Lord Monarch Online: how the original game’s rules work

Conventions:

• n is a unit’s strength (its head-count).
• All divisions round down to a whole number.
• likely marks a rule whose numbers are certain but whose surrounding behaviour was partly inferred. Everything else is certain.

Time

• One tick is half a day. A stage lasts 3,000 days, plus days carried over from earlier stages.

• Real-time speed: one tick takes (30 − speed) × 16 ms. The speed setting runs from 0 to 30 and defaults to 25, which gives:

  • 80 ms per tick;
  • 0.16 s per day;
  • about 8 minutes per stage.

  The slowest setting gives 0.96 s per day. The fastest runs as fast as the machine allows.

• Each tick, in order:

  1. the growth sweep advances;
  2. every unit acts;
  3. kingdom totals are recounted;
  4. the half-day passes;
  5. fallen kingdoms are resolved.

• The growth sweep visits the map’s 48 × 48 = 2,304 tiles in a fixed order, 143 tiles per tick. A full pass takes about 16.1 ticks, which is about 8.06 days (GrowthSweepDays ≈ 8.06). When the sweep reaches a tile:

  • a base grows;
  • a cave counts toward its next monster;
  • a castle collects tax.

Movement

• Every unit acts about once per tick. There are 64 unit slots, and 63 act per tick in rotation.
• An action is either one job step or one tile of movement. Units move in 8 directions, diagonals included.
• Turning costs an action. If the next step is in a different direction from the one the unit faces, that action is spent turning. This applies to every unit, leaders included.
• Moving into an occupied tile:
  • an enemy unit there means a fight instead of a move;
  • a friendly unit means a merge; if the merge isn’t allowed, the unit stops;
  • an enemy base means the unit attacks the base.
• Blocked paths:
  • A computer unit whose route is blocked by a broken bridge switches to repairing it. One blocked by a barricade switches to removing it.
  • The player’s units just stop. So “your own units never remove barricades” holds only for the human player.
• A unit standing idle attacks any enemy on a tile directly north, south, east or west of it.
• Monsters move only north, south, east or west, one tile per tick while walking.
  • The first tick of a walk, and the tick after any fight, bump or turn, is lost. So a monster in a sustained fight strikes every other tick.
  • A walk lasts 10–29 steps. Then, about 55% of the time, the monster rests for 0–10 ticks; otherwise it starts a new walk.

Bases

Let k be the number of a base’s 8 surrounding tiles that are its kingdom’s territory. Each time the sweep passes the base:

1. Its population grows by k + 1.

2. Once the population reaches (k + 1) × 16, the base claims one neighbouring tile:

   • the first empty, plain neighbour if there is one;
   • otherwise, the first neighbour that is another kingdom’s territory, which it takes over.

   At that moment the population is also capped at 255.

3. The base releases a unit only if nothing could be claimed, or its population is still 200 or more after claiming. When it releases:

   • if a friendly unit is standing on the base, that unit absorbs the population (units cap at 100,000);
   • otherwise a new unit appears with strength = population − 1;
   • either way, the base drops to a population of 1.

4. New units start on “auto”. For the player, they start on the player’s chosen default order, which is “auto” at the start.

Consequences:

• A fully surrounded base (k = 8) releases a unit of about 143–151 roughly every 16 passes, which is about 130 days.
• A base hemmed in by water or forest reaches its lower threshold sooner and releases smaller units more often. For example, k = 3 gives about 63 strength every 16 passes.
• Only territory counts toward k. Water, forest, roads and bases never do.
• Starting bases begin with a population of (k + 1) × 16, using the territory already painted on the map (StartingBasePopulation is not a fixed 100).

Tax

Tax is collected when the sweep reaches a kingdom’s castle, so once per pass, about every 8 days.

