering
VI.aThe Real Games Begin: 1 v 1 and 2 v 1
VII. I'm Too Young To Die: Defending Yourself From Conquerers
VIII. I Came, I Saw, I Conquered: Gaining and Growing More Islands
IX. I Stayed, I Saw, I Was Conquered: What Happens When You Are Conquered, And What You Can Do
X. This Is The End, Beautiful Friend: Ending The Game
XI. This Is My Island, There Are Many Like It But This One Is Mine
XII. Dusty Books: How The Four Islands Came To Be
XIII. Items, Boosters & Building Costs, A full List of Everything
XIV. Closing Words
I. Starting The Game: What To Do First
[spoiler]
So, you think you've got what it takes to command and conquer, do you? Well, you don't! Not yet, anyway. I'm going to teach you how to start the game of Four Islands and what you'll need to do to get ready. If you already know what to do to set up the game, but need to know how to play, continue to the next chapter and read from there, this first chapter is for the absolute beginners.
The first thing to remember about Four Islands is this: it's a game of taking out opponents. You're going to need to round up a few of those. As you can tell from the title, Four Islands is played by four players, each controlling an island. The game cannot start until you have four players who all understand the rules and how to play, so make sure they read chapters I. through X.
Once you've got four Islands together, you need to make a thread for the game to take place. Create the thread, and in the opening post be sure to include the Islands, the names of those controlling them & their affinity and a link back to this page. If you want a template for this kind of thing, I've provided one below:
- Code: Select all
[b]Four Islands - A Forum Game[/b][b]Islands:[/b]
- (Names & Affinity Go Here)
- (Names & Affinity Go Here)
- (Names & Affinity Go Here)
- (Names & Affinity Go Here)
[b]For Rules and Instructions for Four Islands: [url=http://rpgforumsonline.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=37900L]Click HERE[/url][/b]
That's as simple as it needs to be. After that, you've got your thread, you've got your Islands, it's time to play.
[/spoiler]
II. The First Steps Of The Tribe: How To Start Playing
[spoiler]
In Four Islands, you control an Island. You are a god overseeing the dwindling population there. Their numbers have been cut down by war, hunger and even disease. You've decided to create a human that will act as your conduit on the Island, to relay your wishes to the people there. This is your Shaman. He is the ONLY way you can communicate with your people, if your Shaman dies, you have no way to help your people. The Shaman's power is a way of allowing your own Godly powers to work on Earth, so, as you can imagine, without him you're going to be very inefficient.
There is one objective in this game: Conquer the others until you control all four islands. But, there is a second sub-objective that's just as import: don't let your people die.
This is a resource game. Your people will need food, homes, and ways of making their weapons, schools, etc, without resources, you'll perish.
There are five main resources:
People: Unlike the other resources, this number is exact! It is the total number of people living on your Island. Increasing it is easy and fast, but the more people you have, the faster you consume resources and require others. Hitting a high numbers may allow you to unlock special items and boosters.
Food: This covers everything that feeds your people, this number is a representation of your total food worth, the lower it is, the less food resources you have, and thus, the weaker/hungrier your people are.
Building: This is a representation of all of your structures. The number starts at 100, and as you construct buildings such as schools, barracks, or even statues and idols, the number rises. The higher the number, the more you have built.
Tip!: Defensive structures like walls and guard towers are worth more than any other!
Tech: This is your total Technological level. This covers everything in terms of how advanced you are. The higher the number, the stronger you are technologically. Building more weapons and researching new devices and tech will increase this number. Everytime it hits a certain point, you can unlock Technology-specific items and boosters!
Magic: This is your total Magic level. The more time spent in studying the ancient art of magic, praying to your Shaman, worship to yourself, and being one with the Shaman and you, The God, will increase the Magic level. Remember: While magic is more powerful than Technology, it is slower, and can require a lot more tact to use. Every time it his a certain number, you can unlock Magic-specific items and boosters!
On the first turn, your resource levels start at 100 and will change over the course of the game.
Let's create a scenario, you've just started the game with 3 other Islands, you all have the same resources since it is the first turn, and you've been given the chance to take your turn first. Your numbers would look like this:
People: 100 (+1)
Food: 100
Building: 100
Tech.: 100
Magic: 100
This may seem simple, but it's not. The (+1) next to your people counter represents your Shaman, but we'll talk about them later on.
Your people counter is 100. This means there are only 100 people living on your Island. If you left this as is, you would eat exactly 100 Food resources a day and require 100 Building to house them, easy enough. But having only 100 will never help you attack or defend -- you're going to need more.
IMPORTANT!!:You must show your Resource Sheet at the bottom of every post up to date. Anyone can read your posts to see what you have been buying and work out the rest, so if you cheat, edit, skimp, or accidently miscalculate your Resources, someone can point it out and ask you to edit accordingly.
You do NOT need to show your own working for figuring out how much you need to add and subtract to and from your resources, you only need to show the Resources Sheet itself.
Your Resources Sheet is the part that looks like this:
- Code: Select all
People:
Food:
Building:
Tech.:
Magic:
Continuing from Above, you need people. How do you get more? Well, you've got MORE than enough food to feed your people, and more than enough building to house them, all you need is to do is tell them to focus on breeding. Specific orders in your posts will cause your people to be more focused on those orders, if you say, as an example, "we need more people, breed!" they will go at it like rabbits.
