faq

armagetron advanced is a 3d game which is based on the movie tron (1982). in that movie you can see a so-called lightcycle race where you have to crash your opponent into your own or any other wall. this is basically what the game is all about. you can play it either locally with computer-controlled bots or you can play it online against human players. there are many servers online with different settings. some servers even use a completely different kind of game experience. if you are new and unsure how to play then try the local game first. after some practising you may join one of the online servers like norms.

1.2 - where do i get the latest version of the game software ?

you can download it directly from this website. just click download, choose client and your operating system. if you want to download and test the latest version of the client or the dedicated server then i recommend going directly to the official armagetron advanced download page. you will find the link to it on the links-page.

1.3 - who programmed armagetron advanced ?

armagetron advanced has originally been written by manuel moos a long time ago. he then disapperead and re-appeared again recently. he is now part of the developer team which you can meet on the official armagetron advanced forum (see link-page)

1.4 - why are there so many servers online ?

it is a matter of taste. some people like high rubber, some people like low rubber or no rubber at all. so, there are different servers with different settings. they attract different players and different playing styles. just try them and decide for yourself what kind of setting you like.

1.5 - what is a in-game admin ?

in-game admins are (well respected) long-time players who have the right to enforce the server rules. therefore they are allowed to kill, kick or even ban other missbehaving players. beside their administrative job they are also normal players who would like to play peacefully. just play within my server rules and guidelines and you will never have to deal with an in-game admin.

1.6 - what is the goal of the game, what is a round or a match ?

the most important goal is to have fun ! beside that run your opponents into any wall or tail, either your own or any other. you may do so by making tricky mazes with a dead end or by fast reactions and quick turns. you can also close your opponent into very tiny areas with no exit. for every so-called core dump (destroyed enemy lightcycle) you will get a point. you play until the last player survived (last man standing) - that's called the round winner. the player who reaches ten points (or more) is the winner of a match. the more rounds and matches you win the higher your score gets. the higher your score gets the higher your position is on the ladder. but - if you loose a round your score decreases and so does your ladder position. also if you don't play for a longer time your score also decreases slightly.

1.7 - how do i play online, locally or on a lan ?

armagetron advanced can be played in three different ways:

local game (game → local game)

in this mode you basically play against your own pc. if you want to change the game settings then enter the in-game menu (default: esc). local game play is like masturbation (without the fun), but it's good for learning the driving basics and to get some skill. once you are a skillful player you will never play a local game again.

lan game (game → network game→ lan game)

you will need a dedicated server in your local lan for this game type. playing a lan game is like playing an internet game but without the internet. if you would like to set up your own dedicated armagetron advanced server, then please visit the official armagetron wiki (see link-page).

internet game (game → network game→ internet game)

this is the real deal - and can be the most fun.you can either use a list of bookmarked servers (select server bookmarks) or you go directly to the server browser which will display a list of dedicated armagetron servers (select internet game). you can bookmark servers with b or change the sorting criteria with the left/right key (ping - users - score). you can also press + or - to increase/decrease the score for a server. just select a server with the up/down cursor key and press enter on the server you would like to join. if a server is full, then you will get an error message. just press esc and try your luck again.

single player game (internet game)

if norms is empty and you are the only human player, then you play in single player mode - against server generated bots (shortform of robots). the better you play - the more bots will be generated. some of my bots are stupid and degenerated campers. but some bots are real killers, they will even outgrind you at full speed. take it as a training unit. have fun with them.

1.8 - what is authentication and how do i use it ?

authentication means that you must logon to the game server before you can perform certain tasks. we at norms decided that you must have an account at any of the authority servers (like official armagetron advanced forum or aagid.net) where your username turns into a global id which you can use on every game server who supports authentification. by registering an account there you will have a username and a password. this userrname and password is then the account to use for the game servers. by using the latest version of the game client you will be able to store your username and password. the only difference is that your username must be extended with e.g. @forums or @aagid to form the global id. one example:

you register by the name superplayer at forums.armagetronad.net, your password is secret. make sure you can log into the forum with these credentials. please note: this is only an example, of course you must use your own playername and password and you may also register at aagid.net !

now download and upgrade your armagetron software to the latest version available from the download section. install and run. now go to player setup, enter your desired username and color. then go down to hide global id and set it to off. now enter your global id below - use your username and add @forums - in this example superplayer@forums

set the option auto login to on if you want to login to a game server automatically !

now setup everything else you need to change. then exit the software and start it again. this makes sure all your settings are saved to disk, even if the software might crash while playing.

now go to play game → multiplayer → internet multiplayer (or server bookmarks if you've bookmarked your favourite servers already). now select norms from the server list and press enter. after a welcome screen press any key to continue. now the server will try to authenticate you against the armagetronad forums database. it will send your global id to the authentification authority and ask for your forums password as well. enter your password, in this example secret and press enter. your global id and password should now be stored automatically in your clients settings. if everything went well you will receive a message saying that you are now an authenticated player (remote user). if something goes wrong, just try again. if you still can't login then please don't hesitate to ask here on norms. you may also use /login authority on the chat line on older game clients. you may also read the official wiki of armagetronad.net to get more detailed informations.

2.1 - can i change the keyboard bindings ?

yes, we can. you can actually assign your own keys to various functions. armagetron advanced is highly customizable. you can change system-wide keys as well as per-player keys. just start up your client and go to:

system setup → misc stuff → global keyboard configuration

here you can change all the system-wide keyboard settings. just select any function with the up/down key and press enter, then press the button you want to assign to that specific function. the per-player settings can be changed here:

player setup → player 1 settings → input configuration

and here:

player setup → player 1 settings → camera input configuration

and here:

player setup → player 1 settings → instant chat setup

2.2 - where can i change my playername ?

there are two ways of changing the player name. first is to go to:

player setup → player 1 settings

and change the first line to the desired name. the second way is to use the console by pressing the key that has been assigned to the console function (default: ^). the console will appear at the left bottom line of your screen displaying

con:

now you can enter the command

player_1 your_desired_nickname [enter]

and the next round start your name will change to the new nickname.

