Wiki - User contributions [en]

Talk:Mounted Mortar

2012-08-04T10:44:02Z

Sarge: /* Max Range */

== Max Range ==

I have heard the max range for MMs is 230m, the popup for the weapon says 250m. Can anyone confirm one or the other?--[[User:Sarge|Sarge]] 05:42, 4 August 2012 (CDT)

Talk:Mounted Mortar

2012-08-04T10:42:09Z

Sarge: Max Range of MMs?

== Max Range ==

I have heard the max range for MMs is 230m. Can anyone confirm this?--[[User:Sarge|Sarge]] 05:42, 4 August 2012 (CDT)

Talk:Specialisms

2012-07-30T14:14:51Z

Sarge: correcting previosu edit

I reset the spelling of the Deathracer spec, because it is spelled as a single word in the game, so it should match that here. --[[User:Wikiadmin|Wikiadmin]] 16:13, 20 January 2011 (UTC)

Well one would hope Same would correct it at some point. People tend to learn to spell from what they read, so it's not good to write it wrong.
* I would argue that it is a game term, so the only 'correct' spelling is that defined by the creator. If the term was 'dethracer' (to maybe indicate the word had 'evolved' post-solar event) would we be trying to make the same correction? --[[User:Wikiadmin|Wikiadmin]] 03:15, 21 January 2011 (UTC)
* I would argue that it should be 'Deth Racer' and I would would only accept 'Deth' if the game's fiction specifically mentioned that over the centuries the word had come to be spelled that way. I would also accept it if it was always written with quotes around 'Deth' (i.e. "Deth" Racer).
** I guess I'm just not clear why it's such an issue. The spelling as a single word is well-established in the game's terminology. --[[User:Wikiadmin|Wikiadmin]] 04:49, 21 January 2011 (UTC)
* Also note the movies "Death Race" and soon to be released "Death Race 2"
** Don't see the relevance of that; the movies are not this game. --[[User:Wikiadmin|Wikiadmin]] 04:49, 21 January 2011 (UTC)
** Just saying

* BTW how do you get it to add all that information after your name? Or do you actually type all that each time? :)
** The second-to-last button (between the No W(iki formatting) and the horizontal line) in the editing button bar thing is 'Your signature with timestamp'. --[[User:Wikiadmin|Wikiadmin]] 05:01, 21 January 2011 (UTC)
** Excellent. Thanks! --[[User:Trifler|Trifler]] 08:08, 21 January 2011 (UTC)

Wanted to know if anyone knows if 3 is the maximum level in all/most specs. E.g. can you have Rapidshot 4? --[[User:Sarge|Sarge]] 09:14, 30 July 2012 (CDT)

Talk:Specialisms

2012-07-30T14:13:50Z

Sarge: Question regarding max levels specs can attain

Dragon's Breath

2012-04-28T19:25:02Z

Sarge: Reworked page from info provided

Very dangerous. The super strong Buzzer chassis means punching through the armor of this beast will take some work. The Dragon's Breath comes equipped with twin [[Car Cannons]] front and attempts to attack the sides will be met with a [[Heavy Rocket]] left and right.

[[Category: NPC Vehicles]]

Pedestrians

2012-04-28T02:30:33Z

Sarge: /* Unique Options */ clarity and corrected Face this way guide

== Using Pedestrians ==
Almost all interaction with pedestrians is done using the right-click (or SHIFT-click).

=== Exiting Vehicles ===
Exiting a vehicle can be done using either the ''Management'' or ''Occupants'' drawer (either one has to be open).
* Right-click an occupant and select "Exit Vehicle".
** If the vehicle is moving you will be presented with a confirmation dialog to ensure you want to jump from a moving vehicle. Clicking ''Yes'' will exit the character at the start of the next turn.

'''NOTE:''' Jumping from a moving vehicle is generally '''not''' A Good Thing<sup>TM</sup>, but it can often be better than staying in a burning vehicle armed with [[Rocket Launcher|Rocket Launchers]] or flame weapons.

=== Targeting and Firing Weapons ===
Targeting and firing equipped pedestrian weapons is the same as vehicular weapons: select the pedestrian, then right-click your desired target. If you are targeting, select 'Target ...', and if you are firing select 'Fire ...' or 'Repeat Fire ...' from the pop-up menu.

Details about pedestrian weapons can be found on the [[Pedestrian Weapons]] page.

=== Movement ===
To move a pedestrian: select the pedestrian, then right-click the location on the ground that you want your pedestrian to move toward. From the pop-up menu, select 'Move to here'.

After setting a destination a dashed line will appear across the ground indicating your pedestrian's chosen path.

=== Escaping ===
* '''Wilderness Events''' - pedestrians must be either 300m or 100m and out of line of sight (LOS) of all enemies in order to escape from combat

'''NOTE:''' As of 19AUG08 there is a pretty significant bug that is preventing pedestrians from escaping even when circumstances indicate they should be able to, i.e. out of sight, or far enough away.

* '''Town Events''' - ? Unsure what the exact requirements are. They may be as detailed below.

=== Unique Options ===
* '''Flip over vehicle''' - pedestrians can attempt to right an overturned vehicle. Move the pedestrian next to the vehicle, right-click, and select 'Flip vehicle' from the pop-up menu
* '''Crouch''' - crouching improves a pedestrian's defensive posture making him harder to hit with weapons fire. Right-click the pedestrian, and select 'Crouch' the pop-up menu. A crouching pedestrian will have the option to 'Stand up'. Crouching cancels the pedestrian's movement, but the pedestrian can move while crouching after a new 'move to here' movement is ordered.
* '''Face this way''' - right-click in the direction you want your pedestrian to turn, then choose this option from the menu. Changing facing cancels any current movement orders.

== Pedestrian Datadump ==
Everything we know about pedestrians. Right now this is just a dump of information from the patch notes and forum posts. Formatting will come later.

=== Resigning from events ===
* Cars no longer disappear; now, they put on their brakes when they resign, and as soon as they're below 25mph the characters inside start jumping out.
** This means that if your character is unconscious, and can't leave the vehicle, they '''currently''' have to remain in the vehicle until the event ends. This could result in the character's death.
* A character that jumps out of a resigned car will be able to disappear immediately if in a Race or Death Race, or else will have to get out of the LOS of all enemies in a combat, or else get to an 'exit door'. They will start running automatically, so if you have resigned and exited they will still do it.

=== Scripts v.181 notes ===
* Most NPC gangs will now respect resignations most of the time, and not shoot at you when you have resigned in a town event
** They can still run you over if exit your vehicle and you're in the way though! --[[User:Trifler|Trifler]] 11:30, 21 January 2011 (UTC)
* Resigned vehicles will no longer have all of their characters jump out
* When you commandeer a car, if your character is not freaked out (i.e. has not failed a stress test), then the car unresigns. This only works if the car didn’t start the event under your control (so you can’t resign a car then jump out and back in to unresign it)
* When a car’s last character exits, it no longer automatically resigns (unless it's the last unresigned car in the event, in which case the event does still end)
* You can now try to finish a Race or Death Race in a commandeered car. You can only enter a car that is empty, belongs to your own team, or else has no conscious characters in it. In the latter case, it takes one move to pull each unconscious character out, before you can enter it yourself. If you enter a team mate’s car and that team mate is still conscious, they take control of your character rather than you taking control of their car. If you start a race with one car and two characters, and end with two cars and two characters, then your first finisher is the one that counts
* Arena Combats: Commandeered cars can score you points! When you take over a car, its previous owner’s points are recorded and your score with that car is set to zero. Any points you score with it will be added to the points you get from the character’s original car. So you could potentially be scoring points with two cars at the same time, and both be added together as a single score.
* you now get zero points for shooting a resigned vehicle, and a resigned vehicle can no longer score points itself.
* I have also fixed the remaining occasional game server crash when a dead character with ammo was being saved to the database. This was happening about once per day. Hopefully that’s the last serious problem with pedestrians. (There's nothing much more serious than a game server crash).

=== Wilderness Peds ===

*If a car is demoralized and then an un-demoralized character enters it '''and takes over driving''', the vehicle will stop being demoralized.

*If you have a two-person crew in one of your vehicles, of which one is a high courage veteran and the other a (currently) "freaked out", demoralized rookie... if your vet exits the vehicle then your car will become Demoralized.

[[Category: Characters]]
[[Category: New Player]]

Pedestrians

2012-04-28T02:27:34Z

Sarge: /* Targeting and Firing Weapons */ typo

== Using Pedestrians ==
Almost all interaction with pedestrians is done using the right-click (or SHIFT-click).

=== Exiting Vehicles ===
Exiting a vehicle can be done using either the ''Management'' or ''Occupants'' drawer (either one has to be open).
* Right-click an occupant and select "Exit Vehicle".
** If the vehicle is moving you will be presented with a confirmation dialog to ensure you want to jump from a moving vehicle. Clicking ''Yes'' will exit the character at the start of the next turn.

'''NOTE:''' Jumping from a moving vehicle is generally '''not''' A Good Thing<sup>TM</sup>, but it can often be better than staying in a burning vehicle armed with [[Rocket Launcher|Rocket Launchers]] or flame weapons.

=== Targeting and Firing Weapons ===
Targeting and firing equipped pedestrian weapons is the same as vehicular weapons: select the pedestrian, then right-click your desired target. If you are targeting, select 'Target ...', and if you are firing select 'Fire ...' or 'Repeat Fire ...' from the pop-up menu.

Details about pedestrian weapons can be found on the [[Pedestrian Weapons]] page.

=== Movement ===
To move a pedestrian: select the pedestrian, then right-click the location on the ground that you want your pedestrian to move toward. From the pop-up menu, select 'Move to here'.

After setting a destination a dashed line will appear across the ground indicating your pedestrian's chosen path.

=== Escaping ===
* '''Wilderness Events''' - pedestrians must be either 300m or 100m and out of line of sight (LOS) of all enemies in order to escape from combat

'''NOTE:''' As of 19AUG08 there is a pretty significant bug that is preventing pedestrians from escaping even when circumstances indicate they should be able to, i.e. out of sight, or far enough away.

* '''Town Events''' - ? Unsure what the exact requirements are. They may be as detailed below.

=== Unique Options ===
* '''Flip over vehicle''' - pedestrians can attempt to right an overturned vehicle. Move the pedestrian next to the vehicle, right-click, and select 'Flip vehicle' from the pop-up menu
* '''Crouch''' - crouching improves a pedestrian's defensive posture making him harder to hit with weapons fire. Right-click the pedestrian, and select 'Crouch' the pop-up menu. A crouching pedestrian will have the option to 'Stand up'. Crouching cancels the pedestrian's movement, but the pedestrian can move while crouching after a new 'move to here' movement is ordered.
* '''Face this way''' - click in the direction you want your pedestrian to turn, after selecting this option from the menu.

== Pedestrian Datadump ==
Everything we know about pedestrians. Right now this is just a dump of information from the patch notes and forum posts. Formatting will come later.

=== Resigning from events ===
* Cars no longer disappear; now, they put on their brakes when they resign, and as soon as they're below 25mph the characters inside start jumping out.
** This means that if your character is unconscious, and can't leave the vehicle, they '''currently''' have to remain in the vehicle until the event ends. This could result in the character's death.
* A character that jumps out of a resigned car will be able to disappear immediately if in a Race or Death Race, or else will have to get out of the LOS of all enemies in a combat, or else get to an 'exit door'. They will start running automatically, so if you have resigned and exited they will still do it.

