Players and Colors

Red and Blue Players

Player Colors and Initiative

The Neutral (White) Player

Red and Blue Players. Sanctum is a 2-player game. Every game pits the red player against the blue player. Players use these colors for the following:

• Group dots. These dots are drawn below every group sprite. 1 dot is drawn for every minion in the group.
• Enchantment dots. These dots are drawn to the left of every enchantment in the spell list box.
• Structure graphics. Owned towns and colonies are drawn in their owner's color.
• Chat text. Every line of chat you send to your foe is shown in your own color on both computers.

Player Colors and Initiative

• The red player always begins the game with initiative. This is similar to other board game rules, e.g. Black always moves first in checkers, and White always moves first in chess.
• The red player is determined by a random coin flip at the start of the game. In the long run, you will be the red player exactly half of the time, and the blue player exactly half of the time.

The Neutral (White) Player. In addition, there is a 3rd neutral player, which is played by the computer itself.

• No Sanctum. The neutral player has no Sanctum. It never wins or loses the game.
• Neutral structures. The neutral player owns all neutral structures.
  • No color. Neutral towns and colonies show no color.
  • No production. They never produce mana or novices.
• Neutral groups. The neutral player owns all neutral groups.
  • White dots. Neutral groups use white group dots.
  • Fights all. Neutral groups are hostile to everybody – including each other!
  • First nation's sprite. A neutral recruit group always shows the group sprite for its first recruit's nation.
• No orders. The neutral player never issues any orders.
  • It never trains any recruits.
  • It has no deck or hand. It never casts any spells “from hand”. However, the game engine itself casts various spells as part of other game and spell effects. Such spells are treated as neutral spells:
    • If visible, they are displayed in the spell list box with white caster dots.
    • Other spells that react to “non-friendly” spells will react to neutral spells (unless the game engine deliberately bypasses them).
• It never issues any movement orders.
  • Its computer-controlled groups always move last.
• Bot stop. Limitation: A neutral player-controlled group never moves (unless forced) as long as it remains neutral, since it is waiting for its owner to issue its movement orders, and the neutral player never does.
• “Half-initiative”. In combat, the neutral player fights before the non-initiative player does!

v2.20.00 Last updated 2009/03/26