[ShankNinja's] QUICK-START USER GUIDE

**ShankNinja** · September 14, 2020

DARK RP - NEW TO EXPERT - TIPS AND TRICKS - ALL(Most)-IN-ONE

Whether you're new to DarkRP, stuck, or just want to improve your efficiency or understanding of the server you've come to the right place.

First, lets go over the basics: Bases, Weapons, Money, in that order.

BASES

The reason I start with basing is because a proper Base is the best way to make money in DarkRP. It is known to veterans, but for new players: Money printers and drug manufacturing produce the most money and XP per hour. Anyone can buy a set of doors, hide a printer, and make a few bucks without much effort; but there will be a large amount of people who see your base and want to break in and raid.

How can you stop someone from just walking in, taking your printer, and walking out?

1. Buy the External Doors using the F2 key (you must own them all)

(F2 bound to something else? just bind a key to "gm_showteam" using the console command:

bind f2 gm_showteam

This can be any key you want.)

(you can lock the doors using the Key tool - but only you will be able to lock/unlock, and it’s very easy to pick open so I personally don’t even bother with it)

2. Pull out the 3D2D Textscreen Tool and set the first line to Size 40, put 'Building' in the text and shoot the outside of your base. This should put up a Text Screen that says Building

(refer to the Building and Basing rules; the above allows you to build your base without raids. You cannot have any "raidables" in the base such as Money Printers or Drugs with this sign up, or a KOS sign)

https://garnetgaming.net/forums/index.php?/darkrp/rules

3. Build a "Killbox". You're going to want a path that potential raiders can walk through, this can be as long as you want but cannot be a maze and is subject to prop limitations.

(extremely basic killbox above; blocks the sides and the top. the front is the entrance. the top prevents people who buy Jump Height perk from just jumping over your walls, like Knoxx did to me when I first started shortly before laughing at me and telling me I need some work ;Þ)

4. Build FOUR 'Fading Doors'. These are any four props that will be toggled in and out of existence, 'fading' from view and allowing someone to enter.

(I am using 50 units of distance, which isn't the minimum but it is a comfortable amount)

Notice I've also added some side ramps, allowing you to shoot through the top gap without use of buttons.

5. Using the Fading Door Tool, shoot each door with the following settings:

The Fade key will be which key you're tying to which door. For our purposes it goes in order RGBY 1234, Red=1, Green=2, Blue=3, Yellow=4) I am using Numpad 1-Numpad 4, as these keys aren't used often and thus will ensure I don't accidentally hit these. You will not be manually hitting any key, so if you find yourself using the numpad often find a different four keys that you're fine not using.

Do not use Toggle! Ensure none of the above boxes are checked!

6. Using the Keypad Tool (NOT KEYPAD - WIRE! THIS TOOL DOES NOT WORK!!!) you will then tie each Access Granted to the Fade Key.

You want ALL OF THE CHECKBOXES CHECKED. Secure Mode will mask the keys so they show up as **** instead of 1234, Weld will stick it to the prop you shoot and Freeze will... freeze it.

Hold Length: This will be set to 6 seconds at minimum. The rules forbid any shorter than 6 seconds. This determines how long the door stays Faded.

7. Create up to 8 Keypads (one for entry, one for exit) each pair having the same Access Granted Key:

You will want to test and ensure that these tie to the correct fences. I am using my staff tool to demonstrate the linkage for informational purposes however:

You will likely also want to change your BUILDING sign to say "KOS", still maintaining a minimum size of 40. This will enable you to kill anyone on sight that enters your base while they're inside.

Even if you don't have a KOS sign, you're still allowed to kill raiders if they're actively in a raid on your base.

What does all of this do? It enables you and everyone you are Basing with to go in and out of your base using a Secret Code, and defend your base from anyone trying to break in without it. This is the fundamental core of all that is base building.

Your killbox along with how you set up your 'Peeks' (shooting slots that you can use a button to shoot the enemy through) will determine how effective your base will be at deterring raiders. This alone could use an entire guide, but for now my recommendation is to do what I did when I started and try to raid every single base you can find. You will notice a difference between bases that can be raided easily, and bases that are seemingly impossible without 5 legendary raider gods and the owner being AFK.

Some notes I'd make on the above base design is there's too much room for each Fence which would allow for a few people to come through at a time, rather than one at a time. Also, the side walls could be made more advanced by implementing a shoot slot so that the raiders can be shot from both sides as well as the front, which is why I added some simple ramps. Barricades and fortifications will both improve your base and, in my opinion, is a huge part of the fun of base building; you'll come up with a design that meets your needs and you'll be able to expand and change it as you learn.

After you've built your base, it's entirely possible, if not highly probable, that someone still breaks into your base, through all four keypads, and gets all of your printers while simultaneously killing everyone in your base. At this point, focus on all of the flaws of your base and how you can prevent them from successfully getting in. In addition, the more people you have defending the more odds you'll have of success, assuming they're able to kill people without being instant sandbags (just add water!)

Here's an example of the same location, but a little bit more advanced:

WEAPONS

There are plenty of weapons in DarkRP - if there weren't it wouldn't be any fun. Due to Garnet, Proggy, and community feedback we have more guns than ever before. So where to start?

GUN DEALERS - UNBOX - DONATION

WEAPON DEALERS: WHAT'S THE DIFFERENCE?

Export Gun Dealer and Import Gun Dealer have different inventories; that's it.

Export Gun Dealer: (Left is Normal, Right is Shipment which is a stack of 10 and a better deal)

Import Gun Dealer:

You are NOT allowed to self-supply (become a gun dealer, buy guns, and pocket them) if there is any gun dealer that is able to serve you available. However, knowing which guns are available and how much they cost the seller, will make the purchasing decision easier.

