Editing Tremulous (section)

== Gameplay ==

''Tremulous'' is a [[first-person shooter]] featuring opposing humans and alien teams, with some elements of [[real time strategy]]. Players must build and protect a base which is essential for their survival. The base is used primarily to allow them to [[Spawning (computer gaming)|respawn]] and as a secure location to heal. Builders access a build menu and select the building they wish to construct. The desired structure then appears as a translucent, colored version of itself which slides along the ground in front of the builder to allow placement. Each building takes up a certain number of build points available to each team. The total build points available is determined by server settings and puts limits on how large the bases can become, causing a point of difference in gameplay from server to server. In addition, most games enter a "sudden death" or "SD" mode ten to fifteen minutes before the draw/tie time limit. This is a period when all build points are taken away, effectively disabling the ability to build all buildings except the overmind/reactor and some server-specific structures.

The teams do not have access to all possible upgrades at the beginning of the game. Each team must accrue a number of kills in order to advance to the next developmental stage, of which there are three (commonly referred to as S1, S2, and S3, or Stage 1, 2, and 3). The point at which a stage change occurs varies dynamically depending on the number of players on each team. Each new stage brings more upgrades for the humans and more classes for the aliens. Both teams acquire new buildings at each new stage. In addition to requiring a certain stage, each human item or alien class must be purchased using currency earned in game. Players earn currency by killing enemies, after which the player will earn an amount of currency relative to how much damage he did, and how upgraded his opponent was.

A match ends when all players of a team have been killed and all of their spawn points have been destroyed.

The two sides have different strengths and weaknesses:

* Humans utilize various weapons, armors and other high-tech equipment (such as the jet pack) as a means to upgrade their combat abilities. They are primarily suited for ranged fighting and need a strong, defensible base in order to survive. They can save up to 2000 "credits" for purchasing upgrades at the armory, which range from 70 to 600 credits in price.

* Aliens evolve into a new form in order to upgrade their abilities, most of which only have [[melee]] attacks. Not only do all alien forms have the ability to regenerate hit points over time, aliens also can evolve anywhere as long as there is an overmind. This allows them to function largely independent of their base, which is often weaker than human base and is usually spread out as a defense mechanism.  In order to hit with their melee attacks, aliens use their mobility, smaller classes having the ability to crawl on walls or jump off walls, larger classes having the ability to pounce or charge.  To evolve, aliens earn "evolution"or"evo" points in the same way as humans earn credits, for a maximum of 9 evo points. From the wall-crawling Dretch to the charging Tyrant, each successively larger class costs 1 additional evo point, with advanced forms (which are available for all classes except for Dretches and Tyrants) costing one additional evo and having slightly more [[hit points]] and an additional attack. Also, while an evolve from a standard Marauder (2 evolve points) to a Dragoon (3 evolve points) only costs 1 evo, evolving from an advanced Marauder to a Dragoon costs 2 evos.