PVE:GM Handbook

Welcome to Being a Game Master

Congratulations on being selected through deliberation or welcome back from your break.

You probably have a lot of ideas, storylines, and characters you want to play out or tell to players and friends. But what now? You have your role, your access, your tools, but where does one even begin preparing a game, let alone run one?

Well, this guide is for new GMs starting to run a game; the concept, pacing, philosophy, and steps involved. For an extensive look into the tools necessary to achieve this, check out GM and Admin Tools.

This guide has sections partly inspired from BlackDragon's Mission Theory as well as a compile of guides and steps existing and scattered on Discord.

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TGS Guide to Starting the Server

Before you can begin the preparations, you need to know how to start the server. Generally speaking, when you're in training the Trainer GM will handle it for you, but this is an important aspect nonetheless.

Servers are handled by TGS Webpanel, which is a web-based connection to the server box. There are 4 servers available as of July 2025 for PvE: Red, Green, Blue, and Halo. Each servers contain a list of Test Merges or TMs which are modification of the base code that are not officially part of the game. This can range from bug fixes, to maps, to features.

Choosing Your Server and Test Merges

To access a lot of maps and features not yet in the game, as well as bug fixes, from the GitHub Pull Request List can be chosen. To start, you must have the relevant authorization linked to your CM Forums account to log into the TGS, where you'll be greeted with this page.

A list of PRs that are currently Test-Merged

From here, you can access the selected servers and Test Merge list by navigating to Repository on the left-hand side. Each servers retain the list of the last Pull Requests that have been Test-Merged. If the list of the PRs are satisfactory, then you can move onto starting the server proper.

The Quick Short List for Starting and Closing the Server

1. Log into TGS Webpanel.
2. Choose the relevant server and press Access.
3. At Repository, review, remove, or add PR TMs as needed. Click compile and check for errors.
4. At Deployment, Compile and Deploy Repository of the compiled TM List.
5. At Server, press Start
6. Once the server is ready to be closed, at Server, use Graceful Action dropdown, select Shutdown.
7. Use restart server verb in-game.

Making Your Own Test Merge List

But if none of the servers have the PRs you want Test-merged, or has something you want to take out, then you'll have to compile the list of the PRs you want instead. Generally speaking, there are some rules to be considered.

• Unless told otherwise by the PR author, do not TM draft PRs.
• Do not TM PRs with [DNTM] or "Do Not Test Merge" in the title and label.
• Do not TM PRs that changes anything with character preference such as new flavortext system, character creation option, loadout option, etc.
• If two PRs change the same files, such as 2 PRs balancing the same gun. There will likely be conflicts that disallow both PRs to be Test-merged at the same time.
• If you're not sure, ask, if there's no clear answer; simply don't Test Merge it.

It is as simple as adding and removing PRs using the minus and plus buttons.

To add the PRs you want into the TM list, scroll down towards the Test Merges list.

• To add a new PR, use the green plus button.
• To remove a PR, use the red minus button.
• To update a PR that is already in TM list, use the blue refresh button.

A new pop up will appear with the dropdown list of selectable commit versions, these are simply versions of the PR. Generally you will always want to TM the latest version of the PR.

Pressing save will confirm the PR's TM status, where you can find it in the list above.

Once everything you want has been put into a list, the second last step is to compile the Test Merges, this is to ensure that there are no code conflicts between the base game code and the PRs, as well as the PRs between themselves.

You can manually add a PR which has been closed to the TM list by inputing it's PR hash number into the "Manual Test Merge Entry" entry, then hitting the blue "Add Test Merge" button. It's inadvisable to do this with any PRs that weren't passing all their checks and closed by the github stalebot however.

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Compiling Failed

Details on the error of the deployment can be found by clicking Error Details

A sad but frequent side effect of having a lot of PRs in the TM list is a compile error caused by conflicts between the PRs and the base code or between themselves.

Just like modding a game, there are no easy way to bypass this without the creator of the PR fixing it themselves, so the PR causing the conflict must be removed.

This can be done relatively easily by checking the Error Detail below, where a pop up will appear.

• One of the relevant PRs causing the conflict can then be referred to via the PR Hash # Number as well as conflicting files.
• You may need to open the other PRs on your testmerge list to find which ones are conflicting with the one provided error details.

Successful Compile and Deploying the List

Here you can deploy the code you've compiled, usually taking no longer than a minute.

Amazing, now that you've cleared up the conflict, gotten your PR list, and is ready to start the server, the last step before doing so is to deploy the selected TMs onto the server itself.

Simply navigate to Deployment on the left-hand side and press Compile & Deploy Repository

And that's it! Wait for it to finish deploying and you're ready to start your very first server.

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Starting and Closing the Server

The action menu for starting, shutting down server in the Server tab.

To start a server, navigate to Server on the left-hand side under Deployment. Here you can see the status of the server, numbers of connected client, etc.

Scroll down to Actions section, which should look like this.

• To start the server, press Start
• To shut down the server, use the dropdown menu for Graceful Action and select Shutdown. From there you can use the restart server verb in-game where the server will not reboot once it is restarted.
• Do not force the server to stop or restart from the TGS menu unless absolutely necessary such as in the case that no GMs are able to connect to the server.

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Setting Up a Game