https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q-CeSJ3bjdQ&list=PLV1WaDZeiHXRhX67KHeE1cpr6NAhLRu35&index=1 Check out this short 7 video youtube playlist for some basics on gameplay, keybinds, modes, and customization.

The rest of this guide will expand into more in depth resources on these topics, but if you insist on only watching one or two, "Keybindings" and "Rubber" contain some of the most important non-obvious fundamentals to get you started.

They're all so short and concise that I recommend spending 5 minutes to use them as a tutorial.

This guide is intended as an introduction to the main aspects of the game while also linking to valuable in-depth resources found mostly on the wiki or the forums, but also youtube or other sites.

Retrocycles is an online multi-player Snake-like game with a dedicated competitive tournament scene starting in the early 2000's with monthly tournaments still going on to this day.

• Make walls to trap your opponents.
  
• Go fast!
  
• Do not crash!

• New Player Discord[discord.gg] (questions welcomed in main discord as well!)
  
• The main discord, welcome to the grid![discord.com] Here you can find where players play daily pickup games as well as dedicated channels for any topic you might find yourself needing!

Retrocycles is a rebrand of Armagetron Advanced for Steam, which is a free, open-source game first released in the year 2000 as Armagetron. Consequently, the development, sites, and documentation exist under the name Armagetron.

This central hub focused on playing the game "covers topics ranging from Advice for Beginners, a explanation of Game Physics and Components, Gameplay development, and Tactical discussion".

There's a lot of reading, but I highly recommend clicking each section over time.

The game has existed for two decades and it is unfortunately inevitable that some links are dead or some resources are missing, but the wiki and forums contain an immense amount of information.

At times you may find some broken links due to the wiki having moved. If you can't load a page, check to make sure the url is pointing to .org.
https://wiki.armagetronad.org/

Similarly, the forums have moved to "forums3" instead of forums. Most broken forums links can be fixed by just adding a "3" after "forums" in the url.
https://forums3.armagetronad.net/

Retrocycles' core gameplay depends on performing precise turns and maneuvers to keep you alive, making for a high skill ceiling across several game modes that focus on different types of winning objectives ranging from classic last man standing deathmatch to competitive team modes such as Fortress, Sumo, or Capture the Flag. There are also many more modes that will be expanded on in the Game Modes section.

In brief, it is most optimal to focus first on your own survival and everything else is secondary, even for older players. Even extremely offensive tactics never lose sight of survival as crashing results in an instant loss in all solo modes. In team modes, certain sacrificial tactics are viable, but every player alive is important--being alive means you're +1 body to apply pressure to the enemy team.


In Retrocycles, speed and managing it is extremely important. Your cycle will accelerate when near your own walls or opponents walls and decelerate when away from them.

Reducing speed more quickly can be done in two ways:
1. Braking. Brakes deplete over time and the brake key must be released in order for your brakes to replenish.
2. Turning. Each turn reduces speed by a set amount. Performing many turns in quick succession will quickly drop your speed to the minimum for that gamemode.

Rubber in Retrocycles stops your cycle from exploding immediately upon touching a wall. Deplete the entire gauge and you'll find yourself spectating until the end of the round. Managing rubber is extremely important.

When your rubber gauge is low, you have more leniency for risky turns but if you don't pay attention to it when it is high, a turn you might think is safe could easily lead to your death! Also remember to pay attention to your speed--hitting a wall at higher speed depletes rubber faster.

Braking to reduce speed can also give you more time to make a difficult turn before your rubber runs out!

In Retrocycles it is extremely common to bind multiple keys to left or right. This allows you to do a 180 very quickly and in some modes, faster than humanly possible by tapping a single key twice in a row.

Turn delay(cycle_delay) is a game setting that limits how close two turns can be to one another.

When it is very low, you can make a perfect 180 that almost looks like you didn't turn at all because your own wall is so close. 180's are referred to as "doubles" or double-binds.
At higher settings, you will see each turn clearly and three turns will make a nice square. Pressing RRR and then L for example will result in a 180 ending with you close to your wall, creating a nice square before grinding close to your wall, similar to pressing RR on a server with low turn delay.

This common type of 180 maneuver is referred to as a "triple" or triple-bind and is an extremely important staple in many modes.

At high turn delay, triples are also possible by pressing one direction very quickly, but without experience and training, this is a great way to injure yourself with repetitive strain, so using two or three buttons per turn is highly recommended.

Choosing good and comfortable keybinds is very important.

To start out, find comfortable hand positions where you will base your turns and build out from there. Many of you will find comfort around wasd or zxcv or arrow keys, start with what you like and mirror your other hand to the other side of the keyboard!