Now, which ones of these dealer weapons are actually any good? I'll go in order of my preferences:

SHOTGUNS

Remington 870

USAS

Spas 12

(people will agree to disagree on the order of the above, but no other dealer shotguns are even worth considering)

SNIPERS

Barrett M82

(I don't know much on dealer snipers, all I know is this one is good)

PISTOLS

Desert Eagle

Glocks (Auto and Semi Auto)

SW 500 or SW 627

(in no particular order, purely playstyle. Deagle/Revolver are hard hitting and Glock is fast as fuck boi)

ASSAULT RIFLES

FAL

M4A1

FAMAS

(in no particular order, purely playstyle. Single, Automatic, or Burst)

In order to get Rocket Launchers, you will need to use !unbox to open either the Pirate Treasure or Forbidden Case. I will allow you to look into what each has by clicking it ingame to decide if the ten times pricier case is worth it to you:

Other cases in the above list will include Top-Tier weapons such as the below tier list which I've compiled:

DRAGON LORE AWP SNIPER RIFLE

BARRETT M82 DRAGON SNIPER RIFLE (non-noscope but more damage than Dragon Lore)

STRIKER-12 SHOTGUN

DOUBLE-BARREL SHOTGUN

FG42 'LMG' (it's basically an assault rifle but it's accurate as FUCK)

ARES SHRIKE

I can't be bothered to use more than the above list . These are also all available via the Donation Portal for real money, or you can exchange ingame currency for credits (several hundred thousand ingame dollars = 1 real American dollar, ex. 300K=1Credit in donator store)

Donating for any weapon on the DarkRP store will grant you the ability to use that gun every single life and for every character (unless the rules don't allow it - i.e. a Hobo using a Dragon Lore when they are only allowed Pistols and Knives)

If you don't donate and Die with any items, you will lose them. If you cherish a weapon like it's your baby or you have a super expensive launcher, you will want to Drop the weapon (in a safe place), and Crouch+Pick it up

(this will store it in your Inventory Tool - a SWEP on your 2nd weapon slot. Right-click with Inventory Pickup in your 'hands' to access your inventory, which will last through death)

MONEY

Now that you know about all of the weapons, have you ever considered how on earth you're going to afford any of them?! Now this can be one of the funnest things about DarkRP or it can be the most boring, depending on how you go about it.

Generally, there are two ways to make money: Jobs/Roleplay and Printers

JOBS/ROLEPLAY

If you've somehow found this guide and haven't made it past level 2, the Deliveryman is good for you. No, it's not the best moneymaking job in the game (though it is severely underrated) but it is completely free and likely won't get you killed. Just type /delivery while the Deliveryman, and you will be directed to markers on your screen

Meth Manufacturer and Crack Manufacturing are also very good ways of making money, and likely the best jobs for it. I'd list Weed Cultivator in here but it's a total waste of time, so do not bother unless your roleplay involves being a weed grower and you have a lot of patience balancing top-heavy pots in Source engine.

Police Officers make money on arrests. It's not much, but if you want to roleplay making a living as a cop, this is for you.

Gun Dealers (explained earlier in the guide) make their money by buying items from their dealer menu and selling it at an upcharge.

Drug Dealer is the same as Gun Dealers, requiring you to deal to actual players, but a little more niche. The Cocaine a Drug Dealer sells is a protip for getting to Deliveries faster if you're on a budget however!

Security Guards make money charging a rate (you create the rate you want to charge usually) to defend a base or shop. This is purely roleplay- there's no mechanic involved.

Hitman and Assassin make their money through the built in /hits system. Players place a hit using /placehit and then the Hitman/Assassin accepts it, getting 10 minutes and a Mantracker to find your target and kill them.

Bounty Hunters make money by enforcing Bounties-a system generated 'hitman' like system where you're tasked with killing someone who evaded the cops.

There are plenty of other jobs that I haven't listed, but these are the main ones that people actually do and enjoy.

MONEY PRINTERS

The bread and butter of DarkRP. Everyone you see with fat stacks of bills has seen a lot of time cooped up in a base with the sound of a fuckload of printers cracking away at making loads of cash. You've made it past Basing and Weapons so now you are ready to learn the way of the Money Printer.

Why did I make you wait? Well, as explained above, if your base is built wrong or you don't have any good weapons people will just take your money printers from you. It's important to realize making money is more about having a well defended and fortified base than it is having a ton of money printers! You can have 100 printers and in the course of a few minutes someone comes in and blows up half of them, stealing the rest.

Luckily, you've gone through my expertly-crafted tutorial already so I don't have to explain any further what a proper base and weapons are.

Back to the F4 menu, click on Entities, and buy 2 Money Printers (in your base!!!)

You will be able to upgrade these up to level 7/10 if you're not a VIP donator, and 10/10 if you are. If you aren't don't worry! You can get a trusted VIP to upgrade it for you and pay the difference, sometimes including a tip if necessary.

A Maxed Printer earns 100,000$ an hour requiring 500$ every 20 minutes for each cooler. So having two maxed printers will net you just under 200,000$ an hour!

You can use alt accounts or try to buy printers from people to raise this even higher, but both of those options carry risks. What if you buy a printer from someone and they disconnect right away? Not much can be done. What if you upgrade all your alts printers (costing roughly 100,000$ each) only to have the server crash, you get raided, or your power goes out? You have to manage your risk tolerance so as to not gamble away all that you have.

This concludes my guide. I have spent a little over two hours compiling, preparing, and formatting it to somewhat not look like ass. I then had to re-format it to work in Google Docs, and finally again re-format it for the forums. If you enjoyed it, please let me know and I will continue to provide and revise my guides in the future! Please let me know if you can think of anything I should add to this guide or if I should cover something else in the future!

Edited September 14, 2020 by ShankNinja
perpetual revisions