text:
Diplomacy/Austria

Austria/Austria-Hungary/Österreich-Ungarn (German)/Osztrák-Magyar Monarchia (Hungarian)

 * Leader in 1901: Kaiser Franz Joseph von Habsburg (Hungarian: Ferenc Jozsef);
 * Minister of the Imperial and Royal House and of Foreign Affairs of Austria-Hungary: Count Agenor Maria Gołuchowski;

Color: Red

Neighbors: Germany, Russia, Italy, and Turkey

Home supply centers: Trieste, Vienna, Budapest

It takes a skilled negotiator to prosper with Austria in Diplomacy. Austria has four neutral supply centers within reach in the first year and therefore has the capacity for explosive growth, but realistically one or more centers will have to be offered to other players in exchange for alliances. Austria lies in the centre of the board, and must placate or destroy Turkey, Russia, and Italy in order to do well. Germany, Austria's last neighbour, is usually more concerned with more western and northern affairs, and can usually be relied on as an ally for most of the game. Austria has the highest rate of early eliminations among all the seven Great Powers, and so the Archduke's strategy must have as its bedrock foundation early survival; fortunately, Austria is rarely a power that stagnates early. Unlike, say, England, Turkey or Italy -- for whom languishing at four centers the whole game is a real possibility -- Austria, should it survive to 1904, usually does so with a secure 6-7 center power base.

18 Center Goal
The other problem Austria has aside from the very real threat of an elimination by 1903 is converting a strong (10-12) center position into an outright victory. Austria is situated in what is essentially a central plain that stretches from Greece and Bulgaria in the south up to Germany in the northwest and St. Petersburg in the northeast. St. Petersburg and Germany can ultimately be defended by Western opposition against Austria to perfection, but Germany is close enough to be a feasible area of conquest. Germany, Austria, the Balkans, and southern Russia (that is, not St. Petersburg) account for thirteen centers. After that, the remaining centers will have to come from Turkey or Italy/Tunisia.

What this means is simple to say, but difficult to practice: Austria will have to develop some degree of naval power to claim a solo victory. The problem is twofold. For one, Austria has only one port, Trieste, which is often garrisoned against Italian attack and thus infrequently available for building. Furthermore, Trieste is extremely insulated from the sea; while this does make it easier to defend from western incursions, it also makes Austria's already-crippled naval development even more logistically difficult. Austria's fleet builds are as distant from any centers west of Venice as Turkey's are. Secondly, and perhaps more importantly, Turkey and Italy are just as dependent on control of the Mediterranean. They have more ports with which to raise a navy, as well. The only way Austria can outclass them in naval development is if they choose to devote most of their resources to a land campaign... but Austria is the most immediate target for either power seeking a land campaign.

All this goes to say that Austria's stagnation often comes later in the game and must be prepared for in advance. The most feasible winning centers are Vienna, Budapest, Trieste, Serbia, Greece, Rumania, Bulgaria, Warsaw, Moscow, Sevastopol, Constantinople, Venice, Rome, Naples, Tunisia, Berlin, and Munich, for 17; the eighteenth center will have to come from one of Kiel, St. Petersburg, Ankara, or Smyrna, and sometimes Western intervention will make Germany an impossibility, requiring Austria to look to Marseilles.

Strategy
Austria's biggest threat is of course the real possibility of being eliminated as early as 1902-1903. The top priority for Austria should be maintaining sovereignty over its home centers and acquiring two or three other supply centers. Austria is rich in options, with eight centers lying within reach in 1901, but a wise Archduke will not allow himself to be tantalized by explosive growth prospects and ignore his security for expansion's sake.

In essentially all cases, Austria should seek a nonaggression pact with Germany, demilitarizing Bohemia and Tyrolia in the process. Neither has anything to gain from early war between the two. If we think of Germany and Austria as the corridors through which the other powers expand -- as they are -- then one of them killing the other only expands them into the whole of the corridor; in short, the initial problem the victor had (being in the middle of everything) is not only not solved but made worse by victory. By the same logic, Austria should avoid early war with Italy. Italy is an odd case; to the Austrian player it is a corridor, because the western side of Italy is very vulnerable to a strong French attack (which will be invited, mind, by Italy doing poorly in a war against Austria), and so the logic against fighting Germany early stands for Italy as well. But Italy's position against Austria is much different, as if peace with France can be maintained then Italy is a fortress, difficult to attack from the Austrian side (Pie S Ven cuts off all land attacks from the east) and yet so easy from which to attack Austria if the opening presents itself. Thus, Austria can't make the same mutual appeal to Italy that it can make to Germany, and yet cannot resort to war because that only extends the corridor. Negotiating a mutual peace is in Austria's best interests, but it may be difficult to do.

This still leaves the other two neighbors, Russia and Turkey. Obviously stirring them up to a fight is best, and while neither alliance is particularly great for Austria, either is certainly preferable to none at all! Austria should on balance prefer an alliance with Russia to an alliance with Turkey, but it is highly recommended that Austria delay the decision to help either as long as possible and, in all circumstances, to ensure that Italy will stay with Austria over Turkey or Russia. Italy is the main problem for Austria here as well. Strictly in terms of the RAT triangle, Austria should prefer allying with Russia, as Austria has better opportunities for later growth, is less prone to being stabbed by Russia than by Turkey, and has better leverage with which to stab Russia than Turkey. But if Italy is actively involved in the destruction of Turkey with the RA alliance, Austria is in grave danger of Russia and Italy allying to destroy Austria next. The ideal blueprint for Austrian domination of the east is to play both sides of the Russia-Turkey conflict, getting them into a scrap over Rumania while Austria gets into position for a powerful sweep east. When the time comes, Austria should take Bulgaria first to ensure Turkey is no longer a threat; then Austria should immediately seize Rumania and Warsaw from Russia. If Russia is also in trouble in Scandinavia, the Russian position will totally collapse. Turkey will still live with its three home centers, but Austria can pick up the remnants of Russia and leave Turkey quarantined until rearguard units can take out the trash. If all of this can be accomplished, then Italy will be wanted in the East, running a Lepanto to harass Turkey and perhaps even assist in crushing Russia (after all, Syr -> Arm -> Sev isn't such a bad idea!).

The note on Scandinavia leads to the final chapter in dealing with the other powers: the West. Austria, like the rest of the East, wants the West to be in turmoil and unresolved. Given the earlier notes about a lack of seapower, it quickly becomes evident that a French triumph in the West is to Austria's detriment; this will open up St. Petersburg to Austria, but at the cost of Tunisia and Italy the tradeoff is certainly undesirable. Yet to see a strong Anglo-German alliance develop does not help Austria either, as France dying quickly most likely leads to Germany breaking the nonaggression pact first -- a most inconvenient turn of events. England is Austria's best match in the West, and perhaps the most ideal setup is an Anglo-German alliance to start. This alliance will force France on the defensive in the north, either giving Italy an opportunity to grab Iberia and Marseilles (and thus be distracted from the East long enough for Austria to ready its defenses) or the chance to Lepanto in peace (also very desirable, as noted above). This alliance will also cause the Russian position in Scandinavia to collapse. A well-timed EG incursion into Scandinavia can be the setup for forcing the total collapse of Russia that Austria needs in order to fill the power vacuum. But that must be the extent of the EG. England must be induced to stab Germany (or, more rarely, vice versa) before England turns to Moscow and Germany to the neutral zone. This event will pull Germany west, away from Austria's land and even away from the vital centers to an Austrian win, Berlin and Munich. By this point we have moved far beyond opening strategy, but a logical continuation from here would be to help England against Germany, grabbing Berlin and Munich and setting up defenses in the process; then, if Turkey has not been finished off, killing Turkey; and, finally, attacking Italy for the win.

Austria's choice of openings can be categorized in three main groups: the Balkan Gambit, which sends the army in Budapest and the fleet in Trieste south to secure Serbia and Greece, respectively, while the army in Vienna remains in the Austrian homeland for defense; the Hedgehog, which usually sends the army in Budapest after a Balkan build while keeping the fleet in Trieste and the army in Vienna within Austrian borders for defense; and miscellaneous openings, which cover attacks on Germany and Italy as well as specific opening systems.

The Balkan Gambit
The main feature of the Balkan Gambit is F Tri -> Alb. A Bud -> Ser is a critical part of the plan as well, but is such a common opening move that it betrays nothing. The Gambit is just that: It puts a lot of faith in Italy's goodwill in order to attain a dominant position on the Balkans. If the Archduke feels he can trust Italy, then the Balkan Gambit puts him in a powerful position after 1901, with a supported attack on Bulgaria or a move to Aegean Sea possible in S1902 as well as ensuring him two builds. If he guesses wrong and Italy attacks, however, the result is usually calamitous: at best, Austria can repel Italy using the whole of its military, but this only delays the inevitable partition of Austria by Turkey and Russia; at worst, Italy can conquer the whole of the Austrian mainland unassisted by 1902, and Austria finds itself eliminated by 1903. The different variations are named for the destination of the army in Vienna.

Pure Balkan Gambit (A Vie H)
The original Balkan Gambit had Vienna hold. This move was popular in the very beginnings of Diplomacy, as it was meant to be a sign of trust in Italy and Russia (as opposed to the Tyrolean, Trieste, or Galician variations), but it has fallen out of favor because it is far too passive if Italy or Russia are actual threats.

Trieste Variation (A Vie -> Tri)
Once the Pure Balkan Gambit fell out of favor, Austrians began to use their Vienna armies actively on defense. The rationale favoring the Trieste Variation made sense on the surface. The most dangerous of the various potential attacks on an Austria running the Gambit in S01 is the Italian move Rome -> Venice, Venice -> Trieste. Support holding Trieste allows Italy either to keep Trieste or retreat to Budapest (if Ser/Alb/Vie dislodge Tri, Bud is open); some Austrias play less defensively, some Italians play more aggressively, and the results can be disastrous, with Austria facing the loss of two home centers in the first year and a 3-build Italy in W01. So, by moving to Trieste, the Austrians shut down this threat. Initially it worked, but Italian players wised up and began ordering what is now known as the Obrieni Attack (Rome -> Venice, Venice -> Tyrolia); this move proves very inconvenient for the Trieste Variation, as now Austria *must* move Tri -> Vie (to cover that potential threat) and Alb -> Tri (Ser S) to cover against any Italian intrusions. Obviously, any interference from Russia or Turkey -- who have a lot to gain from carving up Austria -- proves fatal, and this variant too has fallen out of favor, though many an Austrian, convinced they have a DMZ with Russia in Galicia, order it anyway.

