                               Command : ORDER

NAME
   order - Order a ship to auto-navigate

Level: Expert

SYNTAX
   [##:##]% order <SHIP/FLEET> [c|r|s|d|l]

You use the order command to give sailing orders to ships.   At  each  update,
ships  sailing under orders autonavigate toward a specific destination sector.
Telegrams notify you of arrivals.

ONLY merchant ship may be given orders, but in order to move during the update
a ship must have at least one crew (which may be civilian or military, but not
an uncompensated worker).  Merchant ships are those that have 0 for their fir-
ing range and gun limit values.

Note that your ships sailing on orders will be interdicted just as if you were
navigating them by hand.

   [##:##] Command: order <SHIP/FLEET> c Clear Orders

     Use the clear option to wipe out any orders the ship currently has.  This
will  remove all starting and ending points and clear all the cargo levels for
the ship.

   [##:##] Command: order <SHIP/FLEET> s Suspend Orders

     If you want to keep orders but don't want the ship  to  move  during  the
update  use  the suspend option. A quick look at 'sorder' will display the eta
time as suspended.  As long as a ship is suspended it will be unable  to  move
during the update.

   [##:##] Command: order <SHIP/FLEET> r Resume Orders
     Resume will allow ships that have a suspended order to move again.

   [##:##] Command: order <SHIP/FLEET> d <dest1> [dest2|-] Declare Orders

To declare an order you have 2 options.

        1) Order a ship to any sector on the map.
           When it arrives it will clear its orders.

        2) Order a ship to any sector, load goods,
           move to a second sector and unload goods.
           Continue to loop between the 2 points.

   Example:  You have a cargo ship (#6) in your harbor at sector 6,0
   You want to move good between that harbor and another harbor at
   sector 14,0.

    order 6 d 6,0 14,0

   This reads:
    Cargo Ship #6, move to sector 6,0 load goods, sail to sector 14,0
    unload cargo then load again and sail back to 6,0.

   Example: You have a tradeship (#666) at sea in sector -10,0 and you
   want to move it to a friendly harbor at 20,4.

    order 666 d 20,4 -

   The ship will now move to sector 20,4 with the most efficient path.

   [##:##] Command: order <SHIP/FLEET> l <hold> <start/end> <COMM> <amount>

Set cargo Levels.

   Example: Cargo ship #109 is at your harbor in sector 10,0.
   You have agreed to trade 200 lcm and 100 hcm to your friend and
   he will give you 100 shells each update.  His harbor is at -10,2.
   Using 'order declare' you set up your start point 10,0 and end point -10,2

   order 109 l 1 start lcm   200
   order 109 l 2 start hcm   100
   order 109 l 1 end   shell 100

   When your finished the output would look like this.

   sorder 109
   shp #   type           x,y     start   end     len  eta
     109   cargo ship 2  10,0      10,0   -10,2    11   1

   qorder 109
   shp #   type           [Starting]  (Ending)
     109   cargo ship 2   [1-l:200 2-h:100 ] , (1-s:100 )

AutoNav Features.

Whenever a ship is autoloading cargo, it will always wait until  it  loads  to
capacity.   If  a ship does not load fully it will not move!!! Remember 'ships
need food!!' unless the NOFOOD option is enabled.  Set one of your cargo holds
to  load food or your ship will starve at sea.  When unloading cargo, the ship
will unload all goods listed in the cargo holds ONLY!  It will not unload  any
extra good manually placed on the ship.

If you are dealing with civilians 1 will be left in either the sector  or  the
harbor depending if your loading or unloading.  In either case when you arrive
at the other harbor all but 1 civ will be dumped into the harbor.  Be  careful
if you set civilians as one of your cargo levels.

If the FUEL option is enabled ships will try and fuel when they load cargo  in
the  starting  or  ending point and they currently have a fuel level less then
half of their max fuel level. Auto fueling is not foolproof.  If you declare a
long  path  and the ship does not pass through any harbors it might run out of
fuel and mobility. Remember ships can only autofuel in harbors.

You can set any commodity in the game to be loaded on the  ship.   However  if
you tell a ship to load a commodity it can not hold it will be ignored.  Exam-
ple:  If you tell a battleship to load Lcm, and of course  it  does  not  have
that  capability, see 'show ship capability' that level will be ignored at the
update.  Planes and Units are not commodities so they can not be  loaded  this
way.

At update time, the most direct path from the ship to  destination  is  calcu-
lated.   Each  ship  is  then autonavigated along that path to the best of its
mobility.  The path is calculated from what the  player  knows  of  the  world
(what  you  can  see using the bmap command).  Open sea, bridges, harbors, and
unexplored regions of the world are considered to be navigable.  Your friend's
harbors  and bridges may be uses as long as the harbor >= 2% and the bridge >=
60%. Your ships will also try to avoid any mines you  have  declared  on  your
bmap.   'x' or 'X' characters.  Should your ship hit a mine the ship will stop
moving and its orders suspended.  You bmap will also be  updated  with  a  'x'
marking the sector for you.

If a ship sails in range of enemy forts they will be fired upon.  Setting your
ship  to  autonavigate  into an area with good fort cover could result in many
ships getting sunk  fast.   However  you  could  put  an  invasion  fleet  off
someone's coast in a hurry.

If the ship has a 'sweep' flag ships will try and sweep any mines if  any  are
present as they move.

Radar operates continuously as the  ship  moves  along  the  path,  constantly
adding  sector information to the known world map.  To view the new info after
an update you need to exit out of the game and log back in so your client  has
a new copy of the bmap file.

The autonav code will try and use as much mobility as possible and this is all
done before mobility is gained from the update.  After an update has completed
your ship will have mobility so it can be moved by hand if needed.

For information on setting up ships to feed your country see

SEE ALSO
   sorder, qorder, bmap, navigate, ship, Autofeed, Autonav, Ships

