SSCT SURVIVOR: SUBSPACE ZONE
FAQ Version 1.0 by R18 (ry1834@aol.com)
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
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1. Updates to Subspace FAQ
2. Introduction
3. Getting Started
4. What Survivor is About
5. The Basics
a) Movement Controls
b) Weapon Controls
c) Special Items
d) Other Controls
e) How Energy Works
f) Explanation of Map Items
g) Your Radar
h) Communications
6. Player Commands
7. Rules of Survivor
a) Rule #1
b) Rule #2
c) Rule #3
d) Rule #4
e) Rule #5
f) Rule #6
g) Rule #7
h) Other offenses
i) Cheapness
8. The Ships
a) Warbird
b) Javelin
c) Spider
d) Leviathan
e) Terrier
f) Weasel
g) Lancaster
h) Shark
i) Spectator
9. Guide to Flagging
a) The Basics
b) Opening Game Strategy
c) Mid-Game Strategy
d) Endgame Strategy
e) Offensive Tactics
f) Defensive Tactics
10. Guide to Dueling
a) How to Duel
b) Offensive Tactics
c) Defensive Tactics
d) Dueling Ladders
11. Guide to Reccing
a) What is Reccing?
b) How to Rec by Flagging
c) How to Rec by Dogfighting
12. Guide to Survivor Events
a) What are Events?
b) How to Win Kamikazes
c) How to Win Eliminations
d) How to Win Turret Wars
e) How to Win Thorage
f) How to Win Tking
13. Survivor Squads
a) What is a Squad?
b) How to Create a Squad
c) How to Join a Squad
14. Miscellaneous
a) Survivor League
b) Mad Mustang Mondays
c) Special Ships
d) How to Check Player Rankings
e) How to Become Staff
f) Cheaters/Laggers
g) Links to Subspace/Survivor Sites
15. Contact, Credits, and Disclaimer
a) E-mailing me
b) Disclaimer
c) Credits
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UPDATES TO SUBSPACE FAQ
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Version 1.0 (March 13, 2002)
Today I finish -almost- everything and send in this FAQ to various sites.
There will be new versions every time the settings change or something new
(and big!) happens, or if I made some sort of gigantic error...0_o
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INTRODUCTION
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This document is a FAQ written for Subspace, an outstanding computer
game, and in particular one of its zones, SSCT Survivor. This guide is
designed to aid and improve players of any skill level- from a mere beginner
who has never played Subspace before to a Survivor veteran. It will also
include miscellaneous (but useful!) information about almost everything. The
first few sections of this FAQ are for people who are new to the game itself,
so I recommend that you skip ahead if you are already past that level of
playing.
It's actually my first attempt at a guide of any kind. But still, rest
assured that I'm not a newbie sharing strategies that were made up in several
minutes after only a few hours of playing, so don't worry about that. This
guide will instead include elite tactics that will take any clueless player
in the right direction in becoming among the best, and any veteran to
hopefully becoming better.
Also, if anybody is wondering what my screen names are on Subspace (if
you're trying to find me online to ask me something), I come on as R18,
Endgame-, Relativity-, Zero**, Diamond Eye, and Newbcaster User. Actually, I
think I make a new one every month...^_^
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GETTING STARTED
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Your first task, if you don't have the game already, is to download
Subspace/Continuum onto your hard drive. Because it is an old game, it is
compatible with most computers. It is also a compact game, taking up a mere 6
megabytes. Best of all, it's free...^_^
To download Continuum, go to either http://www.subspacehq.com,
http://sszones.com, or http://www.subspacedownloads.com. Find a file that's
named somewhat like "Continuum .37" and install it. Double click on the
Continuum icon to start the game!
Your next job is to find SSCT Survivor. I think the new version of
Continuum will automatically download a list of currently active zones for
you when you first start it. If not, click on the "Zones" or "Find Servers"
button, and download the list. A full list of Subspace/Continuum zones will
appear. Select them all, and click on Add. Once accomplished, click okay,
then enter in a user name and password (any user name or password is fine, as
long as the user name hasn't already been taken) by creating a profile.
Select SSCT Survivor from the large zones list, and press the "Enter Zone"
button to start playing!
NOTE: Occasionally Survivor will give you a notice that you have not played
for enough hours to go into the zone. In this case, briefly go into any other
zone, then quickly exit and go into Survivor (as the zone time limit is only
one second, I believe.)
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WHAT SUBSPACE AND SURVIVOR IS ABOUT
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You see, Subspace is a completely online game, with thousands of
different people to interact with. You control a single ship, which has a
heavy arsenal of weapons and defenses, and work together with other ships to
beat the other team of enemy players. An IRC-like chat room is integrated
into the game, so you can communicate in public, private, or team messages
with anybody. Subspace has dozens of different zones, each with their own
unique maps, ship settings (meaning how the ships fly and shoot), and people.
Survivor is, in my opinion, by far the best zone in Subspace. It is
fast, action packed, and usually has a decent amount of players. There always
is an ongoing flag game, as well as constant dogfighting. It is a SUPER zone,
meaning that it differs from other zones in the fact that the ships move
faster, they shoot more, and they have more energy. I regard it as the most
fun zone out of all the other ones, which is why I play in it.
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THE BASICS
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A) Movement Controls
What you should first learn is your ship's moving styles. Subspace
uses only the keyboard, and you move your ship using the 4 arrow keys. Unlike
other games though, releasing the keys do not make your ship stop, and
pressing right or left does not make your ship move that way, it only makes
it turn. These basic movement controls may be difficult at first, but after
about ten minutes or so into the game they should feel somewhat better.
Holding shift while moving activates your ship's thrusters. However,
this feature does nothing in Survivor, so it is rarely used. Pressing the
insert button on your keyboard warps your ship back into the center area, but
it only works when your ship is at full energy.
The last movement control is the F7 key. Perhaps the most important
one, this key allows you to warp immediately to the position of any teammate
on the map, or attaching. After this, you may stay attached to that person as
a turret, or you can press F7 again to regain control of your ship. But
remember- You only can attach to other players when you're at full energy!
Just tick a player's name with the PageUp/PageDown keys and press F7 to
attach.
Let us recap:
Up Arrow: Moves ship forward
Down Arrow: Moves ship backwards
Left Arrow: Rotates ship counterclockwise
Right Arrow: Rotates ship clockwise
Insert: Warps ship to center area
PageUp/PageDown: Selects a player from a list
F7: Attaches ship to teammate
B) Weapon Controls
Though moving is important, using your ship's weapons are just as
important. The right side of your screen holds 6 spaces, showing what weapons
your ship has and whether or not they are activated or not.
Guns- These are most likely your ship's primary weapons in bases and
sometimes in the open. Use them with the CONTROL button. Your ship will
release many small bullets in front of it. Guns are short range weapons, and
should be used up close.
Bombs- These are most likely your ship's primary weapons in an open area.
They are long range weapons, and can hit the enemy even when they're on the
far side of your radar screen. Use them with the TAB button.
Mines- Mines are much like bombs, except that they are positioned in just one
place and don't move. They are excellent for blocking off entrances to
tunnels and for killing people that are following you. Each ship can lay up
to 15 mines. Lay a mine by holding SHIFT and pressing TAB. To lay a bunch of
mines at once, hold TAB for a longer period of time.
Guns and bombs are probably going to be the two weapons you will be
using most in Survivor. There are 4 different power levels of each, from
weakest to strongest: L1, L2, L3, and L4 (Level 1, Level 2, Level 3, Level
4). The higher the level, the more damage each bullet or bomb deals. To tell
the difference between the levels, the bullets and bombs are different
colors. All L1 bullets and bombs are red, all L2 bullets and bombs are
yellow, all L3 bullets and bombs are blue, and all L4 bullets and bombs are
purple. They also each make a different noise, sounding more explosive the
higher the level.
Stealth- Though stealth does not come with your ship, you can buy it for a
mere 50000 points if you are in the Spider (ship 3). This special weapon
makes your ship invisible on all enemy radar screens, allowing you to ambush
them. However, you can still be seen on their regular screen if you get too
close. Activate stealth with the HOME button on your keyboard.
Cloak- This special weapon only comes with the Spider (ship 3) and the Shark
(ship 8). Like stealth, it is another weapon made to deceive the enemy. Once
cloak is activated, your ship is invisible on the enemy's regular screens.
However, you can still be detected on the enemy radar. The good thing is, if
you combine cloak and stealth together with the Spider, you will be
completely invisible to all enemies. Activate cloak by holding SHIFT and
pressing HOME.
X-Radar- Of course, we can't have Spiders sneaking up on every helpless ship
without some sort of detection device. X-Radar is the counter-weapon against
Stealth and Cloak, and forces them to show up both on your regular screen and
your radar. Every ship is equipped with X-Radar, and you can activate it by
pressing END. It only takes 1 energy to keep on. This is very useful- I
always keep X-Radar on, and when I attach to somebody I turn it off briefly
and turn it back on the next second.
Antiwarp- This is one of the most useful weapons. However, it does not come
with any ship, and instead you must buy it. Antiwarp, when activated,
prevents any enemy ship close to yours (like if they're on your radar screen)
from warping to the main safety, or attaching to their teammate. Extremely
useful after enemy has captured home base. Turn your antiwarp on by holding
SHIFT and pressing END. Unfortunately, antiwarp costs 500 million points, and
is not seen very often.
A review of the weapons:
Control- Fires bullets
Tab- Fires bombs
Shift-Tab- Lays mines
Home- Activates stealth
Shift-Home- Activates cloak
End- Activates X-Radar
Shift-End- Activates Antiwarp
C) Special Items
Every ship comes with an armament of their own special items, each
useful in their own way. The items you have and how many of each are shown on
the left side of your playing screen.
Bursts- These are your ship's primary offensive item. When used, bursts will
release dozens of tiny rainbow-colored sparks around your ship. Though the
sparks themselves are harmless, once they bounce off a wall they become a
powerful and deadly L4 bullet. If used in a cramped area, such as a narrow
passageway or a small room in a base, they will fill the room with your L4,
rainbow colored bullets and kill the enemy. However, bursts are useless when
fighting in the open, because they cannot bounce off any walls to harm the
enemy. Each ship comes with 2 bursts, use them by holding SHIFT and pressing
DELETE.
Repels- These are your ship's chief defensive item. Repels will create a
yellow explosion around your ship, pushing away enemy bullets, bombs, bursts,
and mines that are in the immediate area surrounding your ship, giving you a
chance to escape or clearing the path in front of you. Each ship gets 5
repels. They can be used by holding SHIFT and pressing CONTROL.
