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Co-op

Two players share one screen and one run. The rewrite also plays three or four. This page collects the co-op rules and links to the pages with the details.

Playing together

  • Pick 2 players from the player list in the Play Game menu, then a mode. The rewrite lists up to 4 players.
  • Survival, Rush and Quests play in co-op. Typ-o-Shooter and the Tutorial disappear from the menu.
  • Set each player's aiming method, moving method and keys in Options → Controls, under Configure for. The Level Up key sits on player 1's page and opens the menu for the whole team.
  • There is one mouse. Two players on Mouse aiming share one crosshair.
  • The Computer aiming and moving methods hand a player to the game's autopilot.
  • In the rewrite, player 1 uses the first gamepad and player 2 the second. A player still on the stock bindings switches to twin-stick controls the first time they use their pad.
  • Player 1 is tinted blue, player 2 orange.
  • Each player count keeps its own high-score tables.

What you share

  • XP and level. One pool. Every kill, by anyone, and every Points bonus adds to it. Survival's creature mix and milestone waves read the team's XP and level.
  • Perks. One set: a pick applies to everyone. Perks notes how each one works in co-op.
  • The perk menu. One sign for the team. Open it with the Level Up key, Space or keypad +, or click the sign. The game pauses for everyone while the menu is open. It opens while anyone is alive.
  • Most bonus timers. Weapon Power Up, Double Experience, Reflex Boost, Freeze and Energizer run for the whole team. See Bonuses.
  • The score. One entry for the team. Kills, shots fired and hit % count everyone. The most-used weapon on the score card is player 1's.

What each player has

  • 100 HP. Creatures and enemy shots hurt only the player they hit.
  • A weapon, clip and reload. Weapon bonuses and MediKits go to whoever picks them up.
  • Shield, Speed and Fire Bullets timers.

If two players reach a bonus at the same moment, both collect it: a Nuke goes off twice.

In the original the Reload key doesn't reload in co-op: your gun reloads only when the clip runs dry. The rewrite reloads on the key in co-op too (bug 40). It is one key for the team, so it reloads every player who can.

Six perks are never offered with two players: Grim Deal, Alternate Weapon, Fatal Lottery, Random Weapon, Final Revenge and Highlander (see how perk offers work). The rewrite leaves them out with three or four players too.

More players, more creatures

Creatures don't get tougher in co-op. There are just more of them.

  • Survival: the spawn clock runs once per player, so two players face twice the stream. See Survival.
  • Rush: creature pairs arrive twice as often. See Rush.
  • Quests: some quests add creatures or nests for each extra player. See Quests.

With three or four players the rewrite scales the same way.

Targeting and the camera

Each creature chases the nearer living player and switches when the other one gets closer or its target falls; see Co-op targeting. It only bites the player it's chasing.

The camera centres on the midpoint between the living players. When one falls it follows the survivor. Nothing holds you together: walk apart and one of you can leave the screen.

Death and game over

When one player falls, the other plays on. The run ends 0.8 s after the last player falls. A quest fails only when every player is down.

A fallen player's body stays where it fell and still collects bonuses. If the killing blow left them above −10 HP, a MediKit that lands within reach of the body brings them back; see Death.

The quest life bonus counts every player's health, a fallen player's too; see Quests.

Friendly fire

Off by default. Open the console with ~ and enter cv_friendlyFire 1.

Your shots then hit your partner for 10 HP each, Fire Bullets, perk rings and Fireblast included. Shield blocks the hit; nothing else reduces it. Flames, rockets, explosions and Shock Chain never hurt a partner.

Single-player only

  • Typ-o-Shooter and the Tutorial.
  • The Shrinkifier 5k and Blade Gun handouts in Survival. See Secret weapons.
  • Ranked runs in the rewrite.

Player-one quirks of the original

The original reads player 1's state in places where it should read each player's own. Regeneration heals only player 1; Doctor, Pyrokinetic and Evil Eyes follow player 1's crosshair; either player's Fire Bullets converts both players' shots. The rewrite fixes all of these by default, along with the Reload key's single-player gate. Classic quirks lists them all.