Newbie Guide DON'T PANIC Prelude: For first time mudders. Welcome to mudding. A "MUD" is a "multi-user dungeon" and "mudding" means to play the "mud." A mud is a type of game in which the player creates a fictional character, and controls this fictional character in a fictional world, the mud. The idea to make a mud is a very old one, when graphics would have caused too much lag in a multiplayer game, and so muds are completely text-based. This may be a bit difficult to get used to at first, but eventually, mudders tend to become rather fast readers as well as typists if they weren't to begin with. Mudding is quite a widespread hobby, its players are found all across the world. Here are some of the basics all mudders should know. Summary of basic mudding commands (command) (action) n go north e go east s go south w go west u go up d go down ne go northeast nw go northwest se go southeast sw go southwest open <direction> opens a closed door in chosen direction look looks at the room you're in look <target> looks at your target who see a list of people who are logged on score see your character's personal details score2 more in depth of score inven check your inventory eq check your equipment get <target> pick up an item in the room drop <target> get rid of an item in your inventory wear <target> wears item in your inventory, putting it in eq list remove <target> removes item in eq list, putting it in your inventory help <subject> brings up a helpfile created by the immortals newbie <message> uses the newbie channel, helpful if you have questions Summary of basic mudding terms (term) (what it means) imm immortal, one of the administrators of the mud rp roleplay, to act, generally as your character would be ic in character, currently roleplaying ooc out of character, anything involving real life pk player kill, killing another character 1. Welcome to Fate of the Republic! Fate of the Republic is a mud based on "Star Wars" created by George Lucas. FotR (Fate of the Republic) is primarily an RP mud, so the main idea here is to create and control an interesting character, interacting with other interesting characters made by other players, to create fun and amusing storylines that always continue to develop as the game is played, a bit like all of us working together to write a book for our own entertainment. Keep in mind, this is still just a game. We will not condone any "unacceptable" behavior in real life as a reaction to something that happened in the game that you didn't like. If any players are truly immature enough to react this way, they probably are not mature or responsible enough to be playing muds, and shouldn't be here. So go on and have a fun time in this mudding community, and happy mudding! 2. Getting through the newbie academy. Welcome, new recruit, to Fate of the Republic! I see you're looking at this page because either you're a new player, or probably REALLY REALLY BORED (we hope the former than the latter). Anyway, let's tell you a bit about the game, shall we? Just as you see (or not see), this MUD is a Star-Wars interpretation, but unlike every Star Wars canon out there (the movies, for example), we're nothing of the same. In our universe, we don't have Palpatine or Darth Vader, or other quite famous people after the Clone Wars. Take it, as you will, that there was a different outcome of that movie where Senator Palpatine... met his maker. That's us! Anyway, you're probably reading this thinking "I don't care, I wanna play and nao, but I don't know how to play this kind of game!" Well, let's get to it! When you first start, come up with an account name. It could be anything (if it's not taken). Like Jedipwner, or even a name like... Kathy. All up to you. Now when you get to making a character, remember that you are only allowed 3 characters on your account, and only one account. You'll get the chance to read a file when you make your character that tells you more about all that. Anyway, now you make a character. You can be almost anything, basically. Wanna be normal, be Human. Maybe you like the sexy Twi'leks? Go ahead and choose 'em! There's only a few that are locked and they require something called "Quest Points" to be able to unlock, but more on that later. Now you're done with all that hodgepodge of creation, now what? Just type 'play <yourcharactername>' and hit enter a few times. You're in! Welcome! Now, you MIGHT want to read the room descriptions for the few rooms you're in before you are actually "in" the game. They give you nice tips about what to do and how to play. When you get to the end, you'll get a handful of items, and then sent to the famous Belsra Academy! Here's where the fun starts! As soon as you get to Belsra, type practice, or prac for short. Everything you see there you will want to learn, even if you won't use it for some reason. I say this because with the level system here, you can change ranks once you hit a certain level, and once you change, anything that is unlearned you can't ever learn later. More on that later. As you saw from your prac list, you don't know how to use blasters, but there's a "vibroblade" there. That'll be your BEST weapon until you can use blasters, which you haven't unlocked the skill yet. Don't worry if you can't use guns, it'll come soon, you gun-toting cookies. >.