Decoys- A very useful item for confusing or deceiving the enemy. When used, a
clone of your ship is released: A decoy. It throws an enemy that's chasing
you off track, since it appears on their radar, and has your name next to it
as well. Besides being effective in the open, they're also good in bases to
make the enemy overestimate you. If your entire team uses 3 decoys in the
base, the enemy would think that you are 4 times stronger than you actually
are. Every ship comes with 3 decoys; release one with F5.
Thor's Hammers- Your ship's other offensive weapon, the Thor's Hammer. This
weapon is in reality a L4 bomb that can pass through walls and bricks,
smashing into the enemy. However, since each ship only can carry 2, it
doesn't do much damage (and actually isn't that useful). Only use to kill
when you're certain that the enemy ship (or ships) is at about 400 energy or
less. Throw a Thor's Hammer with F4.
Bricks- One of the most important items in flagging and base battles! When
you drop a brick, it lays a wall fifteen tiles long which enemies cannot
shoot or fly through. But you and your teammates can still shoot and fly
through it, making a huge advantage over the enemy. The brick disappears
after a few dozen seconds though. This is a very important item in flagging,
since it protects both attackers and defenders, and blocks off rushes. Drop a
brick with F4.
Rockets- These special items give your ship a huge speed boost, allowing it
to reach a key area quicker or letting you escape the enemy when being chased
in a dogfight. However, they are best not used in bases, where it is easy to
get stuck after hitting a corner or wall. Each ship comes with 3 rockets,
activate one by pressing F3.
Portals- When the portal is used, it drops a 30 second beacon on the place
where you were. If you press insert within the next 30 seconds, you'll warp
immediately to that place (unless antiwarp is on), instead of back to the
main safety. It also warps you whether you have full energy or not, which is
both a convenience and a life saver. Drop a portal by holding SHIFT and
pressing INSERT.
A summary of the items and their controls:
Shift-Delete- Burst
Shift-Control- Repel
F5- Decoy
F6- Thor's Hammer
F4- Brick
F5- Rocket
Shift-Insert- Portal
D) Other Controls
A list of other useful and practical controls you may choose to
learn...Some you probably will only use a few times (once or twice), but a
few you will most likely use a LOT (like the ship-changing controls).
ESC-Q- Quits the game
ESC-B- When done in spectator mode, you can choose a banner to put next to
your name.
ESC-A- Shows list of active arenas
ESC-C- Shows settings of the server (only synops can do this!)
ESC-F- Displays frame rate in a red number at the top of your screen (50 per
second or better is a good frame rate)
ESC-I- Ignores public macros (automated messages sent by other players)
ESC-Page Down- Makes size of player listing box larger by one line
ESC-Page Down- Makes size of player listing box smaller by one line
ESC-1- Changes ship to Warbird
ESC-2- Changes ship to Javelin
ESC-3- Changes ship to Spider
ESC-4- Changes ship to Leviathan
ESC-5- Changes ship to Terrier
ESC-6- Changes ship to Weasel
ESC-7- Changes ship to Lancaster
ESC-8- Changes ship to Shark
ESC-S- Puts you into spectator mode
F1- Cycles through help screen
F2- Cycles through player statistic boxes
ESC-F3- Activates or disables name tags
ESC-F4- Activates or disables radar screen
ESC-F5- Activates or disables chat messages
ESC-F6- Activates or disables automated help messages
ESC-F7- Activates or disables stars and planets in background
ESC-F8- Activates or disables engine sounds
=(any number between 0-9999)- Changes frequency (team number) to that number
when at full energy unless team is full. Note: Survivor's public arena only
has 2 possible frequencies, 0 and 1.
ALT- Lets you see the entire map
E) How Energy Works
Each ship has unlimited ammo of guns and bombs, but they only have
3000 energy each (with the exception of the Shark). What is energy? Energy,
in Subspace, is your health, your hit points, your strength. Your energy
level is displayed on the top right corner of your screen, in a large box.
How does energy work? Well, when enemy weapons hit you, you lose
energy. You also get your energy depleted when you warp. One very important
thing to note is that your energy falls when you fire your own weapons
(except for some ships with L1 guns). Since your weapons take off from your
own energy reserve, you should take care not to overshoot.
Don't worry if your energy falls though, your ship always is
recharging its energy at a slow but steady rate, even while you're shooting.
If anybody's energy level ever falls below zero, their ship explodes and they
die (where then they'll respawn back at the center safety).
F) Explanation of Map Items
In Survivor, there are many special items or tiles on the map, which
may confuse you in their purpose in your first play. This section was
designed to explain what these tiles are for and what they do.
Greens- Scattered around the center area are dozens, perhaps hundreds of
these tiny green boxes. They appear as small green dots on your ship's radar,
and when passed over or flown through, they disappear. What do they do?
Well, greens are actually power-ups for your ship. They are useful for
regenerating special items that you've used up, or for restoring your energy
to its full. They are not as important as they are in zones other than
Survivor, but they are still practical at times. Listed below are the power-
ups you can pick up (but remember that gun and bomb upgrades, as well as
super and shields can't be picked up from ordinary greens).
Burst increased- Restores one burst to your ship
Repeller increased- Restores one repel to your ship
Decoy increased- Restores one decoy to your ship
Thor's Hammer increased- Restores one Thor's Hammer to your ship
Brick increased- Restores one brick to your ship
Rockets increased- Restores one rocket to your ship
Portal increased- Restores one portal to your ship
Proximity bombs- Gives your ship prox, which allows your bombs to explode
when they're close to the enemy, unlike without prox where it has to land
perfectly to deal any damage.
Sharpnel increased- Increases the amount of bullets that fly out of your
ship's bomb explosions.
Speed Upgraded- Increases your ship's top speed (unless already at max)
Thrust Upgraded- Increases your ship's acceleration (unless already at max)
Rotation Upgraded- Increases your ship's rotation speed (unless already at
max)
Guns upgraded- Increases the level of your ship's guns by one level (unless
already at Level 3)
Bombs upgraded- Increases the level of your ship's bombs by one level (unless
already at Level 3)
Multifire bullets- Lets your ship have multifire guns (guns that fire more
bullets but also cost more energy to fire). Revert to singlefire guns by
pressing DELETE.
Bouncing bullets- Turns all bullets your ships shoot into bouncing bullets
(larger bullets that bounce off walls)
Super!- Allows your ship to shoot without losing any energy for a certain
period of time (shown underneath energy readings next to spinning orbs)
Shields- Reduces all damage to your ship by 2/3 for a certain amount of time
(shown underneath energy readings next to rotating green circle)
Warp!- Warps you to center of arena
Full Charge- Restores all energy
Engine shutdown- Reduces rotation speed to 10% and disables thrust and speed
for several seconds.
Energy depletion- Reduces energy level to 0
Safety Zones- These are found in the center area, around the outer perimeter
of the map, and in some of the bases. When flying over them, you cannot be
harmed by any attacks (unless holding a powerball). Safety zones are used
when you leave the keyboard for a few minutes, or when you want to hold a
position in an assault on the enemy base.
Flags- There are a total of 47 flags in Survivor. Each one looks like a
glowing, spinning orb on your screen. Yellow flags are your own team's (you
can't pick them up or move them), and blue flags are the enemy flags (you can
pick them up and carry them for a certain time). If you're holding a flag,
both your guns and bombs get upgraded one level.
Powerballs- If you press ALT, you will see that there are several glowing red
dots on your screen. Those are the positions of the powerballs on the map.
Powerballs are actually giant fireballs that your ship can carry for 20
seconds. When carrying them, you have upgraded bombs, but can be hurt in
safety zones. They are used for getting enemy teams out of the safeties in
bases, and for scoring goals. To shoot a powerball, either press CONTROL or
INSERT.
Goals- Goals are the larger red areas on the map shown with ALT, and look
like blue octagons when seen up close. Found in the center of the two small
structures near the upper right and lower left corners, goals are used in
combination with powerballs to obtain easy points. Throw a powerball into a
goal to get a decent amount of points.
Doors- In and at the entrance of some bases are electronic doors. When
active, they act like a wall, which you cannot break down or pass through.
However, they become inactive several seconds after becoming active, and
disappear. This is your chance to pass or shoot through the doorway. Be
quick, because the door will reappear in several seconds. If a door closes on
you, you'll be warped back to the center safety whether you have full energy
or not.
Wormholes- These are found in some of Survivor's open areas, and also in one
of the bases. When seen up close, they look like swirling vortexes. Wormholes
have a strong gravitational pull on your ship and its weapons, and will draw
them closer or into it. If you are pulled into the wormhole, you will
reappear in the center safety with depleted energy. An interesting thing to
do is to lay mines near a wormhole- It creates an effect of super-rapid fire
bombs.
G) Your Radar
On the bottom right corner of your screen is your trusty radar system.
This is one of the most important features you may have, since it shows both
the positions of your teammates and your enemies within your immediate area.
Green Dots- These are clustered on your radar screen when you are near the
center. Green dots show the locations of greens (or powerups) near you.
Yellow Dots- These show the locations and movements of your teammates.
Blue Dots- These show the locations and movements of your opponents. Use the
radar to help you predict where they are moving and where to shoot to kill
them.
Red Dots- If small and not moving, it is most likely the location of a
powerball. However, if it is moving or large, then it is the location of an
enemy ship that is carrying flags or a powerball.
Dark Yellow Dots- These show the locations of your team's decoys.
Flashing Red/Yellow dots- These show the location's of your team's flags.
Flashing White Dots- These show the locations of mines and bombs(only can be
seen in the Weasel and Leviathan).
H) Communications
What would an online game like Subspace be without communication
between the players? Subspace has a IRC-like chat room integrated into it,
allowing you to talk to an entire team, the entire arena, a group of selected
people, or just one person.
Public chat: Everyone in your arena can view this chat. Public chat text is
blue-purplish, and can be spoken in just by normally typing in the message.
Team chat: Everyone on your team can view this chat. Team chat messages are
in yellow, and can be formed by putting two slashes (//) before a message, or
by putting an apostrophe (') before a message.
Private messages: These green messages can be sent to somebody by selecting
their name on the players list with page up/page down, and then putting a
single slash (/) before your message.
Inter-team messages: These messages are between one person and an enemy team.
It is useful for sending insults or hints. Simple select a player from the
other team and put a quotation mark (") before your message.