Breeding is simple and will double your people after 5 Turns. You Instantly get 5 on your next turn the first time you breed. Remember to adjust your numbers accordingly, other players will be watching. If you need help, don't be afraid to ask someone to help you add up your resource numbers. Being terrible with numbers myself, I can see how some may need help, however I've designed the system to be simple enough that you won't need a calculator all the time.
Now, you need to build all your people homes. Remembering that you'll have 5 more in your next turn, you need to spend 5 points from your Building Resources to house them. Unlike food, you don't pay this every turn per person, instead, People will only cost you Building Resources the *first* time you get them. So, in simpler terms, if you had 100 people, and you breed, after 5 turns, you'll have 200 people. We've added 100, meaning we spend 100 in Building Resources. It's easy to forget this rule, and if all four players agree on it, this rule can be ignored during play. See Chapter II.a for more information on custom rules.
Remember!: If you don't have enough Building Resource to house new people, you lose half of them.
Okay, so you've got food, shelter, and your people are breeding. You decide that you've got what you need and post into the game thread, thus ending your turn. It won't be your turn again until everyone has posted. Think of it like a board game, the turns rotate around the board and back to you after everyone else.
It comes to your turn again, and your numbers would now look like this:
People: 105 (+1)
Food: 0
Building: 100
Tech.: 100
Magic: 100
Your 5 new people have moved into their homes, and the buildings have given you resource points just for being there (like we said above, the Building Resource is different from all the others in that once you've built something, it's self-sufficient.) You didn't use any magic or technology, so those are still the same... But what's this?!
One of your numbers has dropped?!
You forgot to build a farm! A farm costs a lot more than housing. Farms need Technology AND Building Resources to be built (See Chapter XIII.). Every building has different resource costs, which are listed in their entireity in Chapter XIII. A Farm costs 10 Building and 20 Technology to be built. Without farms you will have to rely on "Gathering" which means looking around in the wild for food, which, while doesn't cost anything, yields far less food per turn. A farm will give you 20 food per turn, you can increase this by building more farms.
If your people don't have enough food to feed them, that is, if your People number is higher than your Food, you will be penalised. When you don't have enough food for your people, you will lose people to hunger. You lose people depending on how many you have:
- If you have under 500, you lose 10 per turn,
- If you have under 11 you lose 1 per turn.
- If you have over 1,500 you lose 100 per turn.
- Above 2,000 and you lose 200 per thousand, per turn.
Let's look at your new resource meters:
People: 95 (+1)
Food: 0
Building: 90
Tech.: 80
Magic: 100
Now, at this point you'll be realising it's very important to make a list of EVERYTHING you build, and the points it adds or subtracts per turn. It is a good idea to write these things below your meter. Right now it would look like this:
People: 95 (+1)
Food: 20
Building: 90
Tech.: 80
Magic: 100
Farms: 1 (+20 Food Per Turn)
Now we're beginning to see just how much goes into a game of Four Islands. And this is only your first day! Don't worry, the game doesn't get much more complicated after this point. It's all the same adding and subtracting from then on.
By your third turn, your farm has added to your resources:
People: 85 (+1)
Food: 20
Building: 105
Tech.: 80
Magic: 100
You will need to watch your People and Food meters the most. Your food meter is subtracted by the number of people you have per turn. Meaning, at the moment, with 85 people, you lose 85 food each turn.
At this point, you'll be on your fourth turn, you'll have 85 people, a Shaman, a functioning farm and houses for all your people. You're finally on your way to conquerering those other islands. Of course, you're going to need to build a few more farms first.
And maybe a barracks. (See Chapter XIII.)
When totalling up your points, and adding and removing, you need to do it in a specific order. The method of adding and subtracting is like this:
At the start of your turn, you do what you wish, for example, building.
You remove your build costs first,
Then add your Building Rewards (for example, the food from a farm),
Then remove Per Turn Costs (For example Idol costs, the number of food lost when your people eat it, and the loss of people from hunger.)
Finally, add any people/remove Building if you are breeding - This is always done last.
This can get confusing, but if you stick to that order you'll do fine.
Tip!: Don't forget to make notes about all of your buildings and their related costs and rewards.[/spoiler]
II.a The First Steps of The Tribe: Custom Rules and Scenarios
[spoiler]More advanced players may wish to step aside from the official Four Islands rulebook to change the pace of their game. Provided all players agree to the custom ruleset, you can add any rules you like, or even disable some official rules to make it harder or easier on players.
Understand that in the event of custom rulesets, this manual's rules are still valid, excluding those altered by the custom ruleset. If problems arise from custom rules, then you will need to discuss it amongst yourselves to remedy the situation as this manual doesn't cover custom rulesets (see Author's Note.)
As well as adding in custom rules, players can create custom "Scenarios."
A Scenario is a game-wide rule for resources, or the conditions to win or lose. For example, the official Four Islands scenario is that you are all building your resources in order to conquer the other islands. You may decide that you'd rather that the winning scenario be that you have to gather a certain amount of a resource, for example.
