Hide and Go Seek Instructions

  1. Quick Start Guide

    1. Main Menu

      This is what you will see when the application starts up. You typically click on "Pick Avatar" to pick your character. If you want to change sound settings, graphic resolutions, or key bindings, click on "Options".

    2. Pick Avatar

      This is what you will see when you click "Pick Avatar". The buttons on the right are the various characters with their heights in meters (and feet). Click one to pick your "skin". Then pick your speed (in meters per second). Modifying either your speed or stealth will affect the other.

    3. Create Game

      This is what you will see when you click "Create Game". Pick a mission to start in, type in your name, make sure "Host Multiplayer" is checked, and press "Start Game!". You will need 3 players before the game can begin.

    4. Join Game

      This is what you will see when you click "Join Game". To find an internet game, press "Query Master". To find a LAN game, press "Query LAN". Pick a server by clicking on it. You can refresh the status of this server by pressing "Refresh Server". Press "Join Game!" to join. If a game is in progress, you will be thrown into the world as a hider.

    5. Basic Game Knowledge

      1. By default, "W" moves you forward.
      2. By default, "S" moves your backwards.
      3. Use the mouse to look around.
      4. The Left Mouse Button uses any powerups you've collected.
      5. If you are a seeker, run into other people to tag them. Use can also use the "E" key (by default) to tag at a distance.
      6. If you are the first seeker (the last hider not tagged in a round), press your tag "E" key (by default) to start the next game.

  2. Powerups

    1. Powerup Mechanics

      1. Each world will have powerup spawn points located around the map.
      2. When a new round starts (the seeker starts counting), a new set of powerups will be created at each spawn point.
      3. Once a powerup is taken, it is replaced in 25 seconds.
      4. When a powerup is created (either at the beginning of a round or for replacement), it chooses the next powerup randomly. [0.90b Powerup probability table defined per world.]

    2. Seeker Powerups - Green Backgrounds

      POWERUP ICON DURATION DESCRIPTION
      Popup 0 secs Causes everybody, including decoys, to have 25 meters per second added to their "up" velocity. Little fires will light under everybody's rear-ends with a smoke trail rising from there. While this is an instantaneous powerup, you cannot use your next powerup for 2 seconds.
      Slow Fog 30 secs All hiders will have their speed reduced by 33%. This is cumulative with any Speed cube they may be using. The speed of seekers is unmodified.
      Thermo 20 secs A thermometer will appear. If you are more than 100 meters from any hider, the thermometer will be empty of "mercury". As you get closer, the bar will fill and will change colors from blue to red. Once you are within 15 meters, the bar will be full.
      Tractor Beam 0 secs This will lock onto a hider (if you hit them in your crosshair) and pull them in your direction. While this is an instantaneous powerup, you cannot use your next powerup for 2 seconds.

    3. Hider Powerups - Purple Backgrounds

      POWERUP ICON DURATION DESCRIPTION
      Decoy 0 secs As soon as the space you currently occupy is empty, an exact duplicate of yourself is dropped. It laughs at your same rate. When a tagger touches this decoy, they will be stunned for 8 seconds and the decoy will be removed from the world. While this is an instantaneous powerup, you cannot use your next powerup for 2 seconds.
      Invisible 11 secs Makes you invisible. While invisible, your stealth doubled, but your speed is halved. The last second of your time will spent de-cloaking where a slightly white glow will surround your body.
      Stealth 12.5 secs Increases your stealth by 9 times reducing both footprints and your laughing rate.
      Teleport 0 secs Teleports you to a semi-random location around the map. All maps have at least 2 teleport destinations. While this is an instantaneous powerup, you cannot use your next powerup for 2 seconds.

    4. Hider or Seeker Powerups - Yellow Backgrounds

      POWERUP ICON DURATION DESCRIPTION
      Speed 10 secs Your speed is increased by 33%. This is cumulative with the Slow Fog.
      Third Eye 10 secs When you use this, the closest target of your "opposite" type will be picked (a seeker if you are a hider, and vice versa). A smaller screen will appear in the lower right corner, and it will show everything they see.