Private chats: These are chats between selected people, and appear in orange-
brown text. Usually these are for squads or staff members, or perhaps for a
group of friends with a common interest. To join a private chat, type in
?chat=(name of chat). Talk in the chat by typing in a semicolon (;) and then
the message. To join more than one chat, type in ?chat=(name of chat),(name
of chat),(name of chat),ect.
If you have more than one chat, you can talk in the first one with a
semicolon, and the rest with a semicolon, number of chat, and then a second
semicolon and the message. For example, if I wanted to talk in my third
listed chat, I would type in ;3;(message). To find if any of the people on
your chats are online, type in ?chat for a listing.
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PLAYER COMMANDS
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Besides there being plenty of controls that you can type in directly at
the keyboard, there are also "player commands"- Entire words that you type in
that perform certain actions. Listed below are all the handy ones that I use:
?status- This command shows your ship's status in thrusters, shrapnel, speed,
recharge, and other abilities. Usually it's all 100%, unless you lost
something.
?buy- Very, very useful. The ?buy command will list all buyable objects and
their cost in points (which, in Survivor, is just about anything that can be
prized). Then, if you have selected what to buy, move into a safety and type
in ?buy item (item being the thing you want to buy). You will immediately get
it if you can afford the cost.
?scorereset- This command resets your wins, losses, and point amount to zero.
Though it seems very useless and in fact harmful, it's actually a great help
to people who are trying to create a good win to loss ratio.
?spec- Type in ?spec to get a list of who is watching you as a spectator.
?time- If you're playing a timed event, type in ?time to see how much longer
until it's finished.
?log- This command will begin the recording of all the chat messages onto a
text file in your Continuum folder. Type in ?log a second time to stop the
recording.
?message- Type in ?message name:message (name being the name of the player
you want to message and message being the text you want to send) to send a
message to another player, which they will receive when they next log on.
Sort of like a Subspace e-mail.
?chat- Type in ?chat to see who is on your chat channel.
?find- Put a name after ?find (like ?find R18) to tell you which zone and
which arena the player is in.
?arena- Use this to download a list of all the arenas in the zone that
currently have players. If you press ENTER while having an arena ticked, you
will go to that arena.
?go- When used alone, this command will bring you back to the public arena.
But if you type in a word after it (like ?go subspace), you will be brought
to an arena with the name of your word. Put a # before the word (?go
#subspace) to make it a private arena that only staff can view.
?ping- This will list your ping times. Lower the ping, the better.
?packetloss- This will list your packetloss rates. Lower the packetloss, the
better.
?lag- This will show you both your ping and packetloss.
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RULES OF SURVIVOR
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Unlike most other computer games, Subspace has rules to follow because
it is completely online. Each zone has its own individual set of rules, with
its own kind of justice system for rule breakers. Listed below are Survivor's
rules and regulations. Be careful not to break them...If you ever see anybody
break these rules, type in ?cheater=(name of person and what they did).
A) RULE 1: No using external programs to cheat
Explanation: This rule means that it's illegal to use any kind of program you
might have downloaded from the net that gives you special power-ups, energy
boosts, ect. The most common example of a program that does this is Twister,
which allows you to give yourself any kind of power-up, and warps you
anywhere on the map. Though it sounds fun, keep in mind that using it, or any
other cheating system, is completely against the rules.
Penalty: The penalties of breaking Rule #1 are severe, due to the fact that
using a cheat program gives you a significant and unfair advantage over other
players. If caught, you will immediately be banned from Survivor for at least
a month (all the way up to 1000 years or so), and possibly from all Subspace
zones for that amount of time as well.
B) RULE #2: No main safe ballkilling
Explanation: In Survivor, powerballs have the unique function of allowing its
holders to be killed in a safety zone. Though useful in bases, it is a
nuisance to people who have left their keyboard for several minutes while
leaving their ship in the main safety. Thus, killing anybody in the main
safety that's holding a ball, or even throwing the ball in the main safety is
illegal.
Penalty: Your first time offense will probably cause you to have a first and
only warning. If done again, you will be thrown and locked in spectator mode.
If done a third time, you will most likely be banned for a short period of
time, anywhere from a few hours to a day. Note that attempted main safety
ballkilling is just as serious as if it had succeeded.
C) RULE #3: No use of harsh language
Explanation: This means that you are not allowed to use a "hard swear" (light
swears are allowed) in team messages or public messages.
Penalty: The first offense is usually a warning, but may sometimes be a
silence (meaning that nobody can hear you when you use public or team chats).
The second offense is a silence, and further offenses may result in repeated
silences, or a short ban.
D) RULE #4: No antiwarp in the main safety
Explanation: Antiwarp in the main safety stops people who have recently
respawned from attaching to their teammates, and is very annoying.
Penalty: Antiwarp will be removed from your ship (it's a lot worse than it
sounds, since anti costs 500 million points).
E) Rule #5: No Frequency Jumping in Bases
Explanation: Players on one team can sit behind their own team's front line
in the safety, and switch teams there. They then are deeper in the base than
the rest of the team, and can easily take all the flags. It is cheating, of
course.
Penalty: Either being locked in spectator mode or banned for the first
offense. Frequency jumping in bases, even though it doesn't happen often, is
still pretty serious.
F) RULE #6: No speccing other players for flags
Explanation: Some players like to cheat in the flag game by going into
spectator mode, and seeing where the other team's flags are.
Penalty: It used to be only a lockdown in spec, but now it's been increased
to a short ban for even the first offense.
G) RULE #7: No Intentional Teamkilling
Explanation: Teamkilling is the act of killing somebody on your team, whether
by accident or on purpose. This happens when a player shoots bombs at a wall
a teammate is near. It happens often, but most of the time it is completely
unintentional (for example, you're bombing a wall to harm the enemy on the
other side, but your teammate runs near the explosions). However, sometimes a
player may do it on purpose, and that is when it is illegal. Note that
intentional teamkilling is illegal, no matter what the reason would be. "The
guy wouldn't do what I said" or "He was teamkilling me first" are most often
regarded as completely unacceptable excuses. And remember, it's still illegal
even if the player you teamkilled agreed to it first.
Penalty: The first offense is usually responded to with just a warning, but
on occasions it can be a lockdown in spectator mode. The second offense is
usually responded by locking the teamkiller in spectator mode. Even more
offenses means a short ban.
H) Other Offenses
Besides just these 7 main rules, there are other rare offenses that
you can do that may result in a punishment in Survivor.
Offense: Abusing the ?cheater or ?illegal command.
This is done by using ?cheater or ?illegal to send repeated nonsense messages
to online moderators, annoying them. It will be responded in either a warn or
a silence.
Offense: Advertising other zones.
Survivor, like most other zones in Subspace, does not allow advertisement.
This is because the zones are in close competition for more people, and do
not want to lose players. Advertising will result in a warn or a silence.
Note that it is not an offense to advertise one of Survivor's partner zones
(USD/WLI Annihilation, or SSCT Dune).
Offense: Interfering in duels
In Survivor, there are dueling arenas as well as the public arena. Take
special care not to intrude upon another's duel, or you might end up both
getting thrown in spectator mode and taking the brunt of the two other
players' insults.
Offense: Spamming public or team chats
Spamming public or team chats mean that you repeatedly type nonsense to
everyone else, so much that you're flooding the chat so that nobody else
could use it. Repeated spamming will result in a silence, and reproach from
fellow players. Also, there is an automatic anti-spam integrated into the
game that kicks the players off if they flood the channels too much.
I) Cheapness
Cheapness is in a category all by itself, since it's both lame and
low-quality playing, but usually isn't punishable by moderators. However,
they should try to be avoided as best as you can, since they harm your
reputation as a player.
Act: Safety hugging
Still, there are other kinds of people, who, not wanting to die, stay
only 1 tile away from the safety and shoot from there to get free kills.
Though this is not illegal, it is very cheap, and will bound to get you
several enemies if you do it.
Act: Quick win
Quick wins occur when a team has all 47 flags, and their base has
almost fallen. The player with the last few flags moves into a safety zone,
and the flags automatically drop. The player then moves out of the safety
zone to receive the reward with the rest of their team. This is VERY cheap,
and in big games, will cause a lot of flames to come at you from the losing
team.
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THE SHIPS
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In Subspace, there are 8 different kinds of ships you can use, each
with its own unique strengths and weaknesses. This section will list the 8
different kinds of ships, and tells you the most effective way of using them.
Also listed is my own personal rating of each ship, all out of five stars.
A) Warbird
Strengths: The Warbird is one of the best ships to use in dogfighting, with a
fast bomb firing rate of Level 2 bombs. It also is very maneuverable and
speedy (the second fastest and most maneuverable ship), and is only one tile
big instead of four (making it harder to hit!). Very nice ship to use.
Weaknesses: The Warbird's guns are generally weak, and they make the Warbird
below average in performance in bases. The Warbird's weak and thin spreading
guns also make it bad for close combat while dogfighting.
Best Improvements: The Warbird doesn't need a bomb or gun upgrade for it to
perform better, but a gun upgrade might help slightly by raising the damage
level of the bombs' shrapnel.
R18's Dogfighting Rating: *****
R18's Flagging Rating: **
B) Javelin
Strengths: The Javelin is the most maneuverable ship in Survivor, with the
fastest top speed, acceleration, and rotation speed. Its guns' wide spread
fire makes it hit enemies more easily, and its heavy concentration makes
running into the bullets deadly. The Javelin is good for both flagging and
dogfighting. It is the easiest ship to learn, and is ideal for beginners.
However, very advanced players have also managed to take advantage of the
Javelin's speed to do insanely well. The Javelin is a ship for everyone.
Weaknesses: The Javelin, I think, has no major weaknesses, except the fact
that it has L1 bombs, which makes it considerably weaker in long range
fighting.
Best Improvements: The Javelin is probably at top performance once its bombs
are upgraded to Level 2, making it good for long-range dogfighting.
R18's Dogfighting Rating: **** or ***** for elites
R18's Flagging Rating: *****
C) Spider
Strengths: The Spider is one of the two ships that have cloaking technology,
and is the only ship in Survivor that can have stealth. This makes the Spider
the ideal ship for surprising and sneaking past people who have lost X-Radar
or simply don't have it turned on. The spider's L2 guns also are highly
concentrated, and self propelled (meaning that you can stand still and still
have the guns fly out of the ship at a fast speed), making it both powerful
and a good support ship in bases.