The first decision is if you're comfortable with all left turns on one hand and all right turns on the other, or a combination of left and right on each.

Secondly, determine where you want your camera glance keys. These allow you to glance quickly behind or around you. They should be nearby to your turn keys, easy and intuitive to press. Above or around is recommended. If comfortable for you, using your pinky fingers or thumbs to glance is also an option. Generally, forward glance can be ignored, but depending on your camera settings it may be important to place.

Thirdly, set your brake key(s). Using toggle brake is up to personal preference, but it is not recommended as you may spend too much time without your brake replenishing.

Finally, you may set any miscellaneous keys in Main Menu>System Setup>Misc Stuff>Global Controls.

The following example setups are right hand focused with left hand glancing and supplying supporting keys for double and triple bind turns. Please adjust the key locations as comfortable for you.

An example double-bind keybind setup:
Left: A, Left Arrow
Right: D, Right Arrow
Glances: Q Left, E Right, W Back, Shift Forward
Brake: Spacebar, Down Arrow

An example triple-bind keybind setup putting left on left hand and right on right hand:
Left: A, S, D
Right: Left Arrow, Right Arrow, Up Arrow
Glances: Q Left, E Right, W Back, Shift Forward
Brake: Spacebar, Down Arrow

An example triple-bind keybind setup splitting up left and right turns:
Left: A, Left Arrow, S
Right: D, Right Arrow, Up Arrow
Glances: Q Left, E Right, W Back, Shift Forward
Brake: Spacebar, Down Arrow

If you have a larger keyboard or a comfortable enough setup, you may wish to move your right hand from the arrow keys to okl; or a similar area which can allow for placing glances or other buttons around the right hand.

Other setups place turn keys near the bottom of the keyboard around zxc and /., with glances above, or even higher up on the keyboard at qwe and poi.

Again, find comfortable hand positions and build out from there.

There are too many mode-specific tactics to list here. For more information on specifics, check out the wiki to find your desired topic.[wiki.armagetronad.org]
For other information, search the wiki or drop your question in the discord! You'll get a response fairly quickly and maybe even find someone who can answer some more questions for you.

Starting out, you may feel lost when first viewing the Server Browser when going to play Online Multiplayer.

There are dozens of modes, but to get you started here's some information on the main modes, unordered.

In Death Match (DM) or Free-for-all(FFA), players battle it out until there is only one player left, who wins the round.

A few game modes fall under this category and can be loosely organized into "high-rubber" or "low-rubber" servers. Some servers are somewhat between high and low, but for the sake of brevity they're mostly thrown in with the other two categories.

High-rubber typically allows for more leniency as there is more rubber to deplete before your cycle explodes.

On low-rubber servers, you will find yourself dying very quickly when running into walls, forcing you to turn more quickly and largely avoid touching walls too much which would be commonly described as "putting too much rubber on walls", "using too much rubber" or "dying"(lol).

Learning when and where to apply rubber to escape or to trap opponents is an important fundamental in Retrocycles as once you have spent rubber, it takes time for it to replenish again until you can put the same amount into another wall before exploding.

Common high rubber servers are mostly labeled "High Rubber" or "HR".

Other deathmatch servers vary in rubber from low to high which include some of the following modes/servers:

• The CLASSIC Submarine
  
• Mud Puddle
  
• Loose Dogfight (ldf)
  
• Tight Dogfight or just Dogfight (df)

The goal of sumo, much like sumo-wrestling, is to stay inside of the circle (or zone) while forcing your opponents out. The circle is made up of individual zones for each player which all stack up. Your zone, instead of immediately killing you when you exit, instead spins faster and faster until it reaches the point of collapse, which then eradicates you. In order to add a time limit in case strong players are able to avoid crashing, the zone additionally shrinks over time, forcing players to battle their way to the center, fighting over valuable space.

Sumo is one of the current competitive staples of the game. Both solo and team modes exist, solo largely played in pubs and team modes mostly only played in pickups.

The sumo wiki page[wiki.armagetronad.org] is an extensive resource that goes into detail on history, strategy, and even some theory and customization.

Team Sumo Tourney or TST is the 8-player(2v2v2v2) competitive mode played in pickups daily by adding up to the queue in the discord.

War Sumo Tourney or WST is a two team sumo mode, currently played 3v3, which is a descendant of wars between clans, where clans fielded an amount of players to represent them as they vied for dominance in the community as the "top sumo clan". This is currently played occasionally in pickups, mostly when there are only 6/8 players adding up to play TST.

Sumobar and sumo are the most common terms used in server names for the solo mode.