There are no limits in Custom Scenarios, as you can create any you please. You might wish to create a Scenario that means that all food depletes by half every day, or that the opposite of your affinity grows as your own shrinks over time. Go crazy. You can change the rules however you like.
Just like with Custom Rulesets, Custom Scenarios are not covered by this manual. Any problems caused by a Custom Scenario may not be remedied with this manual (see Author's Note.)
As with Custom Rulesets, the only thing that isn't applicable to the standard rules of play are those that you have changed in your Custom Scenario. Keep that in mind.
-- Author's Note: At time of writing the manual (Version 1.0) doesn't cover Custom Rules & Scenarios. I may add later chapters for popular choices, or write further manuals specifically for Custom Rulesets And Scenarios.[/spoiler]
III. Forgot To Say The Magic Word: Idols And Mechas
[spoiler]
As you may have noticed, the majority of your resources are affected directly by buildings. For example, farms increase Food, buildings of all types increase Building, etc.
Technology requires study and the discovery of new things. Initially, this means building schools of technology to study it and discover more, allowing you to do even more. This, like the others, essentially means that specific buildings will increase your technology level. But what about magic?
If you want to focus on Magic, then you're going to learn things the hard way. Magic use seriously degrades your Technology level, and vice versa. Not only that, but Magic can only be increased with Idols and places of worship so your people can pray to you and your Shaman. An Idol cannot be built. It must be summoned by your Shaman. There is 1 Idol for each island, and they boost Magic significantly. Summoning them requires a lot of time and resources, so don't expect to get one on your second turn.
Summoning an Idol takes 100 People, 200 Food, and 500 Magic and 1 Shaman. Yes, you read that correctly, to summon and Idol you have to sacrifice not only 100 people, but also your Shaman.
"But that means I lose the game!" I hear you cry. But this is incorrect. Yes, if your Shaman dies, that means another God has taken your Island. But Sacrificing one is different.
It gets a little complicated, so let me try to explain in more detail.
When you build a Worship House (See Chapter XIII.) you can exactly HALF all your resources to create a second Shaman. Now, if you're a smart cookie, you might remember the little (+1) next to your People Resource, ah! Are you getting it now? That's right, you can have more than 1 Shaman, and that number is the representation of them.
A Shaman is expensive, especially early on and late in the game (Losing half of everything just before an invasion may be unwise of you, ha ha ha), but they are worth it. Having more than one Shaman means that being conquered can be harder, but it primarily means you can summon your Idol.
An Idol is a tall, stone giant who is a God in an Earthly form. Shamans control Idols, and since you control Shamans... The stone beast is yours.
An Idol will generate an astounding 300 Magic every 2 turns, costs only 250 food per turn, and costs 100 Magic per turn. An Idol cannot die once it has been summoned, meaning that once it's there, it will forever eat your resources. You cannot get rid of it. The only way to stop them is eating resources is to be conquered. If a player (Technological Or Magical!) takes your Island, he will then control your Idol. Losing your Island means losing all of your resources to that player, which includes Idols.
You may be a little confused. Earlier I said that Magic and Technology don't work together, this is true. Magic does degrade a technology level -- but only for building and studying. Stealing magic resources doesn't count, meaning if you are a Magic Island and want technology, you'll need to conquer for it and vice versa.
Of course, you cry, this sounds unfair? Technology Islands need not worry, for you have your own little Idol-style monster to help you out. You have the infamous MECHA. The creation of a Mecha is just the same as an Idol, you need an extra Shaman to get it. For Tech Islands, the Shaman doesn't die. Your Shaman steps inside of the Mecha and controls the robotic monster from within. The costs are virtually the same, though.
A Mecha costs 100 people, 200 food, 500 Tech and 1 Shaman to be constructed. When your Mecha is built, you lose your extra Shaman (he is no longer counted in the People meter).
A Mecha generates 300 Tech every 2 turns, costs 250 food and 100 Tech per turn. Unlike an Idol, a Mecha can die. But when it dies, you get your Shaman back and all the benefits of that.
A Mecha will "die" after 20 turns, keep an eye on it. I'm sure the other players will be watching closely, afterall.[/spoiler]
IV. Technology Vs Magic: An Explanation of Affinities
[spoiler]
When you set out to play Four Islands, you will always have a plan. Players must build their strategies from past games and apply them to new ones. Since Gods are creatures of habit and fancy, you may begin to prefer playing with Magic over Technology or vice-versa. Perhaps you like the items and boosters, maybe you like having an Idol or maybe it's just the way you play, whatever the reason for your preferance, you've gotta pick an affinity.
Affinities are selected before the game begins, you pick either Technological or Magical. You don't have to always pick one or the other, your free to pick whichever you want at the start of the game. Your affinity cannot be changed during the course of the game, though.
An affinity will grant you certain bonuses. I'm sure you've noticed this manual using the terms "items and boosters" a lot, and well, you're going to have to wait a little longer for the full explanation on what those are, but the jist is this: raising your Tech or Magic level high enough will allow you to unlock a specific item or booster, you can use it only once, but can keep it for as long as you want once you've earned it (sort of like a get out of jail free card, but with more violence.)