Weaknesses: The Spider is one of the least maneuverable ships, making it an
easier target for Warbirds when dogfighting. In fact, Spiders are almost
never used for dogfighting because of that considerable disadvantage. Its
guns are also the most energy-draining out of any ship, which is a
disadvantage in single-man base defenses and in dogfighting if you have poor
aim.
Best Improvements: The most helpful thing you can get for a Spider is
probably stealth. A bomb upgrade might help too, but not much, as the Spider
usually will not survive in the open due to its low maneuverability.
R18's Dogfighting Rating: **
R18's Flagging Rating: ****
D) Leviathan
Strengths: The Leviathan has -very- energy conservative guns. It can fire
loads and loads of bullets before it runs out, probably the most of any ship.
This makes it very good in base battles, and in close combat dogfighting as
well. It has L2 bombs, which have a slow rate of fire but move very quickly
(are highly propelled), and so is an excellent support ship in the open.
Weaknesses: The Leviathan is another ship that has low maneuverability. Its
turning rate and top speed are the slowest of any ship, I believe.
Best Improvements: The Leviathan is most likely the strongest when it has a
gun upgrade, giving it L3 bullets. This would take away some of the excess
energy conservatives and make it much, much more deadly.
R18's Dogfighting Rating: ***
R18's Flagging Rating: *** or ***** for vets who use it right
E) Terrier
Strengths: The Terrier, like the Leviathan, has very energy conservative L2
guns, and can continue shooting them for a long time. The guns are highly
propelled like the Spider's, and can travel a great distance through
corridors. The combination of the guns' two strengths makes it into an
excellent base anchor (explained later in the guide to flagging). Its bombs
also do not take much energy to fire.
Weaknesses: The Terrier's guns are practically useless in the open, because
of its low spread that makes it very easy to dodge. It doesn't exactly deal
the greatest amounts of damage either. The bombs are useless as well, since
they actually propel the Terrier backwards when you shoot them, and move at
so slow a rate anybody can avoid it. If I were to pick a ship that was the
worst for dogfighting, it would be the Terrier.
Best Improvements: Gun upgrades help the Terrier get more kills more quickly.
As a heavy-duty base anchor ship, antiwarp may help as well. Never, never
waste your points on bomb upgrades though, since the Terrier's bombs are
useless even if you upgraded them all the way to L3.
R18's Dogfighting Rating: *
R18's Flagging Rating: *** or ***** for vets who use it right
F) Weasel
Strengths: The Weasel, if it doesn't get hit, NEVER runs out of energy, no
matter how many of its guns or bombs you shoot (unless you keep shooting
bombs at a wall that's directly in front of you) because its L1 weapons use
up energy slower than the energy recharges. While only having weak Level 1
bombs and guns that may sound like a bad thing, it may be very good. The L1
guns are the most propelled in the game, making the Weasel the absolute best
base anchor. If you bounce the guns off walls correctly, you can be killing
people while you're sitting safe three or four corridors away in the other
side of the base. The Weasel's (EMP) bombs also have the unique feature of
halting opponent's energy recovery for a short period of time, forcing them
to stop shooting and run if their energy is already at a low level. In
addition, you can only lay one mine at a time in the Weasel, so that lets you
carefully create EMP bomb minefields to trap your enemies in the open or to
prevent rushes from attacking teams in flagging.
Weaknesses: The Weasel, because it only has L1 bombs and guns, is quite weak,
and can't usually do very well by itself in the open or in flagging. Its
bombs also have a much slower firing rate than most ships, to make up for the
EMP's special abilities.
Best Improvements: Buying bombs may be fine for the Weasel, but the absolute
best thing you can do is buy gun upgrades! This will take care of the
Weasel's disadvantage of overall weakness. Be careful with L3 guns though-
They drain quickly!
R18's Dogfighting Rating: ***
R18's Flagging Rating: ** or ***** for vets who use it right
G) Lancaster
Strengths: I'll say it now- The Lancaster is regarded by a lot of players as
a CHEAP ship (I, in fact, only use it in other screen names). This is because
it simply has too many strengths in dogfighting! The Lancaster has L1 bombs,
which actually deal MORE damage than L2s, but only drain very little (the
amount of ordinary L1s). In addition, the Lancaster's bombs have bounce,
which makes them almost twice as good, especially in areas with lots of walls
and things, since the bombs go everywhere. This makes the Lancaster the
absolute best in dogfighting, far better than any other ship. It can only be
defeated if the player against it is much more skilled.
Weaknesses: Very few weaknesses. The Lancaster's guns are pretty bad, but
that's about it. It's made up for, though, in flagging since the ship can use
bombs instead of guns since the bombs bounce. Also, I have heard that they
Lancaster's proximity range is slightly smaller, but because it can shoot so
many more bombs and the bombs bounce around everywhere, that miniscule
disadvantage is easily negated.
Best Improvements: Bomb upgrades make the Lancaster's bombs almost one-hit
KO, and even cheaper...
R18's Dogfighting Rating: ***** (six or seven if I could add more)
R18's Flagging Rating: ***
H) Shark
Strengths: While the Lancaster is overpowered, the Shark is very
underpowered. The only definite advantages it has over the other ships is a
cloaking ability, and a higher max energy level (3500, compared to 3000 for
the others).
Weaknesses: The Shark, while it has cloak, cannot buy stealth, so most of the
time you can't fool anybody, since people can see you very plainly on radar.
Its bombs, though L3, fire so slowly that ships like the Javelin which have
L1 bombs can deal more damage per minute than the Shark. It also only has
very weakly propelled L1 guns that are practically useless. The only thing
the Shark is better than in anything is the Terrier in dogfighting, which
isn't saying much...-_-
Best Improvements: If anything, improve the guns, but even that won't help
the Shark much...You can't improve the Shark's bombs since they're already L3.
R18's Dogfighting Rating: **
R18's Flagging Rating: *
I) Spectator
The spectator isn't really a ship, so I'll skip the regular procedure. What
it really is, is that you watch other players play, and see information about
them, such as their ping (lag level), number of items, energy, and other
various information. To select who to watch, pick their name using page
up/page down from the list, and hit CONTROL. Remember, it's a very cheap and
lame thing to spectate flag carriers to find out where their base is, so
don't do it! Sometimes people sit in spectator mode because they are leaving
the computer for a while, other times to see what a player's ping is, and
even other times because they were punished by a moderator for breaking the
rules. You also are forced to sit in spectator mode if your lag is
excessively high.
-----------------------------------------------------------------
GUIDE TO FLAGGING
-----------------------------------------------------------------
A) How to Flag
Flagging is a very simple thing to do. In Survivor, there are always 47
flags scattered across the map. The goal of each team is to obtain, and be in
possession of all 47 flags at once. To pick up a flag, just simply fly over
it (you cannot pick up your own team's yellow flags) and you will be a
carrier of the flag for a little over 150 seconds. To renew this time, simply
kill another player. I think it is a notable fact that while holding flags,
both your guns and bombs are upgraded one level each, to help you defend
yourself better (since flag holders are more important and targeted by the
other team's players). If your flags' time limit ever reaches zero, your
flags drop. Going into a safety zone for an amount of time will cause your
flags to drop right away, and flags will drop all around the center area if
you change ships or leave the game while holding them. If an enemy is
carrying flags, you can take them by killing the flag holder.
Once a game is over, a large amount of points (in the millions and tens
of millions), called the jackpot, will be awarded to each of the players of
the winning team. The size of the jackpot depends on how many people were
killed during the flag game. For example, if there were 1000 total kills in
the game, the jackpot would be much larger than if there were only 100 kills.
Therefore, the more people that are involved in the game and the longer the
game is, the higher the rewards.
Two controls are absolutely essential in working with your team to win:
Attaching (F7, with page up/page down to choose a player), and team messages
(// before your message). Attaching will allow you to quickly get to bases to
drop flags, attack, or defend, and team messages will help you cooperate with
the team for a worthwhile victory. Be sure to learn these two, as they are
very important!
B) Opening Game Strategy
At the beginning of the game, all of the flags are neuted (in no one
team's possession), and are closely surrounding the center safety. This is
one of the most important periods of the games, since it determines how many
flags each team starts out with. Your team should try to grab as many flags
as you can at the beginning, to gain an advantage. While doing this, your
team should also have at least one player find a suitable home base (one of
the many mazes lying around the perimeter of the map) to drop their flags in.
It is a good idea to have several scouts look for the enemy's home base.
If you do find it though, be sure to NOT attack it yet, since the enemy most
likely has not dropped their flags this early in the game, and will change
bases if they think you've gone too far. Instead, make a mental note of their
position, leave the area for a bit, and attack it immediately in a few
minutes once at least several enemy flags were dropped there.
While doing this, keep in mind that the other team is looking for your
base as well. A good team would have at least several defenders at the
entrance of the base, instead of all of them in the flag room (the deepest
area of the base, where the flags are usually dropped). In doing so, they
will kill any scouts, and finish off early assaults. If they manage to get in
pretty far (like 1/3 of the way), and the flag carriers still have plenty of
time left, it may be best to change bases and drop the flag there. After all
the flags are dropped, and the bases are established, that is the end of the
opening game, and the exciting mid-game begins.
C) Mid-Game Strategy
The mid-game usually lasts the longest out of the three sections I
divided flag games into. It is filled with numerous base battles, and
countless attacks on both teams. However, I would simply be repeating myself
if I explained everything, since the mid-game is a lot like the beginning
game. Simply, go along with your team! If they find the enemy, attach to the
player who found them to attack. If they cry for help, attach to the player
who cried for help to defend. Only very rarely do both teams attack and
defend at the same time, but if they do, make a quick decision on which needs
help more. During the mid-game, it might help you if you keep track of both
team's positions in flags. To do so, keep pressing F2 until you reach a
screen that lists the frequencies (1 and 0), and the amount of flags each
frequency has.
Also, the enemy team might have just dropped their flags in a desolate
area of the map in the open, or in a deserted base. If you come across a
large stash of flags by yourself in either of those situations, keep a mental
note of where they are, and don't tell your team (some new players would jump
at the chance of snatching all of the flags, and would waste this advantage
your team now has over the other). Instead, pick up ONE AND ONLY ONE flag if
the enemy team has all 47 and is about to win (the music should be playing
when that happens). Then get out of there and go into a base and call your
team to help. What this will do is stall the enemy, giving your team a chance
to take back the flags the enemy has (not including the ones that you found
in the desolate area). If they recapture the one flag you managed to save,
just go back to the desolate area and snatch another one. Keep on repeating
this if it is necessary, until you run out of spare flags. Of course, if your
team manages to get every single flag except the ones in the desolate area,
by all means grab all the flags at once and keep safe to win the game.