Tyrolean Variation (A Vie -> Tyr)
The Tyrolean Variation was the Austrian response to the Obrieni Attack. Most Italian players, after some experimentation with the Obrieni Attack, found it to be the superior choice of opening regardless of Austrian intentions with the army in Vienna. Given the uncertainty surrounding the Austrian Attack (Ven -> Tri, Rom -> Ven) and the fact that, at the time, the most popular move for Vienna was to Trieste, the Austrian Attack had greater prospects for screwing Italy over if Austria sniffed it out. It also has the advantage of not being 100% anti-Austrian: a trend later developed that saw Italy hold the army in Venice, while the army in Tyrolia went to Munich with support from a French army in Burgundy. Some particularly bold Austrians took advantage of this new trend with the Tyrolean Variation. This is the defensive equivalent of the Austrian Attack: a high-risk, high-reward play. If Austria guessed right and Italy moved Rom -> Ven -> Tyl, Vienna stands in place for defense against a possible Russian attack from Galicia and also defeats the Italian attack utterly. But if Austria guesses wrong, allowing Russia into Galicia while Italy, say, attacks France or runs a Lepanto, he is suddenly in the embarrassing position of appearing hostile to Italy AND Germany, while still being forced to return to cover Vienna from Russia. And if Italy orders the Austrian Attack, Austria is cooked. This move never became overly popular, but if Austria is sure that Italy is opening to Tyrolia *and* is anti-Austrian, then it can be quite the stunning move.

Bohemian Aberration (A Vie -> Boh)
The Bohemian Aberration is named so because the move to Bohemia is, predictably, unusual. Conventional wisdom suggests that an early Austrian-German war is disastrous for both sides, and this particular bit of conventional wisdom holds up. Thus, to even see aggression against Germany in the form of opening to Bohemia is aberrant. Furthermore, the purpose of the army in Vienna changes completely. Whereas in all other permutations of the Gambit the Viennese army is used on defense, the move to Bohemia would only defend against the inconceivably rare move A Mun -> Boh. It is mainly used as a springboard for a joint attack on Germany, in most cases with Russia. Not advised; acquisition of Munich may well come at the cost of Trieste, and if Russia backstabs and orders A War -> Gal instead of Sil (as, in this system, Russia is supposed to open), Austria is in a bind.

Budapest Variation (A Vie -> Bud)
The Budapest Variation is also aberrant in its purpose. Moving Vienna east to start, instead of north to Galicia or south/west to Tyrolia or Trieste, provides nothing in terms of defensive advantages; if neighbors are hostile, then Austria wants to move to those soft spots, not elsewhere. Budapest is an offensive move, used to acquire Rumania with support most of the time and possibly as a springboard to joint Austro-Turkish cooperation in the Balkans and beyond. The flaw lies in that intention, though; Galicia is a far better spot to conduct anti-Russian ventures in, as it also threatens the home center Warsaw and soft spot Ukraine (which border three Russian home centers and one normally-Russian neutral center!). The argument is that one doesn't want to bounce in Galicia, because then the third army isn't arrayed properly against Rumania; but, if Russia is moving to Galicia, and Austria is anti-Russian, it makes no sense to allow Russia a potshot at two home centers. And any ability to defend against Italy is nonexistent.

Galicia Variation (A Vie -> Gal)
The Galicia Variation is a logical extension of the logic behind the Balkan Gambit. If a player is going to move Trieste to Albania in the first place, he must have some kind of nonaggression or alliance arrangement with Italy in the first place. In that case, if Italy is lying, Austria is in trouble no matter what he plays, unless he gets preknowledge of Italy's attack and counters it right. At any rate, even defending against Italy only means a slightly slower death by Russia and Turkey. In short, if Italy attacks an Austria doing the Balkan Gambit, then regardless of how successful the defense against Italy is, Austria will die. Why not go all the way, then, and put total trust in Italy? If Austria is wrong, he is no worse off; he will die faster, but his death was inevitable, and in some eyes dragging out one's demise is not better than a quick exit anyhow. But if Austria is right, then he is suddenly in a very powerful position. If Austria can trust his Italian neighbor not to attack him straight away, then moving to Galicia is the best option: either a hostile Russia will be stood out of Galicia, or a passive Russia will have let Austria into Galicia. Then Austria has all kinds of options: an attack on Warsaw, supported moves to Rumania or Greece, or even a powerful position move into Ukraine (good luck sorting THAT out as the Russian player!) are all available, and even if by some crazy circumstance Austria faces hostilities on the border, it can STILL cover against an Italian attack (Gal -> Vie, Ser S Alb -> Tri -- no worse than the Trieste variation!) or the rare German excursion into Bohemia (Gal -> Vie).

Hedgehog Openings
The Hedgehog is a more defensive approach to Austria. In the Hedgehog, Austria moves its fleet in Trieste to Venice. The important part to this series of openings is that the move to Venice is defensive, not offensive: Austria doesn't intend to get into Venice, only to stall an Italian attack. The two most common anti-Austrian Italian openings both involve the move A Rom -> Ven (A Ven going to Tyl or Tri as the case may be). The Hedgehog stops that move, stops A Ven -> Tri, and thus hamstrings if not outright shuts down the Italian offensive. The tradeoff is that Austria loses significant influence on Greece, being at best able to send a single unit at it if anything at all.

(N.B. - There exists a similar thread of openings to the Hedgehog known as the "Roadhog" series of openings. The purpose and function of this thread is the same as the Hedgehog thread; the only difference is that the Roadhog has the fleet in Trieste stand, presumably so as not to offend Italy. This thread will not be covered separately because it is essentially a more passive version of the Hedgehog and all of its permutations.)

Pure Hedgehog: A Vie -> Gal, A Bud -> Rum
The "pure" Hedgehog sends the majority of the land forces Austria has after Russia, with the intention of standing Russia out of Rumania and Galicia. On the plus side, this can hamper the Russian advance significantly, especially with Turkish assistance; it is one of the better openings for dealing with Russia in an Austro-Turkish alliance, as it puts tremendous pressure on Russia (especially when coupled with Turkish F Ank -> BLA, A Smy -> Arm) while still not sacrificing defense against Italy. However, it is very weak to a Turkey with anti-Austrian intentions, as it can very easily lead to no builds in 1901.

Alpine Hedgehog: A Vie -> Tyr, A Bud -> Gal
Much like the "pure" Hedgehog, the Alpine variation sacrifices the guaranteed build in Serbia for the purpose of stopping a hostile opponent completely in its tracks. However, unlike the original, the opponent is Italy, not Russia; and, more importantly, it is guaranteed to stop a hostile opponent in its tracks (whereas Russia with a neutral Turkey can usually handle the pure Hedgehog). Used when Italy seems hostile and Turkish friendship can once again be assured, as the build in Serbia is once again not guaranteed.

Porcupine: A Vie -> Gal, A Bud S A Vie -> Gal, F Tri -> Ven
The Porcupine, despite the misnomer, is in fact a Hedgehog variant. By forcing Galicia, Austria hopes to try for both Rumania and Serbia (both unsupported) while protecting Galicia from Russian attack. It sacrifices the guaranteed build in Serbia for a shot at two builds while securing the Austrian borders from Russian and Italian attack. The "Dead Porcupine" aberration (aptly named) sends Budapest to Galicia with Vienna support, leaving Austria with basically no chance at a build.

Southern Hedgehog: A Vie -> Gal, A Bud -> Ser
The Southern Hedgehog sends the Budapest army south to pick up Serbia instead of east to hit Russia. This opening doesn't put nearly as much pressure on Russia as the move to Rumania does, but it does secure a build against everything but the absurdly rare German incursion into Bohemia. This opening is the quintessential Hedgehog opening; it is the least committal, with enough defensive moves to protect itself from all realistic threats without agitating any neighbors who weren't already committed to attacking Austria in the first place, and it ensures a build to use against whichever neighbor has given Austria most reason for mistrust.

Blue Water Opening: F Tri -> ADR
Austria very rarely sets out to conquer the seas in the early going of a round of Diplomacy; virtually all of its objectives are land-based, as are its potential threats, and while it is true that Austria is more or less required to raise a functioning navy of at least 2-3 fleets to conquer Italy and Turkey and win, such expenditures are rarely affordable early and even more rarely advisable. Nevertheless, in the right diplomatic framework, an opening to the Adriatic Sea can be useful. This most often signals an attack on Italy, especially if done in the "Von Metzke Blitz" opening (named after Conrad von Metzke, an older Diplomacy player reputed for attacking Italy from the start as Austria) which sends Budapest to Trieste and Vienna to Tyrolia. These openings are rarely advised because they either divide Austria's front and make the defense of Austria's gains very difficult or they pull Austria away from the Balkans entirely, sacrificing great gains and putting Austria in peril on the eastern front for relatively sparse gains in Italy.

The most notable exception to the above paragraph is the Blue Water Lepanto, where Austria opens seemingly anti-Italian but actually inserts its fleet into Italy's convoy line. The result of this is to free up Italy's second fleet build for use against France; combined with the army most Italian players leave behind when running the Lepanto and any support from England or Germany, Italy can be a force in the west.

title: Diplomacy/Austria


text:
Diplomacy/Germany

Germany/Second Reich/Kaiserreich (German)
Leader at 1901: Kaiser Wilhelm II

Color: Black

Neighbors: France, England, Russia, Austria

Home supply centers: Berlin, Munich, Kiel

The Germans can often do well in the first year, and can also hinder others; notably Russia in Sweden and France in Holland/Belgium. However, when playing Germany it is vital that you have good relations with England and/or France, as their target is naturally Germany. Playing with Germany can be a challenge as a result of its central position, but its advantage is the great many options that are available to it.

Germany can guarantee the supply centres Denmark and Holland in the first year, and has roughly an equal claim on Belgium together with England and France. Germany could take part in two major alliances in the beginning: Ally with England into France, or ally with Russia, Turkey, and Italy into Austria. France is going to be a large enemy, because Germany is the best way for France to break through. Going through the Mediterranean with West Mediterranean, Gulf of Lyon, and Piedmont is too slow. Keep in mind, most players who win own Munich, since it is the gateway to Western Europe and/or Eastern Europe.

