When you start Emperor, a setup window will be displayed:
You can now choose how many players will take part in the game, and which of those will be played by the computer. Simply check the boxes as shown in the example above. You can also enter the names of the different players in this window.
If you don't want to play with other people on the network, just hit OK to start the game.
For setting up a game with people on a network, hit the "Network" button to enter the network setup dialog. Network games in emperor don't consist of a client/server system; instead the game actively runs only on one computer at a time. As soon as control is given to a player who is on a remote computer, the whole game is transferred to the other computer over the network.
The network setup dialog looks like this:
Mark all the players that do not play on your local computer. Please note that also the computer players must be assigned to a local or remote computer, where their moves are calculated.
For all local players, leave the checkboxes unchecked. For the other players, check the checkbox and enter the IP name and port of the remote system. Below the players, you can enter the port on your system on which emperor will listen and wait for the other players to finish their moves (if you change this value, make sure the other players use this port number in their network setup dialog for you!).
If you're done, start the game with the OK button. If the first player is on a remote system, the game will directly go into a waiting state until it is your turn. Otherwise, you can start the game normally, until the game transfers control to the first remote user via the network.