Introduction

Gameplay

Weapons

Upgrades

Editor

Sharing Maps

Commands

Troubleshooting

So What Kind of Game is This, Anyway?

At its core, Cult of the Wind is a community-driven arena shooter with unorthodox mechanics. Players take the role of people pretending to be airplanes, running around with their arms out to the side and imitating weapons. Though the weapons are imaginary, they do perform proper hit-detection and damage like real ones. Under the hood it operates similarly to many multiplayer shooters - but several rules are introduced that make things considerably more interesting.

Gameplay

Welcome to Cult of the Wind, initiate. This quick-start guide will grant you basic knowledge of the sacred rite of human dogfights. If you've ever joined a cult before you're probably familiar with the basics of forced arena combat, but Cult of the Wind introduces some unique rules that make dogfights more interesting:

1. Your damage is based on speed. The faster you run, the more damage you do to enemies. Why? Because you're an airplane, and airplanes can't fight if they're not moving. Don't bother camping at the enemy base or sniping from a distance. Unless you're running at full-tilt your imaginary bullets aren't going to leave a scratch. Keep moving and keep an eye on your damage meter.

2. You have limited fuel. Again, why? Again, because you're an airplane. You can't fly forever, so look out for magenta box kites that could contain precious aviation fuel. If you run out, you crash and burn, by which I mean you flop onto the ground and play dead for a few seconds. Don't let it happen.

3. You can fall long distances without dying. Okay, airplanes can't do this, I think...but you wouldn't be much of an aircraft if you couldn't reach incredible heights and attack opponents below. Charge up your jumps and launch yourself from catapults. You might break your ankles, but at least you won't break character because that is a sin.

4. You need to CHARGE your jumps. Rather than jumping on a whim you need to charge your jumps by holding the jump button. It takes about two seconds to fully charge, at which point letting go will launch you into the air. This is important because other players need to read your intentions before you act. This allows synchronized movement between team mates and makes tracking enemies easier.

Many items can be acquired during gameplay, each falling under one of three categories identified by a paper box kite surrounded by fireflies. Magenta kites provide an instantaneous Supply of either fuel, health, or primary ammunition. Purple kites contain an Upgrade ability that grants a temporary strategic boost, and Orange kites contain a Weapon. Items are assigned randomly on contact and cannot be recharged once used.

Weapons

	Wulfe Auto-Cannon	Standard machine gun.
	Mallard Heavy Repeater	Heavy machine gun. Slow rate of fire.
	Bertha Gatling Cannon	Very high rate of fire. Low accuracy.
	Ruby Anti-Aircraft Laser	High-accuracy laser. Medium damage.
	8.6 Gigavolt Rail Driver	High-damage rail gun. Slow reload time.
	Albatross Dumbfire Rockets	Medium-damage explosive. Hold Fire to arm, release to explode.
	Hellshrike Guided Missiles	Medium-damage explosive. Hold Fire to arm, release to explode.
	Pressure-Detonated Payload	High-damage bomb. Best if used from above target. Hold Fire to arm, release to explode.

Upgrades

	High-Heat Phosphor Countermeasure	Flare. Harmlessly detonates nearby enemy explosives.
	High-Velocity Rounds	Temporarily increases damage for all weapons.
	Titanium Cladding	Briefly makes you invulnerable.
	Pneumatic Ejector Seat	Launches you high into the air.
	Auxiliary Fuel Tank	Fills your fuel tank half-way.
	Handi-Lad Quick Patch	Repairs you by a small amount.
	Hyperlaminar Turboprop	Doubles your speed for a few seconds.
	Flashback	Transforms you into an invulnerable airplane and dashes forward rapidly.

Editor

The Editor is a robust yet simple tool for building maps. It's designed to be usable by anyone and can be accessed from the main menu. Cult of the Wind is a largely community-driven game and making maps is part of the experience. Anything you make in the Editor can be shared with other players via the Share menu during a game. You can also try the map at any time by pressing the Test button in the upper-right corner.

Brushes are simple geometric shapes that can be reshaped by dragging the orange arrows or re-colored by sliding the material selector in the top-left. Brushes form the bulk of any map and can be turned into floors, walls, ramps, doors, staircases, and much more. A grass brush also exists for covering surfaces in greenery.

Plants and Props are functional decorations that add detail to your maps. Effects provide atmosphere in the form of ambient sounds and particles, and Gameplay objects are used to construct the rules of your map. Gameplay can change quite drastically depending on which items are added. For example, adding flags and goals automatically makes a capture-the-flag map, while leaving them out results in a team deathmatch.

Use the Properties tab on the right to adjust the lighting and color of your map. Proper shadowing and atmosphere can turn a dull map into an exciting one.

Note: Beware of the map's file size. Maps are sent to every player on a server and excessively large files can result in lag.

Sharing Maps

During gameplay, you can open the menu at any time and click Share to view the Share Menu. If you have any maps installed you can send them to the host by clicking the name under Available Maps. After this, the host can enter the Share Menu and load the map you just sent by clicking the name under Shared Maps. This way everyone can play the map you created, even if you aren't hosting.

You can also publish and subscribe to maps using Steam Workshop.

Commands

Type these in the chat box without brackets.

Troubleshooting

People can't connect to my server.

Not all computers are suitable hosts. If you are behind a router, you may need to forward the port specified in the Host screen. Every router is different, so consult your manual. If this doesn't work, your internet setup may not be capable of NAT Punchthrough. This is a method used to connect remote computers and is required for hosting modern online games. In this case, you must change your internet setup, upgrade your hardware, or host from a different location.

I can't connect to some servers.

Some hosts, as described above, are not capable of NAT Punchthrough. If the host is behind a router it may be impossible for some players to connect. Encourage the host to forward the necessary port or try a different server. If that doesn't work, try adding a firewall exception for cultofthewind.exe.

Hosting becomes unstable after a while.

The log file is probably becoming bloated and takes too long to write. Run the game with the -nolog command line parameter.