Welcome to our Garry’s Mod Tardis Rewrite Controls Guide. A guide to using the Tardis Rewrite (or just TARDIS as of writing, its predecessor mod is now called Tardis Legacy).
Garry’s Mod Tardis Rewrite Controls Guide
The goal of this guide is to be a teacher and a quick reference if need be. It also includes how redecoration works, basics for noobs, and military use.
All Controls of the Type 40 Tardis
The following is a list of all controls and their functions in no particular order for quick reference:
Space-time throttle: starts dematerialization/rematerialization
Time-rotor handbrake: blocks dematerialization from happening
Vortex flight: turn off or on the ability to fly through the vortex (basically enables or disables fast teleporting)
H.A.D.S: Hostile Action Displacement System, Tardis will auto warp away and to a random location if harmed or picked up by a physics gun
Fast return protocol: forces Tardis to warp back to previously landed location (bypasses vortex flight, cannot be initiated in vortex)
Toggle screen: enables the digital screens in the Tardis, can be used to access things that may not be on the physical console or you are unable to find
Engine-release: forces the tardis to demat even with handbrake enabled (only works as the tardis “spins down” after pulling the space-time throttle)
Cloaking device: turns Tardis invisible
Anti-gravs: enables 0 grav on the Tardis making it float as if it where in space
Flight-mode: enables flying of the Tardis outside of the time vortex
Spin direction/toggle spin: enables and changes the rotation of the Tardis while flying (some times the controls are 2 seperate things depending on the interior choice)
Power switch: turns Tardis off and on (disables other things if enabled except being invisible)
More All Controls of the Type 40 Tardis – Garry’s Mod Tardis Rewrite Controls Guide
Self-repair: Tardis will repair itself if any damage was taken, occupants of Tardis have to leave it for it to begin
Redecoration: changes Tardis design to specified choice (will be random if you have not selected a new design)
Isomorphic security system: blocks other players from using controls of your Tardis
Coordinates: save, load, and plug in specific points on any map
Door switch: open and closes Tardis main door
Door lock: locks and unlocks Tardis main door
Lock down mechanism: will lock the Tardis to that spot in space, nothing can move it aside from the physics gun
Manual flight control: puts you in thirdperson of the Tardis and from there you can use key binds to opperate it without using physical levers or switches (key binds further down in guide)
Destination select: puts you in a thirdperson ghost form of the Tardis so that you can find a specific spot to warp too (key binds for function is further down in guide)
Music: play music into the Tardis either with songs it comes with or by URL
Destination Select and Manual Flight Control key binds
Flying and Selecting both share lots of similarities to using noclip, especially Destination Select, your knowledge of that will help here.
Destination Select
- Flying to select a location is exactly the same as noclip, shift to speed up, space bar to go up ect.
- Rotate on the spot: hold shift AND alt and use the A and D keys to rotate
- locking to the ground: simply press R and the ghost form will lock to the ground under it
- Pressing MB3 (mouse wheel) will open the virtual console as seen on the screens
- Left click to confirm location
Manual Flight Control (depending on the interior, you access it it can either be by a physical button or holding alt and pressing E on a blank space of the console)
- Enabling flight can happen 2 ways like a few other controls that will be mentioned, either by activating a button/lever or going into MFC and pressing R. Once flying it works like noclipping but you cannot phase through objects and have some weight to it.
- Holding LMB and aiming the little red X allows you to pick a spot to remat in on the fly (no pun intended), be warned however that once selected the Tardis will initiate immediate demat.
- Pressing H will transfer you to the Destination Select variant of the whole thing.
- Pressing L will toggle cloak
- Pressing R will toggle flight (as said before)
- Pressing T will toggle 0 grav
- Pressing G will toggle the physical lock
- Pressing MB3 (mouse wheel) will open the virtual console as seen on the screens
- Pressing F will open and close the main Tardis door
- Pressing RMB will change and toggle the spin direction of the Tardis
Basic Warping and Destination Inputting for Dummies – Garry’s Mod Tardis Rewrite Controls Guide
Maiden Voyage for you? This is the section you need!