  3. Screen Elements

    The Chat Window, located in the upper left hand corner of the screen, is where all chat messages and messages from the game will appear. Keep a frequent eye on this. To cycle between its there sizes, press [P].
    When you wish to chat to others, press your [T] key. A window will appear where you can type your message. Press [Enter] to send it.
    The Holder, located in the upper right hand corner of the screen, is where your current powerup is displayed.
    When you walk over a powerup, a PopupCube in this case, the icon will appear in this box. When you press your Left Mouse Button [LMB], this powerup will become activated.
    Once the powerup is activated, a Countdown Bar will appear. While this is counting down, you may acquire another powerup but may not use it.
    If you are it, there will be a Crosshair in the center of your screen. While it has a box around it, you can press the [E] key to tag somebody at a distance (approximately 5 meters away).
    Once you've pressed this key, it will turn into a Crosshair with the box around it. This means that the [E] key for tagging is currently unavailable. This lasts approximately 5 seconds. Note that you can still run into hiders to tag them.
    Also as a tagger, you will have access to the Gigometer (pronounced gig-ahm-iter), located in the lower left hand corner of the screen. You can hear gigglers from approximately 60 meters away. When they are within 50 meters, a line will appear showing the direction of the giggle. If you are stationary and rotate left and right, you can approximate their location. If you move, this line becomes inaccurate. Also, if the person is higher than you, the line appears yellow. If they are lower than you, the line appears cyan. Otherwise the line is green. If they are within 5 meters, a square of the appropriate color will appear in the middle of the meter.
    If you are a hider, you will have access to the GiggleMeter, also located in the lower left hand corner of the screen. This will fill up at a rate which is a function of your stealth and how long you have stayed still. Once it has filled, you will giggle and everybody within 60 meters will hear you.
    This is the ThirdEye box. If you are a hider, the ThirdEye powerup finds the nearest seeker. If you are a seeker, this powerup finds the nearest hider. For the next 8 seconds, you will see from this person's eyes in this box.
    As a hider, you have access to the ThermoCube powerup. When used, the image to the far left will appear. As you move around, the bar in the thermometer will raise and lower depending upon your proximity to the nearest hider. It is blue at the bottom when you are "cold" (as seen in the middle image) and goes through purple when you are "warm" (as seen in the right image), and finally goes to red when you are "hot".
    If you see this icon, located near the top right hand side of the screen, you are currently experiencing lag. This is measured as time since the last server update. This means that if the server crashes, you will often see this. If it lasts more than 3 or 4 seconds, you can be certain that the server is no longer running.

  4. Play Mechanics and Rules

    1. Player Names

      1. While waiting for the next round, you can see everybody's name.
      2. Anybody who is "IT" (a seeker) will have "IT" added to the front of his or her name. The name will also be red.
      3. Anybody who is not "IT" (a hider) will have their name appear in green.
      4. While playing, everybody can see a seeker's name.
      5. While playing, hiders can see everybody's name, including decoy names.
      6. While playing, seekers can only see other seekers' names.

    2. Speed versus Stealth

      1. Open worlds tend to lend themselves to faster characters.
      2. Cluttered worlds tend to lend themselves to stealthy characters.
      3. Speed ranges from 8.5 m/s to 11.5 m/s.
      4. Stealth ranges from 1 footprint every step to 1 footprint every 16 steps.
      5. A speed of 11.5 gives you the worst stealth. A speed of 10 m/s gives you 5 stealth. A speed of 8.5 gives you 16 stealth.
      6. While you can exit between levels to change your stealth and speed, this will reset your score. (If you leave and come back with the same stealth, speed, and name, your score will be restored.)

    3. Stealth

      1. Your stealth statistic determines how many footprints you leave on the ground behind you. Higher stealths leave less footprints (and less footprint sounds).
      2. The rate at which you giggle is also affected by your stealth.
      3. While you are standing still, you will giggle at your stealth's rate per second times three. A stealth of 1 will have you giggling every three seconds. A stealth of 16 will have you giggling every 48 seconds.
      4. While you are invisible, you will giggle at half the normal rate. A stealth of 1 will have you giggling every six seconds. A stealth of 16 will have you giggling every 96 seconds.
      5. While you are using a StealthCube, you will giggle at one tenth the normal rate. A stealth of 1 will have you giggling every 30 seconds. A stealth of 16 will have you giggling every 480 seconds.
      6. While moving, you will giggle at one third the normal rate. With no powerups in use, a stealth of 1 will have you giggling every 9 seconds of movement. A stealth of 16 will have you giggling every 144 seconds.
      7. If you pick a stealthy character, turning corners every chance you get is the easiest way to lose people.

    4. Tagging (Distance and Delays)

      1. As a seeker, your speed will be multiplied by the formula (2.3/speed + 0.8). The slowest player will get a 7% boost while the fastest player will get a 0% boost.
      2. If you press your tag key (nominally the [E] key), you will reach out 5 meters (twice the Ogre's height).
      3. Even if you miss, you will be delayed three seconds before you can press this key again for tagging.
      4. You can always run into a person (physical contact) to tag them.
      5. The tag must occur on the server side. If you are delayed more than 400 or 500 milliseconds, you may think you ran into somebody when it didn't really occur.
      6. A slap sound will play when the tag occurs which will notify you that you tagged or have been tagged.
      7. Invisible people can ONLY be tagged with the tag key. Running into them does not count until they are visible.

    5. Invisibility

      1. Once you are invisible, you are still free to move around.
      2. You will giggle at half the normal rate.
      3. You will leave half of the footprints.
      4. You cannot be tagged unless the person uses their tag key.
      5. While the effect lasts 11 seconds, you only have 10 seconds while you are invisible. The last second is reserved for fading back in.

    6. Tractor Beam Impulse

      1. The tractor beam applies an instantaneous impulse towards the user of the powerup.
      2. If you move, the beam will still be attached, but the player will not be affected.
      3. The sound effect will play even if you missed your target.
      4. The hit person will be pulled about 30 m/s towards your direction. They are given an extra push in the "up" direction, too, to get them over obstacles.