2.3 - what does double binding mean ?

double binding means to assign two different keys to the same action and to press those assigned keys simultaneously while driving. this does not work on some servers ! but on most servers you will get the effect that the more keys you assign/press the sharper turns you can make (also called 180° turns). doublebinds are ususally assigned to the left/right keys for your lightcycle. you can, for instance, assign the cursor left key and the y key for left turns and cursor right and x for right turns. if you press both keys (cursor left + y for left turns or cursor right + x for right turns) at the same time your turns will be 180º and very sharp. you may also try triple-bindings where you assign three keys for each direction and press those three keys simultaneously while driving.

3.1 - how can i accelerate ?

drive as near as possible to other players or your own trail. the outer rim will not accelerate your lightcycle! your lightcycle will get faster the more trails are near your lightcycle. if you are inside a tunnel between trails then your lightcycle will get even faster. if you manage to do very tight tuns in that tunnel yoour lightcycle even accelerates more. please note that if your rubber runs out your lightcycle explodes ! always keep an eye on your rubber-meter, if it reaches the servers maximum rubber then you should stay away from any walls or trails unless the rubber is down again.

3.2 - how can i go slower ?

you will slow down automatically unless you come near trails. if you want to slow down immedialtely just hit the brake key (key default: v)

3.3 - what is rubber ?

you could explain rubber like a smooth protection layer between your lightcyle and any other wall or trail. the nearer you come a wall or trail the more rubber is used up. you can see this on the rubber-meter in the on-screen-display (if enabled). if the used rubber reaches the maximum rubber of the server your lightcycle will be destroyed. the rubber will re-build itself again if you hold a distance from other walls or trails. also going slower will refill the rubber. you can also see rubber as a dynamically acting airbag arround your lightcycle which refills itself automatically.

3.4 - how can i use different colors for lightcycle and trails ?

there are two ways of assigning colors for your lightcycle. first way is to go to:

player setup → player 1 settings

now you will see the red, green and blue settings which will define the color of your lightcycle and trail. if you select any of those colors a little preview box will be displayed in the lower right corner of the screen. now it is up to you to enter any color number you like. unfortunately the range for each color component is limited between 1 and 15. with these numbers you can only set the color for the lightcycle and the trail. in order to have different colors for the lightcycle and trail you must enter values higher than 15. this is only possible with the console. so, bring up the console three times and enter (in any order you like):

color_r_1 20 [enter]

color_g_1 6 [enter]

color_b_1 59 [enter]

this will change your lightcycle to a blue-gray color and your trail to pink. in order to find the color you like you may use one of the countless color-pickers you will find on other sites (see link-page). please note that if you enter the player setup again all color numbers will be re-set to the maximum allowed range between 1-15 !

3.5 - how to chat ?

just press the assigned chat button (default: s). then you will see the chat line in the lower part of the screen dsiplaying

say:

while you chat a yellow triangle appears above your lightcycle. during that time the software takes over your driving control. because the software is not very smart, the lightcycle will crash easily into a wall. press esc at any time to exit chat mode. please note that it is not very nice to kill a opponent who is in chat mode (yellow triangle on top of his/her lightcycle). please avoid that player until the yellow triangle disappears. keep in mind that everything you write is immediately displayed to all players currently on the server. if you want to send private messages to a specific player then you must use the /msg command instead, so on the chat line enter:

say: /msg playername message [enter]

and the message will only be displayed to playername. the private chat messages and the public messages will be logged to the game server logfiles. if you don't want to read messages from a specific player, then you can silence that player. to do this while playing press escplayer police → silence menu and enable the silence option for the player you wish to silence.

3.6 - how can i write in different colors ?

you can use special color codes in the chat lines. color codes start with 0xrrggbb and must be entered hexadecimal. so, lets say you want to write a three-color text, the first word in red, the second in green and the last word in blue. then you enter:

say: 0xff0000text1 0x00ff00text2 0x0000fftext3.

like with the lightcycle and trail color it is defined with a red, green and blue component. each color component can have a value between 00 (not visible) and ff (highest). you can use the same color scheme for your nickname and instant chat as well.

3.7 - what is ping ?

ping is a time or delay value and describes the time (in milliseconds) data packets from/to your pc needs. the lower the ping the higher the reaction. if a ping gets to high, then the server needs longer to send/receive packets. this is called lag and means that you will experience a delay between the action on the grid and the action you see on your screen. the server tries to compensate for high pings but that affects all players currently playing. always check your ping regulary while playing by pressing the tab key. if its too high - leave please and try to connect again later.

3.8 - how can i see the scores ?

there are two different scores available. the first score is the in-game score that you will see if you press the tab key while playing. the second score is collected and calculated by the server. you can see the ladder in norms from within the menues. the server ladder shows the scores and number of won rounds and matches in a list. if your nickname is on it - congratulations !

3.9 - how can i get better so my name appears in the ladder ?

hint: just play. play as much as you allow yourself to. the more you play, the better you will get. i know from my own experiences that it can get very frustrating. but try again and again. and after a surprisingly short time you will get better. just don't give up. but, because i know very well how addicting this game can be, don't forget your real life. go out, have fun in the real world as well. don't play too much and too long very often. take breaks. what you once learned will always come back the minute you play again.