• Conditions:
  • the kingdom’s leader is standing on the castle;
  • the tile just outside the castle gate is passable and isn’t an enemy base or enemy territory. A barricade there blocks tax.
  • Only bases with a walkable route to the castle are taxed.
• Amount: each taxed base gives up (rate × population ÷ 256) people, who become the same number of funds. Funds are capped at 100,000. FundsPerTaxedPerson = 1.
• The tax slider runs from 0 to 30. The “30%” label really means 30/256 ≈ 11.7% of each base’s population per collection.
• “Maximum tax stops growth” follows from the numbers rather than being a separate rule. At rate 30, a fully surrounded base loses 30/256 of its population per pass and gains 9. It levels off around 77, below its 144 threshold, so it never releases a unit.
• The player’s automatic tax (on at the start; moving the slider turns it off): rate = 20 − (funds ÷ 256), never below 0. So it’s 20 at 0 funds and 0 from 5,120 funds up.
• Computer kingdoms always use: rate = 28 − 4 × (funds ÷ 256) while funds are under 2,048, and 0 from 2,048 up. So 28 at 0–255 funds, 24 at 256–511, and so on.

Upkeep and attrition

Every unit, once per tick:

• Standing on one of its own bases, or on a castle: it pays n ÷ 2,048 funds, so units under 2,048 pay nothing.
  • If the kingdom can’t pay, the unit suffers attrition instead.
• Anywhere else: it loses (n ÷ 256) + 1 people.
• A unit that drops to 0 dies.

Notes:

• These are per half-day. The fans’ “(n − 1)/128 per day” matches the attrition.
• Upkeep is n/2,048 per half-day, not per day.
• The “+1” means even tiny units shrink by 1 per half-day (MinOffBaseLoss = 1 per half-day).
• The leader pays nothing while standing on its own castle.
• Monsters never pay upkeep and never suffer attrition.

Combat

Fights are an exchange of damage, not “the weaker unit dies”. Each tick a unit pushes into an enemy unit, both sides deal damage based on their own strength:

• Damage can’t exceed what the target has left.
• A unit at 0 dies, and the kingdom that killed it is noted.
• Each kingdom’s losses are tallied for the end screen.
• Allies never fight. Units of a kingdom that has just fallen aren’t attacked while they change sides.
• Where the manual’s castle multipliers come from:
  • a castle defender hits back at ÷8 instead of ÷16, which is the manual’s “×2”;
  • a unit striking out from a castle hits at ÷4 and takes no reply, which is ×4 compared with normal retaliation.
• Equal units: the attacker deals twice the damage, so it wins.

Attacking a base: a straight 1-for-1 trade. The attacker loses the smaller of its own strength and the base’s population, and the base loses the same amount. A base that reaches 0 becomes plain land, and the attacker keeps whatever it has left.

Treading on enemy territory: any unit, monsters included, standing on another kingdom’s territory (not an ally’s) turns that tile back into plain land.

Merging: a unit moving onto a friendly unit of its own kingdom merges with it.

• Strengths add up, but a merge that would go over 100,000 isn’t allowed.
• The merged unit keeps the identity of, in priority order: the leader; then a unit following a player order; then a unit that isn’t on the “merge” order; otherwise the larger of the two.

The leader

• Starting setup: each leader starts at 1,000, and one 200-strength unit starts beside the castle.
• National population means all bases plus all units, not counting the leader, capped at 100,000.
• Only while the leader stands on its own castle:
  • If national population is under half the leader’s strength, a quarter of the leader splits off as a new unit at the gate, provided the gate is free.
  • Otherwise, if the leader is below national population, it gains one-eighth of the gap each tick. That’s about 23% of the gap per day. So KingHealPerDay becomes “1/8 of the gap per half-day, at the castle only”.
• Away from the castle: no healing. Normal attrition applies, or upkeep while on one of its own bases.
• The leader absorbs any friendly unit it walks into.
• When a leader is killed, the killer’s kingdom takes everything:
  • the fallen kingdom’s funds, added to the killer’s (capped at 100,000);
  • its bases and territory, each tile changing hands as the sweep reaches it;
  • its units, each switching sides on its next action. They become “auto” for a computer conqueror and “standby” for the player.
• A kingdom whose national population reaches 0 collapses even if its leader is alive. The leader dies, its bases and territory become plain land as the sweep passes, and nothing is inherited.

Orders and their numbers

Each job is done on a tile next to the unit and advances once per tick. Every map tile starts the game with a value of 100. Clearing, bridging, and building a barricade on open land all have to wear that 100 down first.