    7. Decoy Placement

      1. When you use the DecoyCube, an imaginary box is placed around your character.
      2. When that box is empty of any people, yourself or otherwise, the decoy will appear.
      3. Hiders will see the decoy with "Your Name's Decoy".
      4. Seekers are penalized with 8 second paralasys when they touch the decoy. The decoy is also removed then.
      5. All decoys are removed between rounds.

    8. Voting

      1. If you are ready to move to another level, press [Ctrl]-[V] together.
      2. You will be given a list of levels to switch to.
      3. After selecting one, everybody will have a chance to vote.
      4. Of the people who vote, if a majority is reached, the level will change.

    9. Scoring

      1. When a seeker tags a hider, the seeker gets 1 point.
      2. When a seeker tags a hider, every other hider gets 1 point.
      3. There is no point bonus for being the last hider. The last hider is guaranteed a point in the next round because they must tag somebody.

  5. Key Bindings

    1. Actions with Their Default Key Bindings
      1. Quit from Game - [Esc].
      2. Show/Hide Player List and Scores - [F2].
      3. Strafe Left - [A].
      4. Strafe Right - [D].
      5. Move Forward - [W].
      6. Move Backward - [S].
      7. Message HUD Page Up - [PageUp].
      8. Message HUD Page Down - [PageDown].
      9. Resize Message HUD - [P].
      10. Options Menus - [Ctrl]-[O].
      11. Chat - [T].
      12. Tag - [E].
      13. Jump - [SpaceBar].
      14. Turn Left - [LeftArrow] or Move Mouse Left.
      15. Turn Right - [RightArrow] or Move Mouse Right.
      16. Look Up - [UpArrow] or Move Mouse Up.
      17. Look Down - [DownArrow] or Move Mouse Down.
      18. Vote or Initiate Vote - [Ctrl]-[V].
      19. Use Powerup - [LMB] (Left Mouse Button).
    2. Key Binding Modifications
      1. Use the Options Menu to change your key bindings.
      2. The vote key cannot be re-mapped.

  6. Sample Worlds, Tips, Tricks

    1. WARNING

      The information contained within this section may be out of date. Use it as a guide on how to play, not as a detailed map of each world.

      Each world has its own probabilities for powerups. The probabilities were picked with three things in mind. First, how useful are they in this world. A popup is worthless in a small building. Second, how hard is it to catch hiders. If it is very hard, the powerups favor the seekers. Third, how well does it fit the theme. The graveyard, for example, favors the paranormal powerups of Third Eye, Invisibility, and Slow Fog.

      Finally, most of these images can be clicked on to get a larger, more clear image. I recommend you use these larger images to see details that might be missing in the smaller images.

    2. Brick Wall Maze

      This is the best training world. It has areas for fast players and areas for stealthy players.

      If you can keep your eyes open and are fast, the forest and hill are great areas to hide around. For stealthy characters, you can almost always lose somebody in the Double Maze.

    3. Computer Case

      You start out on the CD (or DVD) tray. Every world has an invisible border around areas where you think you can escape. The window on the case will bounce you back if you try to walk or jump through it.

      Once inside, you can jump around from card to card and over the cables. There are chips on the motherboard (the back wall) which, with enough experimentation, you can get onto.

    4. The Cubicle

      You appear outside, but enter a door near the bottom right-hand side of this picture. It's easy to hide in this maze. There are ramps near the red-light areas which will take you to the second level.

      Once on the second level, you won't find many powerups. There is one area, though, that has a half-dozen powerups... more than enough to take your pick and stay safe.

    5. Funhouse

      You enter on the outside of the funhouse. Like all worlds, you cannot escape even though it looks like you can.

      You enter this world at the bottom right of this image. You do not need to jump on the pad to make it bounce you around.

      The tunnels are great to hide in because seekers tend to overlook this when running around.

      There are two entrances to the Glass Wall Maze portion of this world.

      The Glass Wall Maze is gridded with lights. You only need to run from light to an adjacent light. If you cannot get between them, there is a glass wall there.

      This is the schematic of the glass wall maze. Use this to learn the maze and to get through efficiently.

    6. Spooks Hillside Graveyard

      This world is best for fast people. There are lots of areas to hide in, so just experiment.

      The area near the Haunted Forest and behind the masoleum does not have powerups. There are a lot of areas to hide, but make sure you are prepared before you enter this area.

    7. The Village

      This is simply a collection of abandoned buildings. You cannot leave the grassy areas in the desert area. Some buildings have escape routes that allow you to get away from seekers.

  7. Special Thanks

    I would like to thank Chad Weisshaar, Garrett Gradisar, Doug Swartzendruber, Kevin Mello, Josh Antweiler, Daniel Owens, Greg Melton, Audrey Vernon, Cameron Hendricks, Daniel Barnett, Jonathan Mowers, Andy Getz, Allen Eyre, Neil Fore, Irene Liu, and Thomas Ahlstrom for their hard work in helping me test the game and with the suggestions they have made to make this a better game. I'd also like to thank Garage Games and all the helpful GG Forum posters for providing a cheap (although mostly cryptic) engine which made this all possible.