First thing first, spawn your desired Tardis model and go to the console.
At this moment you have 2 options for how you want to get there:
1: input destination then dematerialize
2: dematerialize into the vortex then input destination
We will use option 2 for this. Simply press E on the space-time throttle to begin vortex flying. If Tardis does not demat and tells you so, you have 1 of 3 things:
1: the time rotor handbrake is enabled
2: time distorter is enabled (see further in guide for details)
3: front doors are open
(if it was option 3, this can be changed in the build menu options to have the doors close when throttle is pulled)
Once rectified, pull the throttle again to enter the time vortex. Congrats! You are now “in flight” to your destination, or will be I suppose. The next step is to select a destination; using the info mentioned earlier on how to use the Destination Select, do so to find a location you desire (can even be in the sky if you wish). Once the destination is locked, pull the space-time throttle again to rematerialize in said location. Congrats! You have just finished your first travel to a location via demat and remat!
Chose a location in the sky? Be sure to enable either the anti-grav or the phys lock so that you do not tumble to the ground.
Want to save the location for future use? Make sure your Tardis is *exactly* where you want it, then go to the coordinates and press E to open it. A screen will show up that will show saved locations on the left and editable and plugin-able coordinates. To save the current spot you are in click on “new”, name it to something you wish, save it along with the prompt for direction and rotation of the Tardis, and now you have a saved location for rapid use in the future!
To load one in the future, open the coordinates either before or during vortex flight, click on one, then click on “set”; remat when desired.
The Sonic Screwdriver
While a different thing to the Tardis, it works as an essential extension to any Tardis user.
While the Sonic Screwdriver has many functions, we will only focus on its uses in regards to the Tardis (full feature list is on the mod page).
The driver acts as a remote for it, but it needs to be linked first. To link your Tardis or any Tardis to your driver, look at said Tardis, hold alt then hold LMB, it will notify you when it is done. Same for unlinking if you wish.
Once linked, you can order your Tardis to warp to any set location you can see. To do so, hold the LMB at a spot and you will get a notification that the Tardis has it locked in. Then Press R to initiate the travel sequence. Note however that if you have vortex flight enabled it, it will take longer because it will go into the time vortex and wait for you to press R again to finally rematerialize in the spot you desired. Alternatively, you could just press R at the desired spot without having to hold LMB.
You can also lock the Tardis at a distance, simply hold RMB while aiming at the Tardis to lock and unlock it. Same goes for opening the doors at a distance too, but use LMB instead. You can also do a short-ish range temporal shift teleport into the Tardis by looking AT THE DOOR, holding alt, and then holding LMB. You can also do this right next to the Tardis if you do not have a screwdriver to teleport inside if you are in a tight spot, same for exiting.
Redecoration – Garry’s Mod Tardis Rewrite Controls Guide
Redecoration is the Type 40’s ability to totally change its appearance without having to delete and respawn it. It also remembers the controls that where enabled such as physics lock and isomorphic security when it changes.
Selecting it by itself will make it choose a random look governed by how many other Tardis mods you have for the Rewrite. But lets assume you have an interior design choice you want.
What you do is you open the spawn menu where you originally got it from, right click on it and select “redecoration”, you can also exclude it from random redecoration if you so choose too and can edit certain aspects of the look and cosmetics of it depending on the mod. Once done, all you have to do is press E on the redecoration switch on the console and it will do its thing, all occupants must leave the machine first for it to begin.
Side note: if it is damaged, it will also health itself first *then* change to the new design.
The Time Distorter – Garry’s Mod Tardis Rewrite Controls Guide
The Time Distorter, put simply, makes life difficult for the Tardis demat and remat wise. Within a small-ish radius it blocks demat/remat attempts. This device really has no use in singleplayer, but it is a defensive tool in multiplayer.
If used correctly defensively, it will block Tardis users from rematerializing in a certain area (think of it as a sentry gun with an area of denial). On the other hand, you can trap a Tardis user by letting them land and then enabling the device. However if the Tardis user is experienced enough or has read this guide, they will know that to break out of a TD trap, all they have to do is pull the space-time throttle and hit the engine-release switch to get out of there. It will permanently brick the TD but shave off 30% of Tardis health.