=== Scripts v.181 notes ===
* Most NPC gangs will now respect resignations most of the time, and not shoot at you when you have resigned in a town event
** They can still run you over if exit your vehicle and you're in the way though! --[[User:Trifler|Trifler]] 11:30, 21 January 2011 (UTC)
* Resigned vehicles will no longer have all of their characters jump out
* When you commandeer a car, if your character is not freaked out (i.e. has not failed a stress test), then the car unresigns. This only works if the car didn’t start the event under your control (so you can’t resign a car then jump out and back in to unresign it)
* When a car’s last character exits, it no longer automatically resigns (unless it's the last unresigned car in the event, in which case the event does still end)
* You can now try to finish a Race or Death Race in a commandeered car. You can only enter a car that is empty, belongs to your own team, or else has no conscious characters in it. In the latter case, it takes one move to pull each unconscious character out, before you can enter it yourself. If you enter a team mate’s car and that team mate is still conscious, they take control of your character rather than you taking control of their car. If you start a race with one car and two characters, and end with two cars and two characters, then your first finisher is the one that counts
* Arena Combats: Commandeered cars can score you points! When you take over a car, its previous owner’s points are recorded and your score with that car is set to zero. Any points you score with it will be added to the points you get from the character’s original car. So you could potentially be scoring points with two cars at the same time, and both be added together as a single score.
* you now get zero points for shooting a resigned vehicle, and a resigned vehicle can no longer score points itself.
* I have also fixed the remaining occasional game server crash when a dead character with ammo was being saved to the database. This was happening about once per day. Hopefully that’s the last serious problem with pedestrians. (There's nothing much more serious than a game server crash).

=== Wilderness Peds ===

*If a car is demoralized and then an un-demoralized character enters it '''and takes over driving''', the vehicle will stop being demoralized.

*If you have a two-person crew in one of your vehicles, of which one is a high courage veteran and the other a (currently) "freaked out", demoralized rookie... if your vet exits the vehicle then your car will become Demoralized.

[[Category: Characters]]
[[Category: New Player]]

Subscription

2012-04-28T02:24:34Z

Sarge: /* Subscribers */ added comma to 50k

== Differences between Subscription and Free Play ==
=== Non-subscribers (Free Play) ===
* Compete in all in-town events that use event-supplied vehicles
* Earn prize money and league points for in-town events
* Recruit gang members
* Take part in Wilderness Scouts using rented vehicles
* Cannot complete missions as you may not travel to other places in rented vehicles

=== Subscribers ===
* Receive $50,000 for your in-game gang (first subscription only)
* Access to town marketplaces
* Vehicle ownership
* Access to a Lockup (for property storage) in each town (rates vary between towns)
* Ability to upload custom logos for display on your vehicles
* Ability to upload custom skins for your vehicles
* Ability to own camps
* Access to town Training Centres
* Trade vehicles and equipment with other gangs
* Transfer in-game money to other gangs

[http://www.dark-wind.com/subscribe.php Subscribe]

[[Category: New Player]]

Driving

2012-04-28T02:17:53Z

Sarge: Added references tag for info linked to Reload in Motion

* Enables you to use a longer than 1 second [[Ghost Car|ghost car]].
** Every point above 50 driving skill lets you increase the long ghost slider by 0.04 sec.
* Increases the accuracy of your ghost car.
* Better acceleration.
** The acceleration of a driver with 200+ skill and no jumpstart is compareable to a lower skilled driver with jumpstart.
* Slightly helps you on the physics calcs. (A higher skill driver will have a more accurate [[Ghost Car|ghost car]] and better inherent control of your car.)
* Reduces tire damage taken when oversteering on tarmac.
* Better grip and more responsive handling overall?

== Specialisms ==
Driving has 7 [[specialisms]], some of which are shared with [[Trucker]] and [[Cyclist]].
=== Jumpstart ===
Jumpstart increases your acceleration in the first 2 turns of ''any'' event.

Even though it's only used at the very beginning it's a very popular driving specialism because it can completely negate the effects of an unlucky starting position against opponents who don't have jumpstart. Recommended on your main driver.

=== Defensive Driver ===
Ability to make your vehicle hard to shoot while it is moving at speed

=== Offensive Driver ===
Increased collision damage to your opponents.

=== Reload In Motion ===
Ability to reload a weapon while driving. The speed at which you can drive while reloading increases with higher levels<ref>http://www.dark-wind.com/forums2/index.php?a=topic&t=5141</ref>.

{|class = "wikitable" border = "1" | style="margin-left: 20px;"
!Level !! MPH Limit
|-
|align = "right"|Level 0 (no specialism)
|align = "right"| <9
|-
|align = "right"|Level 1
|align = "right"| <31.5
|-
|align = "right"|Level 2
|align = "right"| <54
|-
|align = "right"|Level 3
|align = "right"| <76.5
|}

=== Death Racer ===
Negates the penalty to gunnery if your driver is also manning weapons.

=== Slipstreamer ===
Ability to gain more of a speed boost than normal when slipstreaming or drafting

=== Mine Layer ===
Ability to deploy mines and spikes at high speed with less inherited velocity

== Notes ==
<references/>

[[Category: Characters]]
[[Category: Specialisms]]
[[Category: Skills]]

Driving

2012-04-28T02:16:26Z

Sarge: /* Reload In Motion */ added table from Specialisms

* Enables you to use a longer than 1 second [[Ghost Car|ghost car]].
** Every point above 50 driving skill lets you increase the long ghost slider by 0.04 sec.
* Increases the accuracy of your ghost car.
* Better acceleration.
** The acceleration of a driver with 200+ skill and no jumpstart is compareable to a lower skilled driver with jumpstart.
* Slightly helps you on the physics calcs. (A higher skill driver will have a more accurate [[Ghost Car|ghost car]] and better inherent control of your car.)
* Reduces tire damage taken when oversteering on tarmac.
* Better grip and more responsive handling overall?

== Specialisms ==
Driving has 7 [[specialisms]], some of which are shared with [[Trucker]] and [[Cyclist]].
=== Jumpstart ===
Jumpstart increases your acceleration in the first 2 turns of ''any'' event.

Even though it's only used at the very beginning it's a very popular driving specialism because it can completely negate the effects of an unlucky starting position against opponents who don't have jumpstart. Recommended on your main driver.

=== Defensive Driver ===
Ability to make your vehicle hard to shoot while it is moving at speed

=== Offensive Driver ===
Increased collision damage to your opponents.

=== Reload In Motion ===
Ability to reload a weapon while driving. The speed at which you can drive while reloading increases with higher levels<ref>http://www.dark-wind.com/forums2/index.php?a=topic&t=5141</ref>.

{|class = "wikitable" border = "1" | style="margin-left: 20px;"
!Level !! MPH Limit
|-
|align = "right"|Level 0 (no specialism)
|align = "right"| <9
|-
|align = "right"|Level 1
|align = "right"| <31.5
|-
|align = "right"|Level 2
|align = "right"| <54
|-
|align = "right"|Level 3
|align = "right"| <76.5
|}

=== Death Racer ===
Negates the penalty to gunnery if your driver is also manning weapons.

=== Slipstreamer ===
Ability to gain more of a speed boost than normal when slipstreaming or drafting

=== Mine Layer ===
Ability to deploy mines and spikes at high speed with less inherited velocity

[[Category: Characters]]
[[Category: Specialisms]]
[[Category: Skills]]

Driving

2012-04-28T02:14:06Z

Sarge: /* Defensive Driver */ apostrophe

* Enables you to use a longer than 1 second [[Ghost Car|ghost car]].
** Every point above 50 driving skill lets you increase the long ghost slider by 0.04 sec.
* Increases the accuracy of your ghost car.
* Better acceleration.
** The acceleration of a driver with 200+ skill and no jumpstart is compareable to a lower skilled driver with jumpstart.
* Slightly helps you on the physics calcs. (A higher skill driver will have a more accurate [[Ghost Car|ghost car]] and better inherent control of your car.)
* Reduces tire damage taken when oversteering on tarmac.
* Better grip and more responsive handling overall?

== Specialisms ==
Driving has 7 [[specialisms]], some of which are shared with [[Trucker]] and [[Cyclist]].
=== Jumpstart ===
Jumpstart increases your acceleration in the first 2 turns of ''any'' event.

Even though it's only used at the very beginning it's a very popular driving specialism because it can completely negate the effects of an unlucky starting position against opponents who don't have jumpstart. Recommended on your main driver.

=== Defensive Driver ===
Ability to make your vehicle hard to shoot while it is moving at speed

=== Offensive Driver ===
Increased collision damage to your opponents.

=== Reload In Motion ===
Ability to reload a weapon while driving.

=== Death Racer ===
Negates the penalty to gunnery if your driver is also manning weapons.

=== Slipstreamer ===
Ability to gain more of a speed boost than normal when slipstreaming or drafting

=== Mine Layer ===
Ability to deploy mines and spikes at high speed with less inherited velocity

[[Category: Characters]]
[[Category: Specialisms]]
[[Category: Skills]]

Morale

2012-04-28T02:12:08Z

Sarge: /* Ganger Morale */ tweaked for clarity. Need to add the effect of becoming demod

= Morale =
Morale is both your overall morale listed on your gang page, and in events for each gang member.

Gang morale starts at 100, and can range from 0 to 200. As part of the weekly update morale will move toward 100 from the extremes. For most people that means the 200 morale they have this week drops to 170.

== What changes gang morale ==
Successful combat events (scouts, arena) will add ~5-15 morale per event.

Gangers killed in action will drop morale. The amount varies by who died; a strong leader can reduce morale by 100 or more. A new recruit might only drop morale 10-20 points.

Events that end in Demo's reduce morale. It varies from 5 points on up.

== What does gang morale change? ==
Gang morale modifies your morale in events. The exact modifier is unknown.

== Ganger Morale ==
Morale for each character determines if/when they demo (become demoralised) during combat events. During combat, or an event where enemies are present there are several things that will affect morale:

*being shot at
*having low/exposed armor facings on your vehicle
*running around outside the car
*if the car is on fire
*being close to the enemy - getting further away from the enemy can improve morale.

While in an event, the color of the ring around a selected vehicle tells you how stressed a vehicle is. Red is ready to demo, yellow is caution, and green is stable.

New Player Startup

2012-04-28T02:06:05Z

Sarge: /* After Some More Practicing */ edited Looting link I only just added

Welcome! Hopefully, this will be an easy-to-follow, straightforward guide to getting started with Darkwind. If it isn't...either change it (it's a Wiki after all), or comment on it in the discussion section so somebody else can change it. :-)

== Introductions ==
After you've signed up on the main site and created your gang, you'll end up on the web management interface of Darkwind. Here is where you'll plan your long term stuff, buy and sell things, recruit people and so on, while the client (Game) is more specialized toward participating in events. You can subscribe to events from both, so you can just fire up the client to start playing and getting the feeling of the game.
The client interface is pretty straightforward:

[[File:lobby.png|600px]]

There is a big panel showing the global game chat (which is also available in game), there is a panel which shows the upcoming events to which you may register and the live events that you may spectate (or play if registered) and there is a panel listing the current players. It would be '''really''' unusual to be alone in the Lobby, so the first thing you should do is introduce yourself. A simple, 'Hi. I'm new' should suffice, and lets the veteran players and [[Marshals]] (players whose names are bracketed by asterisks (*)) know that you are new, and may need some help getting up and running.

== Tutorial ==
Launch your tutorial by clicking the '''Tutorials''' button in the game client. (Even though the button says '''Tutorials''', there is only one.) This will take you to the in-game interface, centered on your car. Follow the instructions literally to proceed forward. If you are stuck on a particular tutorial step, repeat what you're asked to do making sure to use the keys specified in the tutorial balloon. Here's a hint; you can run the tutorial as often as you like! Run it a second time to just drive around a bit and get used to the controls. You only get the prize money the first time through though.

Notice that the global lobby chat remains available on the top of the screen. This panel's content is controlled by the buttons directly under it: "Lobby" shows the global chat, "Events" shows the event log for the current game, while the "Team" button shows the private chat of the event you're in.

Now you've managed the basics of the game, there is still some information that you may find useful for more prolonged combats:
* hovering with the mouse on a car shows is "demoralized" status. Demoralized cars may continue fighting, when all the enemy's or your cars are demoralized the combat ends.
* during an event, hit F2, F3, and F4 to change what is displayed over vehicles. F2 cycles through several pieces of information on the first line. F3 cycles through those same pieces of information on the second line, and F4 cycles through them on the third line.
* you can resign via the menu available on the top right of the in-game screen or you can resign a particular car by right-clicking on that car.
* you can reload weapons via right clicking on the car that has a weapon to be reloaded

When you return to the Lobby, look for an event that is starting soon. In-town events are [[Race|Races]], [[Death Race|Death Races]], and [[Arena Combat|Arena Combats]], or their League equivalents.

