Controls

There are various controls for Hegemony. A list of useful keyboard controls can be found in List of Controls.

### Camera Controls

* To navigate the map, pan the camera by holding the middle mouse button and moving your mouse. You can also pan with the W, A, S, and D keys.
* To rotate and zoom, hold the alt key and move your mouse. You can also use the Q and E keys to rotate, and the R and F keys to zoom. The quickest way to zoom is with your mouse wheel.
* You can centre your view over the current selection at any time by pressing the bottom-left button in the command panel, or pressing the 1 key on the numpad.

### Pausing

The game can be paused at any time by pressing the Space-Bar or by clicking the pause button above the season wheel. The button will flash and turn red to indicate when the game is paused. While paused, you can still inspect all of your units and issue orders as you normally would. Some orders, such as recruiting units, will happen immediately, while move, attack and other similar commands will take affect once you unpause.

### Selecting Units and Objects

* Left-click to select an object. Any object that can be selected will display a help box in the bottom right corner of the screen when you mouse over it.
* Multiple units can be selected by holding the shift key while selecting additional units or by dragging a box around units with the left mouse button.
* Only one building or city may be selected at any given time.
* Groups can be selected by doubleclicking on them. When any member of a group is selected, the contents of the group will be shown in the information panel at the bottom of the screen, allowing you to easily select other objects in the group.
* Similarly, if a building, city, or trireme is selected, the units inside can be selected by clicking their portraits in the information panel. If a command is issued outside of the container, the unit will automatically exit.

### Issuing Commands

* To issue a command, select an object and right-click on a target. For example, selecting a friendly unit and right-clicking on an enemy will attack it.
* When there are multiple commands available, a default command is selected. To use a different command on the target, hold the right mouse button down over a target to open the context menu ("command wheel"). The context menu can be used to issue any order that targets another object.
* Commands that change the state of the selected object can be accessed through the command panel located in the lower right corner of the screen whenever a unit or object is selected.
* Any command which directly affects the selected object can be found in the command panel. Note: Each of the nine buttons in the command panel is mapped to a key on the numpad.

### Moving Units

* To move a unit, select the unit and right-click where you would like it to move.
* While a unit is selected, the cursor will change to indicate whether the terrain under the cursor is blocked or not. Impassable terrain is indicated with a red X.
* Like other strategy games, you can indicate the direction a unit should face by holding down the right mouse button and moving your mouse in the direction the unit should face. Alternately, you can simply drag a unit with your left mouse button to order it to move.
* For greater control over the path your units will take to reach their destination you can hold the shift key when issuing a move order to set a waypoint

### Changing Formation

Selected units are displayed with eight handles around their formation. The handles on each corner can be dragged to rotate the unit, while the handles on the sides can be used to
change the unit’s width. In this way, a unit can be ordered to assume a line or column formation.

### Grouping Units

* The quickest way to group units is to select a number of them and then issue a move order. The selected units will converge on the target location and combine as a group in a pre-set arrangement.
* For more precise control of how units are oriented in a group, use your left mouse button to drag a unit against the edge of any other unit. In this way, units can be grouped in any arrangement you desire.
* Group units for movement over long distances, as it is the best way to keep units travelling to the same location together. Grouped units will travel at the speed of the slowest unit in the group, to ensure that no unit is left behind. Note: Grouping does not add any combat or leadership bonuses

### Finding Units and Objects

There are many ways to find and locate units and objects on the map:

* Click the arrow icon next to object or location names in the Game Manual or Objective Log to jump the camera to the target.
* Zoom out to the strategy map to see more units and objects at once. Labels on the map change as you zoom out with city names appearing closer and region names appearing further out.
* Open the asset list by pressing the "I" key or clicking the button in the top right for a complete list of your units and buildings with links to select them

### Attacking Units and Objects

* With a unit or units selected, right click on an enemy unit or object to attack it. Melee units will advance to attack enemy units at close quarters, while ranged units will advance to within firing range before attacking.
* If you want ranged units to engage enemy units in melee combat, hold the right mouse button down over the target and choose attack from the context menu.

### Capturing Units and Objects

* Attack an undefended enemy target to capture it. Siege defended targets such as forts and walled cities to capture them.
* An enemy unit will surrender if it routs and is unable to run away, or is attacked while routed. Surrendered units can be killed or captured. Captured units become slaves.

### Construction and Destruction

* With one or more units selected, click the "construct building" button in the unit menu and then click on to a building site using the the right mouse button to construct a camp or bridge.
* Desconstruction is done by selecting the correspoinding button in the building's menu.
* You can increase the speed of construction and destruction by assigning more units to the same task or by utilizing units with a high engineering skill.

### Building Units

* To build a new unit, left-click to select a friendly city. In the lower right corner of the screen you’ll find the command panel. From there you can recruit native units in your faction’s native cities, hire allied units in captured cities, build triremes in cities with docks, or build catapults if they are available (see Skill Tree).
* You can also hire mercenaries if you have upgraded the city with a mercenary post (see Skill Tree).
* You must have enough available income to build the unit. If you are running a deficit (your expenses exceed your income), you will not be able to build any units until you repair your economy.
* Units also require that a city has recruits available to join the new unit. A new unit can leave as soon as it has recruited at least one member. The unit will continue to gather recruits from its home city as long as it is within the supply radius of a friendly city or building that is connected by supply lines back to its home.