NULLGATE - how to play ====================== Zero-gravity team arena shooter. One shot kills. Each enemy you shoot gives you a carried point; fly through the enemy gate into their spawn room to score 1 plus everything you carry (carry 2 in and it's worth 3). Die first and you lose what you carry. Everyone in a game must run the SAME version (shown bottom right of the menu). A mismatched game is refused with a message saying which version the host (or server) runs. UPDATES: the newest version is always on https://nullgate.play-5k.com (Windows and Linux). The game checks there when it starts; when there's a newer version, the main menu shows an Update card: "Update and restart" downloads it, replaces the game file and starts the new one. Keep the game in a folder you can write to (Desktop, Downloads, a Games folder; not Program Files), or it can't update itself and sends you to the download page instead. HOSTING ------- 1. Type a name, press Host. You land in the lobby. To keep strangers out, type a password in the Password box first and give it to your friends. 2. The lobby shows the address(es) other players type in: - "Internet: ..." your router opened the port automatically (UPnP). Send friends that address. - "LAN: ..." for players on the same network as you. - If it says the router didn't open the port, forward UDP port 24680 on your router to this PC (or turn on UPnP in the router), or use a VPN like Tailscale / ZeroTier and share that address instead. 3. Windows Firewall may ask about Nullgate the first time: allow it (at least on private networks). 4. Pick the arena (Station or Reactor), set the time limit, score cap and bots, then START MATCH. The Kick button next to a player removes them; they can't come back to this game. JOINING ------- Open Join game: the public servers are listed with their arena, what they're doing (lobby or match) and how many players are in. Type a name and click a server to join it. The list refreshes every few seconds (or press Refresh). For a friend's game (or one on your network), click Direct connect and type the host's address and port. The menu remembers what you typed last. If a game has a password (marked in the list), type it in the Password box before joining. If it fails, the menu says why (server not found or not reachable, version mismatch, wrong password, ...). DEDICATED SERVER ---------------- A server that only hosts and doesn't play: no window, no player, just a console log. Use "Nullgate Server .console.exe" from the server zip (the .console.exe shows the log; keep the other exe next to it). From a command prompt in that folder: "Nullgate Server 0.0.10.console.exe" --port=24680 --map=station --bots=2 Options (all optional): --port=24680 UDP port players connect to --map=station|reactor starting arena --bots=N practice bots (they fill the teams evenly) --skill=easy|medium|hard bot skill --time=10 time limit in minutes (0 = none) --cap=20 score cap (0 = none) --autostart=N start the match by itself once N players are in --autostart-delay=30 ...after this many seconds --no-upnp don't ask the router to open the port --password=secret players must type this in the Password box --server-name=Name the name shown in the server list A server also answers the server list on UDP port + 10 (24690 for 24680); open both if you want it listed. (The in-game list only asks the public host.) - The first player to join leads the lobby: they get the host's controls (rules, arena, bots, Start match). If they leave, the next player who joined takes over. With --autostart, the lobby also counts down and starts by itself. - When the last player leaves, the server goes back to the lobby with the settings from its command line. - The server tries UPnP like a host and prints whether the router opened the port. On a machine with its own public address, or with the port forwarded, use --no-upnp. Allow it through Windows Firewall. - Ctrl+C stops it. - The normal game exe also runs as a server with --server --headless (same options), but it shows no log on Windows. CONTROLS (rebindable in Settings) -------- Mouse look LMB fire W A S D thrust RMB (hold) grapple: fires, reels you in, Space / Ctrl thrust up / down lets go when released Q / E roll F mag boots on/off Shift (hold) boost X (hold) brake Tab scoreboard M tactical map Esc menu / settings F1 controls list F10 dev tweaks (team colors, shell glass) GAMEPAD ------- A gamepad works everywhere, menus included (d-pad or left stick to move, A to pick, B to go back). Plug it in and use it; the game follows whichever you touched last, and the controls card (D-pad left) always shows the right buttons. Left stick thrust forward/back, strafe Right stick look A up / hold to push off B down X brake Y mag boots RT fire LT grapple (hold) LB / RB roll left / right L3 boost Back scoreboard Start menu D-pad up tactical map D-pad left controls card Settings has gamepad look sensitivity, stick deadzone and aim assist (Off, Light or Stronger; it only ever helps a gamepad, never a mouse). Every control can be rebound for keyboard and gamepad separately. To type with a pad, press A on a text box (your pilot name, a server address) and an on-screen keyboard opens: A types the key, X backspaces, Y shifts, LB types a space, Start accepts and B cancels. SOUND ----- Settings has three volumes: master, music and sound effects. Music plays in the menus and in a match, a different track each time. Mag boots: with boots on, touch a magnetic surface (glowing lime grid) to stick to it and walk. Hold Space to charge a push-off, release to launch where you look. Fuel: thrusting burns fuel; it refills slowly, from cyan canisters, and on every kill. Radar and minimap (top left): enemies only show up for a few seconds after they shoot. The minimap turns with you; HOME is your gate, GOAL the enemy's. Portals: fly into a ring to come out of its partner. Arena portals work both ways; the spawn room hoops only lead out. Grapple a pickup: hook a fuel or speed pickup and it comes to you. The gun fires once a second: make each shot count. Grapple an enemy: the rope drags you both together (stand on steel with your boots and only they move, even off a wall). Hooked? Boost away to tear it out; it lets go by itself after 3 seconds. Walls: each half has a big wall across it that you fly around. Its glass panes break in one shot, the blocks in four; blast a hole and you can fly through it. Pieces shot loose float away.