18 Center Goal
Germany is an extremely flexible country—even more so than France. Switzerland is all that stands between Germany and amazing geographical domination, and a massive central-European powderkeg, similar to the battle for the Balkans in Eastern Europe. Germany can deploy units in all directions and rush to conquer the final center required for victory. The ability to build in Munich is key to German flexibility, allowing Germany to throw armies across the stalemate line to conquer VIE or VEN to win.

Germany needs its three home centers, plus the Low Countries (2), Scandinavia (3), England (3), PAR and BRE from France, STP, WAR, and MOS from Russia for 16. Then Germany needs two of MAR, SPA, POR, VIE, VEN, and SEV to win. MAR, SPA, and POR are usually the easiest, but require a strong naval presence. Otherwise, Germany can push troops across the stalemate line to grab the final few centers.

Opening Strategy
Germany has almost as much flexibility as France, but is not in as safe a position. Depending on the opening strategy, Germany is either guaranteed Denmark or Holland, and usually has a finger in the debate over Belgium.

Germany's main choice is where to put his fleet—moving the fleet to Denmark provides leverage against Russia, but moving the fleet to Holland gives a better shot at three builds.

A MUN - RUH, A BER - KIE: Blitzkrieg Openings
Diplomatically neutral, this is the most popular German opening, gives him a shot at three builds, and focuses on the main point of contention for the West in 1901—the Low Countries.

F KIE - DEN: Danish Variation
Recommended opening to every German player, since Denmark is always guaranteed for Germany (lest Fleet Kiel should slack off and do not move, allowing an English Fleet North Sea able to take over). This also opens Germany's way into Scandanavia, over which it may have to fight with England and Russia.

F KIE - HOL: Dutch Variation
Those who think that Denmark can still be captured later prefer this move - it guarantees Holland. Of course, keep in mind that Scandinavia can be taken very quickly.

A MUN - BUR
Most of these are arranged standoffs with France over BUR—it is difficult for Germany to mount an effective attack on France in 1901 because he does not have enough units bordering French territory. All of France's centers can be covered if Germany manages to slip the army in, and the German army is better positioned in RUH to take BEL and HOL.

A MUN - BUR, F KIE - HOL, A BER - KIE
This move requires the alliance of Russia and Austria-Hungary. With this move you have a possibility of 3 gained supply centers by spring 1902. This move is very anti-France and should (with the help of England) be able to take down France fairly quickly.

A MUN - SIL
This move keeps Silesia safe from an errant Russian army and thus all but guarantees that you can hold Berlin/Munich in Fall 1901. However, Russia moves into Silesia in Spring 1901 so infrequently that the diplomatic disadvantages of moving to Silesia (ticking off a major neighbor) likely outweigh the tactical benefits. If Mun-Sil does succeed and Austria also succeeds with a move to Galicia in Spring 1901, then a supported attack on Warsaw in Fall 1901 is theoretically possible, but Austria will likely have other plans for Galicia, or even want to claim Warsaw for himself, which would be awkward.

A MUN - TYR
This move aims to keep Italy's army out of Tyrolia, to the benefit of both you and Austria-Hungary. If Italy's move to Tyrolia is bounced, then Munich and Vienna/Trieste are kept safe in fall. However, the move to Tyrolia can be slightly inconvenient if it succeeds, as now you have likely upset both Italy and Austria-Hungary and given yourself less say in the critical Western theater over the low countries. Rarely, you may have the opportunity from Tyrolia to grab Venice/Vienna/Trieste in Fall 1901, but this is probably ill-advised unless the right diplomatic conditions are present. Most likely it is better to pack your bags and move back to Munich in fall.

A MUN hold
One subtle, overlooked move for Munich is to hold. Holding Munich is defensively sound; additionally, you upset no one and force England and France to fight amongst themselves over Belgium. If you are facing no immediate threats to your homeland in Fall 1901, then your army in Munich can move to Ruhr to set up your own play for Belgium in Spring 1902. Ordering Munich to hold also keeps your diplomatic options open for 1902, when you can surprise one of your neighbors with your two builds gained from Holland and Denmark. For example, you could bait France into building two fleets and then build two armies yourself, giving yourself a decisive advantage in the war over Belgium/Burgundy and all but certainly bringing England into your camp.

license: Creative Commons - Attribution Share-Alike - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

title: Diplomacy/Germany


text:
Guide to X11/References and Links

Other Wikibooks

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 * Guide to Unix the stuff inside that xterm
 * XFree86 and Xorg are open source; you can freely copy, redistribute, and modify them.
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title: Guide to X11/References and Links


text:
Diplomacy/Italy

Italy/Italia (Italian)

 * Leader in 1901: Prime Minister Giuseppe Saracco (until February 15), followed by Prime Minister Giuseppe Zanardelli;
 * Head of State: King Victor Emmanuel III;

Color: Green

Neighbors: France, Germany, Austria, and Turkey

Home supply centers: Rome, Venice, Naples

Italy is often considered as one of the weaker countries because it has minimal access to neutral supply centers; it can only reach Serbia, Greece, and Tunisia in the first year, it must choose between the latter two, and the first one is not only Austria's only guaranteed center but it also requires Austria to give that center up. Italy cannot get off to a rapid start without attacking its neighbors in 1901. Fortunately for Italy, it can often be the catalyst of a massive invasion of any one of those neighbors, and in the short term often profits from three such invasions (Germany being the only one in which Italy is likely to get the short end of the stick right off the bat.) Italy's second problem, though, is that in the long term it often gets picked off after catalyzing the invasions, because it never manages to consolidate its position diplomatically, tactically and strategically, and its former friends decide to continue expansion without it.

The primary challenge to Italian supremacy, then, is the difficulty involved in making allies for the long term; it takes a player of sound tactical skill, honed persuasive abilities, and keen strategic vision to excel as Italy, even moreso than the other powers. Most Diplomacy players fail to conduct the nuanced diplomacy needed to secure allies for the long term, or fail to see the strategic picture correctly, or otherwise flop in tactics during the opening round of invasions and fail to make any substantial progress in the first place, and so Italy has developed a reputation for weakness. For a player with all of the talents needed to excel, however, the Italian position is one of the best in the game: extremely easy to defend by land, available oceans for the kind of naval supremacy any winning power (not named Austria) must develop, home centers placed near several stalemate lines for quick reinforcement (on defense) or sudden breaches (on offense), and several small knots of easily-defended centers which can be seized in the initial strike and converted to a strong power base through the middle and end games (southern Balkans, Turkey, Iberia). The trick is to get the alliances needed to seize one or more of these knots in the beginning and then maintain the alliances needed to secure them until Italy is ready for a winning push.

Italy can open against any four of its neighbors, though which neighbors can be targeted first can also be narrowed down without much trouble. Germany is highly impractical as the only efficient means of accessing the country is through its home center in Munich; ignoring Munich, it takes the Italian armies two years to get in position to take Berlin, and Munich is nearly impossible to hold from the south, let alone converted to a strong base of operations. The remaining three neighbors are more reasonable options for the initial strike: Austria can be hit through the Tyrolean corridor or surprised with convoys into the southern Balkan region, Turkey can be hit with a Lepanto opening, and Italy can often profit from an Anglo-German-spearheaded assault on France.

18 Center Goal
Italy has one of the most diverse sets of winning centers. The only truly sure things for Italy are that it will hold Venice, Rome, Naples, and Tunisia in any winning line. The most common winning set contains Italy, Austria, Tunisia, Iberia, Marseilles, Balkans, Turkey, and Sevastopol for a winning 18.

The realm of reasonable expansion for Italy likely extends to England in the north; most excursions to the British Isles occur as isolated lone-raider fleets swiping Liverpool coming out of the Middle Atlantic Ocean, though in a lasting alliance with Austria which sees Italy going France first, Italy could reasonably secure the whole island as part of a campaign through France and England into Germany or even Scandinavia. In the east, Italy can reach as deep into Russian lands as Warsaw and Moscow, though St. Petersburg is fairly unlikely (unless a raider fleet managed to sneak through into the Atlantic to Barents Sea). That one can even discuss the possibility of Italy capturing St. Petersburg by moving armies into Moscow and fleets into Barents Sea illustrates the point: Italy has a reasonable (though unlikely) shot at ANY center on the board, a feat shared by no other power sans Russia and perhaps Germany.

There are a few sets of 18 which make the most logical sense, however, depending on Italy's focus in the game. Western: Italy, Tunisia, England, France, Iberia, Lowlands, Munich, Norway, Denmark, Kiel Southern: Italy, Tunisia, Austria, Balkans, Turkey, Sevastopol, Marseilles, Iberia Eastern: Italy, Tunisia, Austria, Balkans, Turkey, Russia (or Russia-minus-St. Petersburg + Munich, Berlin, Marseilles, or Spain) Austrian: Italy, Tunisia, Greece, Turkey, Iberia, France, England, Belgium, Trieste

Western series indicates an Italian in a game-long alliance with Austria wherein Italy starts by opening against France, and continues focusing on the west to achieve victory. Eastern series indicates an Italian in a game-long alliance with France wherein Italy focuses its entire efforts in the east, only grabbing a western center for #18. Southern series is probably the most common and indicates a balanced Italian approach, where the western trio of Marseilles+Iberia is most likely claimed during a middle game push before France can turn into the Mediterranean. The Austrian series indicates a near-game-long alliance with Austria which started with a Lepanto; Greece is probably taken by stab, Trieste definitely by stab, both coming near the end as Italy pushes for a solo after securing the limits of reasonable western expansion without Austrian help.

In short, Italy's 18 center goal is incredibly diverse and allows for quite a bit of flexibility in picking a target. This flexibility is a counterbalance to its lack of neutral centers, and must be exploited to the fullest if Italy has a serious hope of winning.

Opening Strategy
As mentioned before, Italy needs to focus on diplomacy above all other powers. The first step is to see where the winds are blowing regarding France, Austria, and Turkey; it's incredibly unlikely that all three of these powers are going to avoid being targeted first, and so Italy can figure out which one is most liable to being attacked and join in. All the while, care should be taken to avoid being the next one on anyone's list, and so Italy needs to foster strong relations with all the other powers to keep things mixed up across the board. Italy wants to see England and Germany attack France first, without a doubt, so that Italy can turn east and seek its opening centers elsewhere (if opportunity beckons) or seek them from France in a three-power pileup. In the east, Italy needs to foster an airtight alliance with Russia and steer the east toward a three-way invasion of Austria or Turkey; this will inevitably leave a survivor between Russia and Italy, perfect for the next partition. If Italy is looking west first, then Italy should want to see a Russia-Austria alliance against Turkey, because Austria-Turkey is disastrous for Italy, and because Russia-Turkey will lead to Turkey outracing Italy in the contest to build a navy and either Russia excelling too much (by way of a good stab) or almost certainly elimination by Turkey.

