Glest starts with a nice menu screen:
1. New Game - This opens the next menu for choosing the type of game.
2. Join Game - Allows you to join a network game. More on that later.
3. Options - Opens the Options Menu for customizing settings.
4. About - About the creators of glest.
5. Exit - Exits the game.
1. Custom Game - Allows a game where you choose the factions, map and such. This is the most commonly used.
2. Scenario - Plays a scenario where the map and factions are set. May also have scripting, which adds to enjoyment.
3. Tutorial - The same as a scenario, but made to teach you how to play glest.
4. Return - Goes back to the previous menu.
1. Control - Choose between who controls the factions. Human is you, cpu is a normal computer, and cpu-ultra is a more powerful computer.
2. Faction - Choose the faction for each player. The faction is the group like magic or tech which they control.
3. Team - Choose the teams. Players with the same team number are allies. Used for Team and Co-op matches.
4. Tileset - Changes the tileset. The tileset is the way the map looks, it includes the trees, rocks, ground, and more.
5. Tech Tree - Changes the Tech Tree. Tech trees contain the factions. Examples of tech trees include Magitech and Nihilirian.
6. Map - Changes the map. The map is the layout of the world. It includes the position of trees and other objects, as well as players.
Once you are ready, hit Play Now to play Glest, or hit return to go back to the previous menu.
1. Scenario - Chooses the Scenario from a list. Scenarios are games with set factions, Tilesets, and maps. Scripted scenarios are special scenarios 
that are scripted to make the AI do special things and provide more of a story.
The information below the scenario describes it. The player is the faction you control, the difficulty is the difficulty level of the scenario, the map is the map which you will play on, the tileset it the tileset used for the scenario, and the tech tree is the tech tree used.



PLAYING GLEST
Now for the actual guide for playing the game.
1. Sever Type - Choose between entering a new IP or using one you've already saved.
2. Server - The IP you're trying to connect to.
The will be more on using Multiplayer later.
1. Fx Volume - The volume of the special Fx, such as an attack sound or command sound.
2. Ambient Volume - Volume of Ambience which is generally birds chirping in the day, and crickets at night, but it varries per tileset.
3. Music Volume - Volume of the factions main music.
4. Language - The language for the menus and all to be. English is generally best because it is most popular and better to understand in screenshots.
5. Filter - Either Bilinear or Trilinear. Bilinear is recommended, since trilinear makes the game's frame rate go down as it uses more memory.
6. Shadows - Either have no shadows, projected are fast, but may be inaccurate, shadow mapping is slow, but exact shadows.
7. 3D Textures - Weither or not to have 3D textures.
8. Max Lights - The maximum lights the game will use. Depending on your graphics card, you may go up to 8, but it may also slow down performance.
Once done, hit return, or choose Auto Config to have Glest automatically set everything to a good level for your computer. (Which is shown)
    So you've started the game, You probably done the tutorials, if not, do them now. For commands, the worker has the most. The Hand means stop, and as its name implies, the unit will stop whatever it's doing. The next icon, the arrow, means move. It tells the unit to move where ever you tell it to. The two icons afer (the farm and castle pictures) are building. The first is build basic, the next is build advanced. They both build a building if you meet the requirements. Next two icons are the axe and pick-axe.  They are for harvesting resources. Resources are needed to build buildings and produce units, so therefore, they are very important.  The axe is harvest wood, which harvests wood from trees, and the pick-axe is mine gold/stone, which mines either gold or stone from the correspoding rocks. The last icon in the row is the repair icon, which fixes up damaged buildings. The X in the bottom corner is the cancel icon, which cancels any action.
    Now above the icons are the units stats. HP is health points, the first number is the current HP, and the second is the max HP. When HP reaches 0, the unit dies. Some units regenerate HP, which means they slowly get some back if they are damaged. Also, some units have EP, or energy points, energy is used to cast spells, and if they don't have the energy, they can't cast the spell. Armor is the armor of the unit, and the word in brackets is the type of armor. Different types of armors defend better against different types of attacks. The sight is how far the unit can see. The sight repels the fog of war, which prevents sight of units. With attacking units, the sight is how close the foe must be in order to attack them automatically. When gathering resources, you'll notice the load will appear. The load is how much of what kind of resource they are carrying. If the unit consumes a resource to survive, such as food, the consume stat will show, showing how much of what they consume. Lastly, the last option is the current action. When producing a unit, a bar with the percentage done will appear under that.
     Now lets look at an attacking unit.
   Attacking units have an attack command. In this unit, the attack command is symbolized with the sword. Attacks have a range, which is the distance they can attack from, usually 1 in sword users, but archers can have much more. There is the damage which can look something like 80 ... 120 whcih means the attack can do 80-120 damage every time. If the attack is a spell, it may cost EP, and there may also be a splash on the attack. A splash is the wave of damage that it can do from the target. Splashes get weaker the further they are from the target. The radius of the splash is how far the splash can go. 0 has no splash. The shield icon is hold position. It needs an upgrade in tech, but is very useful for archers becuase it has them hold position so that they stay in nice ranks to prevent enemies from passing. Also helps prevent units from running off. The swordman has a morph command, which allows it to morph into another unit, in this case, the guard. When morphing, the costs are the same, but the discount value is returned to you after the morph is done. Also, on attacking units, the kills line is added to the stats. The lines in brackets are the levels. In this picture, the swordman will become an elite swordman in 3 kills. With each level, the stats rise, making the unit stronger. All kills count towards your kill counter, including kills against allies and even yourself.
     Now lets look at a building.
    Buildings usually produce units and upgrades, although a few (namely the defense tower) can attack. Notice that buildings have very few stats, just armor, sight, and HP. On the Barracks, there are 4 units that can be produced. The swordman, archer, guard, and horseman. In this picture, the horseman is darkened because we do not have the stable upgrade for it. The picture shows what resources you need to produce the guard. It also shows the buildings you must have already built to produce it. The production speed is the speed that the unit is produced at.
     Next there is the upgrades. The training field is an upgrade. It allows units to use the hold position command, and increases the production speed of the barracks. One thing that many producing buildings have that nothing else has is the meeting point, symbolized by the flag icon. Click the flag icon, then any place on the map and when a unit is produced in that building, they will walk to that location. Useful to have three barracks pumping swordman into one location, or having a castle send its workers directly to mine gold. Buildings can generally be repaired by the worker if they have been damaged.
That basically sums up the basics to playing glest. Taking the tutorials, as well as my own advanced magic and advanced tech tutorials (downloadable in glest.org's download area) should explain in more depth all the units and commands. Also, every mod is different, so these may not always be the same. For more advanced tips and techniques, see the page for Glest Tips.