Getting down there

From the map to the street

Walking runs on a computer whose graphics card can draw the street in 3D. Phones and tablets keep the map.

1. 01Open the city

   The City tab in the top bar: the map, every tower on it.
2. Walk W

   02Press W

   Or the Walk button in the map's tool row.
3. 03Click a spot

   A street, a sidewalk, a plaza, a park or the beach. Esc changes your mind.
4. 04You land

   The camera swoops down and you're on your feet. ← Map (or Esc) takes you back up.

The walk needs a window of 1000 × 540 or more. The in-game phone needs a little more, 1024 × 640: in between, you walk with the top bar instead of the phone.

Graphics

The street minds its own frame rate

The walk draws on one of three quality tiers: high, medium or low. It picks one for your computer and moves between them by itself, so the street stays smooth.

1. 01It picks a tier

   From your graphics chip, your memory and what this browser remembers of your last walk. A quality you set by hand is where it starts.
2. 02It steps down

   A few seconds of slow frames and it drops a tier. A walk that is crawling goes straight to low.
3. 03It climbs back

   Half a minute at your screen's full pace, and it tries the tier above again. Your next walk starts where this one settled.
4. 04After a crash

   If the tab died on the street, the next walk starts a tier lower and says so. Twice running, it starts on low and stays there.

• Settings · GraphicsIn your phone's Settings app: Auto, Low or High, the quality switch the whole game uses, with what it is running on now. Low keeps the walk on low.
• Copy graphics infoUnder that switch (and on the map's line when Walk is off): it copies a short block of plain text about your graphics chip, screen and browser, and how the city runs on them. Nothing about you or your wallet. Paste it to the team on the phone's Dev Line if the city runs badly.

On foot

The keys

The street shows the ones you need where you need them, and fades its hints once you're moving.

Finding your way

The minimap and the city map

The minimap in the top right shows the streets round you. M opens the whole city over the street, without leaving it: the game goes on underneath.

• + / −The button in the minimap's top corner makes it twice the size, or puts it back. Your browser keeps the choice; the leaderboards and the rest of that column move down to make room.
• Map MThe city map: press M, click the minimap, or use its map button (on a touch screen, tap it). M or Esc closes it.
• NThe compass in the minimap's corner: north stays up, or the map turns with you.

• You are the brass arrow in a ring, pointing the way you face. The map opens centred on you and follows you until you drag it.
• Players near you are cream dots (a wedge in a car, a plane in the air); friends are sky blue, and friends further off show with a dashed ring. Point at one to see who it is.
• The police chasing you show while you have heat, and the districts, the landmarks, the venues, your tower and your friends' towers are named.
• While it is open your keys belong to the map: a car you were driving coasts, and nothing moves you until you close it.

Say it without words

Nine emotes

Press a number, or hold Q and point at one on the wheel. Everyone near you sees it over your head.

1. 1Wave
2. 2Dance
3. 3Cheer
4. 4Clap
5. 5Sit
6. 6Thumbs up
7. 7Laugh
8. 8Point
9. 9Facepalm

The ones with a green edge also work sitting down: wave, cheer, clap and thumbs up. There is a short wait between emotes.

The camera

Looking around

On foot you turn the camera by dragging. In a car or an aircraft the camera follows behind you, and the right mouse button lets you look round.

Wheels

Cars, in short

Your car lives in your garage; one comes out at a time. Cars and racing have their own part of the guide.

• G GarageOpens your garage on the phone. Get it out parks it right beside you.
• E Get inWalk up to its door and press E; E again gets you out.
• L LockLocked, nobody else gets in. Unlocked and stopped, anyone can hop in as your passenger with E.
• C Seat viewRiding along, C switches between the view behind the car and looking round from your seat.

Pictures

Photo mode

P (or the phone's Camera) puts every panel away, the phone too, and frees the camera.