Your First Game!
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1: Your little dude.
Welcome to your first game of Subvein! The screen above is what you might expect to see when you first join a server. Here you have spawned on the Scientist's team and the map is BX_Farm. As a result your character will be wearing yellow and standing in the Scientist's spawn zone.
2: Bad guys.
Next to you there is a Rebel player wearing purple. He's on the opposite team to you and deserves a good ass kicking. He's going to try grab his flag and return it to his base, which is bad. So buy a gun and kill him!
3: Buy menu.
Whenever you spawn you should always buy a gun. The buy zone is indicated by the little dollar ($) sign up the top of the screen. When you see this sign you can press B to buy guns and V to buy vehicles. Weapons and vehicles have different costs and you will need to earn extra cash to buy the really powerful stuff.
4: Unlock skills bar.
Now that you have a weapon the only thing left to do is unlock some skills. You get skill points whenever you mutate, which happens when you kill people. Whenever you have unspent skill points this bar will pop down reminding you to invest your skill points. You can see this now, so press N to unlock some skills. Once you've unlocked some skills you can use them by right clicking.
5: Chat.
Here you can see the chat log. To chat to the entire server press Y. To chat to your teammates only, press T.
6: Status effects.
This is where any status effects on your character are shown. Here you can see the Shield status, which makes you invulnerable. It's important to know that whenever you respawn you are completely invulnerable until you move or start shooting. This gives you time to buy your weapons in peace. You can tell when a player is invulnerable because their character will be surrounded by a grey octagon.
7: Player stats.
Here you can see your health, your barrier, your sprint, your mutation level, your respect rating and your cash. These stats define your character. Your mutation is your level; it allows you to customize your skill build by unlocking a new skill point everytime you level up. Get mutation by killing other players. Your respect rating is a measure of your skill. It doesn't affect gameplay at all but is nice for showing off! Improve your respect by killing members of the opposite team and completing game objectives. Cash is the currency of Subvein and is used to buy better weapons and vehicles. Get cash by completing missions and killing gangsters. For more information on all these, read on!
8: Extraction info.
The server you've joined is playing the Extraction game mode. This is similar to Capture the Flag found in many other games. All game modes will display information about which team or player is winning here.
9: Mission info.
Missions can be completed to earn extra cash. Pressing M will cycle the display of all your active missions; here we see once called Pistol Practice. All you have to do to complete it is deal 250hp worth of damage by using a pistol. Upon completing the mission you'll be rewarded $5000 cash!
Your Second Game!
Click the image above to enlarge it.
1: Your massive dude.
You've joined your second game and this time you're kicking ass! You're a mercenary now, this means you have no allies and can shoot anyone. Here you're using the Bullet Time skill. Bullet Time is an active skill that you can cast that causes all bullets around you to slow down. You're now using it expertly to dodge incoming fire and slaughter your enemies unharmed.
2: Picking up weapons.
You will often see weapons lying around on the ground that other players have dropped. You can pick these weapons up by running up to them and pressing E. This particular weapon is the Nailgun, which is very expensive and powerful. Keep an eye out for super weapons like the Nailgun as picking one up is much cheaper than buying it for yourself.
3: The minimap.
This is the minimap. Simple stuff. You can hold down ALT and left click the minimap to signal a position to your allies. Right clicking will signal a position to everyone.
4: Entering vehicles.
Just like picking up weapons, it is much cheaper to enter an abandoned vehicle than buy one yourself. Simply run up to the vehicle and press E.
5: Skill info.
The skill tab shows you information about your currently selected active skill. As mentioned before you're using Bullet Time. The top bar is your mana bar and the bottom bar is the recharge bar. Both bars have to be full to use the skill. Right now we can see you have enough mana to cast Bullet Time, but you can't cast it just yet because it's still recharging.
6: Weapon info.
This tab shows you information about the weapon you're holding. Currently you're holding an MP5; the bullets themselves travel quite slowly, but at close/mid range the damage per second is amazing. Information is displayed here such as when you're reloading and how much ammo you have.
7: Kill log.
The kill log displays who's killed who, and with what weapon.
8: Selecting weapons.
By default you can select weapons with the mouse wheel, Q to switch to your previous weapon, F to select grenades, and middle mouse button to select your knife. If a weapon is displayed in red, it indicates that it's currently out of ammo.
9: Selecting skills.
