Fleet Combat Online is a turn based game like chess or the Civilization series. This means the game pauses while each player contemplates their turn and then submits orders. When done submitting orders, each players indicates that they are "ready" and then the game moves ahead to the next turn.
Turns in FCO are one second in length. Through some kind of super-futuristic mind-computer link you (as the fleet commander) are able to issue many commands to several different ship all within that one second interval :)
When the game clock is advanced and the turn is processed, everyone's orders are carried out. The game board refreshes and shows all the ships in their new positions. A message box on the game interface will show messages about what happened in the course of that second, such as weapons being fired, ships being hit, systems being repaired, etc.
The length of the game is up to the skill of the players and the size of their fleet. But on average small fleet battles take less than 100 turns. If all players are online and taking about 15 to 30 seconds to issue orders between each turn, then that means a game will take about 45 minutes to an hour to play.
But the beauty of turn based play is that all players don't have to be online at the same time. You can log in when you can and submit your orders. Then your opponent logs in when they can and submits their orders. This adds a lot of convenience factor, but means that games can stretch out to months. Most games will be played in a combination of both — they may start with both players online until someone has to leave. Then it will continue in "offline" mode with each player submitting turns when they can for a while and then maybe the players will arrange to get together online to finish the game out.
Fleet Combat Online also has a "near real time" or "speed mode" of play. This is where all players check a checkbox in the game called "Automatic turns". The host then selects a number of seconds like 5 seconds or 15 seconds. Then the game will automatically process a turn every so many seconds. This keeps the game moving fast and is especially useful in the beginning of the game when your fleet may be far away from your opponents. You can switch between "speed mode" and regular turn based play at any time simply by checking and unchecking that box.
When there is only one player left, the game is over…
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