> Anyway, look at your call listing (type calls for all the areas to go), and take note of what you see. You can go anywhere in Belsra Academy with this device, so don't lose it! If you're old-fashioned, or just NOT lazy (you lazy kids know who you are!), it's always great to go exploring instead of walking. Who knows, maybe you'll find something interesting by going to every room and not warping everywhere with your call device. It doesn't hurt to explore, but actually may prove beneficial. The more you know about a place, the more you can find things! There's a few things to do that can net you experience, money, and even a piece of clothing. The post office has packages that need delivered, there's a person roaming around that the Bounty Hunter is looking for, and even the mayor of Belsra is looking for his missing daughter! There's also a flight simulator to learn how to fly in this unique game, as well as a combat simulator where you can hone your melee fighting skills. If you think you're better than Belsra, you can always leave via the space shuttle and go to Corellia or Coruscant, but if you're new, I'd just stay at Belsra. Now, this game is heavily roleplay-based, so it helps to have a nice description and a biography for your character. I'd recommend getting that over with as soon as possible, because you'll need both of those a certain length so you can look for a profession, and later specialize to a final class. I recommend trying to get over 1,000 characters (not words) on each so you don't ever have to worry about it later on when you can change. If it's too short, you can always go back and add to it as you wish. Also, some races don't start off speaking Galactic Basic, like Togruta, for example. This can get bothersome to you, since everyone speaks Basic, but not to worry! On a few planets, and even in the Academy, there are language teachers that can teach you more languages! All you need is a high enough intelligence count, and just language learn <language>. More languages add to the roleplay aspect, and can be quite fun if you use it right, or even have private conversations with people in character! 3. Space travel. Space travel, one of the most difficult things for first timers to FotR to get used to. You might want to start trying space travel in the simulator in the academy. The first thing you do is type "open <shipname or registry number>" then "enter <shipname or registry number>" Once in the ship, you might want to type "damage" and "status all" to make sure there are no vital systems that are malfunctioning before you take off. Once you're sure it'll be safe, type "launch" to take off. Many of these skills may take more than one try to do them successfully, as you will only have just learned navigation, ship systems, starfighters, and weapon systems, but once your character gets better at piloting ships, you won't have to re-enter any commands of mastered skills. In the simulator, the way to gain levels is to shoot down simulated ships. They can also shoot you down, but your character will not suffer anything if your ship is shot down in simspace. Try not to get shot down though, as it costs valuable credits to use the simulator. After launching, if you're planning to get into a space fight, the first things you'll want to do is type "shields," "autotrack," and "link primary." (type them until they turn on, and be careful to not turn them back off) Then, pick a target in simspace, and type "target <target>" and wait for the message "target locked" before trying to "fire primary" at them. At first, your piloting levels should go up pretty fast while shooting these ships down at such a low level, but more importantly, you'll be getting used to other important ship commands such as "speed <desired speed>" and "course <X coordinate> <Y coordinate> <Z coordinate>" Once you're out in the galaxy rather than in the newbie academy, you will also need to learn how to fly a ship in hyperspace, as well as land it on a planet. For hyperspace, first you need to know what star system you want to go do. Type "planets" for a list of all the available planets and the starsystems they are in. Then, if you have a datapad, type "showplanet <planetname>" to find out it's exact coordinates in that system to make the flight easier and shorter. Once you have its coordinates, type "calc <system> <X coordinate> <Y coordinate> <Z coordinate>" but note that you'll have to enter desired coordinates such that if your hyperspace jump were to be perfect, you would end up a distance of 300 away from the planet. After all, you wouldn't want to crash right into it. In hyperspace, you can use "hcon <speed>" to change your hyperspace speed. Upon first entering hyperspace, your ship will be going the maximum hyperspace speed. To enter hyperspace once you have calculated the proper coordinates in the proper system, you must first be going your ship's maximum realspace speed (type "speed 200" though many ships don't go this fast, it will ensure they are going as fast as they can) and then you have to type "hype on" and to stop hyperspace before you overjump your target, type "hype off" while the calculated remaining jump distance is no more than 200 and no less than -200 else you will end up in an entirely different star system. Once you have gotten to the desired system, type "course <X coordinate> <Y coordinate> <Z coordinate>" and if you forgot the planet's coordinates, just use your "radar" command. Eventually your ship will come into orbit around the planet. Now to land on the planet, you first have to type "approach <planet>" so that your ship will be going a speed of 25 clicks downward toward the surface and you have to type "land <desired landing pad>" while the atmosphere rating is 30 or less (meaning you're only 30 or less clicks from the surface). To leave the ship, simply go to the entrance, usually called the entry ramp or something similar, and type "open" then "leave." If ever you are on a landing pad and need a ship, simply type "taxi" to call a rental ship to you. Once you own a ship, every so often after flying it you may want to "rrship <shipname>" while on the landing pad with it to keep it well maintained and refueled.