ThrowPhone - Player Guide

Player Gameplay Flow

1. Deploy a Control Box

   1. Inventory servers: use the Control Box item in your inventory to start placement.
   2. Standalone command-mode servers: use the configured control-box command, for example /throwphone, to start placement without an item.
   3. A placement overlay appears with controls like: [E] Place [X] Cancel [←/→] Rotate [↑/↓] Raise/Lower [G] Ground Snap.
   4. Place it on the ground to deploy the Control Box in-world.

2. Use the deployed Control Box (target/interact with it)

   • Retrieve Throw Phone (direct): Takes a Throw Phone case out for you to use/throw.
   • Retrieve Throw Ball (area) (if enabled on the server): Retrieves a ball variant.
   • Return Throw Phone: Puts a Throw Phone back into the Control Box (if you have one to return).
   • Manage Throw Phones: Opens a list of Throw Phones where you can retrieve a throw phone for yourself to talk, toggle its GPS tracker, and request/view its camera feed (if available).
     • GPS tracker (when enabled/allowed) follows the current Throw Phone holder.
     • Camera feed may require approval from nearby players. See “Camera Approval Process” below.
     • If the deployed phone/case is no longer deployed (picked up/removed), camera viewing is deactivated.
   • Pack Up Control Box: Prompts a confirmation; packing up destroys all deployed phones tied to that box.

   (Some servers restrict who can use the Control Box; if so you’ll get a “no permission” message.)

   In standalone command mode, retrieved throw phone cases, balls, and managed handsets are still given to you, but they are handled through the native weapon system instead of an inventory resource.

3. Throw and deploy a Throw Phone case (creates the case in the world)

   1. With a Throw Phone case ready, you can throw it.
   2. After it lands, nearby players can interact with it.

4. Case interaction flow (what players do at the case)

   1. Open Throw Phone Case: Opens the case so the phone can be taken.
   2. Pick Up Throw Phone: A player takes the Throw Phone out of the open case and becomes the current holder/user.
   3. Optional: Place Throw Phone Back: If you’re holding the Throw Phone, you can place it back into the case.

5. Retrieve a phone from the Control Box to talk (Manage menu)

   • Go to the Control Box and open Manage Throw Phones.
   • Select the Throw Phone # you want (you’ll see who it was “Deployed by”).
   • Choose Retrieve Throw Phone to pull out the talking device for that specific deployed phone (this is only available to the appropriate player, and can be unavailable if it was already retrieved).
   • When it succeeds you’ll get the “You joined the call on Throw Phone #…” notification, and you can talk; when you stop using it, you’ll see the “left call” notification.

Camera Approval Process

Some servers require nearby players to approve camera access before you can view a Throw Phone camera feed.

1. Requesting the camera: When you select a phone in Manage Throw Phones and choose to view its camera, the server sends an approval request to players near that phone (default range is ~20m; servers can change this).
2. How nearby players approve (server-configured):
   • Dialog: A popup appears with Approve / Deny.
   • Target: A notification tells them to use the target option on the case/phone/ball: Approve Camera Request.
   • Both: Players may see the dialog and can also approve via the target option.
3. What “approved” means: Approval does not automatically start your camera view. It marks the phone as approved for a short window (default is 5 minutes), and you must choose to view the camera again to activate the live feed.
4. Timeouts / auto-stop (server-configured defaults shown):
   • If nobody approves before the approval timeout (default 5 minutes), your request times out.
   • If your camera view stays active longer than the view timeout (default 5 minutes), it automatically stops.
   • Viewing also stops if the phone/case is picked up/removed, or if you exit the camera view.