D) Endgame Strategy
Ah yes, the endgame! This is the period of the flag game where both
teams become VERY desperate, unless the losing team has no hope at all of
recovery. Usually this is when one team controls all the flags except ones
dropped in desolate areas, or just all the flags. If there are no enemy bases
and still flags to be found, a good team would first check for neuts by
seeing the total number of possessed flags by both teams. If the number is
less than 47 (say one team controls 45 flags and the other zero), then some
of the flags were missed in the opening game collection (a very common thing
to do). Quickly have several players circle the area around the safety
looking for the missed flags.
If there are 47 flags in possession, and your team is still missing some
and there is no enemy base, then the enemy must have dropped the flags in a
deserted area of the map or a deserted base. Search for the flags both in the
open (common non-base hiding places are the outside perimeter of the map, and
the insides of the diamond-shaped map obstacles) and in every base, and they
will eventually be found. If the enemy is not attacking your home base,
multiple scouts will quicken the search.
If the other team controls all 47 flags and you don't have any of those
spare flags you found in the open to save you, this is the time to RUSH. If
you see players that are colored RED on your radar and are not carrying
powerballs, they are flag carriers. Call upon your team to help chase them
down and save the game. If your team knows where the enemy base is, it will
help to become much more aggressive (usually it is best to not lay bricks,
since that will make the enemy lay even more bricks and stop you). With luck,
you might be able to get back at least several flags and use the stalled time
to recover your team's standing.
However, your team winning is a different story. Have EVERYBODY go to
your defended base if it is being attacked (unless they are flag carriers and
your base is almost about to be taken, then send them to a different one).
The flag carriers should go in the safest spot (the flag room) and try not to
kill anybody (to make the game shorter). Meanwhile, the defending team ought
to place as many bricks as possible to hold kamakazing enemy players off
(your own kamakazing brickers are good though). With luck, you will manage to
hold out for the two or three minutes, and receive the jackpot. Be sure to
stay out of the safe though, you won't get the jackpot that way!
E) Offensive Tactics
If you have found the enemy base, first make sure that the enemy has
actually finished dropping flags in it. If they haven't, move away and come
back in a minute or so to check again, since you do NOT want to scare the
enemy off into a different base. Once they drop it, call upon your teammates
using team chat (Two slash marks (//) before your message). Some of the time,
after dropping the flags, the other team will clumsily forget to place people
at the front of the base, allowing your team to get in about halfway before
it actually meets up against some kind of resistance. If this is the case,
rush in as quickly as possible. If their entrance IS guarded, gradually push
them back, and eventually an opportunity will come up and you will be able to
secure the first part of the base with a brick. Either way, throughout the
base battle, brick wars will begin.
Bricks, as you may know, are EXTREMELY important in most base battles,
since they secure your team's position and protect most of it from enemy
attacks. Usually there will be many, many layers of bricks piled up by both
sides. Normally, the attacking team will force its way into the flag room
eventually, after a very long and slow process. But you can shorten the time
tremendously if you manage to trick the enemy, using an item called the
portal (Shift-Insert, as explained earlier in this guide). Rush up to the
enemy brick, lay a portal, protect yourself with repels, and rush back behind
your team's own lines. With luck, the enemy will advance a bit, and lay
bricks ahead of the portal, placing their own front lines right on top of it.
When the right moment comes, press INSERT to warp to the portal's location,
and quickly use your bursts (Shift-Delete) to fill the corridor or room with
L4 bullets and hopefully kill most of the enemy front lines. This, if worked
correctly, will allow your team to advance all the way up to where the other
team's base anchor (explained later in defensive tactics) was, and gain quite
a large amount of space. Of course, it could work worse (you warp in, get
killed, and kill nobody), or better (you warp in, kill everybody, and
automatically win the enemy base).
Sometimes, with luck, none of the enemies in the base will have X-Radar
turned on (don't expect this to happen often though). If you think that this
is so, then you can launch a one-man cloaked assault. Simply go into a
Spider, and type in ?buy=stealth while sitting in the safety. Attach to a
teammate and turn both stealth and cloak with HOME and SHIFT-HOME. If the
enemy team truly doesn't have X-Radar on, you can sneak right past all of
them and tell your teammates to attach after you have passed all their lines
of players. However, this will be more difficult if the fighting is brutal.
What you should then try to do is the portal trick that was described above,
without the bursting and the killing. Be sure to have cloak and stealth
turned on before you portal in though!
It is also important for every attacking team to have at least one
"offensive anchor". These players, usually in Terriers or a Weasels, will sit
back behind the others and act as a support ship, since their bullets travel
farther than all the other ships. Most often these are players that are
trying to create a good wins-to-losses record, and are not very concerned
about the outcome of the game, but that doesn't mean that they're not
important! The job of the "offensive anchor" is to never die, since this is
the player that all the other players on the team attach to. The offensive
anchor must also look out for enemy trips and traps, and guard against
flankers (all explained in defensive tactics). If all the rest of the team
dies by falling into a well placed enemy portal, they should be able to count
on the offensive anchor to at least get back into the base.
The best thing to do after winning an enemy base is to be EXTREMELY
cautious when entering the flag room. If the other team is smart, they will
have laid a portal or two in the flag room, and will kill your entire team
and recapture the whole base once you pick up the flags. The way to prevent
this is to either wait for 30 seconds before doing anything (this is the
portal life-time), or to take a risk, run in, perhaps lay a brick or two, and
immediately run out if your team is impatient. Hopefully you will pull off
getting the flags safely and escape back to your own home base with them.
F) Defensive Tactics
In the opening game, or any time in the game when you've just gotten a
new base, be sure to leave one or two people at the entrance when going in,
and have the flag carriers all go to the flag room. This will ensure
protection against early rushes and scouts who wish to attack. If you see any
scouts, and know them to be excellent flaggers, they probably will return
after the carriers drop the flags, so they might want to change bases if they
have plenty of time left. If you want to take a risk or if your team feels
that that the base the flags are being dropped in is safe, stay there and be
wary of an assault.
Eventually, the enemy will have to find your base (unless they are very
bad at flagging). The strongest defensive area is the entrance, where if you
have heavy dogfighting action going on, none of the attackers can go in. I've
seen base battles where the struggles to get through the entrance took longer
than the time it took for the attackers to reach the flag room after
entering. If the dogfighters and defenders are skilled, you may be able to
manage to hold off the opposing team in this position for a very long time.
After the other team enters, that is when the brick war starts. Bricks
are excellent for defense, and can stall the enemy for a long time if you
keep a steady stream of them. But they won't last forever, so there are
shortcuts to take that will finish off the enemy. First, the most used
strategy is the portal. A player can run up to the enemy brick, lay a portal,
and move back. Then they portal back in when the enemy has advanced and use
bursts to kill many opponents. It may be noted that from my experience, it is
much, much easier to pull off a defensive portal trick than an offensive one.
Do not neglect them.
An often overlooked strategy but a very effective one is FLANKING.
Flanking is when you box in the enemy, by sending three or four players in
from the entrance to attack the enemy from behind. The flankers and the
defenders can work together to box the other team in completely with walls on
both sides, and slowly kill them all since they have nowhere to go. If not,
the flankers should at least try to eliminate the enemy's offensive anchor,
which will stall and confuse the other team for a bit. Flanking is usually
the one tactic that will completely wipe out enemy presence in your home
base. Even one or two flankers make a difference, so if your team thinks
flanking is useless, you can try it by yourself and help out your team a
great deal.
The attacking team has an offensive anchor, so the defensive team has a
counterpart, the "base anchor". The base anchor is very much like the
offensive anchor, except less pressured because they do not have to look out
for flankers. They, like the offensive anchor, are usually in either a
Terrier or a Weasel, and sit several corridors away from the fray, firing
supporting bullets all the way down to the front line. The base anchor is the
one your team should attach to after dying, and is the one who survives all
the tricks and traps of the enemy (such as port-bursting). He also should
always have X-Radar (END key) turned on to look out for cloakers. If the base
anchor is left alone, he or she must call for help from the team and lay a
brick to stall the enemy while help arrives. If they die, usually the team is
sent into confusion because they would be attaching to somebody who is in the
main safety rather than someone who is at the brink of the battle. If you
ever decide to be a base anchor, make sure to be careful NOT to die.
If the base is nearly lost, don't give up hope! Your team has their last
trick up their sleeve- Leaving portals in the flag room. They should be laid
when the situation is hopeless, and when the enemy is right up next to the
flag room and ready to break in. At this point, watch who died recently, lay
a portal, and quickly attach to the dead person to get back to the main
safety. Hopefully a few of your teammates will follow along after the base is
lost. If not, inform them that you have laid a portal in the flag room using
team messages, and tell them to attach and stay attached. Contentiously type
in ?flags, and once you see that the enemy has picked up some flags warp in,
use your bursts, lay down brick fortifications, and release everybody who has
attached to you. If you are lucky, all the flags will be regained and you
will be either able to change your base and move the flags there, or
eliminate the few remaining enemies and have complete occupation of your
current home again.
NOTE: I do not recommend hiding or dropping flags in undefended areas unless
it is completely necessary, because even though they are harder to find, if
they are found the enemy can use it to their advantage and stall your team
for hours and change the tide of the game. Clearly, the drawbacks of putting
flags in desolated areas outweigh the strengths.
-----------------------------------------------------------
GUIDE TO DUELING
-----------------------------------------------------------
A) How to Duel
Dueling is the test of pure skill in Survivor, since there are no
teammates to help you, nowhere to run, nothing to hide behind, and no items
to save you. Dueling is a one-on-one match with another character in one of
the three separate dueling arenas, and is popular among many of the
intermediate-veteran players. To visit the main dueling arena, type in ?go
squadduel. To visit a more private arena, type in ?go duel. To visit the most
current arena, type in ?go ladder. The winner of a duel is usually the first
one to get five kills on the other player. If both players die in a round, it
is a no count, and no point is added to either player's score.
B) Offensive Tactics
In dueling, there are three basic types of bomb formations you can fire:
Line, spread, and drag. Of the three, I think spread is used the most. There
is also an important technique called "clustering". Let me elaborate on each:
Line: This bomb formation usually includes 2 or 3 long, very damaging lines
of bombs (as implied from the name of the formation). To do it, hold the TAB
button down for a while to fire the first line, then press a direction while
holding forward down to fire a second line. Line bomb formations are good for
long-range combat (when you can barely see the enemy or can't see them at all
on your radar) and short-range (when you actually see them on your screen)
because they don't fall apart. Aim is pretty important too while using line
bomb formations as well.
