Stick Veterans

by JunkBytes

--- General ---

Welcome to Stick Veterans. In this game, you will be thrown

into combat against other stick figures in free-for-all, team
deathmatch, or Capture-the-Flag mode.

There are two available modes in the menu:

- 3D mode: fps-style combat, more chaotic and possibly more

frustrating if you are a casual player, but 3D maps are usually
more intuitive.
- 2D mode: the classic mode, in a platform-shooter style. More
friendly to non-hardcore gamers, and maps are often simple and
less cluttered. Also allows splitscreen multiplayer using gamepads.

--- Controls ---

Controls can be changed in the starting config screen.

Move...........................WSAD or Arrow Keys

Aim.........................................Mouse
Shoot...........................Left Mouse Button
Toggle First-Person View.......Right Mouse Button
Toggle Left-Handed View.......Middle Mouse Button
Change Weapon / Zoom in/out...........Mouse Wheel
Jump / Jetpack..............................Space
Crouch..................................Left Ctrl
Sprint.................................Left Shift
Reload..........................................R
Drop Current Weapon.............................G
Suicide.........................................K
View Scores...................................Tab
Pause.........................................Esc
Slow Motion.......................Caps Lock or F2
Chat (in LAN/Online mode only)..............Enter

In 2D mode, use Up/Down to perform Jump/Crouch.

--- Options ---

Shadows: Toggles shadows. Turn off to improve performance.

V-sync: Prevents screen "tearing" during screen refresh.

May decrease performance, turn off unless necessary.

Antialiasing: Smoothens edges to prevent the "jagged" look

of pixelated lines. Usually a minor decrease in performance,
turn off if your graphics card is integrated (e.g. on a
netbook).

Bullet Shells: Toggles bullet shells from weapons. Choose

"no shadows" or "off" to improve performance.

Colorblind mode: Changes teams for Blue-Red to White-Black.

Ambient Occlusion: darkens block corners when in 3D mode.

Global Volume: Adjusts global SFX volume.

Music: Toggles main menu music.

Soldier Voices: Toggles death screams from soldiers.

Sound Filters: Toggles Low-Pass distance filters of sound

effects. Turn off to slightly improve performance.

Chat notification sound: whether to hear a "ding" when a

player sends a chat message.

Pain Indicator Intensity: Amount of "red flash" to see when

taking damage.

Spectator Cam Smoothing: defines how much to smoothen camera

motion when spectating (fly cam).

Switch Weapon on Pickup: Toggles whether to auto-equip any

weapon we pick up.

Mouse Aiming Sens.: Adjusts mouse speed when aiming.

Gamepad Aim Sens. 2D: Adjusts smoothing sensitivity when aiming

using gamepads in 2D mode.

Gamepad Aim Sens. 3D: Same as above, but for 3D mode.

Autohide weapons UI: Hides the weapons side-screen and only

shows it when changing weapons or picking up new ones.

Disable hints: Prevents showing hints such as "Right-click to

toggle first person" and "Mousewheel to zoom in/out".

Mute all chat: Prevents any chat from being shown, but also
prevents sending any.

--- Map Editor ---

Access the map editor from the main menu "Map Editor" button.

We recommend starting with 2D maps to get the hang of it,

then moving on to 3D maps.

*** Toolbar buttons, from left to right:

- File dropdown:
Start a new 2D or 3D map, open/save local map, upload map
(see "Uploading a map" below), undo/redo, quick-test map, help dialog.

- AI dropdown:
Build AI waypoints, and test with AI players (FFA or Team mode).

- Block mode (Key 1): Choose this mode to draw blocks. Hold Ctrl/Cmd to erase.
- Erase mode (Key 2): Choose this mode to cut / erase blocks and objects.
You can choose what to affect (blocks, objects, or both) from the
dropdown menu.

- Select mode (Outline icon, Key 3): Choose this mode to Select a region.
Dropdown menu options include: cut/copy/paste selection, mirror and
rotate selection, center view to map center or selection.

- Object mode (Sphere icon, Key 4): Choose this mode to add / delete objects.
Use the dropdown menu to choose what object to add. Simple mode auto-places
objects at a proper height.

- Paint mode (Brush icon, Key 5): Choose this mode to define color mode of
map (disabled, per-block colors, gradient colors). In per-block color mode,
this mode allows you to paint on blocks. Other options are also available
here: Sky color, ground color, toggle clouds, and toggle sun.

See the Help dialog in the File dropdown for more useful info.

*** XYZ Gizmo:

The 6-axis gizmo in the top-right corner of the screen shows current camera
orientation (in 3D mode). You can click on an axis to align the camera to
that axis. Also, the "Ortho / Persp" button below the gizmo toggles the
camera projection mode.

*** General instructions for making a map:

As said above, prefer starting with 2D maps before attempting 3D.

Design blocks first. Begin with the general map layout; you can add details
later. When done, add a spawnpoint somewhere, and test the map (ctrl + T).
Test that you are able to move across the map with ease.

