The controls could not be simpler: left mouse button selects units and buildings, and directs units to locations. The right mouse button deselects units and buildings when clicked on empty ground, but also brings up a submenu for further fine control of vehicles. The directional keys pan around the map, the mouse scroll wheel zooms, and the right mouse button also rotates and tilts the camera.

Classically, you can assign selected vehicles to a control group with the Ctrl key, and shift-clicking allows you to set waypoints. Double-clicking a unit will select all units of that type, while double-pressing a unit's control group key will center that group on-screen (if all of those units are together).

There's only one resource to gather, and that's oil. A Derrick must be built to harvest it, and that's it. The other factor is power, which is supplied by Generators. The building is done by Trucks, which also do building repairs. In a couple of cases, Trucks will know what types of buildings to create based simply on the resource at hand; they'll make a Derrick on top of an oil patch without the player having to explicity select it from the menu.

About the interface: Unlike the RTS genre in later years, Warzone 2100's UI is refreshingly Spartan. There's really only one section, and it's in the lower-left side. It's here you'll find icons for building structures and units, researching new technologies, looking at mission objectives, and designing new units (more on this later).

One of the more welcome functions Warzone brings is its ability to access build menus from anywhere on the map, rather than having to select specific buildings. If you're in the farthest corner, for example, you don't have to jump back to base to select the Factory to pump out units; just click the proper icon from the always-present menu. This works well for researching new tech, too. It works less well for placing buildings, as you'll need to have the desired location in your visual field, but it's still quite a time saver. Your Trucks will travel to wherever the building is to be placed, and putting multiple Trucks will speed up the build process. Interestingly, if you already have more than one Truck selected, each of them will get to work on the new building together.