New LT Gamer's Guide

This is step 1 of many to keep PR reviews short.

docs/Manuals/Game/start-screen.rst

@@ -240,6 +240,7 @@ Start
 
 When you are finished with all the settings, clicking :guilabel:`Start` will cause the game to start!
 
+.. _game-manual-connect-network:
 
 Connect to Network Game
 =======================

docs/Manuals/Server/options.rst

@@ -156,6 +156,8 @@ To place a setting value on any of these settings use the ``/set <option-name> <
       rather than current.
     * ``DISTANCE``: Bonuses are proportional only to distance.
 
+.. _server-option-citymindist:
+
 ``citymindist``
   :strong:`Default Value (Min, Max)`: 2 (1, 11)
 

docs/Playing/LT-Guide/first-turn.rst

@@ -0,0 +1,105 @@
+.. SPDX-License-Identifier: GPL-3.0-or-later
+.. SPDX-FileCopyrightText: James Robertson <[email protected]>
+
+.. Custom Interpretive Text Roles for longturn.net/Freeciv21
+.. role:: unit
+.. role:: improvement
+.. role:: wonder
+.. role:: advance
+
+The First Turn
+**************
+
+The first turn (typically ``T1``) is an incredibly important turn for any Longturn game. With any Longturn
+game, the first turn is always 3 days long (``3 * 24h``). There are many reasons for this, but a main one is
+that the first turn can either set you up for success or doom you to demise. Yes, it is that important.
+
+.. note::
+  If you have not played a game in some time or if this is a first time to play, be sure to explore the
+  in-game help. There is very important information in there. Refer to it often as you progress through the
+  game. You may also some some additional insight by reading the
+  :ref:`other tutorials <lt-game-guide-other-tutorials>`.
+
+
+Some thoughts on the first Turn:
+
+* The turn is purposely set for 3 full days. This gives plenty of time for all the players to get in and take
+  a measure of what they want to do. There is often a lot of analysis that occurs this first turn. Getting the
+  placement of your capital is very important, so take the time needed to fully evaluate your options before
+  you plant that first city.
+
+* Many players will log in and take a screenshot of what they have been assigned by the server when the game
+  was started and use a tool like Inkscape to mark up thoughts on where to potentially place cities, where to
+  move the :unit:`Explorers` and what to do with the :unit:`Tribal Workers`.
+
+  .. tip::
+    Do not move anything right away! Take the time to work out your plans offline. You can move at any time
+    during the turn. You do not get any extra credit for planting your capital with tons of time left on the
+    turn counter.
+
+* Remember that :unit:`Explorers` gain a large vision radius increase if they are placed on top of a Mountain.
+  A lot of players will actually move from mountain to mountain with their :unit:`Explorers`.
+
+  .. tip::
+    One general good rule of thumb with sending :unit:`Explorers` into the unknown (the area of the map you
+    have not seen yet) is to only go one tile at a time. You can then evaluate what opened up and decide what
+    direction to go --- such as to another mountain.
+
+
+Your First Five Cities
+======================
+
+When the game starts, every player will have 5 :unit:`Settlers`, 5 :unit:`Tribal Workers`, and 2
+:unit:`Explorers`. These initial units will help to seed your first 5 cities.
+
+Plan your first 5 cities wisely. This is one of the reasons for the extra long first turn. Here are a few tips
+to get you started:
+
+* Look for rivers or lakes. Build either on or adjacent to rivers and adjacent to lakes so you can get the
+  :improvement:`Aqueduct+River` or :improvement:`Aqueduct+Lake` city improvement. This cheap
+  :improvement:`Aqueduct` does not require :advance:`Construction` and has no upkeep. You can get your early
+  cities up to size 16 if you put those :unit:`Workers` to work in the right places.
+
+  .. tip::
+    Build cities on river estuaries on the shoreline. If that is not possible then keep your best defenders
+    on or near river mouths and on rivers on your borders. :unit:`Triremes` can be used to transport an early
+    attacker up a river and wipe you out fast, especially if you are not fully defending cities.
+
+  .. note::
+    Building a city on a river tile will give an additional defense bonus in addition to the ability of
+    building the :improvement:`Aqueduct+River` improvement.
+
+* Remember that your first city will be your capital. Do not put it on the coast! To change the capital city
+  from one city to another you have to build the :wonder:`Palace` small wonder in the new city, which is A)
+  expensive and B) costly in time, so plan accordingly.
+
+* Look for specials like wheat, pheasant, and silk. Wheat helps to grow a city like wildfire (+4 food with
+  Irrigation and :wonder:`Pyramids` or :advance:`Monarchy`). In not too much time you can have a city getting
+  +20 food per turn, which means your city will grow once per turn after size 4 with a :improvement:`Granary`.
+
+* There is an important setting called :ref:`City Minimum Distance <server-option-citymindist>`. This setting
+  defines how many tiles must be between city centers. See `City Planning`_ section below.
+
+* Once the first 5 cities are planted, you need to expand as fast as possible with more :unit:`Settlers`!
+  Refer to the **Settler Race** section below.
+
+City Planning
+=============
+
+The :doc:`/Playing/how-to-play` page has a great section on :ref:`city placement <how-to-play-city-placement>`.
+That is worth a read at this time.
+
+Some other thoughts related to initial city planning:
+
+* Using a tool such as Inkscape really helps you plan your cities. Recall that there are a number of factors
+  to consider when it comes to city planning and placement:
+
+  * Distance from the Capital.
+
+  * Available specials on tiles around the potential city centers.
+
+  * Locations of freshwater from rivers and lakes.
+
+  * No wasted tiles. Force overlap of any kind so that every tile is available.
+
+With everything in Longturn games: it is all about balance.