== After The Tutorial ==
So you tried out the tutorial. What next? Let's check out your gang! Fire up your browser and go to [http://www.dark-wind.com www.dark-wind.com] (or click on the 'MY GANG' button in the game interface) and log on if required. You will be presented with several links across the top that you will become very familiar with: Gangs, Events, Squads, Characters, Vehicles, and Places.

Lets start with "Characters": Here you will see your first three gang members! I wouldn't get attached; many people lose them within a couple months. Don't worry; you will recruit more later. This page tells you a lot of stuff about your characters, but all you really want to know right now is driving skill and gunnery skill. Each character starts with one skill around 20, and the rest lower. Hopefully you have someone with good driving, and someone with good gunnery.

The next place to go is "Places": Select Somerset. You will see an image of Somerset; click on 'Dexter's Tavern'. Here you can recruit new characters into your gang. As a starting gang, you can recruit two free characters. After that the cost is the same as for everyone else. '''Note:''' The cost drops everyday until you can recruit another free character within a week. My suggestion is to look for drivers and gunners to start with; mostly gunners.

Lets go enter an event! Back to the Dark-Wind client.

It is recommended that you start with the '''Racing''' events, then progress to the '''Death Races''', and finally to the '''Combats'''. Even in "controlled" town events, a character's death is very possible. A computer controlled car may ram you after you've resigned if you're in the way, or you may just just have a really unlucky crash. Still, consider resigning just a little before your car armor is worn out. Make sure you know all the key commands for in-town events. Hit [F1] to learn them all.

Pay particular attention when an enemy vehicle 'resigns' and TRY to make sure you do not fire at a resigned enemy. This is because each car in an in-town event belongs to an NPC gang, and that gang will seek revenge against you if you do not respect their resignation.

The League events provide League points in addition to prize money for contestants who place (usually 8th or higher).

Also, don't hesitate to ask others to join the event. Often, you will get some veteran players involved, and that will increase the prize money (and League Points for League events) available.

Doing the events in the order above will do a couple of things:
#Get you used to the various cars, and driving surfaces in Evan (Races)
#Get you used to managing your car and its weapons at the same time (Death Races)
#Introduce you to combat tactics (Combats)
#Teach you patience

The last one is really the most important, as '''patience''' is key when you get involved in wilderness scouting ([[Initial Scout Guide]]).

== After Some More Practicing ==

After you're confident enough with the driving/shooting part of the game, you might want to ask some people to help you out on your first scout. Remember to prepare ahead of this so as to be ready when the opportunity to join a scouting arises; in order to do so you will need to return to the web management interface.

First of all, you'll need a car. If you don't feel ready to lose your main characters in this event you might consider hiring a few more recruits.

To choose a car, select '''Vehicles''' -> '''My Vehicles''' from the top navigation bar on the web interface. If you do not yet have a scout ready vehicle of your own, this page also includes the option for renting various kinds of vehicles; the "Antagonist" would be a good one for starters. Remember that rental cars don't have off-road wheels and may suffer on sandy terrain.

To recruit some characters to your gang, select '''Places -> Somerset''' from the navigation bar. Clicking on Dexter's Tavern will take you to a page where you can recruit more gangers. To man your new car, a driver and a heavy gunner will do.

If you're subscribed, you can take this opportunity to go from the Somerset page to the Marketplace to buy some more ammo for your guns. (You can see which guns you have mounted on your "Borrowed" car on your vehicle page)

Now go to the Vehicles page, select your chosen vehicle and assign a Driver and Gunner(s), along with ammunition (if subscribed), from the pop-up that appears. It is advised to have a Driver and a Gunner (or more) - at least - if your car can hold more than one gunner it will help you because the driver suffers a penalty to his gunnery skill because he's driving. Dedicated gunners do not suffer the this type of penalty. If you survive the encounter and win some [[Looting|loot]], you can have one or more gunners get out and drive a looted car back. More about scouting on the dedicated pages: [[Initial Scout Guide]]

You're now ready to roll, so go to the lobby chat in the client and ask for somebody to help you out on scouting or just ask to join some other player's party. Let them know that this is your first scout because they will steer clear of more dangerous areas and offer you advice. They will provide you with a squad name to join along with the password of the scout, so go again to the web interface and select '''Squad -> Search Squads''' from the navigation bar; join the squad, add your vehicle (DOUBLE CHECK you have your driver and gunner(s) in the car, along with reloads if possible) and notify your squad leader in the lobby that you're ready. Shortly afterwards you will have the notification that the scouting event is starting and you'll be presented with the in-game view. Be sure to follow the advice of the other players to stay alive, and good luck!

== Managing Your Gang ==

Once you get a few group scouts under your belt and have done a few in-town events, its time to start managing your gang. There are dozens of different philosophies to running a sucessful gang, but there are a few basics that everyone will need.

Begin by training a few of your characters in Scouting. The best way to do this is to recruit characters with the Scouting skill and put them in fast cars with moderately sized fuel tanks, and send them to towns near Sommerset completing small missions. If you are attacked, simply outrun your enemies. You can chose to escape at 350 meters, and automatically escape at 500 meters. Eventually you will get a number of highly skilled scouts, which will reduce the danger of larger convoys of vehicles scouting and running between towns as long as you put a good scout in the convoy.

You will need to gain in-town fame and reputation to qualify for the more profitable missions. Check your gang's fame and reputation regularly to see the effects of your recent decisions. Check the notice board at the various town taverns for a list of missions, or advertise for a mission if you don't have sufficient fame and reputation.

'''Enjoy Darkwind!'''

[[Category: Guides]]
[[Category: New Player]]
[[Category: Start Up]]

How to Drive

2012-04-28T02:04:01Z

Sarge: Tweaked for clarity (we need a page on demoralisation)

For your first driving experience you will want to complete the Tutorial. This is a test area where you can drive (and shoot) to your heart's content whilst being taught the essentials. See the Tutorial section in the [[New Player Startup]] guide.

For the very basics, you set your steering with the left and right arrow keys, speed with the up and down keys. You can also steer by "grabbing" the top of the wheel with your mouse.

'''NOTE:''' A disadvantage to using the mouse to move the steering wheel is that you will not see the changes to your ''ghost'' until you release the mouse. Using the keyboard provides much better visual feedback.

There is also a matter of camera perspective. The camera can be moved with the WASD and keypad keys or mouse (if you have played an FPS with mouse/keyboard this should be easy). For more information see the section on [[Keyboard Input]].

The first thing you'll notice is that the game does not happen in real time. It happens in turns that represent one second of game time. This is because in a real fight you'll have many things to be doing, and possibly be managing multiple vehicles simultaneously. Thus, if you set your speed to 70mph your car accelerates each turn until you reach 70mph.

To help you, your car has a [[Ghost Car|Ghost]]. This shows where your vehicle's driver expects the car to end up after your move. The ghost is not always accurate! The ghost becomes more accurate with a higher [[Driving|driver skill]].

Also there is a colored ring around your car. This does two things. First, it is like the ghost in that it gets larger the faster you are going. Second, the color is an indication of the [[stress]] level of the characters in the car. Green is fine, Yellow is stressed, and Red indicates panic. (Blue is shown when you can see a vehicle's speed but have no way of knowing the stress level of the occupants.) Vehicles with a red circle are close to becoming demoralised.

Driving is not as straightforward as one might think. New players have a tendency to "drive off their ghost" and simply point it where they want, but if you watch your car ''as it moves'' you will see that it might be turning normally or perhaps it might be about to slide out, for instance. The interface may seem simple but the physics are there. Cars will swerve, fishtail, drift, etc. The car may be ''pointed'' in one direction but may be ''traveling'' in another.

One good way of learning how cars handle is to practice with races, that way you can concentrate on your car's movement with no distracting weapons fire, as cars are also affected by recoil from being hit by, and even by firing, weapons.

'''Hint:''' You can even zoom in real close and see how the tires are affected by small fluctuations in the terrain. Terrain can look different from different angles.

[[Category: New Player]]
[[Category: Driving]]

New Player Startup

2012-04-28T01:52:41Z

Sarge: /* After Some More Practicing */ added Looting link

Welcome! Hopefully, this will be an easy-to-follow, straightforward guide to getting started with Darkwind. If it isn't...either change it (it's a Wiki after all), or comment on it in the discussion section so somebody else can change it. :-)

== Introductions ==
After you've signed up on the main site and created your gang, you'll end up on the web management interface of Darkwind. Here is where you'll plan your long term stuff, buy and sell things, recruit people and so on, while the client (Game) is more specialized toward participating in events. You can subscribe to events from both, so you can just fire up the client to start playing and getting the feeling of the game.
The client interface is pretty straightforward:

[[File:lobby.png|600px]]

There is a big panel showing the global game chat (which is also available in game), there is a panel which shows the upcoming events to which you may register and the live events that you may spectate (or play if registered) and there is a panel listing the current players. It would be '''really''' unusual to be alone in the Lobby, so the first thing you should do is introduce yourself. A simple, 'Hi. I'm new' should suffice, and lets the veteran players and [[Marshals]] (players whose names are bracketed by asterisks (*)) know that you are new, and may need some help getting up and running.

== Tutorial ==
Launch your tutorial by clicking the '''Tutorials''' button in the game client. (Even though the button says '''Tutorials''', there is only one.) This will take you to the in-game interface, centered on your car. Follow the instructions literally to proceed forward. If you are stuck on a particular tutorial step, repeat what you're asked to do making sure to use the keys specified in the tutorial balloon. Here's a hint; you can run the tutorial as often as you like! Run it a second time to just drive around a bit and get used to the controls. You only get the prize money the first time through though.

Notice that the global lobby chat remains available on the top of the screen. This panel's content is controlled by the buttons directly under it: "Lobby" shows the global chat, "Events" shows the event log for the current game, while the "Team" button shows the private chat of the event you're in.

Now you've managed the basics of the game, there is still some information that you may find useful for more prolonged combats:
* hovering with the mouse on a car shows is "demoralized" status. Demoralized cars may continue fighting, when all the enemy's or your cars are demoralized the combat ends.
* during an event, hit F2, F3, and F4 to change what is displayed over vehicles. F2 cycles through several pieces of information on the first line. F3 cycles through those same pieces of information on the second line, and F4 cycles through them on the third line.
* you can resign via the menu available on the top right of the in-game screen or you can resign a particular car by right-clicking on that car.
* you can reload weapons via right clicking on the car that has a weapon to be reloaded

When you return to the Lobby, look for an event that is starting soon. In-town events are [[Race|Races]], [[Death Race|Death Races]], and [[Arena Combat|Arena Combats]], or their League equivalents.

== After The Tutorial ==
So you tried out the tutorial. What next? Let's check out your gang! Fire up your browser and go to [http://www.dark-wind.com www.dark-wind.com] (or click on the 'MY GANG' button in the game interface) and log on if required. You will be presented with several links across the top that you will become very familiar with: Gangs, Events, Squads, Characters, Vehicles, and Places.

Lets start with "Characters": Here you will see your first three gang members! I wouldn't get attached; many people lose them within a couple months. Don't worry; you will recruit more later. This page tells you a lot of stuff about your characters, but all you really want to know right now is driving skill and gunnery skill. Each character starts with one skill around 20, and the rest lower. Hopefully you have someone with good driving, and someone with good gunnery.

The next place to go is "Places": Select Somerset. You will see an image of Somerset; click on 'Dexter's Tavern'. Here you can recruit new characters into your gang. As a starting gang, you can recruit two free characters. After that the cost is the same as for everyone else. '''Note:''' The cost drops everyday until you can recruit another free character within a week. My suggestion is to look for drivers and gunners to start with; mostly gunners.

Lets go enter an event! Back to the Dark-Wind client.