If cunning enough, you or another person can start the device inside the Tardis causing problems. Be warned however, the owner of the Tardis will get a note stating that “something is causing time distortions inside the tardis”. If they choose to plow through it, it will interestingly not block the Tardis from warping as it would outside of it, but shave off 10% of its health every time it demats.
Military Application – Garry’s Mod Tardis Rewrite Controls Guide
The Tardis can be a very powerful tactical device; used in the correct hands to the point of being “broken”. This final section is to lay out strategies you may use in brawls with your friends. It is recommended to raise the Tardis health from 1000 to 10,000 in the admin options on the build menu.
Any permanent base the enemy might make is totally voided in effectiveness due to the “warp anywhere” ability the Tardis has, ideally you would stealthfully do this and enable the cloak before landing as it also masks the landing and take off sounds of the Tardis. However, opening the front door will make just the front door appear so be aware of that.
While it can warp anywhere, this doesn’t mean that the interior is safe. The interior is spawned in a random location in the map always above your head. Best case scenario is that your interior spawns in the sky box. But sadly most of the time it spawns within the map right at the edge and height of it. If a savvy or lucky player knows this, all they have to do is look up and carefully search for your player model and shoot it down, travel carefully.
If you need to get somewhere safe where the Tardis will not be hurt you can do 2 things, 1: send it into the time vortex, it becomes invisible and only known to people inside it, nor can it be damaged externally. 2: provided the interior is placed in the skybox, you can place down a small flat prop inside the interior, and using your driver, tell it to land inside itself. Nothing can get in or out.
If you need to get one of your allies out of a tough spot what you can do is tell them to remain still and Destination Select right inside them. Making sure the Tardis is unlocked, once it has materialized around them they will be instantly transported to the Tardis interior, quickly lock and demat again to get out of there, no time wasted in unlocking, getting in, then leaving. (This can be done either as invisible or visible). (See the episode Bad Wolf where the 9th Doctor does this very trick to save Rose from the Daleks)
While the lock down mechanism is very helpful, it does not block physics gun usage on it. A savvy enemy will use this to block you from getting back inside even with H.A.D.S, because once started it cannot stop warping unless the time rotor handbreak is enabled *before* entering the time vortex. Best to enable the persistence function to void this, this is done by putting this in console: sbox_persist 1.
More Military Application – Garry’s Mod Tardis Rewrite Controls Guide
Interestingly, the Tardis is a rather heavy machine for its size, as such, while in flight mode, it can be used as a battering ram to push props or prop kill enemies. The higher the flight speed, the higher the damage.
If you have the sonic screwdriver and need to get out in a pinch, there is a trick you can use instead of walking around to hit the space-time throttle. Assuming you have the driver linked with the Tardis, vortex flight is enabled, *and* you enabled the option for the front doors to close on demat: hold LMB to select a location for the Tardis to lock onto, once inside the Tardis press R for it to take off taking you safely out of the situation. Be warned however, while players can walk through the Tardis as it demats, it can still take splash damage and bullet damage, keep this in mind.
If you get screwed where your Tardis is totally destroyed, you can’t leave it to repair because you will be killed and the doors are still locked, you can spawn another Tardis inside of it in a clear area and escape that way.
Have an intruder? There is a fix for this. Luckily the Tardis is aware of its owner and will save him or her in the event of their death and spawn them inside the Tardis *if* they die inside of it. Others not so much, close and lock the door, find and kill the intruder, and when they respawn they will be outside of the Tardis with no way in.
While there is the “scanner” tab on the screens in the menu, there is a better if not broken way of finding out what you’re enemy is doing without even being there. Simply use the Destination Select function to track and spy on your enemies at any distance, anywhere. There is a downside to this however, on certain maps, when using the Destination Select, it will only make map objects visible, not players or entities or even npcs. What this means is that you could stumble into the middle of a war zone or land right in the middle of some props; map knowledge is key to using this ability safely. (The beginning of the Doctor Who Movie where he gets shot is a perfect example of this risk).