Spread: This bomb formation has many, maybe 7 or 8 mini-lines that are hard
to dodge, but deal much less damage than line bombing. To fire a spread, keep
doing LEFT RIGHT LEFT RIGHT LEFT RIGHT LEFT RIGHT and so on in your keyboard,
to wiggle your ship. Spread is pretty good for both people who have less-
than-perfect aim, for stopping rushing enemy opponents, and for medium range
combat (everything between long-range and short-range which I just told you
about above). They can be either wide, or narrow. Each version has its own
advantages and disadvantages. Wide covers a much, much bigger area than a
narrow spread, and can help people who have bad aim even more. However, the
negative aspect of this is that it does less damage, since the bombs are
stretching over a greater amount of space. Narrow is just the opposite,
covering a small area but dealing a great deal of damage. I, personally, use
narrow spreads, mainly because skilled players can usually dodge wide spreads
very easily. But if you only just started dueling, and haven't quite
perfected your aim yet, wide spread might be the best for you to start out
with.
Drag: Many people wouldn't consider this a true bomb formation, but I think
it should be included. Drag is just a simple line of bombs that are all
moving sideways, in a sweep. The damage of the dragging formation varies,
depending on the direction your opponent is moving when they hit it. Usually
it is most effective when the opponent is moving somewhat parallel to it,
since more bombs explode that way. Creating a drag formation is very simple,
just fly in one direction, and turn (don't change the direction of your
movement, just turn your ship so it's facing a different direction). Your
momentum will keep carrying your ship in that direction you are moving, and
if you hold TAB you will create a long drag line. Drag should NEVER be the
only thing you use in a duel (even though it is the easiest), since it is
quite easy to dodge by itself. Instead, use the drag bomb formation to help
support your other bomb formations, such as line and spread. Sweeping with
drag can force your opponent moving right into your more powerful bombs.
Clustering: Clustering isn't a type of bomb formation, but rather what you do
with the actual formations. It is an advanced technique that helps make your
bombs deal much more damage. You see, if your bombs are clustered, they hit
the opponent all at the same time, and in Subspace, the more bombs that hit
at the same time, the more powerful it is. A clustered attack can be up to
four times (!!!) stronger than an unclustered one. What you do is, before
firing a set of bombs, is stop for a second, and start moving. This will make
the slow bombs move ahead first, and when you start moving again you'll shoot
fast bombs, which will catch up to the slow ones. When this hits an enemy,
all the slow moving bombs you shot when you stopped, and the fast moving
bombs will explode at the same time. Very effective at medium range. Don't
try this when they're close though (takes too much time, the enemy will have
shot you by then), or when you're too far (the fast moving bombs will move
too far ahead of the slow moving bombs for the cluster to be useful).
Clustering is a playing style that takes practice and time to master, but
once done, it will improve your skill level by a LOT.
Some other important tactics to learn:
Rushing: This, often referred to as a "n00bie move", since many newbies use
it, is actually extremely deadly when used by a skilled veteran. What you do
is just fly at full speed at the opponent, shooting everywhere. The mistake
that newbies make is that they run into enemy bombs, and have horrendous aim.
If you can dodge the enemy bombs, and fire where the enemy is moving, rushing
is a great way to win. It is especially good against those players who just
sit in one spot, and only move a little bit to cluster their bombs to shoot
at you. Surprise them with a rush! Also, a perfect time to rush is when you
think your opponent has made a mistake and ran into a lot of your bombs (and
is at a low energy level). Rush them to finish them off!
Laying Traps: While a new player or even an average player will often run
straight into your bombs, you can be assured that a veteran will avoid them
easily if you just shoot at where they are. What you want to do, is to
constrict their movements with medium or slow-moving bombs, and then finish
them off or severely weaken them with a powerful fully clustered spread, or a
rush. Just shoot some dragging bombs on both their flanks (left and right
sides) if they are standing still, and then afterwards shoot in between. If
they are moving, shoot a two-winged spread (wings are like the biggest mini-
lines of the spread, that usually form on the outsides), with one wing that
will move to where they are, and the other in the direction that they are
going. While this seems very complex, after enough practice it becomes
automatic.
Killing Runners: If you managed to get a lucky hit on another player, they
might be inclined to run away, to try to regain energy. Don't let them get
away! Chase after them, shooting unclustered spreads and lines. But if
they're skilled players, be careful, be VERY careful to avoid the bombs that
they will shoot back at you. I've seen countless people who were a little
careless, and could have won the match but died in the chase after running
into huge bomb clusters. If there's too many bombs to avoid, stop chasing for
a few moments, and shoot one clustered spread after them and wait for the
enemy's bombs to pass. Then, resume the chase.
An important factor of effectively attacking your opponent is to BE
UNPREDICTABLE. Vary between line and spread formations. Fool the opponent by
rushing when they least expect it. And remember to never let your guard down
when attacking, because even if you're winning, one cluster can change all of
that.
C) Defensive Tactics
Playing defense, most people would think, is all about dodging. But
surprisingly, that's only half of it. The other, unrealized half is SHOOTING
BACK. This is very important to learn. Shooting back can ward off your
opponent from their attack, and even kill them sometimes if they're careless.
Even if you're being chased and you're at 500 energy or so, you should shoot
back at least a little. That doesn't mean dodging isn't important either-
Just don't neglect shooting. Speaking of dodging, here is a mini-guide on
defense:
Dodging Line- You DO NOT just want to "rub through" line bomb formations,
since they are so strong that running through in the hopes of surviving will
most likely kill you. Luckily, the other option, avoiding them completely, is
quite easy to accomplish unless they have very good aim, or they trapped you
in some way. What you want to do is "sidestep" the entire formation of 2-3
lines. Predict where they will shoot (usually in the direction they're
moving, which is often in the direction of where you were going to go), and
stop moving for a few moments and go in a different direction that will
prevent you from being hit. After dodging, shoot back at the opponent with
your own formation or two.
Dodging Spread- There are two ways to dodge spread, both equally
difficult...Sidestepping like in line (only harder to do since spread covers a
wider area), or "rubbing through" the formation. To sidestep, do what you did
with line (predicting where they will shoot and avoiding that area), but be
more careful, since spread is harder to sidestep, and if you mess up you can
get SEVERELY damaged. The other option, rubbing through, involves taking
advantage of the spread formation's weakness (there are holes in the
formation, sometimes small, but often quite large, depending on whether the
spread is narrow or wide). You must try to slip between the holes, colliding
into at most a few lone bombs that are in the center. Because you will be
facing toward your opponent while rubbing through the spread, don't forget to
shoot at them while dodging!
Dodging Drag- Drag formations are the easiest to minimize damage on,
especially if they're the only thing your opponent is shooting you with. Just
face as perpendicular as you can to the drag, and run right through it! You
should be hit at most with 3 or 4 unclustered, weak bombs. The mistake many
people make, though, is trying to outrun the drag somehow. This works
sometimes, but when it doesn't, they get dealt a LOT of damage, since they
run into several dozen bombs if they're moving parallel to the drag. By the
way, don't forget to shoot at your opponent when they're using drag
formations! When they start, the bombs probably would not have reached you
yet, so just nail them. After you run through the drag nail them a second
time. Very effective...
Stopping Rushers: Most of the time, only new players will rush at you, going
all out with their bombs. Simply sidestep their line formations, and shoot
spreads at them. Eventually they'll either die, or realize that they are
getting hurt more than you are and start running. At that point, chase them
using the chasing tactics I explained earlier to finish them off. Now, while
newbie rushers are very easy game, veteran rushers are another story. If you
know them to be rushers, fire a huge, clustered, narrow spread at them right
at the beginning right when they're about to run into your radar screen. This
hopefully will hit them. Either way, shoot a second one right after that, and
immediately move to the side to avoid the countless bombs that just passed
where you were. Shoot another spread, move away about half a radar screen if
they're still pursuing, and shoot another spread. Hopefully they will back
off for a moment or two if you managed to weaken them enough, and this is
your chance to either weaken them more, or finish them off completely with
your own rush. This is usually what I do, but you can easily develop your own
anti-rushing tactics after some experience.
Avoiding Traps: If the enemy is a seasoned veteran, they will no doubt try to
trap you by constricting your movements and then finishing you off. Don't let
them do this! Shoot them mercilessly when you think that they're forming a
trap and then move at least half a radar screen away from where you were.
It's difficult to give specific strategies on avoiding traps, since there is
such a wide variety, but generally, be completely aware of your enemy's
movements and where they are shooting to keep safe.
How to Run: Running, though it seems to be easy, is actually pretty hard if
the other player is good. This is another instance in where one of the most
important things to do is to SHOOT BACK. Run, slow down and shoot a small
clustered spread, keep running. Run, change your movement direction while
shooting at the same time, and keep running. Once your energy goes into the
higher yellow levels and into the blue levels, it's safe to go back on the
offensive and stop running. Clustered spreads, though they take more time
than just shooting while moving backwards, are the best thing for escaping in
most situations, I think. If you just run and shoot behind you, the bombs you
shoot will be moving so slowly that almost none of them will hit. The only
time you want to choose that over spreads is if they're pretty close to your
ship (you can see them on your screen), since they hit more if the enemy is
close since they won't get as much time to react. But don't EVER forget to
shoot back, because, if you don't, there won't be anything to stop them from
cornering you and killing you!
Beating Javs: Though most players who duel in Javs are new players who
haven't tried out any other ships yet, there are several people that are
extremely skilled with them. There are two types of Jav duelers- Bombers and
Gunners. Against the bomb type, play as if they were a Warbird, only a little
more aggressively (because if you don't, they'll avoid all your bombs with
their speed). It's also a good idea because Javs have Level 1 bombs instead
of Level 2, and so it's safer to play your offensive moves. For the players
who are skilled at using Jav guns, be CAREFUL. Always keep in mind that they
might let out all their energy in a huge bullet attack at any moment. Play
defensively until they let out that attack, then if you managed to dodge the
bullets, chase the Jav and kill it (it'll be at low energy).
Like in offense, playing defensively in dueling also requires you to be
unpredictable. People who just fly in straight lines are easily killed.
Instead of flying in straight lines, fly in somewhat erratic, wavy lines.