It is recommended that you start with the '''Racing''' events, then progress to the '''Death Races''', and finally to the '''Combats'''. Even in "controlled" town events, a character's death is very possible. A computer controlled car may ram you after you've resigned if you're in the way, or you may just just have a really unlucky crash. Still, consider resigning just a little before your car armor is worn out. Make sure you know all the key commands for in-town events. Hit [F1] to learn them all.

Pay particular attention when an enemy vehicle 'resigns' and TRY to make sure you do not fire at a resigned enemy. This is because each car in an in-town event belongs to an NPC gang, and that gang will seek revenge against you if you do not respect their resignation.

The League events provide League points in addition to prize money for contestants who place (usually 8th or higher).

Also, don't hesitate to ask others to join the event. Often, you will get some veteran players involved, and that will increase the prize money (and League Points for League events) available.

Doing the events in the order above will do a couple of things:
#Get you used to the various cars, and driving surfaces in Evan (Races)
#Get you used to managing your car and its weapons at the same time (Death Races)
#Introduce you to combat tactics (Combats)
#Teach you patience

The last one is really the most important, as '''patience''' is key when you get involved in wilderness scouting ([[Initial Scout Guide]]).

== After Some More Practicing ==

After you're confident enough with the driving/shooting part of the game, you might want to ask some people to help you out on your first scout. Remember to prepare ahead of this so as to be ready when the opportunity to join a scouting arises; in order to do so you will need to return to the web management interface.

First of all, you'll need a car. If you don't feel ready to lose your main characters in this event you might consider hiring a few more recruits.

To choose a car, select '''Vehicles''' -> '''My Vehicles''' from the top navigation bar on the web interface. If you do not yet have a scout ready vehicle of your own, this page also includes the option for renting various kinds of vehicles; the "Antagonist" would be a good one for starters. Remember that rental cars don't have off-road wheels and may suffer on sandy terrain.

To recruit some characters to your gang, select '''Places -> Somerset''' from the navigation bar. Clicking on Dexter's Tavern will take you to a page where you can recruit more gangers. To man your new car, a driver and a heavy gunner will do.

If you're subscribed, you can take this opportunity to go from the Somerset page to the Marketplace to buy some more ammo for your guns. (You can see which guns you have mounted on your "Borrowed" car on your vehicle page)

Now go to the Vehicles page, select your chosen vehicle and assign a Driver and Gunner(s), along with ammunition (if subscribed), from the pop-up that appears. It is advised to have a Driver and a Gunner (or more) - at least - if your car can hold more than one gunner it will help you because the driver suffers a penalty to his gunnery skill because he's driving. Dedicated gunners do not suffer the this type of penalty. If you survive the encounter and win some loot ([[Looting]]), you can have one or more gunners get out and drive a looted car back. More about scouting on the dedicated pages: [[Initial Scout Guide]]

You're now ready to roll, so go to the lobby chat in the client and ask for somebody to help you out on scouting or just ask to join some other player's party. Let them know that this is your first scout because they will steer clear of more dangerous areas and offer you advice. They will provide you with a squad name to join along with the password of the scout, so go again to the web interface and select '''Squad -> Search Squads''' from the navigation bar; join the squad, add your vehicle (DOUBLE CHECK you have your driver and gunner(s) in the car, along with reloads if possible) and notify your squad leader in the lobby that you're ready. Shortly afterwards you will have the notification that the scouting event is starting and you'll be presented with the in-game view. Be sure to follow the advice of the other players to stay alive, and good luck!

== Managing Your Gang ==

Once you get a few group scouts under your belt and have done a few in-town events, its time to start managing your gang. There are dozens of different philosophies to running a sucessful gang, but there are a few basics that everyone will need.

Begin by training a few of your characters in Scouting. The best way to do this is to recruit characters with the Scouting skill and put them in fast cars with moderately sized fuel tanks, and send them to towns near Sommerset completing small missions. If you are attacked, simply outrun your enemies. You can chose to escape at 350 meters, and automatically escape at 500 meters. Eventually you will get a number of highly skilled scouts, which will reduce the danger of larger convoys of vehicles scouting and running between towns as long as you put a good scout in the convoy.

You will need to gain in-town fame and reputation to qualify for the more profitable missions. Check your gang's fame and reputation regularly to see the effects of your recent decisions. Check the notice board at the various town taverns for a list of missions, or advertise for a mission if you don't have sufficient fame and reputation.

'''Enjoy Darkwind!'''

[[Category: Guides]]
[[Category: New Player]]
[[Category: Start Up]]

Looting

2012-04-28T01:50:39Z

Sarge: /* FAQ */ added (approx 1 minute) to time you're allotted to choose a loot item

The looting phase begins when all enemy vehicles become 'Demoralised' (previously indicated by 'Wishes to Surrender!').

Looting is handled in Round-Robin fashion with the starting player, and loot order, being determined randomly.

The Looting screen is shown below.

[[File:detailed_loot_screen.jpg|500px]]

== Usage ==
The Looting screen is divided into four areas:
* Lootable Items - a bucket of items that can be looted. Lootable items include weapons and car parts salvaged from cars, tyres, drivable enemy vehicles, maps to camps, ammunition, and anything else that may have been carried as cargo. Virtually anything you can buy in a town could appear as a lootable item.
* Carless characters - a holding area for characters who have no vehicle (Though if you are moving a character to put into another car put him in Temporary Area to do so). These characters will need a lift back to town.
* Temporary Area - a holding area for your loot. You can put loot items here so you can determine how best to fill your cars to maximize use of your free space. Anything you leave here when you leave the looting screen will be left behind. If you know something in your temporary area won't fit in any of your vehicles you should put it back in the Lootable Items area so other people can access it.
* Your Vehicles - an area displaying vehicles you own. This will include any you started with (provided they weren't destroyed in the fighting), and any you've acquired through the looting process.
* Car's Contents - appears to the right of the Your Vehicles area when you have clicked on one of your cars, and shows the contents of the selected vehicle

To 'loot' an item simply click on it in the ''Lootable Items'' area, and drag it to either the ''Temporary Area'', or to the ''Car's Contents'' area if you have previously clicked on a car.

== Warnings ==
Beneath the ''Your Vehicles'' section is a space for ''Warnings''. Messages in this area will notify you of problems with your current loot 'configuration'. For instance, if one of your loot cars does not have a driver, a message will be shown here to remind you of that. Similarly, if you leave people in the ''Carless Characters'' area, or anything in the ''Temporary Area'', a message will appear to indicate the loss of those items if you exit the looting phase without correcting the issues.

== Secondary Activities ==
During the loot phase players can perform the following actions by right-clicking each vehicle and selecting from the drop down menu:
* Refuel from enemy vehicles - The chat log will display the success or failure of the refueling attempt: 'OK, vehicle has been refueled', or 'No siphonable fuel available' (or something like that)
* Replace damaged tyres - The chat log will display how many tyres were replaced: 'X tyres were replaced' (this only occurs if you have tyres in that vehicle)
* Reload weapons - The chat log will display weapon reload status: '<specific> weapon was reloaded' (this only occurs if you have the appropriate ammo in that vehicle; only weapons with less than 50% of a full load will be reloaded; any ammo in the weapon at the time is lost)

== Etiquette ==
Because looting order is determined randomly, looting etiquette is generally 'first-come, first-served'. Occasionally, a player will request specific items, and then it becomes a group decision about whether or not to grant the player's request.

The only possible exception to this is the distribution of vehicles. It is considered polite, fair, or good sportsmanship (pick the term you are most comfortable with) to allow each member of the squad to have one vehicle if there are enough to go around. In other words, if your turn comes around again, and you've already received a vehicle, you should make sure all other members of the squad have had the opportunity to take a vehicle before taking another.

Squad members who have had their vehicles destroyed are sometimes given priority for vehicle selection so they can get their characters back to town (if they are alive).

== Splits ==
Sometimes, and most often with new players who are just starting out, squad members will agree to split any loot proceeds. This means that upon returning to town any loot vehicles will be sold to the mechanic in town (rather than to a player) and the proceeds will be split among the squad members.

The practice is becoming increasingly rare as squads get bigger because a) it is more difficult to keep track of who to distribute money to, and b) in larger squads there are usually enough vehicles that all members receive at least one.
== FAQ ==
'''Q. How do I move people between cars?'''

''A. Drag the person to the temporary items area from the car they are in. Then select the car you want them in and drag them to the Car's contents.''

'''Q. How much room do I have?'''

''A. Hovering over any car in the looting screen will give you information about its condition and how much available space it has. Hovering over an item shows how much space it takes and its condition.''

'''Q. What should I take?'''

''A. This really depends on a combination of factors, but generally look for items with good value (this can be learned by perusing the for sale items in the local flea market) that will fit in your car(s). With vehicles it depends but generally any car is better than no car. You '''can''' leave your rental in wilderness, but you will lose your $5000 deposit. This usually isn't a good idea because only rarely is a loot car going to be worth more than $5000. If you want to abandon your rental, be sure to drag it to the available items in case another player has an extra driver. This is an easy profit for them (assuming you don't have a character available). Also, keep a look out for the specific type of ammo your guns use. you'll more than likely need to reload your guns before a return encounter.''

'''Q. How is the loot order determined?'''

''A. Randomly''

''Note: If you take too long (approx 1 minute) the game will skip your turn and proceed to the next person. Usually only happens if you have no idea what to take and try to have a conversation about it. Once you become more familiar with looting it isn't an issue.

'''Q. Can I do secondary activities at any time or only when it is my turn to loot?'''

''A. You can do secondary activities at any time. If the menu doesn't come up right away, try again. It can sometimes take several tries to see it. You can also move loot to and from the temporary area at any time (i.e. ammo can be moved between your own cars to use for weapon reloads)''

[[Category: New Player]]
[[Category: Scouting]]

New Player Startup

2012-04-27T18:27:10Z

Sarge: /* After Some More Practicing */ Moderate tweaking and clearing up of text. Fixed link to Initial Scout Guide

Welcome! Hopefully, this will be an easy-to-follow, straightforward guide to getting started with Darkwind. If it isn't...either change it (it's a Wiki after all), or comment on it in the discussion section so somebody else can change it. :-)

== Introductions ==
After you've signed up on the main site and created your gang, you'll end up on the web management interface of Darkwind. Here is where you'll plan your long term stuff, buy and sell things, recruit people and so on, while the client (Game) is more specialized toward participating in events. You can subscribe to events from both, so you can just fire up the client to start playing and getting the feeling of the game.
The client interface is pretty straightforward:

[[File:lobby.png|600px]]

There is a big panel showing the global game chat (which is also available in game), there is a panel which shows the upcoming events to which you may register and the live events that you may spectate (or play if registered) and there is a panel listing the current players. It would be '''really''' unusual to be alone in the Lobby, so the first thing you should do is introduce yourself. A simple, 'Hi. I'm new' should suffice, and lets the veteran players and [[Marshals]] (players whose names are bracketed by asterisks (*)) know that you are new, and may need some help getting up and running.

== Tutorial ==
Launch your tutorial by clicking the '''Tutorials''' button in the game client. (Even though the button says '''Tutorials''', there is only one.) This will take you to the in-game interface, centered on your car. Follow the instructions literally to proceed forward. If you are stuck on a particular tutorial step, repeat what you're asked to do making sure to use the keys specified in the tutorial balloon. Here's a hint; you can run the tutorial as often as you like! Run it a second time to just drive around a bit and get used to the controls. You only get the prize money the first time through though.

Notice that the global lobby chat remains available on the top of the screen. This panel's content is controlled by the buttons directly under it: "Lobby" shows the global chat, "Events" shows the event log for the current game, while the "Team" button shows the private chat of the event you're in.

Now you've managed the basics of the game, there is still some information that you may find useful for more prolonged combats:
* hovering with the mouse on a car shows is "demoralized" status. Demoralized cars may continue fighting, when all the enemy's or your cars are demoralized the combat ends.
* during an event, hit F2, F3, and F4 to change what is displayed over vehicles. F2 cycles through several pieces of information on the first line. F3 cycles through those same pieces of information on the second line, and F4 cycles through them on the third line.
* you can resign via the menu available on the top right of the in-game screen or you can resign a particular car by right-clicking on that car.
* you can reload weapons via right clicking on the car that has a weapon to be reloaded

When you return to the Lobby, look for an event that is starting soon. In-town events are [[Race|Races]], [[Death Race|Death Races]], and [[Arena Combat|Arena Combats]], or their League equivalents.