Your affinity will do one of two things in these situations: it will either boost the item, or it will allow you to unlock an affinity-specific item or booster.
The conditions for unlocking affinity-specific items and boosters are different for each one, and you can find these listed along with the other items with the Building Costs. (See Chapter XIII.)[/spoiler]
V. From Tribe To Nation: How Your People Grow
[spoiler]
When you begin the game, you are a small, fledling tribe with nothing but a Shaman and lots of land. You will build up, creating defences, studying magic or technology, and making yourself from just a tribe in the dirt, to a powerful nation ready to swallow the known world.
As we have discussed above, you will need to build everything up, making your war machines and your soldiers ready to fight the other islands. Your resources are growing and your people are strong and ready for war, but what do you do next? You've got your walls ready, your Idol stomps around the land or your Mecha roams your city. You've got your Shaman, you've got your Island, you've got fire in your belly.
It's all been building up to war! So, if you're ready to learn about Conquering, skip to Chapter VI. Otherwise, continue to V.a to learn about Allies.
[/spoiler]
V.a From Tribe To Nation: Allies Explained
[spoiler]
As you may have wondered, yes, it is possible to become allies with other islands. You can partner up with and combine your resources for battles, as well as send each other resources.
You can ally with only 1 Island at a time! Don't forget that.
When you ally with another Island you can do a lot of things, for example, if they are struggling you can loan them resources which they can pay back to you in full or in small amounts at each turn (just like building costs.) You can pay for buildings to be put on their island but you will take half of all the earnings from them, and you can request the same help from them.
Any Islands that are allied can end their allegience at any time, meaning they won't be required by any rules to pay back debts that are owed. Some may find it unsporting to leave an allegience immediately after racking up a debt, but if you ask me, it's just another reason to conquer them.
If need be, two Islands can sign a treaty which forbids them from attacking each other up to a maximum of 10 turns. You can make only two treaties in a game, and you are not allowed to make a treaty with an Island you've attacked, have debts with, or have already made a treaty with.
As noted above, Islands can pool their resources for battles. This is a temporary gathering of their strength to be matched against another opponent. In the event of winning the battle, each ally takes half of the winnings.
It should be noted that while you can ally against an Island, that same Island can rally with its ally against you. Plan ahead, your enemies may be stronger than they initally appear.
Tip!: Diplomacy is just as important as relentless conquering.[/spoiler]
VI. The Real Games Begin: Attacking And Conquering
[spoiler]So you finally did it, eh? Just handful of humans in the dirt turned into an Island of warriors ready to serve their God. You should be proud, it's a good moment. Savour it, because it's about to end.
You've been building and building your numbers for this moment, it's time to strike.
Attacking an island is quite simple. All you need is to build the means to get there. Boats are a quick but expensive option. You can also build bridges, but these can be destroyed by your enemies. If you like, you can swim (no, really, you can.)
Boats carry specific amounts of people, so be sure to build enough to carry the bulk of your force. Once you've sent your boats out, it's time to wait for them to get there. A boat takes one turn to reach another island, and swimming takes three, but while it takes longer, it has its advantages. Boats need to be built, costing time and resources, if you swim, you don't need to spend anything.
Remember!: Attacking is still a turn, and your people will consume food at the same rate, be sure to count this!!
When you reach the land, the fight begins.
Fighting with an island works as a battle of resources. Your Island VS Their's. It works like this:
DandyAdam Has decided to fight LuckyLucy. Here are their resource sheets:
DandyAdam
People: 3,000 (+3)
Food: 4,500
Building: 12,000
Tech.: 4,000
Magic: 0
LuckyLucy
People: 3,000 (+2)
Food: 2,500
Building: 6,000
Tech.: 3,500
Magic: 0
As you can see they are around the same. DandyAdam has been preparing his island defensively, as you can tell by his large Building Meter, and it would seem that Lucy has not had her mind on battle, she has lower resources.
When you battle your numbers are weighed against each other.
DandyAdam has the same number of People as Lucy, but he has 1 more Shaman, this gives him the edge. For every Shaman you are given 100 points, and for every 100 people MORE that you have over the other, you are awarded another 100 points. For example, in this case, Adam wins 300 points for his 3 Shaman. If Lucy had just 200 more men, she would have won 400 points (more people + shaman points), however, since Lucy and Adam both had 3,000 People, it was the Shaman numbers alone that counted.
As it stands, Adam has 300 points, and Lucy has 200.
Luckily for Lucy, Food does not get counted during battle.
Sadly, DandyAdam has DOUBLE Lucy's building number. Normally, building and food numbers don't count. However, when your number is double or more, you are awared an extra 100 points. If the number is triple, you gain 200 points. If it is quadruple, you gain 300.
DandyAdam now has 400 points and Lucy has 200.
Dandyadam's Tech. level is higher than LuckyLucy's, meaning he is awarded another 100 points.
Both of them have 0 as their magic, meaning they are both awarded 50 for having a matching meter.
At the end of the battle, DandyAdam has 450 points to LuckyLucy's 250. DandyAdam WINS and has conquered the island!