Fortress, or fort for short, is the current main competitive 12-player 6v6 mode that sees monthly tournaments and daily pickup games. Each team attempts to capture the enemy team's zone but thwarts the enemy by creating a fortress-like defense around their own. First team to capture the enemy zone or defeat all enemy players wins the round but additional points are given for captures.

Teams start on opposing ends of the arena, splitting up their players into attackers and defenders. Teams will all grind the center players' walls at the start to gain speed, splitting off before coming into contact with enemy players and then branching out to either attack the enemy or defend their own zone.

Each team has one main defender, commonly referred to as "def". This player encircles their team's zone, protecting it from enemy capture.

The two other defenders are called "sweepers". Their goal is to block enemies attempting to get to the zone.

The final three players are the attackers. The "center" player is the primary player that all allies will grind to gain speed at the start of the game. The other two will be the last to split off and to then attack the enemy.

It is most common and recommended for newer players learning fortress to take an attacking position as their mistakes will not cause a quick loss due to a hole in the defense but also put less pressure on them to perform as the goal is to learn and improve. Focus primarily on survival and then applying pressing on the enemies defense, encouraging them to make mistakes as you learn different attacking tactics and timings.

Check out the full fortress guide written by lacka[forums3.armagetronad.net] This guide also contains a key layout example, camera customization, and more!
The fortress wiki page also has a fair bit of information[wiki.armagetronad.org]

CTF or Capture the Flag is another classic mode. Each team has a flag zone that must be captured and then returned by the enemy to their own base to score. Similarly to fortress, players commonly set up a defense around their own flag. Additionally, allies can be respawned by touching your own base zone, sometimes leading to tactics such as blocking enemies from getting to their own base to respawn their allies.

Check out the wiki page on CTF![wiki.armagetronad.org]

A high skill ceiling mode where you race against the clock to get the fastest time to the finish. This mode sometimes inverts the brake allowing you to gain even more speed. You may find toggle brake useful in these types of servers. Optimizing your turns and your route, cutting down on your time with each run can be extremely addicting, but beginners be warned--you will find yourself dying very quickly if you go too fast so for starting out I would recommend taking it more slowly.

There are a variety of other modes and tons of servers set up. Get on the grid and give them a try!

A few notable ones are: Tetris, Tunnel Trouble, and more!

The wiki page on gametypes may also contain a few not listed here.[wiki.armagetronad.org]

Retrocycles is extremely customizable and nearly every aspect is changeable. Spend some time looking around in the menus.

For customization info, check out this wiki page.[wiki.armagetronad.org]

For more information on in-game settings, check out this wiki page.[wiki.armagetronad.org]

To find related folders for editing textures, sounds, or other files, check out:
Main Menu>Help>Open Directories
or Main Menu>Help>About

Also, the console can be opened with tilde(~) or ` at the top left of your keyboard under Esc. If you enter a random term or letter it will spit out related commands. Use page up and page down to scroll through the output. A list of commands can be found on the wiki, but many of them are for server settings which can be overwhelming when starting out.[wiki.armagetronad.org]

Questions related to customization can be posted in the main discord.

If editing textures, you may also find the Graphical section on the forums useful or inspirational.[forums3.armagetronad.net]

For hud-specific(cockpit) customization I plan to make another steam guide, but for now check out the wiki page.[wiki.armagetronad.org]
Be sure to click through "Cockpits Tutorial", "Cockpits List", and "Cockpit Reference" at the top.

This version, known as 0.4, contains many improvements such as allowing players to add a minimap to their cockpit. If you enjoy the game and plan to play more, I highly recommend switching to this version.

Experimental mode is accessible in the right-click>Properties Steam settings for the game Retrocycles under "Betas". If you end up going down the rabbit hole of making your own cockpit file, I highly recommend switching to this version.

Let me know if you'd like other information added to the guide!

Feel free to ask questions in the discord as it's currently the most active and responsive place in our community and use the search function on the wiki or forums, you may just find what you need~

Have fun and I'll see you on the grid!

Reposting main links:
New Player Discord[discord.gg] (questions welcomed in main discord as well!)
The main discord, welcome to the grid![discord.com] Here you can find where players play daily pickup games as well as dedicated channels for any topic you might find yourself needing!
Main Wiki Page[wiki.armagetronad.org] Easily traverse from the main wiki page to important sections!
The Forums[forums3.armagetronad.net] Find all sorts of information from the past 20 years here, or make an account and add to it!
The Armagetron Advanced Website[www.armagetronad.org]
The Retrocycles Website[retrocycles.net]
The Retrocycles Basics Youtube playlist A great introductory resource covering all main aspects of the game!
The Fortress Guide written by lacka[forums3.armagetronad.net] This guide also contains a key layout example, camera customization, and more!