== After The Tutorial ==
So you tried out the tutorial. What next? Let's check out your gang! Fire up your browser and go to [http://www.dark-wind.com www.dark-wind.com] (or click on the 'MY GANG' button in the game interface) and log on if required. You will be presented with several links across the top that you will become very familiar with: Gangs, Events, Squads, Characters, Vehicles, and Places.

Lets start with "Characters": Here you will see your first three gang members! I wouldn't get attached; many people lose them within a couple months. Don't worry; you will recruit more later. This page tells you a lot of stuff about your characters, but all you really want to know right now is driving skill and gunnery skill. Each character starts with one skill around 20, and the rest lower. Hopefully you have someone with good driving, and someone with good gunnery.

The next place to go is "Places": Select Somerset. You will see an image of Somerset; click on 'Dexter's Tavern'. Here you can recruit new characters into your gang. As a starting gang, you can recruit two free characters. After that the cost is the same as for everyone else. '''Note:''' The cost drops everyday until you can recruit another free character within a week. My suggestion is to look for drivers and gunners to start with; mostly gunners.

Lets go enter an event! Back to the Dark-Wind client.

It is recommended that you start with the '''Racing''' events, then progress to the '''Death Races''', and finally to the '''Combats'''. Even in "controlled" town events, a character's death is very possible. A computer controlled car may ram you after you've resigned if you're in the way, or you may just just have a really unlucky crash. Still, consider resigning just a little before your car armor is worn out. Make sure you know all the key commands for in-town events. Hit [F1] to learn them all.

Pay particular attention when an enemy vehicle 'resigns' and TRY to make sure you do not fire at a resigned enemy. This is because each car in an in-town event belongs to an NPC gang, and that gang will seek revenge against you if you do not respect their resignation.

The League events provide League points in addition to prize money for contestants who place (usually 8th or higher).

Also, don't hesitate to ask others to join the event. Often, you will get some veteran players involved, and that will increase the prize money (and League Points for League events) available.

Doing the events in the order above will do a couple of things:
#Get you used to the various cars, and driving surfaces in Evan (Races)
#Get you used to managing your car and its weapons at the same time (Death Races)
#Introduce you to combat tactics (Combats)
#Teach you patience

The last one is really the most important, as '''patience''' is key when you get involved in wilderness scouting ([[Initial Scout Guide]]).

== After Some More Practicing ==

After you're confident enough with the driving/shooting part of the game, you might want to ask some people to help you out on your first scout. Remember to prepare ahead of this so as to be ready when the opportunity to join a scouting arises; in order to do so you will need to return to the web management interface.

First of all, you'll need a car. If you don't feel ready to lose your main characters in this event you might consider hiring a few more recruits.

To choose a car, select '''Vehicles''' -> '''My Vehicles''' from the top navigation bar on the web interface. If you do not yet have a scout ready vehicle of your own, this page also includes the option for renting various kinds of vehicles; the "Antagonist" would be a good one for starters. Remember that rental cars don't have off-road wheels and may suffer on sandy terrain.

To recruit some characters to your gang, select '''Places -> Somerset''' from the navigation bar. Clicking on Dexter's Tavern will take you to a page where you can recruit more gangers. To man your new car, a driver and a heavy gunner will do.

If you're subscribed, you can take this opportunity to go from the Somerset page to the Marketplace to buy some more ammo for your guns. (You can see which guns you have mounted on your "Borrowed" car on your vehicle page)

Now go to the Vehicles page, select your chosen vehicle and assign a Driver and Gunner(s), along with ammunition (if subscribed), from the pop-up that appears. It is advised to have a Driver and a Gunner (or more) - at least - if your car can hold more than one gunner it will help you because the driver suffers a penalty to his gunnery skill because he's driving. Dedicated gunners do not suffer the this type of penalty. If you survive the encounter and win some loot, you can have one or more gunners get out and drive a looted car back. More about scouting on the dedicated pages: [[Initial Scout Guide]]

You're now ready to roll, so go to the lobby chat in the client and ask for somebody to help you out on scouting or just ask to join some other player's party. Let them know that this is your first scout because they will steer clear of more dangerous areas and offer you advice. They will provide you with a squad name to join along with the password of the scout, so go again to the web interface and select '''Squad -> Search Squads''' from the navigation bar; join the squad, add your vehicle (DOUBLE CHECK you have your driver and gunner(s) in the car, along with reloads if possible) and notify your squad leader in the lobby that you're ready. Shortly afterwards you will have the notification that the scouting event is starting and you'll be presented with the in-game view. Be sure to follow the advice of the other players to stay alive, and good luck!

== Managing Your Gang ==

Once you get a few group scouts under your belt and have done a few in-town events, its time to start managing your gang. There are dozens of different philosophies to running a sucessful gang, but there are a few basics that everyone will need.

Begin by training a few of your characters in Scouting. The best way to do this is to recruit characters with the Scouting skill and put them in fast cars with moderately sized fuel tanks, and send them to towns near Sommerset completing small missions. If you are attacked, simply outrun your enemies. You can chose to escape at 350 meters, and automatically escape at 500 meters. Eventually you will get a number of highly skilled scouts, which will reduce the danger of larger convoys of vehicles scouting and running between towns as long as you put a good scout in the convoy.

You will need to gain in-town fame and reputation to qualify for the more profitable missions. Check your gang's fame and reputation regularly to see the effects of your recent decisions. Check the notice board at the various town taverns for a list of missions, or advertise for a mission if you don't have sufficient fame and reputation.

'''Enjoy Darkwind!'''

[[Category: Guides]]
[[Category: New Player]]
[[Category: Start Up]]

New Player Startup

2012-04-27T18:09:02Z

Sarge: /* After The Tutorial */ minor tweaks for clarity

Welcome! Hopefully, this will be an easy-to-follow, straightforward guide to getting started with Darkwind. If it isn't...either change it (it's a Wiki after all), or comment on it in the discussion section so somebody else can change it. :-)

== Introductions ==
After you've signed up on the main site and created your gang, you'll end up on the web management interface of Darkwind. Here is where you'll plan your long term stuff, buy and sell things, recruit people and so on, while the client (Game) is more specialized toward participating in events. You can subscribe to events from both, so you can just fire up the client to start playing and getting the feeling of the game.
The client interface is pretty straightforward:

[[File:lobby.png|600px]]

There is a big panel showing the global game chat (which is also available in game), there is a panel which shows the upcoming events to which you may register and the live events that you may spectate (or play if registered) and there is a panel listing the current players. It would be '''really''' unusual to be alone in the Lobby, so the first thing you should do is introduce yourself. A simple, 'Hi. I'm new' should suffice, and lets the veteran players and [[Marshals]] (players whose names are bracketed by asterisks (*)) know that you are new, and may need some help getting up and running.

== Tutorial ==
Launch your tutorial by clicking the '''Tutorials''' button in the game client. (Even though the button says '''Tutorials''', there is only one.) This will take you to the in-game interface, centered on your car. Follow the instructions literally to proceed forward. If you are stuck on a particular tutorial step, repeat what you're asked to do making sure to use the keys specified in the tutorial balloon. Here's a hint; you can run the tutorial as often as you like! Run it a second time to just drive around a bit and get used to the controls. You only get the prize money the first time through though.

Notice that the global lobby chat remains available on the top of the screen. This panel's content is controlled by the buttons directly under it: "Lobby" shows the global chat, "Events" shows the event log for the current game, while the "Team" button shows the private chat of the event you're in.

Now you've managed the basics of the game, there is still some information that you may find useful for more prolonged combats:
* hovering with the mouse on a car shows is "demoralized" status. Demoralized cars may continue fighting, when all the enemy's or your cars are demoralized the combat ends.
* during an event, hit F2, F3, and F4 to change what is displayed over vehicles. F2 cycles through several pieces of information on the first line. F3 cycles through those same pieces of information on the second line, and F4 cycles through them on the third line.
* you can resign via the menu available on the top right of the in-game screen or you can resign a particular car by right-clicking on that car.
* you can reload weapons via right clicking on the car that has a weapon to be reloaded

When you return to the Lobby, look for an event that is starting soon. In-town events are [[Race|Races]], [[Death Race|Death Races]], and [[Arena Combat|Arena Combats]], or their League equivalents.

== After The Tutorial ==
So you tried out the tutorial. What next? Let's check out your gang! Fire up your browser and go to [http://www.dark-wind.com www.dark-wind.com] (or click on the 'MY GANG' button in the game interface) and log on if required. You will be presented with several links across the top that you will become very familiar with: Gangs, Events, Squads, Characters, Vehicles, and Places.

Lets start with "Characters": Here you will see your first three gang members! I wouldn't get attached; many people lose them within a couple months. Don't worry; you will recruit more later. This page tells you a lot of stuff about your characters, but all you really want to know right now is driving skill and gunnery skill. Each character starts with one skill around 20, and the rest lower. Hopefully you have someone with good driving, and someone with good gunnery.

The next place to go is "Places": Select Somerset. You will see an image of Somerset; click on 'Dexter's Tavern'. Here you can recruit new characters into your gang. As a starting gang, you can recruit two free characters. After that the cost is the same as for everyone else. '''Note:''' The cost drops everyday until you can recruit another free character within a week. My suggestion is to look for drivers and gunners to start with; mostly gunners.

Lets go enter an event! Back to the Dark-Wind client.

It is recommended that you start with the '''Racing''' events, then progress to the '''Death Races''', and finally to the '''Combats'''. Even in "controlled" town events, a character's death is very possible. A computer controlled car may ram you after you've resigned if you're in the way, or you may just just have a really unlucky crash. Still, consider resigning just a little before your car armor is worn out. Make sure you know all the key commands for in-town events. Hit [F1] to learn them all.

Pay particular attention when an enemy vehicle 'resigns' and TRY to make sure you do not fire at a resigned enemy. This is because each car in an in-town event belongs to an NPC gang, and that gang will seek revenge against you if you do not respect their resignation.

The League events provide League points in addition to prize money for contestants who place (usually 8th or higher).

Also, don't hesitate to ask others to join the event. Often, you will get some veteran players involved, and that will increase the prize money (and League Points for League events) available.

Doing the events in the order above will do a couple of things:
#Get you used to the various cars, and driving surfaces in Evan (Races)
#Get you used to managing your car and its weapons at the same time (Death Races)
#Introduce you to combat tactics (Combats)
#Teach you patience

The last one is really the most important, as '''patience''' is key when you get involved in wilderness scouting ([[Initial Scout Guide]]).

== After Some More Practicing ==

After you're confident enough with the driving/shooting part of the game, you may also ask some people to help you out on your first scout. Remember to prepare ahead of this as to be ready when the opportunity to join a scouting squad arises; in order to do so you'll need to return to the web management interface.

First of all, you'll need a car. If you don't feel ready to lose your main characters in this event you may also hire two more recruits for it.

To get the car select vehicles -> my vehicles from the top navigation bar on the web interface. On this page you can see the option for renting various kind of cars; the "Antagonist" would be a good one for starters. Remember that rental cars don't have off-road wheels and may suffer on sandy terrain.

To get some people on your team, if you feel like it, select places -> Somerset from the navigation bar. Clicking on the Dexter's tavern will take you on a page where you can hire some more people. To man your new car, a driver and a heavy gunner will do.

