                               Command : ORDER

NAME
   order - Order a ship to auto-navigate

Level: Expert

SYNTAX
   [##:##] Command : 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  sec-
tor.  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|scuttle|-] Declare Orders

To declare an order you have 3 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.

        3) Order a ship to any sector on the map.
           When it arrives, it will scuttle itself if it is in a harbor that
             is at least 2% efficient.  This is useful for tradeships.

   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.

   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, and then scuttle itself.

    order 666 d 20,4 scuttle

   The ship will now move to sector 20,4 with the most efficient path,
   and scuttle itself when done.

   Note that only trade ships can be given auto-scuttle orders, and won't
   scuttle themselves at sea.

   [##:##] 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  some-
one'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.

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 'info autofeed'
for details.

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

