How to play
Commanding the Century runs on Windows, played together over your local network or alone against the computer. No account or internet connection required.
Launching
Double-click CommandingTheCentury.exe, or start.bat in the game folder. After the intro video you arrive at the main menu. There you choose your name, colour, nation, language and graphics quality.
CommandingTheCentury.exe --rendering-driver opengl3.Playing solo
Choose Against the computer and add AI players in the lobby, each with their own difficulty (Easy to Very hard), team, nation and strategy. This works without a network too.
Together over the network
- 1. Host: one player chooses Host game. The host's IP address is shown in the lobby.
- 2. Join: the others see the game automatically in the Games on your network list. If it doesn't appear, type in the host's IP address and click Connect via IP.
- 3. Get ready: everyone chooses a colour, team and nation and sets themselves to Ready.
- 4. Start: the host picks the map and clicks Start game.
Host settings
| Players | 2 to 8, in teams. Teammates share their vision and win together. |
|---|---|
| Map type | Plains, Ardennes, Desert, Lakes, Rivers, No Man's Land, Inland Sea or Islands |
| Size | Small (64), medium (96), large (128) or huge (160 tiles) |
| Seed | Fixed number or random. The same seed gives you the same map. |
| Starting resources | Low, normal or high |
| Starting age | Start in 1914, 1925, 1939, 1960 or 2000, with extra work crews, soldiers and resources the later you start |
| Lock age | Everyone stays in the starting age: a pure WWII or Cold War match |
| Reveal map | No scouting needed, the entire terrain is visible |
Winning
Destroy all of your opponents' buildings and work crews. You can also surrender. The score screen shows how many units you destroyed and lost, and how many buildings you demolished.
Saving
Save a match and load it later. Players are matched back to their slot by name. Anyone who isn't there leaves their army standing idle.
Pause and chat
The host can pause the game. Press Enter to chat with everyone, even in the lobby.
Controls
| Action | Key or mouse |
|---|---|
| Select | Left-click or drag. Double-click selects all units of that type, Shift adds to the selection, Tab cycles within the selection. |
| Move, attack, gather, build, repair | Right-click (does whatever suits the target) |
| Attack-move, stop, hold position, patrol | A S H P |
| Run, go prone | R G |
| Lights off | N |
| Land, disembark or unload | L U |
| Launch drone, plant bomb | F X |
| Build menu (work crew) | B, then the building's letter |
| Train or research | Grid positions Q-T, A-G, Z-B |
| Rally point | R or right-click with a building selected |
| Action | Key or mouse |
|---|---|
| Control groups | Ctrl+1-9 to create, 1-9 to select, press twice to move the camera there |
| Pan camera | WASD, arrow keys, screen edge or middle mouse button |
| Rotate and tilt | Q E, PgUp PgDn or Alt+drag |
| Zoom | Mouse wheel |
| Reset camera | Home |
| Last event | Space |
| Idle work crew | . or the button next to the minimap |
| Chat | Enter |
| Menu or cancel | Esc or F10 |
| Full screen | F11 or Alt+Enter |
| Destroy | Delete |
The number keys on the numeric keypad and AZERTY keyboards work too.
Tips for your first match
Keep your crews busy
An idle work crew is wasted time. Press . and send it to wood, food or a construction site. Build houses in good time for population and warehouses for storage.
Mix your army
A pile of tanks loses to anti-tank teams, a pile of infantry to machine gunners. Bring a bit of everything and keep medics behind your lines.
Dig in
A few trench sections in front of your base and a manned bunker will easily hold off an early attack, especially in 1914.
Protect your gold
Your gold sits in your vault. If it falls, half goes to the enemy and your war bonds become worthless. Put some anti-aircraft defences next to it.
Use the night
At sunset, switch your lights off (N) and advance unseen. A drone with a thermal camera will still spot you, though.
Refuel your aircraft
Aircraft return on their own when they run low on fuel. Keep oil and steel in reserve to refuel and rearm them.