If you're subscribed, you can take the opportunity to go from the Somerset page to the marketplace to buy some more ammo for your guns. (You can see which guns you have mounted on your "Borrowed" car in your vehicle page)

Now go to the vehicle page, select your borrowed car and assign a Driver and Gunner(s), along with ammunition, from the pop-up that appears. It's advised to have a Driver and a Gunner (or more) - at least -. If your car can hold one more than one gunner it will be very handy because the driver suffers a penalty to his gunnery skill because he's driving. Dedicated gunners do not suffer the this type of penalty. If you survive the encounter and win, you can have one or more gunners get out and drive a looted car back. More about scouting on the dedicated pages: [Initial Scout Guide]

You're now ready to roll, so go to the client lobby and ask for somebody to help you out on scouting or just ask to join some other player's party, specifying that this is your first scout ever will help because they may steer clear of more dangerous areas. They will provide you with a squad name to join along with the password of the scout, so go again to the web interface and select squad -> search squads from the navigation bar. join the squad, add your car (MAKE SURE you have your driver and gunner in the car along with reloads if possible) and notify in the lobby that you're ready. After some time you'll have the notification that the scouting event is starting and you'll be taken in the game combat view. Be sure to follow the advice of the other players to keep alive, and good luck!

== Managing Your Gang ==

Once you get a few group scouts under your belt and have done a few in-town events, its time to start managing your gang. There are dozens of different philosophies to running a sucessful gang, but there are a few basics that everyone will need.

Begin by training a few of your characters in Scouting. The best way to do this is to recruit characters with the Scouting skill and put them in fast cars with moderately sized fuel tanks, and send them to towns near Sommerset completing small missions. If you are attacked, simply outrun your enemies. You can chose to escape at 350 meters, and automatically escape at 500 meters. Eventually you will get a number of highly skilled scouts, which will reduce the danger of larger convoys of vehicles scouting and running between towns as long as you put a good scout in the convoy.

You will need to gain in-town fame and reputation to qualify for the more profitable missions. Check your gang's fame and reputation regularly to see the effects of your recent decisions. Check the notice board at the various town taverns for a list of missions, or advertise for a mission if you don't have sufficient fame and reputation.

'''Enjoy Darkwind!'''

[[Category: Guides]]
[[Category: New Player]]
[[Category: Start Up]]

New Player Startup

2012-04-27T18:03:00Z

Sarge: /* Tutorial */ minor tweaks for clarity

Welcome! Hopefully, this will be an easy-to-follow, straightforward guide to getting started with Darkwind. If it isn't...either change it (it's a Wiki after all), or comment on it in the discussion section so somebody else can change it. :-)

== Introductions ==
After you've signed up on the main site and created your gang, you'll end up on the web management interface of Darkwind. Here is where you'll plan your long term stuff, buy and sell things, recruit people and so on, while the client (Game) is more specialized toward participating in events. You can subscribe to events from both, so you can just fire up the client to start playing and getting the feeling of the game.
The client interface is pretty straightforward:

[[File:lobby.png|600px]]

There is a big panel showing the global game chat (which is also available in game), there is a panel which shows the upcoming events to which you may register and the live events that you may spectate (or play if registered) and there is a panel listing the current players. It would be '''really''' unusual to be alone in the Lobby, so the first thing you should do is introduce yourself. A simple, 'Hi. I'm new' should suffice, and lets the veteran players and [[Marshals]] (players whose names are bracketed by asterisks (*)) know that you are new, and may need some help getting up and running.

== Tutorial ==
Launch your tutorial by clicking the '''Tutorials''' button in the game client. (Even though the button says '''Tutorials''', there is only one.) This will take you to the in-game interface, centered on your car. Follow the instructions literally to proceed forward. If you are stuck on a particular tutorial step, repeat what you're asked to do making sure to use the keys specified in the tutorial balloon. Here's a hint; you can run the tutorial as often as you like! Run it a second time to just drive around a bit and get used to the controls. You only get the prize money the first time through though.

Notice that the global lobby chat remains available on the top of the screen. This panel's content is controlled by the buttons directly under it: "Lobby" shows the global chat, "Events" shows the event log for the current game, while the "Team" button shows the private chat of the event you're in.

Now you've managed the basics of the game, there is still some information that you may find useful for more prolonged combats:
* hovering with the mouse on a car shows is "demoralized" status. Demoralized cars may continue fighting, when all the enemy's or your cars are demoralized the combat ends.
* during an event, hit F2, F3, and F4 to change what is displayed over vehicles. F2 cycles through several pieces of information on the first line. F3 cycles through those same pieces of information on the second line, and F4 cycles through them on the third line.
* you can resign via the menu available on the top right of the in-game screen or you can resign a particular car by right-clicking on that car.
* you can reload weapons via right clicking on the car that has a weapon to be reloaded

When you return to the Lobby, look for an event that is starting soon. In-town events are [[Race|Races]], [[Death Race|Death Races]], and [[Arena Combat|Arena Combats]], or their League equivalents.

== After The Tutorial ==
So you tried out the tutorial. What next? Let's check out your gang! Go to the www.dark-wind.com (or click on the 'MY GANG' button in the game interface) and log on. You will be presented with several links across the top that you will become very familiar with: Gangs, Events, Squads, Characters, Vehicles, and Places.

Lets start with "Characters": Here you will see your first three gang members! I wouldn't get attached; many people lose them within a couple months. Don't worry; you will recruit more later. This page tells you a lot of stuff about your characters, but all you really want to know right now is driving skill and gunnery skill. Each character starts with one skill around 20, and the rest lower. Hopefully you have someone with good driving, and someone with good gunnery.

The next place to go is "Places": Go down to Somerset and click. You will see a map of Somerset; we are looking for 'Dexter's Tavern'. There you can recruit new characters into your gang. As a starting gang, you can recruit two free characters. After that the cost is the same as for everyone else. '''Note:''' The cost drops everyday until you can recruit another free character within a week. My suggestion is to look for drivers and gunners to start with; mostly gunners.

Lets go enter an event! Back to the Dark-Wind game.

It is recommended that you start with the '''Racing''' events, then progress to the '''Death Races''', and finally to the '''Combats'''. Even in "controlled" town events, a character's death is very possible. A computer controlled car may ram you after you've resigned if you're in the way, or you may just just have a really unlucky crash. Still, consider resigning just a little before your car armor is worn out. Make sure you know all the key commands for in-town events. Hit [F1] to learn them all.

Pay particular attention when an enemy vehicle 'resigns' and TRY to make sure you do not fire at a resigned enemy. This is because each car in an in-town event belongs to an NPC gang, and that gang will seek revenge against you if you do not respect resigns.

The League events provide League points in addition to prize money for contestants who place (usually 8th or higher).

Also, don't hesitate to ask others to join the event. Often, you will get some veteran players involved, and that will increase the prize money (and League Points for League events) available.

Doing the events in the order above will do a couple of things:
#Get you used to the various cars, and driving surfaces in Evan (Races)
#Get you used to managing your car and its weapons at the same time (Death Races)
#Introduce you to combat tactics (Combats)
#Teach you patience

The last one is really the most important, as '''patience''' is key when you get involved in wilderness scouting ([[Initial Scout Guide]]).

== After Some More Practicing ==

After you're confident enough with the driving/shooting part of the game, you may also ask some people to help you out on your first scout. Remember to prepare ahead of this as to be ready when the opportunity to join a scouting squad arises; in order to do so you'll need to return to the web management interface.

First of all, you'll need a car. If you don't feel ready to lose your main characters in this event you may also hire two more recruits for it.

To get the car select vehicles -> my vehicles from the top navigation bar on the web interface. On this page you can see the option for renting various kind of cars; the "Antagonist" would be a good one for starters. Remember that rental cars don't have off-road wheels and may suffer on sandy terrain.

To get some people on your team, if you feel like it, select places -> Somerset from the navigation bar. Clicking on the Dexter's tavern will take you on a page where you can hire some more people. To man your new car, a driver and a heavy gunner will do.

If you're subscribed, you can take the opportunity to go from the Somerset page to the marketplace to buy some more ammo for your guns. (You can see which guns you have mounted on your "Borrowed" car in your vehicle page)

Now go to the vehicle page, select your borrowed car and assign a Driver and Gunner(s), along with ammunition, from the pop-up that appears. It's advised to have a Driver and a Gunner (or more) - at least -. If your car can hold one more than one gunner it will be very handy because the driver suffers a penalty to his gunnery skill because he's driving. Dedicated gunners do not suffer the this type of penalty. If you survive the encounter and win, you can have one or more gunners get out and drive a looted car back. More about scouting on the dedicated pages: [Initial Scout Guide]

You're now ready to roll, so go to the client lobby and ask for somebody to help you out on scouting or just ask to join some other player's party, specifying that this is your first scout ever will help because they may steer clear of more dangerous areas. They will provide you with a squad name to join along with the password of the scout, so go again to the web interface and select squad -> search squads from the navigation bar. join the squad, add your car (MAKE SURE you have your driver and gunner in the car along with reloads if possible) and notify in the lobby that you're ready. After some time you'll have the notification that the scouting event is starting and you'll be taken in the game combat view. Be sure to follow the advice of the other players to keep alive, and good luck!

== Managing Your Gang ==

Once you get a few group scouts under your belt and have done a few in-town events, its time to start managing your gang. There are dozens of different philosophies to running a sucessful gang, but there are a few basics that everyone will need.

Begin by training a few of your characters in Scouting. The best way to do this is to recruit characters with the Scouting skill and put them in fast cars with moderately sized fuel tanks, and send them to towns near Sommerset completing small missions. If you are attacked, simply outrun your enemies. You can chose to escape at 350 meters, and automatically escape at 500 meters. Eventually you will get a number of highly skilled scouts, which will reduce the danger of larger convoys of vehicles scouting and running between towns as long as you put a good scout in the convoy.

You will need to gain in-town fame and reputation to qualify for the more profitable missions. Check your gang's fame and reputation regularly to see the effects of your recent decisions. Check the notice board at the various town taverns for a list of missions, or advertise for a mission if you don't have sufficient fame and reputation.

'''Enjoy Darkwind!'''

[[Category: Guides]]
[[Category: New Player]]
[[Category: Start Up]]

New Player Startup

2012-04-27T17:57:41Z

Sarge: /* Introductions */ minor tweaks, spelling

Welcome! Hopefully, this will be an easy-to-follow, straightforward guide to getting started with Darkwind. If it isn't...either change it (it's a Wiki after all), or comment on it in the discussion section so somebody else can change it. :-)

== Introductions ==
After you've signed up on the main site and created your gang, you'll end up on the web management interface of Darkwind. Here is where you'll plan your long term stuff, buy and sell things, recruit people and so on, while the client (Game) is more specialized toward participating in events. You can subscribe to events from both, so you can just fire up the client to start playing and getting the feeling of the game.
The client interface is pretty straightforward:

[[File:lobby.png|600px]]

There is a big panel showing the global game chat (which is also available in game), there is a panel which shows the upcoming events to which you may register and the live events that you may spectate (or play if registered) and there is a panel listing the current players. It would be '''really''' unusual to be alone in the Lobby, so the first thing you should do is introduce yourself. A simple, 'Hi. I'm new' should suffice, and lets the veteran players and [[Marshals]] (players whose names are bracketed by asterisks (*)) know that you are new, and may need some help getting up and running.

== Tutorial ==
The current tutorial covers the driving and shooting basics in a format that is a bit more ... low-key than the previously used ''Driving School''. There are more prompts, and more direct instructions on what to do next.

Launch your tutorial by clicking the '''Tutorials''' button in the game client. (Even though the button says '''Tutorials''', there is only one.) This will take you to the in-game interface, centered on your car. Follow the instructions literally to proceed forward. If you are stuck on a particular tutorial step, repeat what you're tasked to do as zooming but using the keys specified in the tutorial balloon. Here's a hint; you can run the tutorial as often as you like! Run it a second time to just drive around a bit and get used to the controls. You only get the prize money the first time through though.

Notice that the global lobby chat remains available on the top of the screen. This panel content is controlled by the buttons directly under it: "Lobby" shows the global chat, "Events" shows the event log for the current game, while the "Team" button shows the private chat of the game you're in.

Now you've managed the basics of the game, there are still some information that you may find useful for more prolonged combats:
* hovering with the mouse on a car shows is "demoralized" status. Demoralized cars may continue fighting, when all enemy or yours cars are demoralized the combat phase ends.
* during an event, hit F2, F3, and F4 to change what is displayed over vehicles. F2 cycles through several pieces of information on the first line. F3 cycles through those same pieces of information on the second line, and F4 cycles through them on the third line.
* you can resign via the menu available on the top right of the in game screen or you can resign a particular car by right clicking on that car.
* you can reload weapons via right clicking on the car that has a weapon to be reloaded

When you return to the Lobby, look for an event that is starting soon. In-town events are [[Race|Races]], [[Death Race|Death Races]], and [[Arena Combat|Arena Combats]], or their League equivalents.