Bridges in detail:

• A new bridge comes out with durability 0 or 1: whatever overflow the final tick produced.
• Breaking: when a bridge’s durability reaches 0 it becomes a broken bridge with 0 damage. Breaking it further adds n ÷ 32 damage, up to 255. A computer unit keeps hammering until the damage reaches 255, which makes the repair as expensive as possible.
• Repair works only on a broken bridge (or on open water, as a new build). An intact bridge can’t be reinforced.
• On the tick a repair completes, the unit puts in up to n ÷ 16 points, but never more than damage + 255. Those points first cancel the damage; the rest becomes the bridge’s durability, up to 255. The repair order then ends and the unit goes back to “auto”.
• Example: a freshly broken bridge has 0 damage, so a unit of 4,080 or more restores it to full 255 durability in one tick, for 510 funds.

Values for the tribute’s constants:

• ClearLandDays: 100 ÷ (n ÷ 2) half-days, rounded up.
• BridgeMaxDurability: 0–1 for a newly built bridge; up to 255 by repairing a broken one.
• FenceMaxDurability: 255.
• BridgeBuildPerDay / FenceBuildPerDay: n ÷ 16 per half-day. They scale with strength rather than being flat.
• DemolishDivisor: n ÷ 32 per half-day, which is n ÷ 16 per day.

Caves and monsters

• Monsters form a fifth side that belongs to no kingdom. Monster markers on the map start as monsters of 200 strength.

• Every cave has a counter starting at 100. Each time the sweep passes the cave:

  • if the counter is below 245, it goes up by 10;
  • otherwise it drops by 245, and a 200-strength monster appears, unless something is standing on the cave.

  So the first monster comes after 16 passes (~129 days), then one every 25–26 passes (~205 days). CaveSpawnDays ≈ 205, CaveMonsterSize = 200.

• Sealing works against this same counter, so a cave that is about to spawn is the hardest to seal.

• Monster behaviour:

  • They wander at random with some momentum and occasional rests (see “Movement”).
  • They never seek out prey and have no home range. MonsterRange and MonsterRoam don’t exist in the original.
  • Whatever is in their way gets fought, merged with (if it’s another monster) or attacked (bases).
  • They never step onto a castle gate.
  • When boxed in, they gnaw an adjacent barricade by 1 point per tick, so barricades do eventually fall to monsters (likely). This contradicts the fan claim [T].

Auto units and the computer AI

This covers every unit on “auto”: all of a computer kingdom’s units, plus the player’s auto units.

What an auto unit does each tick

1. Upkeep or attrition. If the unit dies, that’s it.

2. Change sides if its kingdom has just fallen (see “The leader”).

3. Tread out enemy territory it’s standing on.

4. Computer units only — avoid danger. If a stronger enemy is directly north, south, east or west and is idle or facing this way, the unit steps to a safe neighbouring tile.

5. If it’s standing on an enemy castle, it stops and holds there.

6. If it has no route planned:

   • it attacks an enemy directly beside it, if there is one;
   • otherwise it works on its current job.

   When the job is finished, impossible, or there isn’t one, it looks for a new one:

   • First, close by. It looks up to 2 tiles north, south, east and west, but not past an impassable tile. It takes the first thing it finds, in this priority:
     1. a cave → seal it;
     2. an enemy base → attack it;
     3. a place to build a base → build. Needs 100 funds. The tile must be plain land or territory, not touching its own or an ally’s base, and not dangerous.
     4. forest/wasteland → clear it. Only units of 100+, or units following a player order.
     5. a barricade → remove it (computer kingdoms only);
     6. one of its own bases → go there.
   • Then, far away, but only if the unit gets a planning turn (below).

7. If it has a route, it moves one tile. Any auto unit, the player’s included, sidesteps a stronger enemy coming straight at it.

Long-range planning

• Budget: only 4 units per tick may plan. Each castle tax collection uses up one of those turns. A unit that misses out tries again later.
• Distance rule: targets are chosen by walking distance across the whole map; there’s no search radius. A unit only accepts a target if its strength is at least 2 × the walking distance, so it can survive the trip. The one exception is rallying to its own leader, which only needs strength ≥ distance.