When you conquer an Island, that Island is yours. you take all of their unused boosters and resources. The only thing you do not take are the Shamans.
At the end of the turn, the Resources read as this:
DandyAdam
People: 6,000 (+3)
Food: 7,000
Building: 18,000
Tech.: 7,500
Magic: 0
LuckyLucy:
People: 0 (+2)
Food: 0
Building: 0
Tech.: 0
Magic: 0
With Adam taking all of her resources, LuckyLucy has only her 2 remaining Shamans left. LuckyLucy has lost.
There are items to be unlocked with could help in these situations (which require Shamans to use). Sadly, for this demonstration, she didn't have any. Poor Lucy. With no way to help her Shamans, she has lost completely, and her Shamans are killed.[/spoiler]
VI.a The Real Games Begin: 1 v 1 and 2 v 1
[spoiler]
The scenario is this: another player has steadily risen and now owns 2 Islands. Suppose you beat him, what happens then?
When you beat a player with more than 1 Island, you take that Island along with the resources. If you were allied with another Island and you both beat the other player, you need to decide who gets the Island.
By default, the player with the largest People count gets the Island. However, if you don't want to decide this way, you can use other stats, or come to a trade agreement.
[/spoiler]
VII. I'm Too Young To Die: Defending Yourself From Conquerers
[spoiler]
Stopping other Islands from completely destroying you is one of the finer aspects of this game. While there are items, and boosters you can use to help you in defence, the best way to stop people from conquering you is this:
Building.
Yes, that magical resource. Having lots of buildings causes this meter to grow. Defensive structures such as walls and guard towers will yield a bigger return than normal structures.
The defensive God is one who builds! You gain bonuses from having high Building Resources (see Chapter VI. Demonstration of Conquering.) So, if you don't want people destroying you, build up, build up, build up.
Now, suppose you are DandyAdam. And LuckyLucy has attacked you. This is what your Resources look like:
DandyAdam
People: 3,000 (+3)
Food: 4,500
Building: 12,000
Tech.: 4,000
Magic: 0
LuckyLucy
People: 3,000 (+2)
Food: 2,500
Building: 6,000
Tech.: 3,500
Magic: 0
As we learned in Chapter VI.'s Demonstration, Adam would win this conflict. We saw what happens when you win, now lets see what happens when you lose.
LuckyLucy has failed in her attack. Since Adam was defending and won, he gains half of one of Lucy's resources (Excluding People). Let's say he picks Building. He gains 3,000 in that resource.
Since Lucy lost, her People meter is cut in half, and she loses a Shaman. If she had only one Shaman, this wouldn't happen. You will lose your SPARE or EXTRA Shamans when losing an attack.
Lucy retreats to her Island to rebuild and Adam dances a little dance of joy knowing that he has gained more resources.[/spoiler]
VIII. I Came, I Saw, I Conquered: Gaining and Growing More Islands
[spoiler]
When you have won an Island, as we discussed in Chapter VI., you take that Island's resources. When you have more than one Island, your entire resources are combined, meaning that no matter which of your Islands are attacked, you are using your whole Resource counts to battle.
When you have the extra islands, you have the extra space to build. There may be items or buildings that actually require more than one island, and, you will be able to make a second Mecha or Idol. As was discussed in Chapter III. the rule is "one Idol/Mecha per ISLAND." This means, if you own 2 islands, you can have two Mechas/Idols. Congratulations.
If you have two islands, and wish to attack an island and defend, now you can. You can split your resources in half, and send that half to fight for you. If you own three you can split your defences any way you like, sending any amount of forces to fight the remaining island. Utterly decimate with one large force, or prod for weak spots and build your empire to buy the end-game, highly-expensive things (see Chapter XIII. For more detail.)[/spoiler]
IX. I Stayed, I Saw, I Was Conquered: What Happens When You Are Conquered, And What You Can Do
[spoiler]
If you have been conquered, there isn't much you can do. You've been bested and there's little hope of coming back...
Unless you've got some items and Shamans to spare. As discussed earlier, there are items that can be used, in exchange for a Shaman, to help you out. The better the item, the more Shamans or resources you'll need to sacrifice for it. These items are with you from day one, as they are Gifts from you, the God, to the Shaman for being such a kind, helpful, little human.
See Chapter XIII. For details on items.
X. This Is The End, Beautiful Friend: Ending The Game
So you amassed an unstoppable force of Shamans, human warriors, Idols and war. You've conquered every Island, and you are the winner.
When the game is over, the winner posts his final Resource list in the game thread, and in the official Four Islands thread (that's where you're reading this.) Posting the final score of your Island is both for bragging rights, and for record. You don't want someone walking around claiming to have beaten you if they haven't, do you? No, of course not, that's why it's good to have a record of your past scores. A good way to watch your progress, too.
Congratulations, you have won at Four Islands. Sadly, there isn't really a prize for winning indivudual games, but, if Four Islands becomes popular enough, I will host tournaments to pit the best against the best for a prize of some kind. Possibly an item or forum credits. We'll see.
Until then, congrats, and keep playing. Those losers will surely want a rematch.