docs/Playing/LT-Guide/index.rst

@@ -0,0 +1,13 @@
+.. SPDX-License-Identifier: GPL-3.0-or-later
+.. SPDX-FileCopyrightText: James Robertson <[email protected]>
+
+Longturn Game Playing Guide
+***************************
+
+This is the Longturn game player's guide. This playing guide is similar to :doc:`/Playing/how-to-play`,
+however it is less generic and more focused on the rulesets we often play.
+
+.. toctree::
+  intro.rst
+  first-turn.rst
+  :maxdepth: 2

docs/Playing/LT-Guide/intro.rst

@@ -0,0 +1,90 @@
+.. SPDX-License-Identifier: GPL-3.0-or-later
+.. SPDX-FileCopyrightText: James Robertson <[email protected]>
+
+.. Custom Interpretive Text Roles for longturn.net/Freeciv21
+.. role:: unit
+.. role:: improvement
+.. role:: wonder
+.. role:: advance
+
+Introduction
+************
+
+The Longturn community maintains and plays three specialized rulesets: Longturn Tradidional (LTT), Longturn
+Experimental (LTX), and Royale. The LTT and LTX rulesets are losely based on the Civ2Civ3 ruleset as it existed
+"way back" in legacy Freeciv v2.0 days. Royale is new as of 2023.
+
+Here are some generalized notes related to the three rulesets:
+
+* :strong:`LTT`: There are actually two versions: LTT and LTT2. LTT is the original standard ruleset played
+  across many games, including `The League <https://longturn.net/game/TheLeague/>`_. In 2024, we created an
+  updated LTT2 based on input from the community as well as the :doc:`game admin's </Contributing/game-admin>`
+  experience. LTT2 should be considered a logical evolution of LTT.
+
+  .. note::
+    LTT2 is considered the default stable ruleset. The League still plays LTT and will change to LTT2 when
+    appropriate.
+
+* :strong:`LTX`: This is our experimental ruleset. LTX is based on LTT, so many of the play style elements in
+  LTT are similar in LTX. We use LTX as a test bed for new ideas. Ideas that gain traction and are well
+  received by our player community can be merged into LTT2.
+
+* :strong:`Royale`: This is a newer ruleset that takes many thoughts from LTT and tries to create a simpler
+  set of rules for brand new Longturn players. The general idea is to create a set of rules that can be played
+  by experieced and new players, with enough slack that new players will not get overwhelmed if they make
+  gameplay mistakes.
+
+
+.. _lt-game-guide-other-tutorials:
+
+Other External Tutorials
+========================
+
+Here are links to some other tutorials. Your mileage may vary with some of them.
+
+* `LTT on Freeciv Fandom <https://freeciv.fandom.com/wiki/Longturn_Traditional_Ruleset>`_
+* `LTX on Freeciv Fandom <https://freeciv.fandom.com/wiki/LongTurn_Experimental_ruleset>`_
+* `Intro to Freeciv on Freeciv Fandom <https://freeciv.fandom.com/wiki/Introduction_to_Freeciv>`_
+* `Game Manual on Freeciv Fandom <https://freeciv.fandom.com/wiki/Game_Manual>`_. Overall game mechanics for
+  the Classic ruleset. LTT/LTX rulesets are similar and are derived from the Civ2Civ3 ruleset. Topics include:
+  Terrain, Cities, Economy, Units, Combat, Diplomacy, Government, Technology, Wonders, and Buildings. Gives a
+  good overview of how the varying elements of a game work if you are new to Freeciv or Freeciv21.