Italy's fleet usually heads to ION, so his main choice is where to put the army in VEN. It can head north—to TYR, either to grab MUN from Germany or to attack Austria, hold its position, or head west towards France.

A VEN - TYR: Tyrolian Opening
Opening to Tyrolia usually means an early Italian attack on Austria, a popular and strong strategy.

A ROM - VEN: The Obriani Attack
The most popular opening for Italy, this opening gives Italy a great shot at two builds, TUN, and an Austrian center or MUN. Although the attack on Austria is quick and often deadly, an Italian attack on Germany through MUN has become more popular, with the northern army bothering the Western Triple, conquering a center every now and then, until Italy can muster enough troops to turn west in force.

A ROM - APU: The Tyrolian Lepanto
The opening advocated by Leif Bergman in his article on Italy, Go Fasta Go Fasta, it is extremely powerful and duplicitous. It requires incredibly strong diplomatic skill to pull off, but if the opening works, Italy can take TUN or convince Turkey to help him into GRE, and grab TRI, VIE, or MUN with his army in TYR.

A VEN - PIE: Alpine Openings
The attack on France is generally quite weak—even if Italy manages to grab MAR in 1901, he is unlikely to keep it. France and Italy are natural allies, as they extend their territorial reach towards Russia.

A ROM - APU: The Alpine Lepanto
A hopeful opening—if Italy can enlist German and English support, the attack can dismantle France very quickly. This is a big if, and is usually used only as part of the Triple Alliance.

A ROM - VEN: The Alpine Chicken
Named because it often indicates an Italian desire to attack Austria without showing his hand immediately by stepping into TYR, the move is often followed by A VEN - TRI, A PIE - TYR, giving Italy a position against Austria.

A VEN H or A VEN - TRI and A ROM - APU: The Lepanto
One of the most popular opening strategies for Italy is alliance with Austria. The border region of TYR-TRI-VEN is kept clear - usually by a constant bounce between TRI and VEN.

title: Diplomacy/Italy


text:
Diplomacy/Russia

Russia/Russian Empire/Российская Империя (Russian)
Leader at 1901: Tzar Nicholas II

Color: Purple (White in American edition)

Neighbors: Germany, Austria, Turkey, England

Home supply centers: Moscow, Warsaw, St. Petersburg, Sevastopol. (Fleet at St. Petersburg starts the game on the South Coast)

At first glance, Russia may seem to be the strongest power, as she begins the game with four units, compared to the three allotted to every other power. However, Russia has the largest territory to defend, and can find herself in a very vulnerable position. She must fight either England/Germany for control of Scandinavia or Turkey/Austria for control of the Balkans. If attacked by Germany through Moscow early on, Russia may encounter a three-front war and find it difficult to prevail. Thus, Russia must rely on her diplomacy, and hope that her neighbors do not ally against her. Fortunately for Russia, well-coordinated attacks by multiple alliances are rarely successfully staged against one power early on. Not until that power's growth rate is too large and becomes a clear threat to all the others will they ally, and by then it may be too late.

18 Center Goal
4 home supply centers, Scandinavia (Norway, Denmark, Sweden), Turkey (Constantinople, Ankara, Smyrna), Austria (Budapest, Vienna, Trieste), the Balkans (Serbia, Bulgaria, Rumania,Greece) makes it 17. The remaining one most likely would be Venice, Tunis, or Munich.

Opening Strategy
Russia has the largest and most robust choice of openings out of any power on the board. She can attack England, by moving A Moscow to St. Petersburg, challenging Norway, attack Germany through Silesia, attack Austria through Galicia, or attack Turkey through the Black Sea, all on the first turn! Russia's opening position, however, is almost as vulnerable as Austria, and The Bear can be forcibly brought down by her neighbors if she is not careful, or strong enough to defend.

A MOS - STP: The Northern System
The Northern Opening flexes Russia's diplomatic muscle—now relations with England, France, and Germany become equally important as the relations with the Eastern powers. The army in St. P may be used either to bounce England out of Norway in Fall 1901, crippling his growth, or St. P may slide into Finland in Fall 1901, establishing a chokehold in Scandinavia. Either way, the idea is to capture Norway in 1902 or, more rarely, transition southwards towards an anti-German attack on Denmark with English help.

A WAR - GAL: The Octopus
Named because Russia stretches all of its units out in all directions, threatening Austria, Turkey, England, and Germany. It provides maximum flexibility, as well as a shot at multiple builds. Russia can sometimes even convince England to give up NWY by opening to STP. Richard Sharp considers this Russia's strongest opening. Also known as the Austrian Attack

A WAR - UKR: The Squid
Extremely pro-Austrian, this opening is named because a squid is like an octopus, but with two weak legs. The opening gives Russia more say over RUM, but at the cost of losing some traction with Austria, who can make a grab for RUM or WAR in the fall if he moves to GAL.

F SEV - RUM: The Jellyfish
A weaker version of the Squid takes RUM as quickly as possible, and is terribly pro-Turkish to the point of groveling. A shrewd Turkey will take this opportunity to attack Russia, possibly with Austrian help. If Austria and Turkey make their most common moves (A Vie-Gal and F Ank-BLA), then your southern position is extremely compromised and likely already lost.

A MOS - UKR: Southern Systems
More popular than the Northern System by a fair margin, the southern system is safe, though not likely to inspire fear in England or Germany, and almost guarantees a build in RUM.

F SEV - RUM: The Austrian Defense
While this move order virtually guarantees Rumania, it is slightly illogical since a fleet in Rum is useless in an attack on Austria. If the goal is to attack Austria, then holding F Sev in Spring 1901 and then supporting Ukr-Rum in Fall 1901 may be the better option.

A WAR - SIL: The German Attack
Usually suicidal. An unsupported attack on a German home center is no better than 50/50 and the move to Sil means Germany will certainly block you out of Swe (if Germany moved F Den in Spring 1901). Save this one for those rare situations where you are certain Germany will move F Hol, feel confident in holding the south, and can count on French or Italian support to Munich in Fall 1901.

A MOS - SEV: Sevastopol Openings
Although the Black Sea may seem unimportant because it is so small, it borders five supply centers, one of which is a Russian home supply center, and two of which are Turkey's. Of course, should Fleet Ankara make a surprise move to Armenia, you will have to move Fleet Sevastopol back, unless you want Ankara. If the fleet move to Black Sea fails, however, then so will Moscow to Sevastopol.
 * F SEV-BLA

This tricky move preserves diplomatic options and offers a back-door attack on Turkey via Sevastopol to Armenia in Fall 1901. Best used in conjunction with F Rum-BLA and A Ukr-Rum in Fall 1901, though this maneuver can be difficult to arrange without a compliant Turkey and a trusting Austria.
 * F SEV-RUM

title: Diplomacy/Russia


text:
Talk:God for the Third Millennium/Evolution of the living beings on the Earth

The niche for modern man
The Neanderthal man was not a threat to the survival of Homo Sapiens Sapiens, rather the contrary. The niche for Homo Sapiens Sapiens (and the species itself) existed well before the extinction of Homo Neanderthalis. The proliferation of the latter was the likely cause of the extinction of the former.

"previous Universe"??
There is no time trans-universe. I should think the theme would imply that at least some attention was paid to the developments in physics over the last ten years.

and still no mention of the AP.

Evolution does not have a goal to reach Homo Sapiens
Evolution does not happen by placing a goal ahead of it. It is a random process. Homo erectus does not have the goal to evolve into Homo sapiens. It evolved in Homo neanderthalensis Homo floresiensis and Homo sapiens. Survival of only one branch is not proof of God.

Evolution has not stopped. We are still evolving as every living organism is.

BTW, we have named ourselves Homo sapiens that means wise men. If some much more intelligent being has to name us, he may name us Homo Stupidus.


text:
Talk:Guide to X11/Window Managers

TODO
I am moving my TODO note from the module to here. --Kernigh 22:20, 29 January 2006 (UTC)

title: Talk:Guide to X11/Window Managers


text:
User talk:Ciaran~enwikibooks

Welcome
Hello and welcome to Wikibooks!

Here are some tips to help you get started:
 * You can sign your name on Talk and vote pages using four tildes, like this: ~~~~.
 * Remember to conduct any editing experiments in the sandbox.
 * Check out our help page if you need additional help.
 * Eventually, you might want to read the Manual of Style and Policies and Guidelines.
 * Take a look at Naming policy
 * See list of templates which can save your time
 * Remember to maintain a Neutral point of view.
 * Explore, be bold in editing pages, and have fun!

You will find more resources in Community Portal. If you want to ask a question, visit the Study help desk, the Staff lounge, IRC channel or ask me personally on my talk page.

Good luck!--Derbeth talk 22:21, 29 January 2006 (UTC)

Your account will be renamed
Hello,

The developer team at Wikimedia is making some changes to how accounts work, as part of our on-going efforts to provide new and better tools for our users like cross-wiki notifications. These changes will mean you have the same account name everywhere. This will let us give you new features that will help you edit and discuss better, and allow more flexible user permissions for tools. One of the side-effects of this is that user accounts will now have to be unique across all 900 Wikimedia wikis. See the announcement for more information.

Unfortunately, your account clashes with another account also called Ciaran. To make sure that both of you can use all Wikimedia projects in future, we have reserved the name Ciaran~enwikibooks that only you will have. If you like it, you don't have to do anything. If you do not like it, you can pick out a different name.

Your account will still work as before, and you will be credited for all your edits made so far, but you will have to use the new account name when you log in.

Sorry for the inconvenience.