Computer kingdoms try these in order; the first one that works is taken:

1. Cut off the enemy leader. If an enemy leader has been sent away from home and has been seen crossing a bridge, go and break that bridge. In practice only the human player’s leader gets sent away.

2. Rally to their own leader when it has called for help, then hold beside it.

3. Hunt the nearest enemy leader. Only units over 1,000 do this, so the tribute’s MarchStrength = 1,000 guess was right for this purpose. With S = the unit’s strength and L = the leader’s:

   Enemy leader	Strength	What the unit does
   At home	S ≥ 3L	Attack it
   At home	0.75L < S < 3L	Camp just outside its gate. Once camped, it attacks when S > 3L
   At home	S ≤ 0.75L	Leave it alone
   Away	S ≥ L	Chase it
   Away	S < L	Go and occupy its empty castle

4. A random roll, 0–99:

   • 90–99: go for an objective:

     • the nearest job (as in 5 below); or, failing that,
     • the nearest barricade to remove; or
     • the nearest broken bridge to repair, if it’s more than 20 tiles closer than the barricade. Bridge repair needs 500+ funds, and is skipped if any unit beside the bridge is over 4,096 or over a quarter of this unit’s strength. That’s the real rule behind the fan lore “4,096+ makes a bridge uncrossable”.

     If none of these works, join a camp (6), then go home (7).

   • 81–89: random expansion. With 100+ funds, try up to 16 random plain tiles anywhere as base sites. If that fails, carry on with 5.

   • 0–80: carry on with 5.

Every auto unit, the player’s included:

5. Nearest job. Go to the closest reachable tile of any of these kinds:

   • a cave → seal;
   • a base site (plain land or territory, legal spacing; only with 100+ funds) → build;
   • forest/wasteland → clear;
   • an enemy base → attack.

   Caves count at their true distance and everything else at distance + 8, so caves win ties by 8 tiles.

6. Join a camp: merge into the nearest stronger friendly unit that is holding position, if the total stays under 100,000.

7. Go home: walk to the nearest own base and hold there.

For the tribute’s constants:

• Retire AutoSearchRadius and AttackSearchRadius.
• The close-by search is “2 tiles in each straight direction”.
• Everything else is map-wide, gated by strength ≥ 2 × distance.
• MarchStrength = 1,000 survives only as the threshold for hunting leaders.

Player-ordered units

• They do the ordered job at the same rates as in the order table.
• They never avoid danger and never use the long-range planner.
• Orders repeat: once a target is finished, the unit finds the nearest next target of the same kind, map-wide (strength ≥ 2 × distance), and carries on:
  • build base → next base site (needs 100+ funds);
  • attack base → next enemy base;
  • clear → next forest/wasteland (unit must be 20+);
  • remove barricade → next barricade.
• With nothing left to do, the unit returns to “auto”, or to “standby” if it was told to stand by afterwards.
• Bridge building and repair don’t repeat.

Computer leaders

Computer leaders mostly stay at home.

• At the castle, with no route planned:
  • The leader checks the tile just outside its gate. If the enemies next to that tile are weaker in total than the leader, and the gate itself isn’t threatened, the leader steps out onto the gate.
  • It stays in if no enemies are there, or if they’re at least as strong.
  • What it does after stepping out is likely: it fights from the gate and then goes back in.
• Away from the castle, with no route:
  • It walks home if its strength is at least 2 × the distance.
  • Otherwise it calls for help (its units rally to it; see 2 above) and walks to its nearest base instead.
• When outside the castle, a computer leader also steps away from danger, like other computer units.
• The player’s leader moves only when ordered. Sending it out marks it as “away”, which is what step 1 above looks for. Calling it home clears that.

Alliances

• Alliances are chosen by the player in a dialog, not formed by the AI. The options are:

  • no alliances; or
  • 2-vs-2: the player picks one rival as a partner, and the other two become partners.

  Which menu opens this dialog hasn’t been checked.

• Once two kingdoms have fallen, all alliances end (a “Break alliance” notice appears), so the last two fight it out.

• Allies:

  • never fight;
  • never attack each other’s bases;
  • never tread out each other’s territory;
  • count for the “can’t build a base touching another base” rule;
  • are never chosen as targets;
  • don’t merge, because merging needs the same kingdom.