If all looks good, add the spawnpoints. You can choose to add:
- only white spawnpoints,
- only blue & red spawnpoints,
- white AND blue AND red spawnpoints.

Build AI waypoints (from the AI menu). The more complex the map, the higher
waypoint density you will have to choose, otherwise the bots will get stuck
often.

After building, playtest the map with bots - as many bots as you can. Observe
the bots and see whether they get stuck anywhere. If you make any corrections,
rebuild AI waypoints.

Finally, add the weapons and other objects. Test the map again (waypoint rebuild
shouldn't be needed).

*** Uploading a map:

Before uploading a map, check that the map plays well. Bots should also play well
without getting stuck. Do a playtest in both FFA and Team mode, unless you
intend the map to be one-mode only (not recommended).

Upload the map from the "Upload & Publish" option in the File dropdown. The map
will be reviewed by us before being added to the list. You will receive an email
if the map is approved.
Thank you for taking the time to create maps!

--- Credits ---

Developed by: K. Ventouras - www.junkbytes.com

Original concept (SS1 & SS2 games): Whitespace Unlimited

Music: "Flying" by G. Baltatzis

Skybox by: The Chayed - KIIRA

Special Thanks to: Dylan Allison, Andrew Russell

--- Changelog ---

1.0 beta (16 Dec 2017):

- Introduced LAN matches and several related additions (e.g. chat)
- Added map rating system
- Auto-checking for new maps was disabled in favor of manual checking
- Added some built-in maps (in case you happen to have no maps and no internet)
- You can now zoom out with mousewheel when spectating in 2D
- Map editor: notify if A.I. waypoints need to be built (or rebuilt)
- Many other bug fixes / improvements

0.9.7.0 (27 Sep 2017):

- Fixed a bug where CTF flags would show up even in non-CTF game modes
- Improved jetpack look
- Fixed some graphic glitches and bugs

0.9.6.0 (2 Sep 2017):

- Capture-the-flag mode
- Added gamepad support for 3D
- Player now chooses their team on match start
- Added support for weapon key shortcuts
- Button "Suicide" (in FFA) and "Change team" (in Teams) for players
- Graphic option: ambient occlusion
- Fixed various bugs in: 3D and 2D aiming, AI jetpacks, rematch dialog, weapons
auto-hiding UI, a 2D mode graphic glitch, teams scoreboard
- Improved performance in menus (scrollbars in menus such as map list won't be so
laggy now)
- Ammo now shows even if weapon UI is hidden, and Reload indicator now shows in
scope mode
- Maplist sorting options are now persistent
- Map Editor: toggle showing ruler lines on pointer with R key

0.9.5.0 (30 July 2017):

- Added color modes and custom skybox for maps in Map Editor
- Improved AI
- Added dialog to quick-change map during match and on match end
- It now takes 3 suicides to lose 1 point
- Spinning crosshair during reloading and spawn-shield
- Added pain indicator (red flash) with customizable intensity
- Sniper Rifle can now properly go into no-scope first-person view
- Adjusted stats of shotgun, flamer and striker for balance
- Map Editor: Option for copy, rotate etc. to affect only blocks or only objects
- Many fixes, improvements and optimizations

0.9.4.0 (26 May 2017):

- New weapons: AK rifle and Striker shotgun
- Bots can now be added/removed ingame from the TAB scoreboard
- Searchbox in map list
- Delete button for each map in map list
- Auto-hide weapons side-UI (can be toggled in the Options)
- Ingame hints for mouse use (can be toggled in the Options)
- Update checker shows a notification in the main menu if there is a new
game version available
- Fixed no-sprint bug in 2D mode, and other bug fixes and improvements

0.9.3.0 (11 Jan 2017):

- New weapon: Flamethrower
- Added slowmotion mode (press Caps Lock)
- Added option to auto-switch weapon only if better than pistol (default)
- Made soldier team colors more discernible
- Bots now choose their weapons based on estimated efficiency
- Limited visibility range of bots (previously it was unlimited)
- Map Editor: Holding CTRL / CMD in Blocks mode now works as eraser
- Fixed a bug with bots getting stuck above/under platforms too often
- Fixed a bug with player aiming in 3rd-person view

0.9.2.0 (8 Dec 2016):

- Introduced Map Editor
- Users can now download new maps and upload their own maps
- Fixed a second game-breaking bug affecting some Mac computers
- Changed aiming mode from laserline to crosshair in 3D mode
- Tweaked the weapon stats slightly

0.9.1.0 (4 Nov 2016):

- Introduced 2D Mode
- 2 new 3D maps: "Castle" and "Factory-5"
- Fixed the issue with some Mac computers not showing any maps to play
- Spawnshield increased from 1 to 2 secs
- Bullets/rockets now pass through spawnshielded soldiers
- Crouching now prevents you from falling off ledges

0.9.0.0 (13 Oct 2016):

First Public Version