Yours, Keegan Peterzell Community Liaison, Wikimedia Foundation 23:02, 17 March 2015 (UTC)

Renamed
 This account has been renamed as part of single-user login finalisation. If you own this account you can |log in using your previous username and password for more information. If you do not like this account's new name, you can choose your own using this form after logging in: . -- Keegan (WMF) (talk) 04:48, 19 April 2015 (UTC)

title: User talk:Ciaran~enwikibooks


text:
Talk:XML - Managing Data Exchange/The one-to-many relationship

Pre-revision comments
Revisions by Marc Hunt

 * Add the banner to the top of the page with the objectives listed
 * In the examples of implementing a one-to-many, use the example from later in the chapter with cities and hotels
 * Add more data about the inter-document relationship
 * Place the empty element tag within the schema data types section, or create another section for it
 * Place the first and third paragraphs located after the implementation techniques in the introduction section
 * Create a section header for the schema section including data types, patterns, regex, and the example
 * Move the Regex section up before the schema example to go with the discussion of patterns
 * Fix the examples so that the text stays within the box and doesn't scroll across the screen
 * Title the document and stylesheet sections

Revisions by editorial board - Moussa

After looking at the chapter and the points that Marc mentioned, these are the one I would focus on:
 * Should start like previous chapter with a short introduction then the model and use Tourguide example instead of player as Marc mentioned, this will help us stay consistent with the structure and content.
 * XML Schema Data Types should go further down next to Empty Elements with Attributes in XML Documents.
 * The introduction is empty, Marc has a good idea to get rid of the teams example, then we can keep the paragraphs and use them as the introduction.
 * Should reorganize the contents: give more relevant sections and get rid of the “Common Errors in NetBeans”, it will go to the part dedicated to “XML Editor”.
 * About the exercises, I noticed that they do include some advance stylesheet, we can put some easier exercises and transfer these to the Stylesheet chapter.
 * "Move the Regex section up before the schema example to go with the discussion of patterns" (N/A Regex section will no longer be in this chapter).
 * "Fix the examples so that the text stays within the box and doesn't scroll across the screen" (I think this one only depends on the size of your screen).
 * "Place the empty element tag within the schema data types section" (I think this one would be better than creating a new section)

Revisions by editorial board - viji

 * there are document examples for containment, intra-document, and inter-document representations for a 1:many relationship, but the schema only addresses the containment method; please include schemas for the intra-document and inter-document methods (feel free to ask Dr. Watson for resources or advice)

thank you

rtw 01:30, 2 Feb 2006 (UTC)

The preceding plan and suggested changes make sense. Go ahead Marc.

post-revision comments
viji
 * Good work on including the intra and inter document schema examples.
 * Please cut the Exercises stuff and paste into a separate examples page.

nice job

Final comments - Moussa
Overall good job. Just need to add link to exercises and answers.


text:
Talk:God for the Third Millennium/Progress

The way the inborn gifts manifest is specified by the culture
The different forms of above-average intelligence (or genius) appear in all reasonably rich human populations. Nevertheless, it is likely that specific forms of intelligence are selected for in specific cultures. But it is on cultural level that we differentiate between technically progressing civilisations and steady-state civilisations, the frequency of geniuses is a biased measure and not a cause of progress.

There are no superior or inferior races
To say that God has created some people differently is racism. 63.199.37.10 20:43, 21 February 2006 (UTC)Assuming there is a god63.199.37.10 20:43, 21 February 2006 (UTC) Did God deliberately make some people less intelligent?

If we have to believe your opinions, Christians are the best creation of God and Australian aborigines are one of the least ones, others falling some where in between. In addition, God does not want people to worship golden calf.

So what He wants us to worship? Let me guess, Jesus Christ! Otherwise, he will make us less intelligent.

God’s rule is simple worship Jesus Christ; become more intelligent, worship others; become less intelligent and less developed, poor … !!


text:
Talk:God for the Third Millennium/Regress

AIDS is not a cure
The AIDS pandemy will hopefully be tammed and the disease cured with progress of medicine. The pandemies are not specific to our times. It is disputable whether (and unlikely that) sexually transferred diseases are protagonists in development of morality and mental health. The birthrate in developed countries is low, so the overpopulation fatum is not strictly linked with progress.

=
====

What about a child who got infected by AIDS from his/her mother. Did God punish that child for no sin and no immorality? What kind of God will devise such method to make us progress!! How is it a progress??


text: Template:Java:kw

title: Template:Java:kw


text:
Magic: The Gathering/Emperor Format

In Emperor (a six player format), two players are the emperors, and the remaining four players are the guards (two for each emperor). Players can only attack, target, and affect the players sitting immediately next to them. If an emperor dies, his or her team loses.

The main strategy for the emperor player is to use cards that give everybody bonuses (card draws, mana production, creature power, life gain, etc.) This enables the emperor's guards to play larger threats more quickly and ultimately should cause the opponents to lose due to being overwhelmed by powerful threats and answers.

Some Emperor formats ban alternate win cards (Barren Glory, Mortal Combat, etc.) to prevent abuse of the amount of time it would take to get past the emperor's guards and stop that condition from happening. Generally by suspending a Greater Gargadon with Barren Glory to sacrifice all of his other permanents or use Cephalid Illusionist and Shuko to empty one's deck into their graveyard with Mortal Combat.

title: Magic: The Gathering/Emperor Format


text:
User talk:Johnrigdon~enwikibooks

Welcome to Wikibooks
Thank you for contributing to Wikibooks. We value new cotributions to this project.

I would like to ask you to get to know some of the general policies that we have here on Wikibooks:

 * What is Wikibooks
 * Policies and guidelines

I noticed a new Wikibook that you are starting called Where There Is No Dentist. This is an awsome project, but unfortunately this is not something we encourage here on Wikibooks. Things of this nature are more appropriate on our sister project called Wikisource. I would strongly recommend that you try to drop a message at the Wikisource Scriptorium first and ask them for some guidance for how to proceed, although I don't see any reason to stop this effort in general. You may want to post the original English content as well, making sure that you have copyright permission from the original author.

Make sure that all content that you add here can be added through the Gnu Free Document License or a compatable content license. Since this is a relatively new book, we generally presume that copyright permission was not granted unless explicit permission from the author is somehow noted with some way to verify the copyright permission, including from any publisher of the book as well.

Like I said, this is a very noble project you are working on, and I would like to encourage you to continue that project. Just keep in mind that we are aiming here to produce English language textbooks here and this is not just an open web server to put whatever content you would like to add. Still, we want to encourage new contributors to Wikibooks and I hope I havn't discouraged you from making any progress.

If you have any questions, you can add a note at the bottom of my user talk page or you can even write a private e-mail message to me asking for further assistance. I want to see that you can proceed with your translation project in the best possible place, and not get accidently deleted because of a misunderstanding of what it is all about. --Rob Horning 23:59, 29 January 2006 (UTC)

About the translation project
Out of curiosity, would it not be easier to first translate it into French and then retranslate from French? You might be able to tap into a larger pool of translators, no? -- Kowey 13:34, 15 February 2006 (UTC)

Your account will be renamed
Hello,

The developer team at Wikimedia is making some changes to how accounts work, as part of our on-going efforts to provide new and better tools for our users like cross-wiki notifications. These changes will mean you have the same account name everywhere. This will let us give you new features that will help you edit and discuss better, and allow more flexible user permissions for tools. One of the side-effects of this is that user accounts will now have to be unique across all 900 Wikimedia wikis. See the announcement for more information.

Unfortunately, your account clashes with another account also called Johnrigdon. To make sure that both of you can use all Wikimedia projects in future, we have reserved the name Johnrigdon~enwikibooks that only you will have. If you like it, you don't have to do anything. If you do not like it, you can pick out a different name.

Your account will still work as before, and you will be credited for all your edits made so far, but you will have to use the new account name when you log in.

Sorry for the inconvenience.

Yours, Keegan Peterzell Community Liaison, Wikimedia Foundation 23:17, 17 March 2015 (UTC)

Renamed
 This account has been renamed as part of single-user login finalisation. If you own this account you can |log in using your previous username and password for more information. If you do not like this account's new name, you can choose your own using this form after logging in: . -- Keegan (WMF) (talk) 05:05, 19 April 2015 (UTC)

title: User talk:Johnrigdon~enwikibooks


text: Template:Java:int

title: Template:Java:int


text:
Java Programming/Keywords/for

is a Java keyword.

It starts a looping block.

The general syntax of a, using , is

for-looping-statement ::= condition-clause single-statement | block-statement condition-clause   ::=   Boolean Expression   single-statement   ::= Statement block-statement    ::=   Statement [ Statement ]

For example:

See also:
 * Java Programming/Keywords/while
 * Java Programming/Keywords/do

title: Java Programming/Keywords/for


text: Template:Java:for

title: Template:Java:for


text: Template:Java:null

title: Template:Java:null


text: Template:Java:true

title: Template:Java:true


text: Template:Java:false

title: Template:Java:false


text:
User:Spectrogram~enwikibooks

My interests are signals analysis, DSP, physics, number theory, and Linux.

title: User:Spectrogram~enwikibooks


text: Template:Java:String

title: Template:Java:String


text:
Java Programming/Keywords/int

is a keyword which designates the 32 bit signed integer primitive type.

The  class is the nominal wrapper class when you need to store an  value but an object reference is required.

Syntax:  = ;

For example:

See also:
 * Java Programming/Primitive Types

title: Java Programming/Keywords/int


text:
Talk:God for the Third Millennium/God from the computer

"ontological difference"?
Why is it called "ontological difference", where there does not seem to be any fundamental difference in the aim itself, only in the Persons?

Reading the Message
Even if there is message imprinted in the tissue of matter, could we read it? Reference, e.g.: Stanislaw Lem: "Master's Voice".

There is no implication from the fact, that God created matter in a specific way (so that it was "bound" to bring life on Earth) to the fact that building specific type of computer will reveal God, or "let God speak" (unless this was "bound" also).


text:
Talk:God for the Third Millennium/Epilogue

Computers are only tools; salvation is within the hearts of men.

"It is not the computer, you did it" From one movie where we've seen software application in sports. --195.178.36.134 13:57, 16 March 2006 (UTC)

Good
This was very good, I think I can grasp the concept of God "Speaking to us through the computer" It makes sense, and you're very straight forward, blunt. So many people would be offended and probably assume you were the Anti-christ, possessed, or mislead, and you probably know that, but you stuck with it anyway.

After a little revisory I give it a Nine.


text:
User talk:201.50.79.58

I noticed that you blanked (deleted everything from) both English:Gerund and English/Grammar/Gerund. You seem to be only trying to move the material (to English/Grammar/Gerund and participles), but now we have a confusing situation where readers are finding blank pages instead of the new page.

