Survival Guide - Dust Settles: The Survival Guide
by The O RLY Factor

Purpose:

This is a guide provided by The O RLY Factor, a continuous top seat camp turned admin who won two rounds and earned various "titles" from GameAdmin as he found new and ingenious ways to rocket up the charts and gain excessive amounts of score in a time-frame that often seemed inhuman. This guide should help you as you dive into the world of Dust Settles, especially if you want some basics for starting before you dive into the more in-depth parts of the manual.

There are a few pages to this guide.

Page 1 - Mechanics: This page discusses some of the basics about the game and how it progresses.
Page 2 - Starting Over: This page gives an overview of things that you will be doing as you start the game.
Page 3 - Sustainability: This page discusses some things you will need to do as you begin to grow.
Page 4 - Thriving: This page talks about things you will want to pursue once your camp is decently self-sufficient.
Page 5 - Now What?: This page gives you some basic things to keep in mind as the game progresses even further.
Page 6 - Ending Your First Turns: This page gives you a step-by-step example of what ending your first few turns will be like.

Each page of this guide will provide you useful information about how to begin and what things are important in the early part of the game. Some other pages of interest early in the game will be:

Basic Research: Information about researching, what topics do what, and what combinations open what
Buildings: Links to pages with information about each type of building
Messengers: Information about what messengers are used for and how to assign them
Ending a Turn: More details on how to end a turn and what that entails
Exploration: More detailed information on exploring and the limits you'll run into
Recruiting: More detailed information about recruiting and the limits involved
Construction: More detailed information about constructing buildings, the queue, and staffing buildings
Neutral Exchange Camp Overview: Information about the NEC and the services it provides
Aid: Information about both standard and alliance aid
Anonymity and Cool Down: Details about anonymity and cool down
Battle Overview: An overview of the basic battle system, click here for an ops overview, or here for an overview of the air battle system
Weapons: Details about the different carried weapons available for army units, be sure to check the trade market and merchant camps to see what might be out there if you're unsure of what tech you need
Vehicles: Details about the different vehicles in the game
Aircraft: Details about the different aircraft available
Player-made Strategies: The SG Wiki is a fount of information on formulas and strategies that the players of the game have found and developed over time. You can also find other advice and information through their links page.

Remember, your game admins for the round are noted in the welcome box that will appear on your main game screen the first couple of turns.

GameAdmin (Robert), NuPsiPhi (Richard), O RLY (Zack), and Valhalla (Val) are all more than willing to help you with any questions you may have as are many players. If you can't find something in the manual, the forums, a private message, or the IRC channel are always available. If you are having problems with validation, e-mail GameAdmin@dailywheel.com using the e-mail that you signed up with for assistance.