== After The Tutorial ==
So you tried out the tutorial. What next? Let's check out your gang! Go to the www.dark-wind.com (or click on the 'MY GANG' button in the game interface) and log on. You will be presented with several links across the top that you will become very familiar with: Gangs, Events, Squads, Characters, Vehicles, and Places.

Lets start with "Characters": Here you will see your first three gang members! I wouldn't get attached; many people lose them within a couple months. Don't worry; you will recruit more later. This page tells you a lot of stuff about your characters, but all you really want to know right now is driving skill and gunnery skill. Each character starts with one skill around 20, and the rest lower. Hopefully you have someone with good driving, and someone with good gunnery.

The next place to go is "Places": Go down to Somerset and click. You will see a map of Somerset; we are looking for 'Dexter's Tavern'. There you can recruit new characters into your gang. As a starting gang, you can recruit two free characters. After that the cost is the same as for everyone else. '''Note:''' The cost drops everyday until you can recruit another free character within a week. My suggestion is to look for drivers and gunners to start with; mostly gunners.

Lets go enter an event! Back to the Dark-Wind game.

It is recommended that you start with the '''Racing''' events, then progress to the '''Death Races''', and finally to the '''Combats'''. Even in "controlled" town events, a character's death is very possible. A computer controlled car may ram you after you've resigned if you're in the way, or you may just just have a really unlucky crash. Still, consider resigning just a little before your car armor is worn out. Make sure you know all the key commands for in-town events. Hit [F1] to learn them all.

Pay particular attention when an enemy vehicle 'resigns' and TRY to make sure you do not fire at a resigned enemy. This is because each car in an in-town event belongs to an NPC gang, and that gang will seek revenge against you if you do not respect resigns.

The League events provide League points in addition to prize money for contestants who place (usually 8th or higher).

Also, don't hesitate to ask others to join the event. Often, you will get some veteran players involved, and that will increase the prize money (and League Points for League events) available.

Doing the events in the order above will do a couple of things:
#Get you used to the various cars, and driving surfaces in Evan (Races)
#Get you used to managing your car and its weapons at the same time (Death Races)
#Introduce you to combat tactics (Combats)
#Teach you patience

The last one is really the most important, as '''patience''' is key when you get involved in wilderness scouting ([[Initial Scout Guide]]).

== After Some More Practicing ==

After you're confident enough with the driving/shooting part of the game, you may also ask some people to help you out on your first scout. Remember to prepare ahead of this as to be ready when the opportunity to join a scouting squad arises; in order to do so you'll need to return to the web management interface.

First of all, you'll need a car. If you don't feel ready to lose your main characters in this event you may also hire two more recruits for it.

To get the car select vehicles -> my vehicles from the top navigation bar on the web interface. On this page you can see the option for renting various kind of cars; the "Antagonist" would be a good one for starters. Remember that rental cars don't have off-road wheels and may suffer on sandy terrain.

To get some people on your team, if you feel like it, select places -> Somerset from the navigation bar. Clicking on the Dexter's tavern will take you on a page where you can hire some more people. To man your new car, a driver and a heavy gunner will do.

If you're subscribed, you can take the opportunity to go from the Somerset page to the marketplace to buy some more ammo for your guns. (You can see which guns you have mounted on your "Borrowed" car in your vehicle page)

Now go to the vehicle page, select your borrowed car and assign a Driver and Gunner(s), along with ammunition, from the pop-up that appears. It's advised to have a Driver and a Gunner (or more) - at least -. If your car can hold one more than one gunner it will be very handy because the driver suffers a penalty to his gunnery skill because he's driving. Dedicated gunners do not suffer the this type of penalty. If you survive the encounter and win, you can have one or more gunners get out and drive a looted car back. More about scouting on the dedicated pages: [Initial Scout Guide]

You're now ready to roll, so go to the client lobby and ask for somebody to help you out on scouting or just ask to join some other player's party, specifying that this is your first scout ever will help because they may steer clear of more dangerous areas. They will provide you with a squad name to join along with the password of the scout, so go again to the web interface and select squad -> search squads from the navigation bar. join the squad, add your car (MAKE SURE you have your driver and gunner in the car along with reloads if possible) and notify in the lobby that you're ready. After some time you'll have the notification that the scouting event is starting and you'll be taken in the game combat view. Be sure to follow the advice of the other players to keep alive, and good luck!

== Managing Your Gang ==

Once you get a few group scouts under your belt and have done a few in-town events, its time to start managing your gang. There are dozens of different philosophies to running a sucessful gang, but there are a few basics that everyone will need.

Begin by training a few of your characters in Scouting. The best way to do this is to recruit characters with the Scouting skill and put them in fast cars with moderately sized fuel tanks, and send them to towns near Sommerset completing small missions. If you are attacked, simply outrun your enemies. You can chose to escape at 350 meters, and automatically escape at 500 meters. Eventually you will get a number of highly skilled scouts, which will reduce the danger of larger convoys of vehicles scouting and running between towns as long as you put a good scout in the convoy.

You will need to gain in-town fame and reputation to qualify for the more profitable missions. Check your gang's fame and reputation regularly to see the effects of your recent decisions. Check the notice board at the various town taverns for a list of missions, or advertise for a mission if you don't have sufficient fame and reputation.

'''Enjoy Darkwind!'''

[[Category: Guides]]
[[Category: New Player]]
[[Category: Start Up]]

Common Abbreviations

2012-03-20T16:18:32Z

Sarge: /* H */ Added HSS - Heavy Smokescreen

== Terminology Used in Darkwind ==

=== A ===
* Ant - [[Antagonist]]
* ATG - [[Anti-Tank Gun]]

=== B ===
* BL - Badlands (used as the location tag in the Lobby)
* BPU - [[Big PickUp]]

=== C ===
* CC - [[Car Cannon]]
* CGL - [[Car Grenade Launcher]]
* CR - [[Combat Rating]] or [[Car Rifle]]

=== D ===
* DR - [[Death Race]]
* DT - Desert Tank

=== E ===
* EL - [[Elmsfield]] (used as the location tag in the Lobby)
* Elms - [[Elmsfield]]

=== F ===
* FL - [[Firelight]] (used as the location tag in the Lobby)
* FT - [[Flamethrower]]

=== G ===
* Ganger - Gang member, the in-game characters you control
* Gat, GG - [[Gatling Gun]]
* GW - [[Gateway Truck Stop]] (used as the location tag in the Lobby)

=== H ===
* HCR - [[Heavy Car Rifle]]
* HFT - [[Heavy Flamethrower]]
* HGAT, HGG - [[Heavy Gatling Gun]]
* HMG - [[Heavy Machine Gun]]
* HSS - [[Heavy Smokescreen]]

=== I ===
* Item Decay - see [[Common Abbreviations#p|Perma-damage]]

=== L ===
* Landy - [[Landrunner]]
* LOF - Line of Fire; used interchangeably with LOS
* LOS - Line of Sight; used interchangeably with LOF
* LR - [[Landrunner]]

=== M ===
* MG - [[Machine Gun]]
* Mish - [[Missions|Mission]]
* MM - [[Mounted Mortar]]
* MMG - [[Medium Machine Gun]]
* MML - [[Micromissile Launcher]]

=== N ===
* NG - [[Napalm Gun]]
* NPC - Non-player Character
* NR - No Return - No Return Encounter following a successful wilderness scout

=== P ===
* Ped - Pedestrian (person outside of car)
* Perma-damage - [[World#Permanent Damage|permanent damage]]
* PvE - Player versus Environment (refers to combat against any AI-controlled enemy)
* PvP - Player versus Player

=== R ===
* Rep - Reputation
* RGM - [[Radar-Guided Missile]]
* RL - [[Rocket Launcher]]

=== S ===
* Sars - [[Sarsfield]]
* SF - [[Sarsfield]] (used as the location tag in the Lobby)
* SS - [[Somerset]] (used as the location tag in the Lobby)
* Symph - [[Symphony]]

=== T ===
* TG - [[Tank Gun]]
* TT - [[Trash Truck]]
* Turtle - a vehicle that has come to rest on its roof

=== V ===
* VSG - [[Vehicular Shotgun]]

[[Category: Guides]]
[[Category: New Player]]

Handguns

2012-03-14T22:30:48Z

Sarge: Spelling

This skill is used when your character uses any of the hand held pedestrian weapon. Handguns is the hardest of the four weapons skills to train, due to the high likelihood of death for anyone outside of a car during an encounter. As such, many players set their gunners to train handguns from the day they are hired, using it to get [[specialisms]] over and above the ones they would get from wilderness training.

See the [[Pedestrian Weapons]] page for detailed descriptions of the weapons.

* Pistol
* Shotgun
* Rifle
* Sub-Machinegun
* Crossbow
* Grenade Belt
* Paint Rifle
* Hand Flamer
* Molotov Belt

[[Category: Characters]]
[[Category: Skills]]

Gangs

2012-03-14T13:42:49Z

Sarge: /* Recruitment */ Added sentence about max gang size referencing Leadership page.

The world of Darkwind is...dark, gritty, dirty, and dangerous. Even the non-combat events can have serious injuries and deaths.

Because death is both likely and permanent, Darkwind uses groups of characters called Gangs to provide continuity and permanence to the game world. Characters in your gang '''will''' die. To quote Viper from ''Top Gun'': "First one dies you die too, but there will be others. You can count on that."

The player acts as the owner of the gang and is responsible for recruiting [[characters|gang members]], training them, entering them in events, and paying for their hospital visits (of which there will be many) and more.

Players may recruit and remove new members at the town's bar. To recruit a new ganger, go to the bar i.e. "Dexter's Tavern" and select "Find New Character" under Actions.
To remove a member of your gang, select that character's name under "Your Characters" then at the bottom of the character sheet click "Remove from Gang"

== Home Town ==
Your gang's ''Home Town'' is its primary base of operations. It is where the majority of its members live, and participate in the most activities (town events and wilderness scouts).

You can change your Home Town if you have high reputation and fame in the town you want to set as your ''Home Town'', and a substantial percentage of gang members there.

'''Home Town Bonus: Your squads pay reduced gates fees when entering your home town'''

== Gang Leader ==
Gang [[leadership]] is determined by combining the Courage and Leadership qualities of each gang member. The member with the highest score is designated the Gang Leader. This means your gang's leader will change as you recruit characters with better Courage and Leadership numbers.

== Paying the Piper ==
[[Veteran Gang|Veteran gangs]] are required to pay for their gang's weekly food and water usage, and their weekly wages. If you do not have enough cash, or rations stored, when the [[world|payroll is deducted]], then bad things happen.

=== Food and Water ===
If you have food and water in your gang's Lockup (each town is considered separately), the gang members in town will use those stores for their rations rather than buying them (behind the scenes) from the town market '''if the town has no stocks to buy'''. In this case, your costs for the characters in that town will be zero (0), and each character will consume 0.7 units of food and water.

'''NOTE:''' Using your gang's personal food and water stores only happens when the town has no stock to purchase. This is indicated on the ''My Characters'' page by an asterisk (*) next to the price in the ''Totals'' section of the display. Developer has indicated this may change so that your gang uses your stores regardless of town stock levels.

==== Bad Things ====
Your gang members will start to get [[characters|sick]] as they are required to forage for food and water, rather than being allowed to use the more purified supplies in town. If their sickness increases to //Very Heavy// then there is a chance they will leave your gang for a more financialy stable one.

This process should take no less than two 2 weeks assuming they weren't sick to begin with (from walking back to town, for instance), so you should have about 1-week's notice to correct your cash flow troubles.

You should receive an e-mail notification when your gang runs out of money and your characters start getting sick.

