How To Play NetSet

General Tips

• NetSet requires Windows 95/98 or Windows NT.  Your video card and monitor must support a resolution of at least 640 x 480 at 256 colors.
• During each phase of play, follow the instructions in the small text window above the map.
• As you move the mouse pointer around the screen, informative messages may appear in the text window under the map, giving you more information about the area under the pointer.
• As you move the mouse pointer over the map, dimmed settlements, cities, and roads will be displayed in areas where it is legal for you to build.  If you are unable to build at an edge or intersection for any reason (too close to another settlement, insufficient resources, not connected to road network), the structure will not appear. Building costs are displayed in the info text window.
• Not all activities are available at all times.  For example, you may not buy cards or trade before you roll the dice for your turn, so the trade pane is inactive during this phase and pressing the "Buy Development Card" button has no effect.  The game is intended to follow the rules strictly, so make sure you are playing by the rules before submitting a bug report.

Preparing To Serve a TCP/IP Network Game

Find out what the server's IP address is. To do this, the server player types "winipcfg" from the DOS prompt of a Windows 95/98 session or "ipconfig" from the DOS prompt of a Windows NT session.

Playing a TCP/IP Network Game

One player clicks the "Server" button and tells all other players his computer's IP address. The other players are now ready to connect.

All other players click "Client."  Enter your name and the server's IP address in the Network Settings dialog. If you don't connect in a few seconds, something is wrong. Double check the server's IP address.

All players must have the same NetSet version.

Game Setup

• While waiting for other players to connect, the server player may set the game options and stockpile distributions through the NetSet Options dialog. This dialog may be restored after it is closed by pressing the F1 function key. It is good form to inform the other players if the game setup deviates from the default Mayfair 3rd edition rules!
• Players may communicate by typing in the chat pane while other clients are connecting.
• Every player must select a color for their playing pieces by pressing the colored buttons on the right side of the display.
• After all clients have connected and everyone has selected a color, the server player may start the game.
• Client players may wish to check the game options immediately after the game starts by pressing the "Current NetSet Options" button (under the "End Turn" button) or by pressing the F1 function key.

The Player Region

• The panel on the left of the screen is divided into several regions.  Near the top are regions for each of the players displaying the player's name, number of knight cards played, available resource cards, and unplayed development cards.
• The player region outlined in red is the currently active player.
• To play a development card, click on it in the player region.  Remember that it must be your turn, you may only play one card per turn, and you may not play a card on the turn it is drawn.  Victory point cards can only be played if playing them will raise your score to at least ten points.
• Selecting a resource card from your player region will move it to the trade pane.  See below for instructions on using the trade pane.

The Display Panes

The area beneath the player regions can be toggled to show any one of five display panes.  From left to right, the panes are trade, victory point totals, the bank, chat, and info.  The info pane is not implemented in the current version of the game.

The Trade Pane

• The primary use of the trade pane is to allow players to trade resources among themselves and the bank during the build phase of their turns.  The Mayfair edition rules allow players to build and trade in any sequence, which is different from other translations of the German rules.  Each player has a display on this pane identified by a button corresponding to the player's color.  The current player's display is at the upper right while all other players are displayed along the left.  The five cards below the current player's display represent cards available for trade from the bank.
• To move a card from a player's hand to the trade pane, click on the card in the player's region above the trade pane.  It will appear in that player's trade display.
• To move a card from the trade display to a player's hand, click on the card in the trade display.  It will appear in that player's region above the trade pane.
• To select which player the current player will be trading with, press the button next to that player's name.  Alternatively, click on a bank card in the trade pane to trade with the bank.
• If trading with another player, click on the lock icon to lock in the trade.  No cards may be added to or removed from the trade while locked.  The other player may then accept the trade by selecting the "Make Trade" button.  The trading player may modify the trade by unlocking it, and clear the trade by pressing the "Clear Trade" button.
• The "Make Trade" button will remain dim until one of the following conditions are met:
• There is at least one card in the current player's trade display and at least one card in another player's trade display and the button next to that player has been selected.  The trade must be locked before the other player may make the trade.
• A bank card is selected and the current player's display in the trade pane contains four resource cards of the same type.
• A bank card is selected and the current player's display in the trade pane contains three resource cards of the same type and that player has a settlement or city in a generic 3:1 port.
• A bank card is selected and the current player's display in the trade pane contains two resource cards of the same type corresponding to a goods 2:1 port the player owns.
• Pressing the "Make Trade" button will swap the cards in the trade pane between the players making a trade and return all other cards to the owning player's hands.
• Pressing the "Clear Trade" button will return all cards to the owning player's hands.
• Trade example from the screenshot:  It is Blue's turn.  Blue has four lumber units, two wool units, and two grain units.  Red has two brick units, one wool unit, one grain unit, and one ore unit.  Blue has selected two of his lumber cards and one of Red's brick cards and then selected the button next to the Red player's trade display.  If Red agrees to the trade, Blue should press the "Make Trade" button; otherwise Blue should unlock the trade and press the "Clear Trade" button.
• The trade pane is also used to determine who to steal from when the robber is placed (select the player's button in the trade pane and press "Rob Player"), which resources to choose when playing the discovery development card (select the resources from the bank display of the trade pane), and which resource to choose when playing the monopoly development card (select the resource from the bank display of the trade pane).
• The tab above the trade pane will turn green if a player is initiating a trade or red if a player is locking in a trade.  This is helpful when a pane other than the trade pane is currently selected as it alerts the player that a trade activity is occuring.

The Victory Point Pane

• This pane displays the victory points gained by each player.
• A knight development card is displayed next to the player with the knight advantage and a road is displayed next to the player with the longest road advantage.
• The numbers next to cities represent victory points gained from cities, not the number of cities owned by the player.

The Bank Pane

• This pane displays the number of playing pieces remaining for each player as well as the number of unowned resource cards remaining.

The Chat Region

• There are two regions below the display panes.
• The upper, larger region is the chat region which will display the last four lines of text typed by players.
• The lower, short region will echo the text that a player types to be displayed in the chat region.  Text will be sent to all other players when the user presses the "Enter" key or when a complete line of text has been entered.
• Selecting the Chat pane tab will expand the chat region so that additional text may be viewed.
• The color of text in the chat region matches the color of the player sending the message. Game status messages appear in brown text.

 Taking Your Turn

• When it is your turn, an alert tone will sound. You are given the opportunity to play development cards before rolling the dice.
• To roll the dice, click on the dice image in the upper right of the map display.
• If you roll a seven, all players with more than seven cards must discard half their cards.  This is done by clicking on the card in the player's region.
• One of the game options which may be set by the server player will cause a re-roll of any seven which occurs before a specified turn number.
• After moving the robber, if only one adjacent opponent has a card to steal then that opponent is automatically the robber's target. Otherwise, use the trade pane to select which player to steal from.  Select the player's button in the trade pane and select the trade pane's "Rob Player" button.
• You may play cards, build structures and roads, and trade after you roll the dice.
• If you have the necessary resources and wish to buy a development card, click on the button with the white card containing a red question mark.
• Play development cards by clicking on them in your player region. Remember that only one development card may be played per turn and never on the turn it is drawn, with the exception of Victory Point cards.
• When you are finished with your turn, end your turn by clicking the button with the red arrow.

Ending The Game

• To exit the game, click on the window's "X" button in the upper right-hand corner of the window frame.