By default you can cycle through your skills by pressing Z. You can also instantly cast skills with the number keys. If a skill doesn't have enough mana to cast or is recharging, it will be displayed in red with the number of seconds remaining till you can cast it again. You can rearrange the order of your skills by holding ALT and dragging these icons around. By now you should know all the basics of the game. For more advanced info on Subvein, read on!
Game Overview
What is Subvein?
Subvein is a top-down multiplayer action game. You can buy weapons and vehicles, mutate to develop powerful skills, play a variety of interesting game modes, earn cash by doing missions and more. Subvein combines the fast paced action of a shooter with the strategic character development of an RPG to keep you playing for hours.
Who am I?
You play as a mutant - the failed experiment of a top-secret reanimation project. Half man, half machine, you're pissed off and ready to kick some ass. You play in an online server and can join the Rebels (purple), the Scientists (yellow), or go solo as a mercenary (dark red).
How do I move and stuff?
For a full list of all the controls avaliable to you check out the CONTROLS tab in game. If you're too lazy to do that however, here are a few of the main default controls you'll need to know:
Move with the WASD keys. Sprint with SHIFT, jump with SPACE, and activate your barrier with CONTROL.
B to buy guns and Left Click to fire your weapon. To reload press R, to drop press G, and to pick up weapons press E. Select weapons with the mouse wheel. Select your previous weapon by pressing Q, your knife with the middle mouse button and grenades with F.
To use a skill, Right Click. You can also quickcast skills by pressing the number keys. Cycle through skills with Z.
What's my barrier do?
Your barrier is a powerful electric shield that protects you. When your barrier is enabled (by holding CONTROL) it will absorb all incoming damage at the cost of your mana.
How do I buy weapons?
You will see a dollar sign appear up the top of the screen when you are standing in your spawn zone. Stand in your spawn zone and press B. Select the weapon you want with the mouse or number keys, and then Left Click.
How about vehicles?
Same as weapons, but press V instead.
What's up with skills and mutation?
As we all know, mutants are totally badass and have super powers. You gain experience by killing other mutants. Everytime you level up and mutate, you get to invest a new skill point. In game you can press N to bring up the SKILLS tab (under the PLAYER tab), and unlock a new skill. If you unlocked an active skill, you can then use it by Right Clicking in game.
How about gangs and mercenaries?
There are two rival gangs in Subvein, the Rebels and the Scientists. These are your traditional teams. Subvein also has mercenaries which are on their own. They have no allies but can run around killing anything they want.
What are gangsters?
Gangsters are AI controlled bots who belong to either the Scientist or Rebel gangs. They will fire at members of the opposite gang on sight. They won't fire at you if you're a mercenary unless you piss them off. Gangsters will defend your base and are a good source of cash.
What can I use cash for?
Cash is the currency in Subvein and you earn it through killing gangsters and doing missions. If you have a lot of cash you can buy better vehicles and weapons to get the edge in battle.
Weapons and Cars
How do I buy weapons and vehicles again?
After dying you will respawn in your team's spawn zone. Whenever you're in your spawn zone a dollar sign will appear at the top of your HUD. This indicates that you can buy weapons and vehicles by pressing the buy keys (defaults are B and V). You can then use the mouse to select, and Left Click to purchase the weapon/vehicle.
Why can't I buy certain weapons?
If you can't purchase a weapon it's because you don't have enough cash or you already have full ammo for that weapon. The required cash is shown up the top right of the buy menu. If it's grayed out then you don't have enough. Alternatively, if you already own that weapon and have full ammo, then it will display FULL and also be grayed out.
Why can't I buy certain vehicles?
As with weapons vehicles have a price, so if you don't have enough cash you can't buy them. A good way to get more cash is to complete missions and kill gangsters.
How do I buy ammo?
The weapons in Subvein use clips that are discarded everytime you reload. As you run out of clips you can return to your spawn zone and purchase more ammo. Simply select the weapon and purchase it to refill your ammo.
How do I use my weapon?
Left Click to fire your weapon. Press R to reload it, G to drop it, and E to pick it back up again. Information about your current weapon is displayed in the HUD down the bottom right corner of the screen. This lets you know your remaining ammo and shows you when you're reloading.
How do I select weapons?
By default you can select weapons with the scroll wheel on your mouse. You can also press Q to switch to your previous weapon, F to select grenades and the middle mouse button to select your knife.
Why am I moving so slowly??
That would be because you're encumbered. Your character isn't strong enough to carry all your weapons. Every weapon has a weight, and this is displayed in brackets when you're selecting or buying weapons. If this number is red then it means you're encumbered and will move much slower. If you're encumbered you will need to drop some weapons until you're able to move fast again.