+* `Multiplayer Game Manual on Freeciv Fandom <https://freeciv.fandom.com/wiki/Multiplayer_Game_Manual>`_.
+* `Multiplayer Ruleset (cheatsheet) on Freeciv Fandom <https://freeciv.fandom.com/wiki/Multiplayer_Ruleset>`_.
+* `How to Play Freeciv on Freeciv Fandom <https://freeciv.fandom.com/wiki/How_to_Play>`_.
+* `The Art of Freeciv on Freeciv Fandom <https://freeciv.fandom.com/wiki/The_Art_of_Freeciv_2.1>`_
+* `How to Join a Longturn Game on Longturn Blog <https://longturn21.blogspot.com/p/how-to-join-longturn-game.html>`_.
+* `Intro to Longturn on Longturn Blog <https://longturn21.blogspot.com/p/introduction-to-longturn.html>`_.
+* `Freeciv for Absolute Beginners (short version) on Longturn Blog <https://longturn21.blogspot.com/p/freeciv-for-absolute-beginners-short.html>`_.
+
+
+Connecting to Longturn Games
+============================
+
+Freeciv21 is a client/server system. The game (client) is where we play and the server runs the rules and
+controls all aspects of the game engine. If you have only played single-player games, you may not be aware of
+this separation between components.
+
+Longturn games are hosted on a server with access to the Internet. Players of Longturn games will connect to
+the server from the :ref:`Connect to Network Game <game-manual-connect-network>` start menu option. Players
+will use the manual section in the lower left of the dialog box. The host is always ``longturn.net``, the
+game page on the Longturn website will tell you the TCP Port number to connect to for the specific game. You
+will use the same username and password as you use on the Longturn website when you registered for a game.
+
+
+A Note About Tilesets
+=====================
+
+Longturn games will generally use one of two map topologies: squares or hexes. Some players love squares, and
+hate hexes. Some players are the opposite! Longturn game admins will annouce up front what map topology a game
+will use.
+
+For squares: The shipped Amplio2 tileset is the default. It is in an isometric direction. There are two
+overhead tilesets available in the modpack installer --- RoundSquare and Sextant --- that you might prefer.
+
+For hexes: The shipped Hexemplio tileset is the default. It is in an isometric direction. There is an overhead
+tileset available in the modpack installer --- RoundHex --- that you might prefer.
+
+To use the alternate tilesets: download via the modpack installer, close the game, reopen and select an
+alternate tileset from the game menu. You can also make it default in the
+:ref:`Game Options <game-manual-more-game-options>` menu.

docs/Playing/how-to-play.rst

@@ -146,6 +146,8 @@ increasing trade), and Mines (increasing production), among other improvements.
 improvements on some tiles may require a technology advance to be learned by your scientists.
 See :title-reference:`Help --> Terrain --> Terrain Alterations` for more information.
 
+.. _how-to-play-city-placement:
+
 Deciding Where to Build Cities
 ------------------------------
 

docs/Playing/index.rst

@@ -6,6 +6,7 @@ Freeciv21 and any of the varying rulesets that the Longturn.net community likes
 
 
 .. toctree::
+  LT-Guide/index.rst
   faq.rst
   how-to-play.rst
   cma.rst