Don't try circling your opponent from a distance either, they'll just shoot
at where you're moving and you'll die very quickly. Quartercircle flying is a
much better choice, since it is over quickly and you can do a different
maneuver before your opponent realizes it. And believe it or not, standing
still in one place is very helpful at times (in fact, I know some very good
players who only stand still), since you can usually sidestep all line,
spread, and drag formations and traps with no difficulty at all. It is an
excellent idea to try to create your own unique playing methods as well. And
don't forget, adaptation to your opponent's playing style is a key rule!
Adjust your tactics to do the best you can against what they shoot at you. In
addition, some people like playing the same way each time (in fact, if they
all came in under different screen names, I could probably tell each of their
real ones from watching them), so create specific counter-strategies for
everyone!
Remember, there are three different arenas, all with different settings.
Though the strategies listed above work for all three, the change between
them are quite noticeable. The ?go duel arena are the OLD OLD settings, and
is really a mix between the other two. In this one, playing either
defensively or offensively works (I usually play a combination of the two).
The ?go squadduel arena has a much lower prox range than the other two,
making it harder to get hit, and harder to hit your opponent. This is why I
try to play offensively here- Rushing is the easiest way you can kill your
opponent now and it is much safer because the enemy can't kill you back so
easily. Finally, the ?go ladder arena uses the CURRENT settings in public.
Shooting bombs take a LOT of energy, so I like to play defensively here, and
let the opponent overshoot a bit.
Practice makes perfect. Keep trying to master everything, and watch how
other people play too. Playing against anyone, whether they're worse, the
same, or better in skill level than you are will help.
D) Dueling Ladders
Survivor has recently been holding large dueling tournaments, called
dueling ladders. This is a fun way to gain both experience and recognition
among your fellow players. When a dueling ladder is soon to start, it will be
announced both at http://sszones.com and in the zone by moderators at least
several dozen times. Dueling ladders follow a bracket-method elimination that
is similar to ones used in sports championships.
If you decide to join the ladder, register for it at http://sszones.com.
Find out the times that it's taking place, and read all the rules carefully.
Also, there will probably be a bracket made the day or two before the ladder
starts, so take a look at who you're going against, and try to find out their
playing styles. All dueling ladder matches will take place in the ?go ladder
arena, so get used to those settings and attend all the practice matches to
ensure that you'll do the best you can. And don't feel pressured- It's all
fun!
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GUIDE TO RECCING
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A) What is Reccing?
Reccing is a popular activity for most veterans and elites of the zone
to do. You see, the goal of reccing is to get the best record possible, or,
in other words, have the best ratio of wins to losses. Generally, when trying
to keep a record, you care more about that than anything else, including
winning the flag game for your team. If you do decide to rec, be aware of the
?scorereset control, which will make your record back to 0 wins to 0 losses.
You can also check your record by pressing the F2 key several times during
the game, and can check your ranking in best records among the other players
in Survivor at subspace.net's Scores and Stats page. There are two main ways
to create a good record: By flagging or by dogfighting.
B) How to Rec by Flagging
Probably the easier, but less notable way to get the rec (meaning that
even if you get a good record, a lot of people still won't regard you as
highly as if you did by dogfighting). The ideal way to get a perfect record
by flagging is by taking the jobs of the offensive anchor and the base
anchor. Recommended ships are the Weasel and the Terrier. As these, you can
safely hide behind your teammates two or three corridors down and shoot upon
enemy ships. Try to get used to bouncing your guns down corridors in a way
that your bullets will be in the front line, while you yourself are far away
from it. Be wary of both wallbombers and port-bursters. Move away if you
think that either of these are coming. If all your teammates die and you're
left by yourself against an oncoming enemy, lay a brick and call for help,
but keep shooting. If no help comes, flee the base (yes, I know it's
cowardly, that's why I don't rec by flagging anymore).
Don't fly around in the open, no matter what (since both the Weasel and
the Terrier are not ideal ships for that) and make yourself absolutely
certain a member of your team is safe before attaching to him or her. As long
as you're very cautious and always stay away from the fray, you should be
able to get 100-0 or better very effortlessly after a period of time. And
remember- Always have X-Radar on!
C) How to Rec by Dogfighting
Creating a good record by dogfighting only usually takes much more skill
than flagging. First off, you probably don't want to rec in this fashion
unless you're near top-notch in dueling, and mastered using all the items.
Then, evaluate yourself. If you think you are among the top 10-20 in the
zone, you can probably do it.
Dogfighting is very similar to dueling, except there's obstacles to work
with, and a lot more people at a time. That's why you want to become good at
dueling first, because dogfighting uses many of the tactics explained in the
dueling guide. Of course, it has its own particular strategies as well:
Survival: That's right, the key to creating a good record in dogfighting is
surviving against other players. Remember, dying is a lot worse than getting
a kill. This said, be sure to avoid kamikazing to kill people (a bad habit
that I found that some players have). I also usually avoid tunnels and
tightly enclosed areas because of lack of maneuverability space (the main
safe is sometimes like this if there are many players around it). For players
who are new to reccing while dogfighting, you may want to abuse portals by
always having a portal in a safe spot, and portaling when you are about to
die. This will keep you alive for a LONG time, and some people I know do this
often. For the more advanced players that don't need portals to survive, they
should only use portals when being chased by 3+ people, and save them for
emergencies. For the utmost emergencies (like 5+ people chasing you while
you're near death), either run into a safety zone or attach to a safe
teammate.
Using Items: The most important item in dogfighting is the repel. This item
saves you from danger again and again, and is terrific for when you're being
teamed up on or when people are kamikazing you! Unfortunately, you only have
five of them. There are three ways to get these remarkable items back:
Greening, buying, or ship-refreshing.
Greening is a good idea if you are near the center safe, and there's no
enemies in sight. Just grab a few greens quickly and hope that at least one
or two of them will contain some useful items. Using the ?buy option can
restore your ship completely, and is perfect if you're near a safe and are
far away from where the greens are spawning. Just quickly type in ?buy repel,
?buy brick, ?buy portal, or anything else to restore all your useful
dogfighting items. Finally, there's ship refreshing, which I personally don't
like to do (kinda cheap, you know). You switch to a different ship, and
change back to whatever you were before. Voila, all your items are back! The
disadvantages of this is that you can't do it on the run (need full energy),
you can't do it if you want to keep any flags you're holding, and it warps
you back to the main safe (not where you want to go if there are many players
around there). I very rarely ship refresh, and you should probably only do it
if you're down to zero in a bunch of items, and it's an emergency.
Learn the Map: Memorizing the map, or at least some of it will help you a lot
while dogfighting. Survivor's map has smaller safety zones used like refuge
areas that are scattered around the place. This is important because you will
know which way to head when things are slowly turning into a 3+ on 1. In
addition, there are cluttered formations of crosses or diamonds in some areas
of the map, which I find very useful for when you're being teamed up on.
Also, even though good players can do well anywhere, there are some positions
that you can do better than anywhere else. My personal favorite is the
immediate area below the J12 tunnel under the main safe (especially H12). At
H12, you can shoot between the L-shaped block formations and the tunnel
entrance into the main safe area, and get a lot of easy kills. You can then
fly downwards into a cluttered area of crosses if the action becomes too
heated. When being chased, there is a large vertical tunnel to your right
with two horizontal mini-tunnels leading through it. You can easily fly
through one of the minitunnels, laying mines at the entrance, and shoot your
bombs at the people who are chasing you as they leave the tunnel. Then to the
right of that is a safety zone (good to run into if you still haven't shaken
them off), and more cluttered formations. That's just what I do...But
remember, there's nobody telling you that you can't find your own personal
"best place" to defend as well!
Rocket Rushers: When your record becomes notable, there are sometimes players
who want to ruin it, and will constantly fly at you and try to kamikaze. One
of the tactics they use is rocket rushing (using a rocket and going full
blaze on bombs, guns, and repels). Since they're using a rocket, their bomb
formations move VERY fast and are sometimes hard to dodge.
What you must do is note them when they are starting out at a distance on
your radar screen, and when you think they're coming at you, sidestep (an
excellent dueling technique that I think that I've explained earlier in this
guide). Since rocket-users can't change direction very well, they'll fly
right past you and stop moving for a second or two while trying to circle
around. This is your chance to launch a nice line formation at him or her to
kill them, which should be easy to land because they're either moving in a
straight line or not moving at all. But if you somehow are unable to sidestep
past them, and are in their direct line of fire, use a repel when they come
close. This will put them to a full stop, since the repel pushes them in one
direction and the rocket the opposite. This again creates a chance to kill
them.
Using the Flags: Flags help you a LOT when dogfighting, since they upgrade
both your bombs and your guns, which in turn also upgrades your shrapnel. Be
sure to grab a few at the beginning of a game, and keep holding it by killing
people to reset your timer. If you manage to get at least one kill every two
minutes or so without ship refreshing, you should be able to hold the flag
indefinitely. As for safety zones, don't move into them to buy items unless
you're at full energy (or near full energy), because if you're in the yellows
or reds the flags will drop as soon as you enter the safety.
The best thing about flags is that it gets you many, many kills if the other
team is desperate. It sometimes creates a gigantic dogfight between your team
(who wants to protect you) and the enemy team (who wants the flag). Your team
will be very helpful and usually acts like a human wall to take hits for you
and weaken the enemy, while you can just shoot giant spread formations and
nick tons of kills all over the place. Be careful though- There will be lots
of kamikazing enemies to dodge, so make sure you're near a cluttered diamond
or cross formation so you can quickly run behind something if you're in
danger.
Occasionally, your team is not as desperate as the enemy, and you're forced
to take those 7+ enemy kamikazes on your own. This is one of the few cases
where I abuse portals. Just shoot giant bomb formations to kill 2 or 3
people, and quickly portal away to safety. If you ever run out of portals or
repels, attach to somebody safe and either refresh on your items to repeat
the process, or drop the flags to win the game.
Be Cautious: If an enemy is flying in a straight line away from you, don't
just fly directly behind them and shoot bombs. It is more than likely that
they placed a portal, and once you past it they'll kill you easily. What you
should instead do is fly diagonally from their line for a moment, then fly
parallel so you're kinda behind them and on the side of them at the same
time. This is much safer, and it actually makes it harder for your opponent
to dodge the bombs because they're moving at an angle from where they're
heading. NEVER follow a chase into tunnels, since people port-bursting you is
the easiest way for you to die. And if you're in a dogfighting ship, you
probably want to avoid flagging as well (since most dogfighting ships are
horrible when fighting in bases). Don't forget the most important precaution-
Always keep X-Radar on!