The final chapters of this cover the Lore behind Four Islands (yes, there's a backstory), list the items and Building cost lists, as well as boosters and Island Customisation and Stories. [/spoiler]
XI. This Is My Island, There Are Many Like It But This One Is Mine
[spoiler]
At it's core, this is a roleplaying game. When you play as your Island, you're not just saying "I do this" you're ROLEPLAYING. You can write from a simple farmers perspective, a god's, a shaman's, hey, even an Idol's if you've got one. As such, don't forget there's no strict way to make your Island.
If you want them running around in nothing but war-paint and cow-skulls, then so be it. It's your island, customise to your liking. Building an image and backstory for your Island can be a fun experience, too. Afterall, who wants to try and beat some "random islander" when they could be playing against an Island played with an exciting and rich backstory for you to really immerse the players in, as well as their own, making the Four Islands universe even bigger and bigger.
I've created a template for Tribes so you can best describe yours using a Character Sheet format. Feel free to add, remove or change anything you like in the template for your people.
- Code: Select all
[b]Name Of The People:[/b]
[b]Affinity:[/b]
[b]Clothing/Uniform/Style:[/b]
[b]Games Played:[/b]
[b]Games Won:[/b]
[b]Games Lost:[/b]
[b]Backstory:[/b]
Tip!: To work out your Win/Loss Ratio, get a calculator and divide your wins by the number of losses.
Get out there, craft your playstyle, build your tribe and play![/spoiler]
XII. Dusty Books: How The Four Islands Came To Be
[spoiler]Four Islands has been a pet project of mine for a while now. It has its own world, story and universe to explore. Si'down and we'll read from the Dusty Books the story of how Four Islands came to be.
Keep an eye around Four Islands, I may write an entire backstory one day, but for now, enjoy this short:
Aeons ago, when the Many Gods crafted the universe, at its center they constructed a planet made entirely of water and placed onto it four islands. This planet became known as Earth.
Since the dawn of time, the Many Gods have used Earth to create humans on its lands, watching them live, work, and fight as a form of entertainment. After many hundreds of years, it became competitive. The Many Gods used the four islands as a battleground testing their tactical abilities. Those who conquered many times on Earth were given the title of Idol and given the sacred priveledge of walking on Earth in their true form. Thus the idols were born, stone creatures carved into the shape of the finest champions of the Four Islands. Though they no longer control from the outer-worlds, they live on Earth as eternal Idols, waiting for other Gods young and old to command them in the fight of conquering.
Many other Gods wanted to be in the center of the wars, but their sacred law stated that only Gods who have conquered many islands can become an Idol. So, rather than go down to Earth, these the Gods created the Shamans, human men and women who would be channeling the power of Gods through their bodies. This was, at first, considered cheating, but when the others saw what tactical methods this would create, it was widely accepted.
And thus, Four Islands became the battleground of Gods.
[/spoiler]
XIII. Items, Boosters & Building Costs, A full List of Everything
[spoiler]
Here is a complete and full list of every item, booster and building cost. What you need to use them, and what it costs to build 'em, this also tells you what they do for you and your resources, and how they can help you conquer!
Buildings:
Farm
For Growing Food For The People
Cost: 10 Building, 20 Technology
Reward: Gives 20 Food Per Turn, 10 Building Per Turn.
Big Farm
For Growing Even More
Cost: 200 Building, 150 Technology
Reward: 50 Food Per Turn, 50 Building Per Turn
Super-Farm
We Are Not Hungry
Cost: 5,000 Building, 3,500 Technology
Reward: 5,000 Food per turn, 2,500 Building Per Turn
Mega-Farm
Ist Besser Wen Man Mehr Hat!
Cost: 10,000 Building, 7,000 Technology
Reward: 15,000 Food per turn, 4,000 Building Per Turn
Shaman Food Hut
Ask and You Shall Receive, Pray For Food From The Gods
Cost: 10 building, 20 Magic and 5 Food, Removes All Of Your Tech
Reward: Gives 10 Food, 10 Magic, and 10 Building Per Turn.
Shaman Food House
Ask Again, Receive Again
Cost: 200 Building, 150 Magic
Reward: 50 Food Per Turn, 50 Building Per Turn, 25 Magic Per Turn
Gigantic Food Hut
Come, Mine Flock
Cost: 5,000 Building, 7,000 Magic
Reward: 5,000 Food Per Turn, 2,500 Building Per Turn, 1,500 Magic Per Turn
Holy House Of Food
Eat The Spoils
Cost: 10,000 Building, 7,000 Magic
Reward: 15,000 Food Per Turn, 4,000 Building Per Turn, 3,000 Magic Per Turn
Small Tech. Researcher:
Lookin' For Tools, sir!
Cost: 10 Tech, 10 People, 10 Food, Removes All Of Your Magic
Reward: 20 Tech Per Turn
Large Tech. Researcher:
Let's Build A...
Cost: 20 Tech, 20 People, 20 Food, Removes All Of Your Magic
Reward: 50 Tech. Per Turn
Small Magic Researcher:
I made a spark!
Cost: 20 Magic, 5 Food Removes All Of Your Tech.
Reward: 25 Magic Per Turn
Large Magic Researcher:
I burnt my house down
Cost: 40 Magic, 10 Food, Removes All Of Your Tech.
