Forces provide an easy way to organize different players in a scenario. You can also uses Forces to assign starting alliances between different players or to create Triggers that only affect one Force or another. Usually, it’s a good idea to separate opposing players into different Forces. When players join a scenario game with Forces, they will see their Force name listed in the pre-game chatroom and can join any Force with an open human slot.
By default, all players are a part of the same Force. Note that computer-controlled players and human players cannot be on the same Force (see Saving a Map.) To assign a player to a different Force, open up the Forces dialog and drag the player’s name to the Forces box that you want them to join. You can also rename the Forces from the Forces dialog, and set several options for each Force.
The different options available for Forces are:
Allies – All players in the Force start out allied with each other, and their units will not attack each other.
Allied Victory – All players in the Force start with Allied Victory turned on. Allied Victory settings affect the Opponents Condition. If you want to make a map that allows for allied victory, you should use the Opponents Condition in your Victory Triggers.
Random Start Location – All players in the Force will be assigned a random starting location.
Shared Vision – All players in the Force start out with Shared Vision turned on. Each player can see everything that the other players see, including cloaked and hidden units.
Note that these options (other than Random Start Location) are identical to the options in the Diplomatic Settings in the game. Players in the same Force can change their own settings once they are in the game.