Phantom-N

The idea behind the Phantom-N mod is to start the game with all players allied and after 8 minutes assign some of the players as Phantoms.

Phantoms are secretly assigned, nobody knows who the Phantoms are except themselves. Remaining players are known as innocents. After this point, the Phantoms will receive a small portion of all innocents income, both mass and energy. This doesn't effect the innocents economy, just increases the Phantoms.

The objective of the innocents is to work out who the Phantoms are and kill them. Once all Phantoms have been killed then the innocents achieve an allied victory. The objective of the Phantoms is to kill ALL other players, innocents and Phantoms. How they achieve that is up to them, they can forge alliances with other players, make a temporary alliance with other phantoms, etc, or, play a low-key game and convince the innocents to attack each other under the pretence that they are Phantoms.

The true key to a Phantom game is diplomacy. Each player is free to make and break alliances at will. A true Phantom player will use diplomacy to create discord amongst the innocents and convince other players they are innocent.

-- Assigning the Phantoms --
Just before the 8 minute mark, you will all be asked to vote for 1, 2 or 3 Phantoms. At 8 minutes, the winning number of players will be randomly assigned as Phantoms.

-- The Phantom UI --
In the top left you now have a third UI bar. Before the 8 minute mark this tool tells you how long before assignment.

After the 8 minute mark it changes depending if you're a Phantom or innocent. For an innocent it tells you how many Phantoms are dead and how many left. For a Phantom it tells you how many innocents are dead and left, it also tells you how much of your income is coming from innocent players and gives you two buttons, a mass and energy button. These two buttons will dump 90% of your mass or energy reserves, and can be useful for masquerading as an innocent.

-- Phantom Resources --
The amount of income a Phantom receives from the innocents depends on how many Phantoms were assigned at the start of the game. It also depends on who the Phantom is allied with. If the Phantom is allied with all innocents then they receive "allied" bonuses. If the Phantom is at war with all innocents, then they receive "enemy" bonuses. If there is a combination of allies and enemies for the Phantom, then you receive "mixed" bonuses.

This applies to all Phantoms and all alliances, so if just one Phantom breaks with just one innocent, then ALL Phantoms now receive mixed bonuses. The same bonus applies to all Phantoms. On the other hand, if all Phantoms were at war with everyone, all Phantoms would be receiving "enemy" bonuses, but if one Phantom secretly forges an alliance, then all Phantoms are now demoted to "mixed" bonus rates.

Additionally, if Phantoms are at war with each other, then there is an extra multiplier to the Phantoms bonus rate. For example, if there are 2 Phantoms, at war with all innocents but allied with each other, then they get 20% of the innocents income. If they go to war with each other, then that 20% gets a 120% multiplier, making it 24% of innocents income.

The rates are as follows:

One Phantom:
Allied: 20%
Mixed: 25%
Enemy: 30%

Two Phantoms:
Allied: 10%
Mixed: 15%
Enemy: 20%
Phantom War Multiplier: 120%
Vampire Conditions: 50%

Three Phantoms:
Allied: 8%;
Mixed: 10%
Enemy: 15%
Phantom War Multiplier: 110%
Vampire Conditions: 40%

-- Vampire Conditions --
If all innocent players are killed then there are no more innocents for the Phantoms to receive a bonus from. As Phantoms are required to kill everyone, including other Phantoms, they need addition resources to fuel their enlarged economies.

When the last innocent is killed, Phantoms automatically have any alliances broken, so they are all immediately forced into war. When a Phantom kills an enemy unit, a portion of the cost price for that unit, mass and energy, is immediately credited into the killing players reserves. For example, if a player kills an enemy tank then 50% (for two Phantoms) of the tanks mass and energy is added to that players reserves. If the killer has full reserves, then the mass/energy is wasted.

These conditions apply when only Phantoms remain in the game. If you want this to happen for all players permanently, then try the 'Vampire' mod.

-- Score --
The score no longer reflects your economy. Your score now represents your kills and deaths.

-- Misc --
When voting for the number of Phantoms and you get two even votes, the lower of the votes is selected.

Alliances may be broken and remade, regardless of the game settings.

Shared Resources are disabled, and the button to re-enable it has been removed.

Allied Victory may only be achieved when only innocents remain, and is forced. Innocents will automatically win when all Phantoms are dead.

-- Tips and Common Mistakes --
If you miss your designation, look at the toolbar in the top-left. Smile

Don't bother with Tech 1 - spend the first 8 minutes teching up, but watch out for a quick assassination from a near by Phantom.

Subterfuge and trickery work a lot better when you're a Phantom, than trying to be very aggressive and overpowering. Stall your eco to look innocent.

Don't let players build some experimentals, like Rapid Fire Artillery, the Experimental Resource Generator or the Experimental Nuke Launcher. Offer players who start to build these an ultimatum, or else you will find yourself in a hard place if they are the Phantom (and generally are).

Don't forget radar - while you're allied you may see everything, but if you suddenly find yourself an enemy you might be left without intel.

"Crossfire Canal" is the recommend Phantom map, for 6 players.

Phantoms are not allies, they do have to kill each other. You may want to make a temporary alliance while dealing with innocents, but in the end you've got to kill all the Phantoms.

What happens in a Phantom game, stays in a Phantom game. Lying is part of the game, don't take it personally.