Gunman Contracts - Stand Alone Beginner Guide

The best first-hour route

Use this order: choose one input mode → visit the Hive → complete three short drills → lock one dependable loadout → start the first story contract. It gives you a controlled place to learn before the game starts measuring contract times and challenge scores.

Do not spend the first hour switching between every weapon. A stable baseline is more useful than variety: if a run fails, you want to know whether the problem was your route, your aim or your setup.

Settings to decide before a scored run

The live build supports VR and non-VR, including Steam Deck, and separates VR and non-VR leaderboards. Make the important comfort decisions before chasing a score.

VR checklist

• Confirm that OpenXR launches through the runtime you actually use.
• Choose standing or seated play based on your space, then check that holsters and interaction points are reachable.
• Test turning, crouching and two-handed aiming in the Hive before entering a contract.
• If motion comfort is a concern, begin with short training sessions and change one setting at a time. The store page confirms OpenXR standing/sitting support, but the complete VR comfort menu must still be checked in the live build.

Non-VR and Steam Deck checklist

• Pick mouse/keyboard or controller and keep the same input through your first training comparison.
• Set sensitivity by tracking a target smoothly, not by copying a value from another game.
• On Steam Deck, favor stable readability and frame pacing over maximum visual settings. Official support does not mean every player will prefer the same preset.
• Compare scores only with the non-VR leaderboard, because VR and non-VR boards are separate.

A three-drill Hive warm-up

The Hive contains a classic range, pop-up target practice, a speed-shooting course and holographic combat training. Use them as a diagnosis loop rather than random target shooting.

1. Accuracy drill: fire deliberately at a fixed target. If the first shot is accurate but follow-ups spread, work on pacing or recoil recovery.
2. Transition drill: move between three targets. Watch whether you over-swing past the next target or stop short.
3. Pressure drill: use the speed course or holographic area. Your goal is not a record; it is to finish without losing control after one miss.

After the drills, choose the weapon that produces the most repeatable result. A later unlock may be stronger in a specific role, but official information does not provide final damage values, prices or a universal tier list.

Build your first useful loadout

The Early Access build includes 18 weapons, per-weapon attachments, a compound bow and knives. For the first contract, use a simple loadout rule:

• Choose a primary weapon you can reload without looking away from the fight.
• Add an attachment only when you can name the problem it solves: sight visibility, target acquisition, control or low-light readability.
• Keep a close-range fallback in mind, but do not assume knives or the bow work identically in VR and flat play until the live build confirms their controls.
• Test the exact configuration in the Hive. Changing several parts at once makes it impossible to know what improved the run.

The weapons and attachments guide has a fuller testing worksheet.

How to approach the first story contract

Early Access begins with three connected contracts: a safehouse outside the city, a syndicate-run harbor warehouse district and a mobster restaurant with a hidden lower level. The publisher separately describes the Warehouse objective as infiltrating a trafficking operation, eliminating its leader and freeing captives.

For a first run, prioritize information over speed:

1. Read the live objective whenever the route becomes unclear.
2. Check interaction prompts before deciding a door or object is decorative.
3. Notice where the game establishes checkpoints and what is lost after death.
4. Learn which spaces provide cover, retreat room and a clean line to the next objective.
5. Finish once before optimizing. A leaderboard route built from partial knowledge usually wastes more time than a calm reconnaissance run.

Exact doors, keys, enemy counts and extraction triggers may differ in the release build, so use the live objective text as your route anchor.

Which mode should you play after the first contract?

• Choose Takedown when you want a finite encounter and a controlled way to test enemy type/count settings or a loadout change.
• Choose Last Stand when your controls are settled and you want to test endurance, bomb response and recovery across escalating waves.
• Return to the story when you want connected objectives and campaign progression rather than a score-focused arena.

See the challenge mode comparison before choosing a practice loop.

Mistakes that make the opening harder

• Copying an old Half-Life: Alyx mod route or control binding into the standalone game.
• Entering a leaderboard run before testing the same weapon and input mode in the Hive.
• Changing sensitivity, weapon and attachment after every failed attempt.
• Treating a preview screenshot as proof of final prices, unlock order or stats.
• Comparing a VR score with a non-VR score.
• Restarting immediately after one mistake instead of identifying whether the loss came from aim, route knowledge or resource use.

First-session checklist

Before you stop playing, you should be able to answer five questions: Which input mode feels best? Which weapon is most repeatable? What causes your misses? Where does the game communicate the active objective? Which activity should you use next—story, Takedown or Last Stand? If you can answer those, your second session will begin with a plan instead of another hour of menu switching.

Version 0.3.1.0 (September 22): what changed after launch

The first patch after Early Access launch is smaller than a full update but worth knowing before you chase scores:

• Cheat-check loopholes were closed, which previously allowed wrong scoring and leaderboard entries. If a run from before this patch reports an implausible score, this is why.
• Leaderboard lists now display correctly.
• Doors have the correct sound on open.
• New scoring rule: missed targets in the target parcours now carry point penalties, while still letting you finish the run. A clean run beats a fast one.
• VR reloading: chest-bump reloads were added for rifles and shotguns (bring the weapon to your chest and hold until it refills).
• VR grip: a Toggle Grip option in the controls settings switches weapon and smartphone grabbing between hold and toggle.
• VR hands: hands no longer clip into walls (a distance check was added), and they are visible on the result screens again.
• Performance: graphics options were rearranged into clearer bundles, GPU instancing was added to scene materials to reduce CPU usage, and the Outpost map received culling changes.