Interface
Male/Female
If perchance one selects incorrectly, please IM Ultralite Soleil to get that corrected. As far as the choice, of course that is up to the player, however keep in mind that the gender chosen will determine the gender of announced titles, so one might care to use the corresponding gender for the avatar to avoid confusion. The game will continue to ask the question about which gender to use until that question is answered.
HUD Position
If one "WEARs" the HUD, it will appear on-screen in a default position. For brand new HUDs, this will be the "HUD Top Left" position. If the HUD was received from another player, it will default to whatever position they last used. Right click the HUD scroll and then slide it around to the desired position. If one never removes it, the HUD will be there, ready to go every time one logs into SL. Should the HUD become detached, simply WEAR it again, and it will re-appear in the preferred position on screen again.
Month & Year
Each turn is one month in game time. There are 3 minutes between turns. Located in the extreme upper left of the HUD, the year cycles from Jan 1100 to Dec 1300 CE automatically, resetting starting at Jan 1100 again. Each game year takes about 36 minutes to complete; 12 turns of 3 minutes each.
Clock
Located in the upper right of the HUD, it is a circle that fills (ala a pie chart) with a darker color to mark the passage of each month/turn. Answers to game offers may be sent any time after the new turn is available, but before the circle fills up completely. If one attempts to answer Yes or No after that point, the HUD will tell state that "sent your response too late for this turn."
Also, clicking the clock itself will cause text to bump up or down a tiny bit to improve readability. Click through to test the 3 positions to see what works best for text display. Please see the Troubleshooting section for more ways to improve HUD text readability.
Chime on/off
To turn the GONG sound on or off, left click and hold for a few seconds on the clock, and then again to restore the GONG. The HUD will give send a message stating whether the muting or un-muting was performed successfully.
As of Fed HUD 1.4, this has been replaced with a ? icon that leads to a menu that allows muting of the login fanfare, turn bells, and selection clicks, plus some other options.
Minimize & Close
Same function and appearance as a standard window.
Player's Rank/Title, Name & Kingdom if applicable
For example Peasant XYZ PDQ, or Princess Madame Maracas of Wessex or Viscount RTY TOOTY. The "of Wessex" or whatever kingdom indicates that the top person in your line not only reports directly to the Emperor, Ultralite Soleil, but that they have achieved the monumental acreage of over 20,000 as well as 400,000,000 gold. Not all Kings nor Queens have reached this ranking at this time. (9/30/2007)
Land
There are two land numbers: Total Acreage and Personal Acreage. Personal acreage is land that was bought directly or received directly as a gift. Total Acreage is personal acreage combined with the total acreage held by all subjects. Imagine that one is standing atop an acreage pyramid, all the acres holding one up are held by Subjects and count toward the Total Acreage count.
Gold
Monies earned and acquired by the player. Tiny Empires Gold is NOT transferable to Lindens or USD or any other currency. The assets of the game remain within the Empire, it is as they say, a closed economy, unlike SL at large.
Population (Federation HUD only)
Citizens in the player's realm. This should not be confused with subjects. Subjects are players; citizens are simply another score. Citizen management affects gold income.
Tabs (left to right)
Offers Tab
This is where the new information is displayed every turn/month. Probably the most important tab, as this is where puzzles are presented, bribe offers can be made, accepted or declined and where one finds out who's been promoted or demoted, as well as reports of the imminent appearance of the Mysterious Trader (more on him later).
Accounting Tab
Details where Gold is coming in and going out. Keep an eye on the Gold per acre production rate and Homage Rate in particular.
Subjects Tab
Lists folks reporting directly only.
Fellows or Allies Tab
On the standard HUD, the Fellows tab shows folks that also report directly to the same liege.
On the Federation HUD, the Allies tab lists the Allies you currently have, and allows you to send an ambassador to them.