== Fame and Reputation ==
'''All of this has changed recently with the introduction of Factions, and Per-Gang and Per-Town Reputation. This will need a good going-over.'''
Your gang's ''Fame'' and ''Reputation'' are dictated by its interaction with the various towns and factions of Evan.

'''For a detailed description of the ''Darkwind Faction System'' visit the [[Factions|Factions page]].'''

=== Fame ===
Fame is a measure of how well-known your gang is, and is both ''Local'' and ''Global'' in scope. Unknown gangs have a hard time recruiting members with a specific skill. Also a high fame is a prerequisite to some [[missions]].

Fame is mainly gained from in-town events - winning races, death races, and combats will increase your fame. Placing in "pro" events earns you much more fame than non-pro events. Winning or placing in leagues will also boost your fame at the end of the league.

Wilderness events (aka scouts) increase your fame by pathetically tiny amounts compared to the fame bumps for doing well in arena events.

In the wild, fame is useful for trucing pirates. The higher your fame, the better a chance that you can bypass an undesirable combat by trucing. This is useful for traveling from town to town, especially on lucrative cargo missions.

{|class = "wikitable" border = "1"
!Fame Descriptor
|-
|Anonymous
|-
|Recognized
|-
|Well Known
|-
|Renowned
|-
|Prominent
|-
|Notorious
|-
|Famous
|-
|Legendary
|}

==== Local ====
Local Fame is centered around the various towns and outposts of Evan, and affects the likelihood of recruiting good characters. The [[Recruiter]] specialism is also required in the town you are recruiting in if you wish to use it.

A high Fame only improves your likelihood of getting an honest character when you are recruiting your 'free' character. Paying to recruit characters negates your Fame advantage (and your [[leadership|Recruiter specialism]] if you have it).

==== Global ====
Global Fame is an average of your fame in all towns.

The low-fame, new player-specific NPC gang Desert Hyenas now only shows up if your ''Global'' fame is no more than 50 (whatever that means, since numbers aren't shown).

=== Reputation ===
Reputation is a measure of how your gang is viewed by the members of the various factions of Evan. Reputation trends positive by hunting pirates, and negative by hunting traders.

{|class = "wikitable" border = "1"
!colspan = "2"|Reputation Descriptors (+ to -)
|-
|Honoured
| ++++++
|-
|Adored
| +++++
|-
|Admired
| ++++
|-
|Respected
| +++
|-
|Liked
| ++
|-
|Appreciated
| +
|-
|(Neutral)
|
|-
|Unappreciated
| -
|-
|Disliked
| --
|-
|Scorned
| ---
|-
|Hated
| ----
|-
|Detested
| -----
|}
==== Weekly Decay ====
The denizens of Evan have incredibly short memories, most likely due to the solar radiation boiling their brains. Because of this your gang's Fame and Reputation will decay every week.

Each week, your gang's Fame and Reputation will move towards ''anonymous'' by 20%<ref>Rep and Fame numbers are now hidden so there's no way to know what that 20% really means</ref>. This means that gangs with positive Reputation will see their Reputation decrease while gangs with negative Reputation (i.e. pirates) will see their Reputation increase.

Fame is always positive so it will decrease towards zero for all gangs.

==== Local Hero Status ====
By killing highly skilled NPC enemies (with the exception of Somerset, see below) your gang can become a Hero in the various towns and truckstops. When your gang is a ''local hero'' you will see a notification on your '''My Gang''' page telling you which towns you are a hero in, i.e. '''Local Hero in Elmsfield'''. You will also receive [[Hero Points]].

''Highly skilled'' currently means any character with '''any''' skill at or above 30.

{|class = "wikitable" border = "1"
!Town!!Local Hero needs to
|-
|Somerset||Kill '''player characters''' from bountied gangs, or one of the roving bountied gangs.
|-
|Gateway||Kill highly skilled NPCs from bountied gangs based in Gateway.
|-
|Badlands||Kill highly skilled NPCs from bountied gangs based in Badlands.
|-
|Firelight||Kill highly skilled NPCs from '''bounty hunters''' throughout Evan. Only players with negative rep can become heroes in Firelight.
|}

Note that in the starting area, where NPC gangs don't usually have highly skilled characters, hero status comes from killing player-controlled gangs.

=== Recruitment ===
Character recruitment takes place at the taverns in the various [[towns]] of [[Evan]]. Dexter's is the first you'll encounter as it is in [[Somerset]].

Once every 5 days you can recruit a new gang member at no cost. To recruit more members within that 5-day period costs $1000 per character. (The cost does go down as you get closer to the 5 day time limit so you may be able to pick up a new member for less than 1000$)

The maximum number of gang members your gang can employ is determined by your current leader's [[leadership]] stat.

==== Fledgling Gangs ====
A gang's first 5 recruits are free, no matter how quickly they're recruited. This includes the 3 characters you get right at the start, so in practice your gang really receives an extra 2 free recruiting opportunities.

==== Lying Liars ====
It is important to note that the characters you will be recruiting may lie. If you are recruiting for someone with the Driving skill you will be presented with a list of people who say they have the skill you need. That doesn't mean they actually have that skill. A character who lied to you will be recruited with the desired skill a bit lower than normal (15 instead of the standard 20 or more)<ref>http://www.dark-wind.com/forums2/index.php?a=topic&t=10306&min=94&num=15</ref>.

==== Recruiting Mutants ====
Your gang can have no more than 10% of its members as mutants, unless your leader is a mutant.

This 10% figure will be higher or lower depending on your reputation with the mutant faction(s).

== NPC Gangs ==

[[NPC Gangs]] are computer-controlled gangs who exist in the gameworld, these gangs appear almost exclusively around their hometown with the exception of bounty-hunters who operate across all of Evan and some of the [[leagues|leagues]] where NPC gangs from all across Evan might enter.

The game keeps track of the NPC's successes and failures either against players or each other in behind-the-scenes simulated battles which carry over to the strategic portion of Darkwind.

=== Pirates ===
The scourge of Evan, these gangs usually attack on sight although a good [[scouting|negotiator]] or simply encountering a more notorious player pirate gang (with low reputation) might be able to convince them to stand down.

=== Traders ===
Traders and their escorts are more interested in the low-risk enterprise of transporting cargo from town to town and only fight when forced to, they'll always try to offer players a truce.

=== Bounty Hunters ===
Bounty hunters go after the most notorious pirate players who have a low reputation and a bounty on their head, being more logistically cunning than the average pirate outfit they're able to operate all across evan and often try to catch pirate squads as they're returning to town after a battle.

=== Racing, Death Racing and Combat ===
These gangs focus purely on in-town events, and generally focus on a particular type of event as opposed to branching out.

== Notes ==
<references/>

Common Abbreviations

2012-03-13T23:50:56Z

Sarge: Added VSG - Vehicular Shotgun

== Terminology Used in Darkwind ==

=== A ===
* Ant - [[Antagonist]]
* ATG - [[Anti-Tank Gun]]

=== B ===
* BL - Badlands (used as the location tag in the Lobby)
* BPU - [[Big PickUp]]

=== C ===
* CC - [[Car Cannon]]
* CGL - [[Car Grenade Launcher]]
* CR - [[Combat Rating]] or [[Car Rifle]]

=== D ===
* DR - [[Death Race]]
* DT - Desert Tank

=== E ===
* EL - [[Elmsfield]] (used as the location tag in the Lobby)
* Elms - [[Elmsfield]]

=== F ===
* FL - [[Firelight]] (used as the location tag in the Lobby)
* FT - [[Flamethrower]]

=== G ===
* Ganger - Gang member, the in-game characters you control
* Gat, GG - [[Gatling Gun]]
* GW - [[Gateway Truck Stop]] (used as the location tag in the Lobby)

=== H ===
* HCR - [[Heavy Car Rifle]]
* HFT - [[Heavy Flamethrower]]
* HGAT, HGG - [[Heavy Gatling Gun]]
* HMG - [[Heavy Machine Gun]]

=== I ===
* Item Decay - see [[Common Abbreviations#p|Perma-damage]]

=== L ===
* Landy - [[Landrunner]]
* LOF - Line of Fire; used interchangeably with LOS
* LOS - Line of Sight; used interchangeably with LOF
* LR - [[Landrunner]]

=== M ===
* MG - [[Machine Gun]]
* Mish - [[Missions|Mission]]
* MM - [[Mounted Mortar]]
* MMG - [[Medium Machine Gun]]
* MML - [[Micromissile Launcher]]

=== N ===
* NG - [[Napalm Gun]]
* NPC - Non-player Character
* NR - No Return - No Return Encounter following a successful wilderness scout

=== P ===
* Ped - Pedestrian (person outside of car)
* Perma-damage - [[World#Permanent Damage|permanent damage]]
* PvE - Player versus Environment (refers to combat against any AI-controlled enemy)
* PvP - Player versus Player

=== R ===
* Rep - Reputation
* RGM - [[Radar-Guided Missile]]
* RL - [[Rocket Launcher]]

=== S ===
* Sars - [[Sarsfield]]
* SF - [[Sarsfield]] (used as the location tag in the Lobby)
* SS - [[Somerset]] (used as the location tag in the Lobby)
* Symph - [[Symphony]]

=== T ===
* TG - [[Tank Gun]]
* TT - [[Trash Truck]]
* Turtle - a vehicle that has come to rest on its roof

=== V ===
* VSG - [[Vehicular Shotgun]]

[[Category: Guides]]
[[Category: New Player]]

Common Abbreviations

2012-03-01T14:53:42Z

Sarge: Added Napalm Gun and link

== Terminology Used in Darkwind ==

=== A ===
* Ant - [[Antagonist]]
* ATG - [[Anti-Tank Gun]]

=== B ===
* BL - Badlands (used as the location tag in the Lobby)
* BPU - [[Big PickUp]]

=== C ===
* CC - [[Car Cannon]]
* CGL - [[Car Grenade Launcher]]
* CR - [[Combat Rating]] or [[Car Rifle]]

=== D ===
* DR - [[Death Race]]
* DT - Desert Tank

=== E ===
* EL - [[Elmsfield]] (used as the location tag in the Lobby)
* Elms - [[Elmsfield]]

=== F ===
* FL - [[Firelight]] (used as the location tag in the Lobby)
* FT - [[Flamethrower]]

=== G ===
* Ganger - Gang member, the in-game characters you control
* Gat, GG - [[Gatling Gun]]
* GW - [[Gateway Truck Stop]] (used as the location tag in the Lobby)

=== H ===
* HCR - [[Heavy Car Rifle]]
* HFT - [[Heavy Flamethrower]]
* HGAT, HGG - [[Heavy Gatling Gun]]
* HMG - [[Heavy Machine Gun]]

=== I ===
* Item Decay - see [[Common Abbreviations#p|Perma-damage]]

=== L ===
* Landy - [[Landrunner]]
* LOF - Line of Fire; used interchangeably with LOS
* LOS - Line of Sight; used interchangeably with LOF
* LR - [[Landrunner]]

=== M ===
* MG - [[Machine Gun]]
* Mish - [[Missions|Mission]]
* MM - [[Mounted Mortar]]
* MMG - [[Medium Machine Gun]]
* MML - [[Micromissile Launcher]]

=== N ===
* NG - [[Napalm Gun]]
* NPC - Non-player Character
* NR - No Return - No Return Encounter following a successful wilderness scout

=== P ===
* Ped - Pedestrian (person outside of car)
* Perma-damage - [[World#Permanent Damage|permanent damage]]
* PvE - Player versus Environment (refers to combat against any AI-controlled enemy)
* PvP - Player versus Player

=== R ===
* Rep - Reputation
* RGM - [[Radar-Guided Missile]]
* RL - [[Rocket Launcher]]

=== S ===
* Sars - [[Sarsfield]]
* SF - [[Sarsfield]] (used as the location tag in the Lobby)
* SS - [[Somerset]] (used as the location tag in the Lobby)
* Symph - [[Symphony]]

=== T ===
* TG - [[Tank Gun]]
* TT - [[Trash Truck]]
* Turtle - a vehicle that has come to rest on its roof

[[Category: Guides]]
[[Category: New Player]]