EscapistsReintroduced/docs/player-route.md

Player route playtest guide

This describes the intended current Everon route from source. It is a playtest guide, not an executed manual run. Use normal player input and an isolated test profile with only vanilla plus successor addons. Choose the Core base scenario or the Chat scenario for all companions; neither requires original Escapists. Record build/settings and any failed interaction using the runtime checklist.

1. Leave prison. Wait for mission preparation and your prisoner spawn. Search the prison supply box for finite weapons, ammunition and a field map. At the gate, complete “Pick prison lock” (four seconds), then walk out. Confirm the objective changes to locating the radio. A destroyed gate also has an observed physical-escape path; simply losing the gate must not immediately advance the mission.
2. Recover physical clues. Choose the marked Southern supply cache or Western supply cache. Each contains two objective folders targeting the radio, plus finite equipment. Transfer folders into your own inventory; looking inside the crate alone is insufficient. One folder can reveal only a rough search area; another identifies the station. The shared objective now acknowledges that first clue with “Intel recovered” and explains that the map marks a 500 m search square. Take a different folder to pinpoint the radio; passing the same recovered folder around does not advance discovery. An already identified radio takes precedence over rough clues from other sites. A recovered folder cannot grant another clue by dropping it or handing it around. If one cache is lost, try the other. If all documents are lost, approaching within eight metres with a clear view can identify the station itself.
3. Read the map and objective. Use your bound map control with the carried map. Rough discovery shows an approximate search area; identification gives the station's position. Confirm the label and task text update. With the Map addon, the replacement field map also has a rendered held surface; visibility to other real players still needs testing. The western cache's vehicle and nearby discoverable medical/outpost supplies are optional and finite.
4. Call for extraction. Once identified, approach the physical radio and complete “Contact extraction HQ” (eight seconds). The interaction is close-range; standing elsewhere inside the defence area does not start it. Confirm the objective changes to defending the transmission.
5. Keep a defender present. Maintain at least one living, conscious prisoner strictly inside 60 metres of the radio for the configured duration—180 seconds by default. Players can hand over defence while coverage remains continuous. If everyone leaves, becomes unconscious/dies, or disconnects, progress resets. Check the task's interruption message and remaining time; returning resumes a fresh interval.
6. Prepare the helicopter and casualties. When transmission completes, the map marks the initial helicopter pickup site, not a live aircraft tracker. Reach the actual helicopter and board using its native actions. For an unconscious living prisoner, place them on the ground beside the grounded, stationary helicopter, allow them to settle, and complete “Load casualty into extraction helicopter” on their body (five seconds). A conscious rescuer, clear access and an available transport seat are required; check actual occupancy before departing. To unload, use the helicopter's inherited casualty-removal action at its door. Held-action usability and remote ownership remain playtest requirements despite separate scripted loading/removal evidence.
7. Fly out together. Pilot the assigned helicopter beyond the escape distance shown in the objective—nine kilometres horizontally from the prison by default. During extraction, living participants physically aboard count as escaped, including unconscious passengers; dead or absent participants do not. Results are frozen when escape resolves, so collect the intended survivors first. Losing the assigned helicopter causes defeat; it is not replaced.

Action prompts now explain the locked gate, radio identification requirement, current transmission phase and conscious-player requirement. These messages describe the existing availability checks; the server still revalidates each action when performed. Confirm their visibility and clearing during a real playtest; native UI presentation has not yet been checked.

Record inventory transfers, map/task updates, interrupted defence, medical/casualty interactions, real piloting, partial results and restart. A completed local route still does not establish remote reconnects, twelve-player behavior or improved FPS. The separate automated vertical-flight fixture is not an extraction autopilot. Current status distinguishes those acceptance gaps from source-bound native evidence.

Source references: objective text, site stock, document recovery, radio rules, casualty loading and extraction.

The rough-clue acknowledgement is source-policy tested for unknown, rough and exact radio states and multiple-site ordering. Its ordinary native task/hint presentation remains pending; it uses the existing shared objective text and adds no separate notification or inventory effect. The normal carried map is sufficient in Core; the optional Map addon is not required.