How do I drive?
By default you accelerate with W, reverse with S, and turn with A and D. SHIFT will use your boost, CONTROL will make you cruise, and SPACE will use the handbrake.
How about changing seats?
The default controls for changing seats within a vehicle are the number keys, with 1 always being the driver seat. You can enter/exit vehicles by pressing E. Normally you can only change to a seat if it is unoccupied. However, if you own the vehicle (you were the one to purchase it), then you can choose any seat, and if it's occupied that passenger will be moved to your previous position.
Can I steal other people's vehicles?
Sure you can, as long as it's already empty. A good way to make an enemy vehicle empty is to shoot it till it catches on fire. All the enemies within it will start taking damage until they leave the vehicle. The first team to get back in gets to keep it.
How do I complete missions?
Missions are simple yet challenging objectives that you can achieve while playing. Successfully completing a mission will earn you plenty of cash. You can cycle through all your active missions by pressing the cycle missions key (default 'M'). This will show you a description of the mission and a list of requirements that must be satisfied. If you successfully satisfy all these requirements, you will be paid handsomely for completing the mission.
Mutation and Skills
What's mutation? How do I get it?
Mutation makes your player stronger and more powerful. For every mutation level that you achieve you get a new skill point. As you kill other mutants, you'll gain experience. The amount of experience that you gain is equal to the mutation level of the player you kill. For example, killing a player with a mutation level of 23 will award you 23xp. When you get enough experience, your player will mutate and increase another muation level. You can tell the mutation level of another mutant by looking at the number floating above their head.
How do I unlock skills?
If you have any unspent skill points, the 'Unlock Skills' tab will appear up the top of the HUD. If you then press the unlock skill button (default 'N') the menu will open up and you'll be in the SKILLS window. From there you can browse through the PHYSICAL, MENTAL, and CYBERNETIC windows until you find a skill you want. Select it and then click the LEVEL SKILL button. You can now return to the game by pressing ESC or the RETURN TO GAME button and use your skill.
How do I use my skills?
You can use active skills with the number keys or by Right Clicking. The skill will be used and you will lose a bit of mana, which will slowly replenish over time. You will need enough mana and the skill will have to recharge before you can use it again. This information is shown down the bottom left of the screen. When both bars are white, you can use the skill.
How do I select other skills?
The fastest way to cast multiple skills is with the number keys. By default this will both cast and switch to the skill at once, however this can be customized in the options menu. You can also press Z to cycle through your skills without autocasting them. All controls can be customized in the OPTIONS menu.
Why can't I select my skill??
You probably just unlocked a passive skill. Passive skills can't be used because they're always in effect in the background. Regeneration is a good example of this; it's always working in the background, and doesn't need to be cast.
What are synergies and skill trees?
The 3 skill trees are PHYSICAL, MENTAL, and CYBERNETIC. While you are allowed to unlock skills in any skill tree, you recieve significant benefits if you stick to just one. This comes in the form of synergies and unlocks. For every 10 skill points you invest into a skill tree, you gain an extra synergy point. You may then invest this synergy point into a skill allowing you to unlock it beyond the maximum level 10 limit. Furthermore, investing points into the same skill tree will increase that tree's overall level, allow you to unlock higher level skills within that tree. As a result, you will often come across mutants who decided to specialise in one of the 3 skill trees. You can get a clue about what kind of skills they might have by looking at their head gear. If they wear a metal helmet, then they're specialising in Physical skills (fighter/tank). If they wear the black hood, then they have more Mental skills (rogue/ninja). Finally, players with wild and crazy hair are focusing in Cybernetic skills (wizard/sorcerer).
What about skill queues?
If you're playing in a quickmatch you can also use skill queues. Skill queues allow you to predetermine the order that new skills will be unlocked so you don't have to keep doing it after every level. There are 2 groups of skill queue - the current queue and saved queues. The current queue is the one that is actually used to unlock your skills. Saved queues are customizable skill queues that you can use to instantly populate your current queue at the start of a round. If you are in a quickmatch and have created some saved queues, they will appear as buttons up the top of the HUD in the Unlock Skills tab. Simply hold ALT and click the queue you want to use it!
Gangs and Mercenaries
What are the teams of Subvein?
There are two rival teams in Subvein, the Scientists (yellow) and the Rebels (purple). While playing on a team you should kill the enemy and help your allies complete game objectives.
