Xeno Quickstart Guide

So you've just joined for the first time as a Xenomorph? No idea what your doing? Well this guide will help you get up to scratch!

As a foreword, rounds on this server usually last between two to three hours! Make sure you have the time commitment to sit a full round.

The Rules

---

While it's not fair to shove the rules down your throat, Aliens: CM is a roleplay focused server and as such has an extensive list of Rules. It's highly recommended you spend some time reading the rules to ensure you don't accidently break any. Thank you.

Character Setup

---

For the most part this part is simple, you'll create your character on the setup character page. If you want to play Xenomorphs, check the box that says you're interested in alien roles. Otherwise, as an alien, it won't really matter what your character looks like. As part of an alien Hive, you'll be assigned a number. Welcome to the machine. Click the [Join the Hive!] button and you should be in.

Your First Game

---

For your first run, try and join a round before it starts. It's no big deal to join in the middle, but starting a round will ensure you aren't born into a difficult or deadly situation.

Your Display Screen

There should be three indicators on the right hand side of your screen. The top circle shows your plasma storage. This is the bank of energy that allows alien players to take special actions. The middle circle is a compass that will always point in the direction of the Queen. If she's on a different Z-level from you, it will show up as a dot in the middle. The bottom circle is your health. It will drop as you get hurt, show if you're in critical condition, and let you know if you've kicked the bucket.

The bottom of the screen has two buttons for your claws/hands. There's a [Resist] button to free yourself if you've been restrained. There's a button that changes your movement speed, but there may be no reason to change it from Hunt. There's a button that changes your intent. There are four intents: Help, Disarm, Grab, Harm. These are very important for interacting. If you attack marines with your Help intent active, you're gonna have a bad time. Another indicator shows your body target. This is the part of the body you'll attempt to interact with when you click on another player, marine or alien. There's a button for dropping things from your hands and another button for throwing them.

How to Communicate

Communication is very important! There are several methods, but just know three for now:
(1) Use the hivemind to talk to the whole Hive. Examples:

• Say ":a I live!!!"
• Say ":a There are multiple tallhosts in Medbay."
• Say ":a We are under attack from the south!"

(2) Talk to any alien around you on the map. Examples:

• Say "Please lay more eggs, your Highness."
• Say "Follow me."
• Say "What should I do?"

(3) Talk out of character (OOC) or local out of character (LOOC) to ask questions about the game and how to do things. You can toggle OOC chat in the menus if it's distracting. Examples:

• OOC "How do I upgrade? How do I do X?"
• OOC "Why is there so much lag?"
• LOOC "Did you see the touchdown in the Seahawks game?"

The Alien Life Cycle

Xenomorphs are essentially parasitic insects. A Hive has only one Queen. The Queen lays eggs. The eggs mature after several minutes. Mature eggs contain a larval facehugger. The facehugger stays in the egg until disturbed. An adult alien can grab a facehugger (click the mature egg, then click the facehugger) or it will attempt to attach itself to any host that gets close. The facehugger infects a host by implanting a pupa inside its host. Because pupas require time to mature, the Xenomorph Hive will guard infected hosts or secure them into nests to prevent escape. Once mature, the young adults burst out of the host. They are colloquially called chestbursters and Larva may be a misnomer. This kills the host. Chestbursters are extremely weak at first, but given time can evolve and mature into several much stronger forms.

Waking Up

You'll usually wake up as a Larva. Yes, you're an evil-looking snake-lizard-thingy, but you're basically a baby. You're very weak and should avoid conflict. You want to slaughter, not get slaughtered. Your first priority is to evolve into something bigger. So get out of danger and stay alive. If you wake up inside the Hive, stay there! If you wake up outside the Hive, there's a circular indicator on the right side of your screen that always points at the Queen. She's probably at the Hive, so go there. If she's outside the Hive, you may want to ask where she wants you to go. If you join late in a round, you may wake up in strange places. Remember that your first priority is to stay safe and evolve into something bigger. Please don't go awesoming around the map by yourself.

Click the [STATUS] button on the right side of your display. As a larva, you can evolve when both your indicators are at 100%. Xenos cannot evolve without an active Queen. Stay safe until these indicators reach the top. When they do, click the [ALIEN] button on the right part of your screen and click [Evolve]. Many players ask the Queen what they should evolve into, but you'll have the final decision of Drone, Sentinel, or Runner. Check the next section for details.

Who Orders Who

---

Take a look at the Alien Evolution Chart. There are four tiers of aliens. Not every player can evolve to the top, because there are only so many spots available at each tier. The Queen is at the top. She runs the Hive. The third tier (frequently called T3) are the Carrier, Hivelord, Ravager, Crusher, Boiler, and Praetorian. These are comparable to Marine officers. Look to them for leadership. The second tier (frequently called T2) are the Hunter and Spitter. These are advanced versions of the bottom tier aliens. The Drones, Runners, and Sentinels are the first tier and make up the meat and potatoes of the Hive. If it's your first game, avoid evolving past the first tier unless it's necessary for the Hive. Allow more experienced players to take these more complicated roles.

Drones are very important supporting players, but not in combat roles. It makes an excellent choice for your first game. Drones have two primary functions. The first is building walls, doors, nests, and resin to create and protect the Hive. The second is planting as many weeds as possible to expand the Hive. You can't go too wrong if you're planting weeds! All aliens are more robust on weeds. Read more about Hives.

Sentinels are the primary defenders of the Hive. This includes defending the Queen. The other primary duty is making sure that no captured hosts escape to wreck the Hive. The ability to spit neurotoxin really helps. Unless the Queen says so, you should remain inside or around the Hive at all times. If live hosts are nested, you should remain close by to stop them from escaping. At the beginning of the round, you should be guarding the Hive and shepherding any hosts.

Runners are the Hive's scouts. You're very weak at first, so don't rush out at any enemies. It's easy to tell inexperienced Runners because they tend to die quickly. Don't let that happen to you. Think of yourself as a ninja. Speed and cunning are your weapons, not brute strength. Your primary role is to scout around the Hive, identify any threats or possible hosts, and report back to the Hive. Stay in the dark. Communicate lots. At the beginning of the round, Runners are expected to quickly bring back hosts like monkeys, etc., to the Hive to be infected.

You should obey any orders given to you by your Queen. It is a hive mind and you have no free will. The only exception is if you are given orders that violate the rules. (Should you be given orders that would violate the rules then you should contact the admins.) If an alien that outranks you asks for something, try to do it. Assisting experienced players is a great way to learn the game.

Upgrading

Check your [STATUS] button on the right hand side. Unless you're a Drone (they can't upgrade), you can either [Upgrade] or [Evolve] when both meters are at 100%. Keep an eye on your status and watch for messages hinting that you're ready to upgrade. When it's time, click [Upgrade] and you'll advance in rank from "Young" to "Mature". Your strength and abilities get better every time you upgrade. Check your [STATUS] again and upgrade again when you can. Because of upgrades, the Hive gets much stronger as time progresses. You're an investment for the Hive and it's strategically very important to stay alive.

If you're new, please avoid the [Evolve] button and let more experienced players play the more advanced Xenos. Crawl before you run.

Alien Abilities

WiP

Combat

WiP

Additional Reading

---

The following are some good guides and examinations that go further into explaining other details of the game. WiP