I now advise you that blanking pages is almost always wrong. Please do not blank a page again. I am not sure how to handle all these confusing blank pages, so please do not make more of them. --Kernigh 01:23, 30 January 2006 (UTC)

title: User talk:201.50.79.58


text:
Talk:XML - Managing Data Exchange/XPath

XPATH Revisions By: David H.

 * 1) Add the banner to the top of the page with the chapter objectives listed within.
 * 2) Add a definitions section for some of the key words being used in the chapter after the learning objectives section.
 * 3) Bold key words where definitions are included.
 * 4) Rewording of the intro including more info about xpath, why we use it, and what some of the major uses of it are and including an example or two.
 * 5) Tree structure section needs a little more explanation.
 * 6) Xpath syntax section needs a little more explanation.
 * 7) In the four types of location paths give a short summary of each.
 * 8) In the end before the exercise section add a summary section.

---

Editorial Board Revisions - viji

 * show the tree structure diagram on this page, not as a link - instructions can be found in the wikibook help page

 * allow the summary section to also be a reference section

 * remember to remove the exercise section to another page linked from the bottom of this page (+ a link to answers on both those pages) (see single - entity chapter)

 * This is a well laid out chapter - you are right it just needs more clarification and explanation

thanks

Professor
The proposed plan is fine and the comments appropriate.

I would prefer to see the sample tree structure display an XML file rather than some HTML code.

post revision comments
viji

It looks good. I don't remember what I meant by but the summary sounds fine
 * allow the summary section to also be a reference section

rtw 19:40, 5 Feb 2006 (UTC)

title: Talk:XML - Managing Data Exchange/XPath


text:
Talk:Internet Technologies/IRC

Relocating some IRC guides
I had written a few guides to for using IRC, the most complete being a downloading guide, I was wondering which of them would be acceptable to relocate them here? I don't mind giving them up for public use and/or editing, right one is sitting in my sandbox here. --Tehdrago (talk) 10:42, 15 November 2008 (UTC)
 * You can probably attempt to merge the guide's useful information on this page or just start a new book, like "Using IRC" or something on those lines... --Panic (talk) 18:19, 17 November 2008 (UTC)
 * I considered a merge, but that would have involved completely rewriting the contents as the module here was more of a descriptive overview and my guide was a how-to. I decided to create a new book for now: Downloading Files from IRC. --Tehdrago (talk) 23:46, 6 February 2009 (UTC)

Inaccurate and one-sided
The article displays just *one* services implementation (and they differ on some networks a lot) and talks about client-side commands like "/clear" or "/clearall" as if they would be standardized IRC commands (which they are not) and available in every client (which they probably also aren't). I also think that it is wrong to call a command "/join" as the command itself is just "JOIN" and the slash indicates sending it directly to a server. Therefore, the commands should probably be listed without the slash and a small section above the command list should explain how to use them in most common clients (by putting / or sometimes /quote in front of it). Yarcanox (talk) 06:31, 20 May 2009 (UTC)
 * I now attempted to do this for the basic command section while not changing it too much. I still think the "Registering your nickname" section needs to be redone though. Yarcanox (talk) 06:38, 20 May 2009 (UTC)

title: Talk:Internet Technologies/IRC


text:
Arimaa/Camel Hostage

The position at right is a basic example of a camel hostage. If the silver elephant left the trap, Gold could capture the silver camel by flipping or pulling it onto c3. For now, Silver can only defend with the elephant; any other silver defender could itself be captured in c3, unless there were two weaker silver defenders securely in place, which would require some work.

If Silver ever abandons her camel, the gold elephant should then pull it into the trap, finishing on c4 or d3, near the action. It is thus important that the gold cat remain on c2. The silver camel is not held on b3, as Gold must occupy that square to keep shared trap control and thus avoid losses at home. Gold does not occupy d3, as any gold piece on that square could be pulled away and perhaps threatened with capture.

For now, Gold's elephant is tying up Silver's elephant and camel both, leaving Gold's camel unopposed as the strongest free piece. The silver camel obviously can't defend any trap, and the silver elephant can only defend one trap at a time. The gold camel is thus a grave threat in the east.

Use of free pieces
Gold now wants to create a second threat and force Silver to make a tough choice. In preparation, Gold has wisely advanced a horse ahead of his camel; until the silver elephant comes east, a gold horse cannot be threatened there. A material exchange is possible if Silver moves her elephant east and blocks the gold elephant's path to e6 or f5. A horse-for-camel trade would be acceptable for Gold, but an even camel trade would waste the hostage.

Advanced horses can also protect weaker pieces. To defend the camel hostage, the silver elephant need only finish each turn on c4, d3, or c2; the silver elephant could thus dart around the trap and perhaps dislodge a small gold piece, which might then be delivered to c6 or f6. The gold horses are prepared to defend those traps. The western gold horse must keep some distance from the silver elephant, to avoid being frozen on c5 and then captured in two steps.

Gold could now attack the f6 trap, but if he wants to play it safe, he can keep his camel at home and use the eastern gold horse to drag weaker pieces down for capture in f3 (remember, rabbits can't retreat homeward). As long as the silver elephant defends the silver camel, horses are the strongest silver pieces which could defend f3, but that would be difficult with the gold camel right there; any capture threat at f3 would likely overload Silver. With nothing to stop the gold camel and horse in the east, several silver pieces could ultimately be lost there; the silver elephant will have to come east at some point.

Silver to move could easily trade her camel for a horse: if the silver elephant moves to b6, and the silver camel is then captured, Silver can pull the gold horse from a6 into c6, capturing it in return. The silver elephant could then go wherever it was needed. The loss of a camel for a horse is nothing compared to what Silver could have soon faced if she didn't move her elephant. Alternatively, Silver could play hb5ws Da2e ma3s, unfreezing and burrowing her camel so that it could not be captured in one turn. This is an option only because Gold has left b2 empty; gold pieces on a1, a2, and b2 would form a phalanx, fencing in any a3 hostage. Burrowing the camel would not free it, but would buy Silver time, as Gold would then need two turns just to reestablish a solid camel hostage, this time with the camel on b2.

Gold to move can stop Silver from doing either of those things. To fence in the silver camel, Gold could simply advance the b1 rabbit to b2, but a better option would be to slide the a2 dog to b2, the a1 rabbit to a2, and the b1 rabbit to a1; that way, the dog isn't blocked in. On the fourth step, the a6 horse could move to a7, precluding an immediate camel-for-horse trade.

Multi-piece defense
When the opponent has the strongest free piece, this must be changed before he can capitalize. When the gold camel is active, the silver elephant must not perpetually defend a hostage. Fortunately, it might not need to. With the silver elephant on e3, silver pieces can safely advance in the east. This often allows one to rotate the elephant out of hostage defense, replacing it with two weaker defenders supported by other friendly pieces. Elephant rotation may turn the tables, as the hostage-holding elephant often cannot afford to leave the trap. On 63s of, the silver elephant became the strongest free piece; the gold elephant was restricted by capture threats as well as goal threats. Gold could temporarily retake e3 or f4 with a pull-and-replace, but Silver could punish such a move.

A nearby strong piece can strengthen a hostage position. A gold horse or camel might have pulled a silver dog away from the trap, making elephant rotation more difficult for Silver.

On 28g of, Gold completed an elephant rotation just in time. Silver had a strong attack in the southwest, but the silver strength concentrated there made the northeastern rotation easier for Gold. Gold had no goal threat and no piece on f6, so the silver elephant had some degree of freedom. Meanwhile, Silver's western goal threat remained formidable; Gold's elephant rotation hardly sealed the game.

On 13g of, Gold held the silver camel hostage and was strong on both wings, yet could not force a capture in c3 or f3. The well-placed silver elephant prevented any capture in f3, while also protecting the silver horses from the gold camel.

Who has the strongest free piece now? If the gold elephant left the c3 trap, Silver would soon wipe out Gold's southwestern forces. If the silver elephant went north, the gold camel might soon dismantle Silver's defense of c3. The silver camel obviously isn't free, and the gold camel can't go anywhere without quickly being confronted by the silver elephant, which would be free to follow the camel north. The silver horses are not free, as they are defending the silver camel and each other. The western gold horse is not totally free, as it is stopping a potential Silver swarm of c3, which could give the silver elephant more freedom.

The eastern gold horse is currently the strongest free piece; Gold can soon create an away threat that will force captures somewhere. The gold camel should stay in place for now, but the f2 dog could advance and be replaced by a cat or rabbit. The silver elephant might then go north and make multiple captures, but Gold could more than make up for that by moving his camel west. Even if both silver horses escaped, Gold could capture the silver camel and minimize his own losses, as Silver would have lost time getting her horses to safety.

This example and the next show that an elephant not directly defending a hostage can still be restricted by it. An elephant rotation does not always free the elephant; it may just tie up more material in the hostage position.

After the gold elephant rotated out of hostage defense in, it still had to protect the pieces defending f6. Each time the silver camel returned north, the gold elephant went north also, so as to protect its northeastern army. If Silver now keeps her camel in place and moves the c2 horse east, that horse will be the strongest local piece and can work toward a goal threat. If the h5 rabbit advances, the h7 horse may advance behind it and join the southeastern attack. Silver would have done better not to have a horse blocked in to begin with, as that weakens a hostage-holder's position.

Of these four examples, the first camel hostage was quite weak, the second was not quite strong enough, the third was strong, and the fourth was somewhat unclear, though by 21s Silver appeared to have stronger goal prospects. If the defender can free his elephant in time to mitigate a second threat, he will likely have the advantage. The hostage-holder will usually have the advantage if he can create a strong second threat while the enemy elephant remains on defense. If both elephants and camels are tied up, the side with the most active horse may have the advantage.

Camel hostage value
A hostage-holder wants to create a second threat that will overload the opponent. The defender usually wants to free his elephant, preferably without giving up the hostaged piece. If the defender aims for an elephant rotation, the two sides will likely advance pieces on opposite wings. The outcome of such a race will depend on the initial positions of the pieces. For Gold, a camel hostage will tend to be worthwhile if two strong gold pieces are already on the non-hostage wing, and Silver is not well-developed on the hostage wing. Ideally, the free camel and a friendly horse will work together on the non-hostage wing, and the other friendly horse will guard against a potential elephant rotation on the hostage wing. There are other possibilities, but the free pieces are always key, and there is limited time to maneuver them. If the hostage-holder cannot soon create a second threat, the hostage may be weak.