Reward: 50 Magic Per Turn
Big Bad Barracks
Hoo-ah!
Cost: 50 Building, 20 Technology/Magic and 30 Food
Reward: 50 People per turn, 10 Building Per Turn.
Island Walls
Build Walls Around Your Island
Cost: 50 Building, 50 Technology, 80 Food, Removes All Of Your Magic
Reward: 100 Building Per Turn
God's Eye
A Large Stone Eye Watches Over Us...
Cost: 50 Building, 50 Magic, 80 Food, Removes All Of Your Tech.
Reward: 50 Building, 50 Magic Per Turn
House Of The Cog
Learn About Technology
Cost: 100 Building, 200 Technology, 150 Food, Removes All Of Your Magic
Reward: 100 Building, 100 Technology Per Turn
Academy Of The Piston
Learning even more
Cost: 2,000 Building, 500 Technology, 200 Food
Reward: 200 Building, 400 Technology Per Turn
University Of Advanced Gears
Learning All There Is To Learn
Cost: 5,000 Building, 1,500 Techology, 1,000 Food
Reward: 800 Building, 1,000 Technology Per turn
House Of The Idols
Study Magic
Cost: 150 Building, 300 Magic, 100 Food, Removes All Of Your Tech.
Reward: 150 Building, 200 Magic Per Turn
Arcane Academy
Study Dangerous Magic
Cost: 2,500 Building, 600 Magic, 200 Food
Reward: 300 Building, 500 Magic Per Turn
Greater Arcance University
Studying More and More...
Cost: 6,000 Building, 3,000 Magic, 1,000 Food
Reward: 100 Building, 6,000 Magic Per Turn
Idol
The God
Cost: 100 People, 200 Food, 500 Magic and 1 Shaman, Removes All Of Your Tech.
Turn Cost: Will Cost 250 Food, 100 Magic Per Turn
Reward: 300 Magic every Second Turn
Mecha
Our Steel Idol Crush Yours
Cost: 100 People, 200 Food, 500 Tech, and 1 Shaman
Turn Cost: 250 Food, 100 Tech Per Turn, Removes All Of Your Magic
Reward: 300 Tech every Second Turn,
Death Condition: Dies after 20 Turns.
Worship House
Worship and Make The Shaman
Cost: 500 Building, 200 Food
Reward: Spend Half your resources for another Shaman
Boat
This Is The Way Forward, My Friend
Cost: 10 Building per boat. Each Boat carries 10 people.
Reward: Ferry your numbers to other islands. 100 Building per turn.
Weaponhouse
This is my rifle...
Cost: [Total People+50% Of Food Meter]Tech.
Reward: 200 Building, 400 Tech. Per Turn
Magic Academy
You're a Wizard...
Cost: [Total People Number x 2] Magic
Reward: 100 Building, 500 Magic Per Turn
Roads
Walk This Way...
Cost: 10 People, 5 Food, 50 Building
Reward: 5 To All Resources Per Turn
Bridges
We Cross Water Now
Cost: 500 People, 700 Food, 1,000 Building
Reward: Cross Islands instantly, 300 Building per turn
Powerhouse
Goddamn!
Cost: 2,000 People, 3,000 Building, 10 Food
Reward: All Building Resources Give Double Per Turn.
Blacksmith
Get Yer Metal Hats'n'Scarves!
Cost: 500 People, 500 Food, 500 Building
Reward: 500 Building, 300 Tech. Per Turn
Statue
Look, it's a person!
Cost: 10 Food, 10 Building
Reward: 50 Building Per Turn[/spoiler]
Boosters
[spoiler]Boosters cannot be activated by choice. You will received them instantly and they will take effect when ever they can. Don't forget to check if you have enough to apply for Boosters! They can turn the tides of battle!!
All Boosters are there to help you for reaching goals or meeting certain conditions. A booster may help you if you're struggling. Checking back here often is vital, especially when the manual is updated; each update will add new buildings, items and boosters.
You can recieve each booster ONCE per game.
Friendship
Friendship Is Rare
Required: Become an ally with another Island
Reward: 200 Into each Resource.
Burying The Hatchet
Let By-gones Be By-Gones
Required: Become an ally with Island you have attacked, or have been attacked by.
Reward: 500 Into Each Resource
Bad Diplomat
I Hate Your Face!
Required: Attack an Island while allied with them
Reward: One Free Farm
Good Diplomat
I Love You, Man
Required: Attack an Island that has attacked your ally.
Reward: 100 Points in Battle
Protector
Danger, Danger!
Required: Build 10 Island Walls For An Ally
Reward: Receive 5 Island Walls
Bad Karma
"Now I Harbour Bad Karma"
Required: Attack 2 Islands and Lose.
Reward: 50 Points the next time you Battle.
Stone Wall'd
Brick By Brick
Required: Be Attacked Twice And Win
Reward: 50 Points In Next Battle
Famine
We're Hungry!
Required: be lowered to 50 Food, and be unable to feed all of your people (e.g. have more People than Food.)
Reward: Instant 150 Food
Homeless
It's not so bad, this is a desert Island, afterall
Required: lose People due to having too low a Building meter.