Setting a Goal: Reccing by dogfighting can be very difficult and even
stressful at times. That is why instead of aiming for something nearly
impossible, like 1000:0, you should go for your own personal goal. It can be
either a challenge, or quite easy. Remember, even recs like 300:100 are
better than most players, and 500:100 is very impressive. My personal goal is
in fact 1000:33 or a similar ratio (which I have done in about three separate
instances, I think). If you're really good, then you might want to try out
for a (large number):0 record (I used to do this, but it's very frustrating
when you die at 190+:0). If you can only do 1:1 ratios the first few times
you try, that's good enough! You only have to try to improve just a little
every week or so.
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GUIDE TO SURVIVOR EVENTS
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Survivor events used to be very popular, and happened every Friday.
Er...Unfortunately, we haven't been hosting many events lately, so this
section will be back up when the events return.
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SURVIVOR SQUADS
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A) What is a Squad?
Squads are a group of people, who are either all of the same skill level
or all are friends (sometimes both, actually), who decide to play together.
Most importantly though, they work together to participate in leagues, which
have squads of players duel or flag against other squads. They're quite fun,
actually, especially if they're a friendly squad rather than a squad that
cares only about skill. In Survivor, there are squads for every skill level;
some any new player can join, and others you need to be among the very best.
B) How to Create a Squad
Creating a squad is very simple. Just type in ?squadcreate=(name of
squad):(your squad's password). Each squad also has a private chat channel
that you can communicate in with everyone else in it. To create it, just
think of a random word, and type in ?chat=(random word). Any members in your
squad should also type in the ?chat=(random word) to join the chat channel,
and thus you can talk to them directly by putting a semicolon (;) before your
messages.
Though creating a squad is easy, maintaining a squad and recruiting
members is much more difficult. What I recommend is that you become either a
very good player, or a well-known player before creating a squad for
Survivor. It is unlikely that anybody would join a squad that was created
someone who they had never seen before, and is below their skill level. Once
you get a few members, hopefully also either skilled or well-known, you can
recruit even more easily. Keep recruiting until you think that you have
enough (usually about 14-15 players), and from that point only recruit very
valuable players so you don't have too many (which is a bad occurrence that
sometimes causing a squad to break up into two). If your squad really doesn't
like one of the members, and you think he or she is useless yourself, you can
always use the ?squadkick command.
Remember to never reveal your squad's password or chat channel to
anybody except people who have agreed to join. If anyone else ever finds out
and you think they might abuse the secret, change the password with
?squadpassword=(your new password). You can change the chat channel just by
typing in ?chat=(different word from before), and telling the rest of your
squad in private messages to go to the new chat channel.
C) How to Join a Squad
If you think creating and managing a squad is too difficult, or has too
many responsibilities (personally, I do too), simply joining a squad is for
you. Just pick a squad that interests you and looks good, and talk their
captain or one of their members and ask them if you could try out for
membership. Hopefully they'll accept, and if you're skilled enough you'll be
allowed in. Make sure you pick a squad that has members around your own skill
level though; Aiming too high might create an embarrassing situation later
and aiming too low will make you regret joining later. If you're friends with
a lot of the squad's members already, so much the better.
-----------------------------------------------------------
MISCELLANEOUS
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A) Survivor League
Occasionally, about once a year or so, Survivor holds a league in which
all the squads compete in. The league can either be a dueling league, or a
flagging league. If there is a league being held in Survivor, there will most
likely be news at the official Survivor website regarding it
(http://sszones.com), so check there for the specific rules and regulations.
After hearing about it, if you own a squad or are in one, try to attend as
many of the league practices as possible from then on so your team can be
sure to do their best. Analyzing the opposing squads and watching them play
can also help you. Most of all: Have fun! That's what leagues are for-To stir
some excitement into the zone.
B) Mad Mustang Mondays
Every Monday, the co-owner of the zone, Lord-Mustang holds a special
event in the public arena for some fun and tons of points. This usually
starts at around 7:00-8:00 PM Eastern Time (New York City), and ends a few
hours later. It consists of quite a few things put together, and often begins
with tons of bomb and gun upgrades. Then they start giving all the players
unlimited items like thors, bricks, and decoys. Occasionally the settings are
changed around so that every ship has bouncing bombs, I believe. Then they
start a gigantic goal game for 10-30 minutes, with goal prizes of up to 50
million points apiece (creating a perfect chance for you to get points!).
Finally, they do another prizing session. Very fun, and great for dogfighting
reccers since they get to keep Level 3 bombs and guns out of the mess...
C) Special Ships
Sysops, the players with the most amount of control in the zone, have
the ability to place anybody (including themselves) into a special ship.
There are two kinds of ships that are popular: The UFO, and the Super Ship.
The UFO is a ship that does not lose energy when hit, and therefore
cannot be killed. It also has a special kind of super-stealth ability that
hides it from EVERYONE's radar, including players with X-Radar and teammate's
radar. In addition, they have a manual super-cloak that cannot be detected by
X-Radar or teammates either. UFOs are easily recognizable when uncloaked
because the player's name that usually labels the ship is not visible. If you
are reccing, and you think a sysop is using a UFO, fly with caution! It's not
as dangerous as a Super Ship, but it's still deadly.
If you thought the UFO was good, the Super Ship is even better.
Survivor's Super Ship, like the UFO, cannot be killed. But it has an
advantage-It doesn't lose energy when shooting either. Additionally, it is
filled to the max with each and every item, and has every single upgrade. It
also moves faster than normal ships using rockets, and has a bomb firing rate
faster than any other ship as well. To sum it up, the Super Ship is a
unstoppable killing machine (be careful around an enemy Super Ship if you're
aiming for a good record!). Fortunately, it doesn't have the super-stealth
and super-cloak that UFOs have, so if you're lucky enough you can sometimes
dodge its bombs and escape somehow.
D) How To Check Player Rankings
Every other Wednesday, everybody's Subspace scores and recs are recorded
at http://edome.fi.soneraplaza.net/subspace/scores.html. Players are then
able to visit that site, and check up on the top players in any category
(points, average kills, win-loss ratios, ratings, and more) from any zone of
scorereset day since the November of 1999! You can even check up on specific
players and squads! This is a great way to see how you and your squad are
doing compared to the rest of the zone, and is useful for leagues where you
have to see who you're up against. Any avid Subspace fan should bookmark the
site so they can come back when they want to.
E) How to Become Staff
Becoming a part of staff is usually the highest dream of anybody who's
never been a moderator, super moderator, or sysop before. It seems impossible
at first glance, but if you act when the right opportunity occurs, it is
quite easy to join. First, make sure that you are actually "staffing"
material, meaning that you don't start fights with other players, don't like
ballkillers and teamkillers, you visit the zone a lot, and are generally
friendly with a lot of people. Then, wait for when the zone actually needs
staff members. Usually then you can either apply at http://sszones.com, e-
mail one of the sysops, or message one of the sysops. Make sure to sound
mature, responsible, and up to the job. Just don't sound like a power-hungry
two-year old...^_- Once you become staff, try not to abuse your powers or
neglect your duties (both are very bad). Also, if you're unfamiliar with how
to use your powers, http://www.shanky.com/server/commands.html is a very
helpful website to go to.
F) Cheaters and Laggers
Every online game I know of has both cheaters that ruin the fun, and
laggers that are quite annoying. Cheaters usually make themselves very
obvious, and do things like laying dozens of bricks down at once and having
hundreds of thors. If you meet one, don't panic or start calling him names-
Instead, use the ?cheater (insert name and what they're doing) command to
report the cheater to all the online moderators. If there are no moderators
online, it is best to avoid the cheater, and perhaps record his name to give
to a moderator later on.
Laggers are far more common as cheaters, but luckily are nowhere near as
bad. In fact, 90% of the time the laggers can't help it because of their
connection. Still, you can recognize them easily since they have invisible
bombs, they jump around (extreme laggers seem to teleport everywhere on the
map at once), and take MASSIVE damage. If you are reccing, it is best to stay
away from laggers, since they are very dangerous. Laggers usually have either
a ping of over 400ms, or a packetloss of over 2.0.
G) Links to Survivor/Subspace Websites
There are quite a few sites dedicated to Subspace, which include a wide
range of different things (other guides, rants, articles, downloads, news,
ect.) Listed below are some of the ones I know:
http://www.sszones.com/ - The official Survivor website.
http://www.subspacedownloads.com/ - The best place for Subspace downloads!
Has Continuum skins, shipsets, movies, sounds, maps, and more!
http://www.subspace.net/ - A great place for news and articles...Also has a
link to the page of Subspace stats.
http://www.subspacehq.com/ - Another Subspace news site.
http://edome.fi.soneraplaza.net/subspace/scores.html - The place to check
all past and current rankings for every SSC zone.
-----------------------------------------------------------
Contents, Disclaimer, and Credits
-----------------------------------------------------------
A) E-Mailing Me
Have a question that isn't answered in this FAQ? Want to tell me if you
think that this FAQ sucks? Or maybe just constructive critism...Anyways, if
you want to say anything to me at all, just e-mail me a message at
RY1834@aol.com (don't be scared, I won't flame you or anything). Hopefully
I'll check my e-mail that day and respond.
B) Disclaimer
This FAQ is copyright 2002 by "R18". It is not related to Virgin
Interactive Systems (who created Subspace, copyright 1996) in any way.
Also, I'm allowing anybody to distribute this or post this as long as
they don't change it, and I'm still given credit...
C) Credits
All the people below have helped me out a lot, either in writing this
FAQ or in the actual game. They are listed in no particular order. Many
thanks to each one of them!
Gemini Dream and Lord Mustang- For creating my favorite zone, and
successfully managing it!
fear_this- For letting me onto his exceptional squad when I was a newbie...
(mystery person) - Though I forgot your name over the course of a year,
thanks for teaching me how to play!
Everyone in {force} - Being a friendly squad that always gave me a reason to
keep playing, and giving me training courses when I was a newbie...
Survivor Staff - For stopping cheaters and running the zone so well
Everyone Else in Survivor - The zone would be nothing without you!
Virgin Interactive - They created the game
ClayJC- For posting this on his outstanding site
Hopefully, this guide has been a help to you. If you wish to make any sort of
comment, suggestion, thank-you, or hate-note, either contact me when I'm
playing online or e-mail me. Thank you.
-R18