If Silver is not well-positioned for an elephant rotation, she might abandon her camel and seek compensation elsewhere. While creating a second threat, a camel hostage-holder will likely expose a friendly horse to capture; the hostage value is thus related to the value of a horse-for-camel trade. A camel is estimated to be worth a horse and cat as an initial trade, so one might say that a solid camel hostage is worth a cat. This should be kept in mind if one has to choose whether to take a hostage or do something else.

If Silver is well-positioned for a quick elephant rotation, a hostage might be of negative value for Gold. The purpose of a camel hostage is to tie down the enemy elephant and camel, thus freeing one's own camel and/or horse to attack. If the enemy elephant quickly becomes free while one's own elephant remains effectively stuck, this has backfired badly.

If the hostage-holder does not have an advantage in free pieces, a hostage may be of negative value even if the defender is not poised for an elephant rotation. Being advanced and centralized, the defending elephant might eventually join an attack on the non-hostage wing. If such an attack threatens goal, the opponent might not have time to capture the camel.

Double hostage
On 16g of, the gold elephant took a double hostage. With three strong silver pieces tied up, Silver's options are quite limited. Unless Gold is reckless, Silver cannot hope to abandon the hostages and remotely make up for a camel and horse loss. With Gold's large advantage in free pieces, elephant rotation would also be quite difficult for Silver. Neither hostage can escape; the g2 horse is frozen, and the silver camel is blocked by a phalanx.

A silver piece on g4 could weaken this double hostage; if the silver elephant then left, any capture the gold elephant could make would land it on a square other than g3, so the second hostage could escape or be defended again after an exchange. Realizing that Silver could complicate things by stepping the g5 cat south, Gold should take care not to expose his camel to quick capture, as he might only get an even camel trade which would free and strengthen the southeastern silver horse. Silver might then have a formidable goal threat.

High hostage
A high hostage is held on the fourth or fifth rank, allowing the hostage-holding elephant to remain centralized. This pattern is tricky to maintain, as multiple squares must be blocked to keep the hostage in place. The silver camel is a high hostage here; a gold horse and a phalanx of rabbits keep the camel frozen, but b4 is not secure in the long term. If Silver eventually unfreezes his camel from the side, the gold horse could then be lost in c6, so this might become a risky hostage position for Gold. It may be easier to hold a high hostage on a depleted board, as Silver did in.

Central hostage
A central hostage is held on the d- or e-file. If the hostage-holder has good control of both home traps, a central hostage might turn into a fork: Silver can play ed6s Md7s cc8s df6e, and Gold cannot defend both c6 and f6. This hostage position is more tactical than strategic; Silver to trap the gold camel. If a capture cannot soon be forced, a central hostage may be worth little more than an ordinary hostage.

title: Arimaa/Camel Hostage


text:
Wings 3D/User Manual/A Quick Start Guide/Creating A Hand

26 DRAFT 1.6

� WINGS3D USER MANUAL Section 3: A Quick Start Guide 3.3 Creating A Hand (an intrinsically organic shape) Now that you have the basics down you can try to model something more challenging than a dog house. Wings3D uses a modeling technique know as subdivision surfaces, a technique favored by many to create organic, or natural world, type of models. So it seems fitting that for our second model we attempt to create an organic type model; in this case we will attempt a hand. So do a File | New to get a fresh slate and put a cube in your work area. Since hands are not cubes, let us begin by scaling the cube into a flatter shape, more conducive to hand building. Switch to Body selection mode by clicking on the Body icon on the icon bar or by hitting the B key. Then click on the cube to select it.

Figure 18: Cube preparation. A selected object becomes highlighted in the current Selection Color as set in the user's Color Preferences. Here the cube is selected.

DRAFT 1.6 27

� Section 3: A Quick Start Guide WINGS3D USER MANUAL Now that the cube is selected we can change its basic shape via some of the Body functions found in the Body Operations menu. With the cube still selected right click out in the open workspace somewhere to call up the Object enu. A menu will pop up with all the available functions for full body manipulation.

Figure 19: A refresher. With the cube selected, right click in the Workspace to bring up the Object Menu. Only operations relevant to object manipulation are available.

28 DRAFT 1.6

� WINGS3D USER MANUAL Section 3: A Quick Start Guide Hover over Scale and a sidebar menu will come up with things you can do regarding the Scale function.

Figure 20: Working with the context sensitive menus. Menu items with side arrows have associated Side Bar Menus. Selecting the menu item, in this case Scale, will bring up the Side Bar Menu. Here we select Scale – Z so that we can make the cube thinner.

DRAFT 1.6 29

� Section 3: A Quick Start Guide WINGS3D USER MANUAL Click on Z to limit changes in scale to the Z axis and then drag your mouse to the left (the -Z direction) to make the cube narrower.

Figure 21: A palm is born. The cube has been adjusted to form the palm of our hand model.

Left click to end the Scale operation.

30 DRAFT 1.6

� WINGS3D USER MANUAL Section 3: A Quick Start Guide 3.4 Adding Detail Now we will add some fingers and a thumb to the basic hand block. Begin by clicking on the Edge Mode Icon at the bottom of the workspace to switch to Edge Selection Mode. Notice that all the edges become highlighted, because they were derived from a previously selected object. Hit the Space Bar to deselect everything. Now select the top two edges, as illustrated below. Right click in the workspace to bring up the Edge Operations menu and choose Cut and then 4 from the side bar menu to cut the top edges into four equal parts. Notice that upon completing the Cut operation you are automatically switched to Vertex Mode with the affected vertices pre-selected as seen on the top right frame of the picture below. Right click in the workspace to bring up the Vertex Operations menu and select the Connect function. New edges will snap into place, as seen in the bottom right frame below, thus forming four new faces on the top side of the hand block. These will eventually become the base faces for our fingers.

Figure 22: Cut in the finger nubs. Select the top two edges (top left). Right click for the Edge Menu (top middle) and Cut by 4. This creates new vertices (top right) which are pre-selected. Another right click brings up the Vertex Menu (bottom left) where we can Connect the vertices to create four new faces (bottom right).

DRAFT 1.6 31

� Section 3: A Quick Start Guide WINGS3D USER MANUAL Now select the two side edges of the hand block. Right click in the workspace to bring up the Edge Menu and select Connect. A new edge will be created that connects the two sides, thus breaking the side face into two equal faces while leaving the new edge in the selected state. While it is still selected right click for the Edge Menu again and Move in the Y direction just a bit. Hit the space bar to deselect everything and then select the two lower vertical edges on the side and Connect them. Slide the resultant edged down with the Move Y function so that it is just above the base of the hand. We now have faces in place that can form the base of the four fingers and the thumb.

Figure 23: Cut in the thumb nub. Select the two side edges (top left) and Connect them. Move the resultant edge (top middle) down in Y via the Edge Menu Move Y function (top right). Then select the two lower edges (bottom left) and connect them. Then using the Edge Menu Move Y function again (bottom middle), move the new edge down along Y to form the base face that will become the thumb.

32 DRAFT 1.6

� WINGS3D USER MANUAL Section 3: A Quick Start Guide Next we will use the Face function Extrude to create some basic fingers. Switch to Face Selection Mode by clicking on the Face Icon at the bottom of the Workspace. Then click on the four faces that will form the base of the four fingers. Right click for the Face Operations menu and select Extrude and then select Y. Move your mouse to the right to extrude the faces up a bit then left click to end the extrusion. Notice that the end faces remain selected, facilitating another extrude. So do another, shorter, extrusion. This will later form knuckles. Then carry on with the extrusions as illustrated in Figure 24. You do not have to constantly right click to bring up the context sensitive menu, however. Wings has a Repeat command, accessed by simply hitting the D key on your keyboard. It can save you quite a bit of time if you are doing many of the same types of functions over and over, as here with the finger extrusions.

Figure 24: Extrude the fingers. Select the finger base faces (top right) and Extrude in Y a little (top center). Do a shorter Extrude for some knuckles (top left). Then carry on as shown in the lower frames.

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� Section 3: A Quick Start Guide WINGS3D USER MANUAL To add a thumb we will do another set of extrusions, but we don't want the thumb to stick straight out from the side of the palm, so we will also use the Rotate function. Select the face we created earlier for the base of the thumb and do a Extrude in X. By now you should have gotten the knack of the context sensitive menus, so I will stop telling you to right click in the Workspace to bring up the Face Operations menu... to help speed things along. The extruded face will still be selected, so now do a Rotate in Z. Move your mouse back and forth to see how the face will rotate about the Z axis, rotating up when moved to the right, and rotating down when moved to the left. Rotate the face up until it looks about like the illustration in Figure 16. Left click to stop rotating. Now do a series of extrusions. This time we will Extrude Normal rather than along one of the primary axis. Extruding in the normal simply means to move the extrusion along a vector perpendicular to its plane. Then it is simply a matter of doing two more extrusions and we have a very crude model of a hand.

Figure 25: Extrude the thumb. Extrude the base thumb face (top left). Then Rotate the end face about the Z axis (top right). Extrude in along the Normal three more times (lower left) to complete our rough-in of a hand (lower right).

34 DRAFT 1.6

� WINGS3D USER MANUAL Section 3: A Quick Start Guide 3.5 Finishing It Off This hand, admittedly, looks very crude. There is a little we can do to make it look better while introducing you to some more Wings3D tools and concepts. So let's take the hand model just a little bit further before calling it quits.

We want to add some additional detail to make the hand look more natural. But first, let's see what it looks like as is, in the smooth shaded mode and again with one Smooth applied to it. I will frequently do a Smooth operation while modeling just to get a feel for how things are going, then Undo to continue modeling. You may find that technique useful too. And a Smooth will help you isolate and fix problems in your model caused by bad geometry that some times lurks in unexpected places.

Figure 26: The Smooth operation. The hand in Flat Shaded Mode (top left) and in Smooth Shaded Mode (top middle). With the hand selected do one Smooth operation (top right). You can see the results of the Smooth in Flat Shaded Mode on the bottom image set here; the left one while the hand is still selected. On the far right is a smooth shaded view of the hand following the Smooth operation. While it looks much more "organic" it still appears to be far from natural.

