Placement of Ships
After both players have connected to the game, the placement of the ships begins. 
Every player has five ships including: 
Flagship covering 5 squares on the grid 
Cruiser covering 4 squares on the grid 
Destroyer covering 3 squares on the grid 
Utility Boat covering 2 squares on the grid 
Dinghy covering a single square on the grid. 

You can choose automatic placement of the ships, or place them manually on the board.
Manual placement is done by choosing a ship and dragging it to a (legal) position on the opponent's board. It is illegal to place a ship in direct contact with another one. If you try to drag a ship to an illegal position, you will not be able to successfully place the ship there.
The ship can be turned around to face different positions by double clicking the left mouse button. 
If the Auto Placement option is chosen, you may still change the position of ships placed by the computer, if desired. If you have already begun to place ships manually after you have chosen the Auto Placement option, the computer will re-position the ships again.
During the placement stage, the message window will read Place Ships and Start Game.
When the placement stage is complete, press the Start Game button to commence play.
The server randomly chooses which player will start first.

Playing the Game

The Board Display
When a ship is partially damaged, a fire is displayed on the square on which the damaged section of the ship is located. If the ship is fully damaged, a sinking ship is displayed.

Shooting into the Opponent's Board
When the player is about to shoot, the message screen will say Select a Square to Fire On.
The frame around the icon of the player whose turn it is to shoot will be highlighted.
When it is the second player's turn to shoot, the message screen will say Opponent's Turn. 
When the cursor is situated on a legal position, it will become a target sight. In all other situations, it appears as an arrow. If the fire lands on an empty square, a miss will be displayed as a water explosion. If the fire hits and damages a ship, an explosion will be displayed. When a ship's last remaining square is hit, a sinking ship will be displayed, and in place of the ship, debris will appear. The whole shooting process, as well as explosions, appear to both players at the same time.

Communication Between Players
For the duration of the game, players may communicate via the VP chat box. 
The icons of both players are displayed on the screen, with each player's icon next to his/her board. Players' messages will appear next to their respective icons.

End of Game
When you or your opponent sink all the enemy ships, a white flag will be displayed on the loser's board.
After the wins and losses have been calculated, the action button will be updated to New Game.
If one of the players press the New Game button, the game will restart for both players.

Sound/Music
MIDI music as well as sound effects is heard at all stages of the game. The Music button toggles between music on/off.
he Sound FX button toggles between sound FX on/off. Pressing the button again, restores the original music.