Reward: The next time you receive People, you do not need to spend Building to house them. This is good for 1 use only.
Can You Hear Me?
We Are Growing.
Required: 500 People
Reward: 10 People and 100 Food.
Kingdom
Who's Your Daddy?
Required: Conquer An Island And Build 100 Statues On It
Reward: Any Islands that had allied with the conquered Island cannot Attack you for 2 Turns & You receive 10 Roads
Empire
Bow Down!!
Required: Unlock Kingdom Booster And Conquer a 2nd Island, Build 200 Statues On It
Reward: Any Islands that had allied with the conquered Island cannot Attack you for 5 Turns & You receive 100 Roads
Totalitarian
It Is
Required: Unlock Kingdom & Empire Boosters
Reward: 10 Roads For Every 2,000 People You Have
Techno-joy
I don't have Techno Fear! I have Techno JOY!
Required: 20,000 Tech.
Reward: 2,000 Tech.
Wizarding
I Got The Power! Nin
Required: 20,000 Magic
Reward: 2,000 Magic
For Glory!
We Shall Be Strong, And We Shall Be Loud!
Required: Reach 6,000 People
Reward: For Glory! Will Give You An Instant 200 Points the next time you battle another Island.
Locust Swarm
And It Was As A Plague...
Required: Have At Least 13,000 People
Reward: When you battle another Island, if they have less People than you, you gain a Bonus 300 Points.
My Army Eats Yours
It's hopeless...
Required: 50,000 People
Reward: If the Island you are attacking has under 30,000 People, their People Meter No Longer Counts.
The Mighty Many
Their March Shook Fruit From The Trees
Required: Start a Battle with 150,000 People
Reward: If Opponent has less than 140,000 You Gain 400 Points In Battle
Ape Of Death
I Have Seen An Ape Of Death Itself, It Is Them.
Required: Be Attacked by an army with triple your People count.
Reward: 400 People and 100 points in Battle.
Well Fed
It's Yummy!
Required: 500,000 Food
Reward: Gain 500,000 Food and 5,000 People.[/spoiler]
Items:
[spoiler]Items are mostly hard to unlock, can be used at any time once you have them, and are very, very useful.
You can recieve each item ONCE per game.
Burning Bridges
Required: Have a Bridge leading to your Island, 2,000 Building and 500 People
Reward: Destroy the bridge connected to your Island.
We... We Can't Lose! No!!
Required: 0 Resources, 3 Shamans
Reward: Lose 3 Shamans. The Island that conquered you loses any boosters they stole from you, and lose 1,000 Tech./Magic for each they took.
B-B-B-Battle Face:
Required: Attack An Island and Lose
Reward: 300 Building
The Start Of Something Big:
Required: Conquer an Island
Reward: An extra Shaman
Swim Faster:
Required: Conquer 2 Islands
Reward: It now takes only 2 turns to swim to another Island.
The Winds Of Change:
Required: Conquer Three Islands
Reward: Swap 1/4 of your People for A Shaman and receive 10,000 Tech/Magic (Based on Affinity.)
The Mighty
Required: 100,000 People, 90,000 Tech.
Reward: Gain two Idols/Mechas for Free. (Based On Affinity)
Idols Of Old
Hahahahahaah!!!AHAHAHAHA!!!!
Required: 10 Idols
Reward: Your 10 Idols can be sacrificed for 10,000 People or 100,000 Food.
We Are Still Here!!!
Required: Conquer Two Islands, then lose them to another Player.
Reward: A War Cry. Your People Scream The Weather From The Sky, other player loses 3,000 Food for every 2,000 People S/He Has.
The Reward Of The God Who Builds
Required: 1,000,000,000 Building
Reward: 50,000 Points into every Resource along with an extra 2 Shamans.
The Reward Of The God Who Feeds
Required: 1,000,000,000 Food
Reward: 100,000 Points into every Resource along with an extra 2 Shamans.
The Reward Of The Strongest
Required: 1,000,000,000 People
Reward: 100,000 Points into every Resource along with an extra 2 Shamans.
Don't You Morons Realise?! I've Already Won!!:
Required: 100 Idols/Mechas, 500,000 In Every Resource, 20 Shamans
Reward: Your Presence Is Terrifying, all other opponents lose every spare Shaman.
[/spoiler]
XIV. Closing Words
[spoiler]
Thank you for taking the time to read the hefty manual for Four Islands. It's taken me around 2 days of infrequent updating to finish this entire thing, and I hope it proves to be worth it. This game can be played on any forum so long as you remember to post this very manual, in it's entirety, unedited on that forum. This information is required to play. For the sake of numbers and fairness don't edit this manual. You can request edits if something is unfair, unbalanced, or thought out wrong. Send me a message and I will update it, please tell me why you think it needs changed and your suggestions for change.
Thank you to everyone who will possibly want to play Four Islands, and I'll always be up for a game, just PM me or post in here. I don't hope to make some kind of revolution in forum roleplaying, but I do hope that I've created an enjoyable game for people to play in the forum.
Thanks again for reading all.. 14 Chapters and 7,000+ words in this manual!
For those who are interested in playing...
Good Luck![/spoiler]