What are mercenaries?
If the server allows it you will be able to switch team and play as a mercenary. To switch teams, press ESC and go to the PLAYER tab. Then select the team you wish to respawn as and return to the game. Your character will be killed (if not already dead) and respawn on the desired team. A mercenary has no teammates and wears a dark red uniform. They are neutral and are effectively playing in a deathmatch - they have no allies.
Why would I play as a mercenary?
As a mercenary you have no allies and don't have access to special team-based abilities. There are upsides however. AI controlled gangsters will leave you alone. More importantly though, the advantage of having no allies is that you don't suffer from friendly fire. As a mercenary you are free to kill whoever you want, which often provides you with more potential mutants to kill and thus a lot more experience to gain. And of course, sometimes it's just fun being able to run around shooting at anything that moves.
How about friendly fire?
Subvein handles friendly fire in a unique way. If someone on your team shoots you they will temporarily be marked by a skull as a traitor. The time that they remain marked depends on how much damage they dealt you. This will usually only last for a few seconds, but it gives you a chance to get revenge without punishment. If you want, you can now shoot back and kill them without losing any points. As long as you kill them while they're marked you don't get punished.
What's respect? How do I get it?
Your respect rating is simply a score of how well you're playing compared to the Subvein community. It goes up whenever you kill an enemy and down whenever you die. It also goes up when your team scores and down when the enemy scores. The respect rating is based on the ELO system used in chess and takes into account a few factors like lag and your enemy's skill level to award points appropriately. Respect has no direct impact on gameplay but is fun to compare with others and also allows for better team balancing. While playing as a mercenary you will neither gain nor lose respect points.
Technical Questions
Why won't my game load?
Chances are you either need to reinstall the game or update your graphics drivers. Most likely the drivers.
My game runs so slow! WHY!?
If your game is running really slow (< 5fps) then chances are you graphics drivers aren't updated. Otherwise, your computer might just be old. If that's the case then try disabling some of the graphics features in the GAME OPTIONS tab. Disabling View Shadows will greatly improve your framerate. Playing in windowed mode with a smaller resolution speeds things up too.
Why can no one join my game?
A few possibilities. You may have to unblock Subvein or disable your firewall. More likely though, is that you haven't forwarded your ports. If you're behind a router you need to forward your ports to host a game. It's not difficult; the default port is 11235 and you can go to www.portforward.com for a quick and easy guide to port forwarding.
Does it work on Mac?
No, not yet. Subvein only works on Windows and Linux at the moment. But it will be ported to Mac when it's finished. Some players have successfully got the game working with WINE though. Check the forums.
I have another problem...
That's fine. Just post a question in the relevant forum. We're a helpful bunch and someone will answer your question soon enough. Also, if you forget anything remember that this entire FAQ can be found in the game too, in the OPTIONS menu. Have fun!
Translations!
Русский (Russian) - translated by EngiN33R
Deutsche (German) - translated by chross
Your First Game!
1: Your little dude.
2: Bad guys.
3: Buy menu.
4: Unlock skills bar.
5: Chat.
6: Status effects.
7: Player stats.
8: Extraction info.
9: Mission info.
Your Second Game!
1: Your massive dude.
2: Picking up weapons.
3: The minimap.
4: Entering vehicles.
5: Skill info.
6: Weapon info.
7: Kill Log.
8: Selecting weapons.
9: Selecting skills.
Game Overview
What is Subvein?
Who am I?
How do I move and stuff?
What's my barrier do?
How do I buy weapons?
How about vehicles?
What's up with skills and mutation?
How about gangs and mercenaries?
What are gangsters?
What can I use credits for?
Weapons and Cars
How do I buy weapons again?
Why can't I buy certain weapons?
Why can't I buy certain vehicles?
How do I buy ammo?
How do I use my weapon?
How do I select weapons?
Why am I moving so slowly??
How do I drive?
How about changing seats?
Can I steal other people's vehicles?
How do I complete missions?
Mutation and Skills
What's mutation? How do I get it?
How do I unlock skills?
How do I use my skills?
How do I select other skills?
Why can't I select my skill??
What are synergies and skill trees?
What about skill queues?
Gangs and Mercenaries
What are the teams?
What are mercenaries?
Why would I play as a mercenary?
How about friendly fire?
What's respect? How do I get it?
Technical Questions
Why won't my game load?
My game runs so slow! WHY!?
Why can no one join my game?
Does it work on Mac?
I have another problem...