Hit the Space Bar to make sure nothing is selected. Now left click on the Smooth Shaded Icon (the rightmost icon on the left set of icons) on the Icon Bar to see what our un-smoothed hand looks like. Yikes! Hit the Tab key to leave Smooth Shaded Mode. Note that you can enter and leave Smooth Shaded either way, via the icons or via the Tab key. Now select the hand again and do a Smooth. Hit the Space Bar to deselect the hand and then hit the Tab key to see the smoothed hand in smooth shaded mode. Not very impressive.

DRAFT 1.6 35

� Section 3: A Quick Start Guide WINGS3D USER MANUAL Now undo the smooth by selecting the Undo function from the Edit Menu. Do this as often as needed to get back to the un-smoothed version of the hand. We will now attempt to make it look at least a little more natural by adding some finger nails, some knuckle bumps, and some tendons. To save space and since you should have a pretty good feel for the basic operations by now, I will not take you though the process of adding these details step by step. Rather, I will present you with a set of sample objects in Figure 27 and tell you in general what I did to get the details you see there. I've made the screen shots here a little bigger so that you can see more of the detail. So take a moment to study the edges as they progress in the picture below.

Quick Tip: Overlaying the wireframe on a smooth shaded view.

Some people find it very useful to overlay the wireframe on a smooth shaded view of their model. This serves two purposes; first it helps them find surface anomalies while at the same time being able to see what edges may be the culprits, and second it gives new modelers a sense of how edges and edge loops affect the overall form of the model. To get the wireframe on the smooth shaded view simply hit the Tab key to get the smooth shaded preview of the model then hit the W key to overlay the wireframe. Note that you can change the color of the wireframe in the Edit | Preferences menu.

36 DRAFT 1.6

� WINGS3D USER MANUAL Section 3: A Quick Start Guide Figure 27: Adding details. Detail has been added (top) by selecting edges or vertices as needed and Connecting them to rough in the knuckles and tendons. Then more detail was added (bottom) adding more edges via Connects and then Moving vertices to form knuckle bulges and round out the palm. Finger nails were created by selecting faces and Extruding Region.

In the top portion of Figure 27 above I added more details by doing a series of Connects. One set of Connects was done to create a loop that separates the hand front to back. Then four loops were created the same way to completely encircle the hand down the length and each finger and into and around the palm. Then another another set of edges was created to run from the index finger tendon up the side of the thumb, and back down the other side. Then to create more of a knuckle shape, the vertices at the front and back of each knuckle were Scaled in Y to spread them apart thus creating the diamond shaped areas.

In the bottom section of Figure 27 I added yet more detail. To add detail to to knuckles I Dissolved the edges on the inside of the diamonds (front and back) and then Inset them a bit to create inner diamonds. Then I used Connect on vertices to create the details you see here.

DRAFT 1.6 37

� Section 3: A Quick Start Guide WINGS3D USER MANUAL Then I Moved the inner vertices out to form bumps on the backside of the fingers and in to form creases on the inside of the fingers. Then I selected the faces for the finger nails (four per nail by the way, not just two) and did an Extrude Region slightly into the fingers. Then I scaled down the region just a bit and then did another Extrude Region to raise the nails just past the level of the skin. Of course I did all this stuff for the thumb too.

Now my attention turned to the hand itself. I added four more edge loops that surrounded the hand. Then I added edges to form the V shape around each of the tendons. This allowed me to Move the edges for the tendons out so that they bump up a little. Of course on the palm of the hand I Moved them into the hand a bit to form creases. Then I went about the outside of the hand and in between the knuckles and tried to round things up a bit by moving vertices. It's not looking too bad at this point, in fact, the hand is almost complete.

Figure 28 below shows some final detail I have cut into the palm of the hand, the life lines, as used in palm readings. They were created by doing some Connects on the edges to include the curve of the lines. Then the lines were Beveled to turn them into double lines and then the vertices were Moved into the hand to create the necessary creases. This completed the modeling portion of the hand. Be we are not done. In the bottom half of Figure 28 you can see that I have assigned colors to the hand. It is important for you to assign colors to your models before you consider your task complete because each different color assignment can be used to great effect in subsequent paint and rendering programs.

In the bottom half of Figure 28 you can see that I have made two distinct color assignments; one for the skin of the hand, and one for the nails. later when I create a texture map, I will be able to pull the model apart and arrange the parts nicely in my texture mapping program of choice because I did this. In fact, if I were smart, I would have assigned a different texture to the front and back of the hands so that they could be easily isolated for painting. So, to make these color assignments simply select the faces to be assigned a color and then use the Face | Set Material operation. You will be presented with a pop-up box with New, Default and Hole as choices. Select New and you will be prompted for a material name. Give the faces a short but logical name. Skin and nails come to mind for me here. The Material Editor will come up, as shown in Figure 29 below.

38 DRAFT 1.6

� WINGS3D USER MANUAL Section 3: A Quick Start Guide Figure 28:The hand completed. Final detail cut in (Top) and with colors assigned (Bottom).

Figure 29: The Wings Material Editor.

Click on the little boxes to bring up sub-menus (Figure 29a) for setting the actual values for the

DRAFT 1.6 39

� Section 3: A Quick Start Guide WINGS3D USER MANUAL first four parameters. This is done via entering a number in the numeric entry fields or by using

the slider bars.

You can set the diffuse, ambient, specular,

and emissive colors as well as the

shininess and opacity of the selected faces.

The effects of your changes will show up

interactively in the color box to the left.

Figure 29a: An example of the Material Editor When you click OK the effects will be sub-menus. reflected on the ball on the left side of the

material editor window. Once you are happy

with your settings click the OK button on the material editor window. You don't really need to get too fancy here, especially at first, so just make a color you like for skin and click OK.

The fastest way to do this is to set up the largest material first by selecting the object then switching to Face Mode so that all faces are selected. Then assign all the faces that color, in this case, skin. After hitting OK in the Material Editor you can then select the nails and do another Set Material, and then dream up you nail color. Say OK again. Then hit the Space Bar to deselect everything so you see your creation in full color. Don't forget to Save your model before quitting, and you may also want to Export it into a format that your rendering program can read.

That should give you the basics for organic modeling in Wings since a hand is definitely an organic subject. Not to say my model is a particularly good example of if. It is not a lifelike hand at all. But considering it is the first Human hand I ever modeled, it did not turn out too badly. And since subdivision surface modeling is known to be particularly good for organic type models this was a good exercise. Now you can try something else organic. I recommend you do what I did for the hand. I found some cages (finished hands in wireframe mode prior to smoothing) and analyzed them to see where the artists had placed the edges and then tried to emulate their examples. My thanks to Mike Rickard for providing the hand model that inspired this one. His was much better, but I needed to do this from scratch so that I could adequately describe what the steps were. But there are plenty of cages posted out on the web, simple screen shots of non-smoothed models. Use them as your guide until you develop a style of your own.

Model by David Benton. www.davidbenton.net


text:
Talk:Isometric Pixel Art

=NOTICE=
 * If you contributed or plan to: Sign your name on the About this Wikibook page. You can find a link to it in this book's table of contents.
 * Please post discussion topics on their respective pages in the Wikibook. If you have an idea about the Author page or Box page or what not, post it there!  I have moved some discussions because of this.
 * This page is good for general discussions (possibly about layout, grammar, terms, etc), notices such as this, the outline, and obviously the title page.

Game Use
I think a page about tesellating tiles for use in games would be a good idea. Game tiles can't have the 1 pixel thick shared boundary line these examples do. 74.44.212.233 (talk) 06:29, 25 May 2010 (UTC)

In Depth Pages
If you plan on elaborating on something that is not really required for the topic, but want to make a page for it anyway because it makes the art look nice, etc., title it In Depth:(Title). If we do people, clothing would. Whatever you think isn't absolutly necessicary for this book, but you still believe it should have a spot in it.

CherryT 03:15, 10 February 2006 (UTC)

You got Nominated!
I put this wikibook on the Collaborations of the Month list! Do your best to clean up what we have and lets make it look good! CherryT 03:10, 10 February 2006 (UTC)

Added Title Page Graphic
Feel Free to Remake. I made it in about 10 minutes ^^;.

--CherryT 18:45, 8 February 2006 (UTC)

Remade! Could use some compression, though, if anyone is willing :)

--jellocube27

NICE!

--CherryT 18:49, 9 February 2006 (UTC)

Revised Outline

 * A Brief Introduction to Pixel Art
 * "A great thing to do in school or at the office!"
 * "Keep in mind, pixel'rs, the scale of the pixel art is up to you, but keep things CONSISTENT!"
 * What you'll need
 * MS Paint or a similar paint program with basic zoom functions
 * Photoshop is obligatory, but can be a great help when doing anti-aliasing, shading, and transparency.
 * An imagination and eye for what's right
 * The Basics
 * "For ever two pixels across, one pixel down", the golden rule in pixel art
 * Making a box
 * Geometry
 * Shading
 * Some other basic shapes
 * Cones, rectangles, spheres
 * Combining these shapes to make something
 * Buildings
 * Statues
 * Vehicles
 * Doo-dads
 * Often, the scale of pixel art does not lend itself to allow smaller objects- such as people- to be drawn according to the traditional pixel art persepective (I.E., for every 2 pixels across, 1 down). Because of this, it is up to the artist to choose by which method to draw smaller doodads.  Here are some examples on how you may wish to do it:
 * People, Animals, and other tiny things
 * Pixel Art Gallery
 * Inspiration
 * Games (Sim City, Habbo Hotel, Coke Music, Ultima Online, etc..)
 * Art Gallery
 * Links

I have the feeling this book is going to be more of a picture gallery than anything else! :) All pictures for galleries in this book should be 100x100 or 200x200 so looks nice and is not distorted by thumbnailing. --jellocube27

Bookshelf
This book is currently in no bookshelf. Should it belong to Art bookshelf? --Derbeth talk 09:44, 8 February 2006 (UTC)

Yeah, could you do that for me? (The tutorial page is REALLY ambiguous and it is really hard to understand). --CherryT 18:11, 8 February 2006 (UTC)

Do you need any help?
I am by no means an expert on pixel art but I enjoy making it. Is there anything I can do to help with your wikibook? --Kitty who? 22:07, 13 August 2006 (UTC)

P.S. - I have a couple examples of my pixel art at this site that you can see.

--Sure Kitty. *blows off cobwebs*. I thought this project was going to die. I haven't updated it in over a year (that's what it seems like...). Please do contribute, maybe I'll start working on it again. CherryT 01:03, 17 October 2006 (UTC)

title: Talk:Isometric Pixel Art