GUIDE TO THE STARWARS COMBINE DARKNESS ENGINE Created by Asaryakatr. REFERENCE SHEET v1.0 Created on June 15, 2004 - Updated July 4, 2004 This guide was started to help newbies and veterans alike, who couldn't figure out certain aspects of the game without asking. And then there was me, who got tired of answering several times a day. But without further ado, I present this reference sheet that should make it easier to navigate the Combine. =) (Note: this guide is far from complete, since the Combine is far from complete)This guide was written with minimal explanation, giving mostly command lines only. Thank you Adam7one for all the suggestions you gave towards this guide. Thank you Kalrull Ruuktar for hosting. Thank you BlackKnight for sending me all those resources that I didn't have so I could write instructions for them, and all the other help you've given me. ~~~~TABLE OF CONTENTS~~~~ 1. Joining a Faction 2. Movement ::Controls:: | Position A. Boarding A1. Boarding a ship from the ground A2. Boarding ship to ship A3. Unboarding B. Ground Movement B1. In a city grid B2. To a new city grid (a grid is one block whether it has a city or not) 3. ::Controls:: | Enter Cockpit A. Piloting A1. City flying A2. Crossing the surface of a planet at the ground level (hover the whole way) A3. Ascending to atmosphere level A3i. Descending to ground level A3ii. Flying at atmosphere level A4. Leaving the atmosphere of a planet A5. Flying in a system A6. Hyperspace flying B. Docking B1. Docking a ship from the ground B2. Docking a ship from space 4. Credits (Money) Transactions A. Sending Credits 5. CP (Combine Points) A. Gaining Points A1. Clicking Banners A2. Other Methods B. CP Exchange 6. ::Inventory:: | Ships A. Managing Personal Ships A1. Assigning A2. Making Over A3. Authorized Ship List A3i. Removal of ships from the Authorized Ship List 7. ::Inventory:: | Vehicles A. Managing Personal Vehicles A1. Assigning A2. Making Over A3. Authorized Vehicle List 8. ::Inventory:: | Space Stations 9. ::Inventory:: | Cities A. Managing a City A1. Making over a City A2. Making over a City with ALL Facilities 10. ::Inventory:: | Facilities 11. ::Inventory:: | Raw Materials 12. Faction Inventory 13. Communications A. Darkness messaging A1. Send a message A2. Read received and sent messages B. Message Boards C. Instant Chat IE: ICQ, IRC, AIM, Y!, etc 14. Sim News, the GNS, and other helpful tools 15. Acronyms - Don't understand the lingo? **************************************************************** 1. Joining a Faction Step 1. ::Manage:: / Faction / Join Faction / choose a faction. ------------------------------------------ 2. ::Controls:: | Position A. Boarding A1. Boarding a ship from the ground (must be on the crewlist) Step 1. ::Control:: / Position / Travel / Enter / Enter (name of the ship you want to enter if more than one) A2. Boarding ship to ship Step 1. move to the exit room ::Controls:: / Position / Travel / Room / Use white arrows to navigate to exit room, if the exit is on another floor, you might have to use the stairs) Step 2. ::Control:: Position / Travel / Enter / Enter A3. Unboarding a ship Step 1. Navigate to the exit room and hit the 'Travel' button again Step 2. ::Control:: / Position / Travel / Unboard / Unboard B. Ground Movement B1. In a city grid Step 1. ::Control:: Position / Travel / Terrain / choose coordinants,speed,and/or ETA, then Go. B2. To a new city grid (a grid is one block whether it has a city or not) Step 1. ::Control:: Position / Travel / CrossTerrain / choose surface destination,speed and/or eta, then Go. ------------------------------------------ 3. ::Controls:: | Enter Cockpit A. Piloting A1. City Flying Step 1. ::Control:: / Enter Cockpit / Terrain / choose coordinants, speed, and/or ETA, then Go. A2. Crossing the surface of a planet at the ground level (hover the whole way) Step 1. ::Control:: Enter Cockpit / Travel / CrossTerrain / choose surface destination,speed and/or eta, then Go. A3. Ascending to atmosphere level Step 1. ::Control:: / Enter Cockpit / Travel / Terrain Ascend (It takes 60 minutes to ascend) A3i. Descending to ground level Step 1. ::Control:: / Enter Cockpit / Travel / Descend (It takes 60 minutes to descend) A3ii. Flying at atmosphere level Step 1. ::Control:: / Enter Cockpit / Travel / Atmosphere / choose coordinants, speed, and/or ETA, then go. A4. Leaving the atmosphere of a planet (Orbiting) Step 1. ::Control:: / Enter Cockpit / Travel / Planet / Orbit (It takes 60 minutes to reach Orbit) A5. Flying in a system Step 1. ::Control:: / Enter Cockpit / Travel / Sublight / choose coordinants, speed, and/or ETA, then Go. A6. Hyperspace flying Step 1. :Control:: / Enter Cockpit / Travel / Hyperspace Step 2a. Manually enter in coordinants, and/or ETA then hit Go. OR Step 2b Click on a Sector, then a Planet. It will list the ETA, then hit Go. B. Docking B1. Docking a ship from the ground (must be on the crewlist; ship must be on authorized list. See Section 3. A3.) Step 1. Board the ship you want docked Step 2. Navigate to the cockpit room Step 3. Click on the yellow flashing "Pilot Ship" Button in the Personal Data Assistant, and REFRESH the page. Step 4. ::Control:: Enter Cockpit / Travel / Dock / Dock In (You will land in the docking bay. In order to fly Ship 2, unboard from Ship 1) ------------------------------------------ 4. Credits (Money) Transactions A. Sending Credits Step 1: ::Information:: / Credits / Transer Credits / enter a name in Receiver: / choose if the receiver is a character/faction / enter an amount / enter a brief message to attach to the transfer (optional) / click transfer. ------------------------------------------ 5. CP (Combine Points) A. Gaining Points A1. Clicking Banners Step 1: ::Information:: / CP(s) / Support the Combine / click the banners A2. Other ways Step 1: ::Information:: / CP(s) / Support the Combine This page lists various methods of earning CPs. B. CP Exchange Step 1: You MUST be on a planet NOT in a city, and NOT in a ship or a vehicle Step 2: Step 1: ::Information:: / CP(s) / Exchange CPs ------------------------------------------ 6. ::Inventory:: | Ships A. Managing Personal Ships A1. Assigning Step 1. ::Inventory:: / Ships / [Manage Personal Ships ] / Select a ship / scroll to bottom of page / Select action to perform / choose "Assign" / Under "Make Over selected ships to: Choose "Person (enter name below)"/ type in a name / click Execute A2. Making Over Step 1. ::Inventory:: / Ships / [Manage Personal Ships ] / Select a ship / scroll to bottom of page / Select action to perform / choose Make Over" / Under "Make Over selected ships to: Choose "Person (enter name below)"/ type in a name / click Execute A3. Authorized Ship List (Other ships can't board yours, unless you add them to this) Step 1. ::Control:: / Enter Cockpit / Ships / Authorized Ships (Only ships that aren't moving, ones that are at the same location, and provided you aren't moving, can be added) A3i. Removal of ships from the Authorized Ship List Step 1. ::Control:: / Enter Cockpit / Ships / Authorized Ships / Remove (next to name of ship) ------------------------------------------ 7. ::Inventory:: | Vehicles A. Managing Personal Vehicles A1. Assigning Step 1. ::Inventory:: / Vehicles / [ Manage Personal Vehicles ] / select a vehicle / Under Assign/Make Over choose "Person (enter name below) / enter a name in the field / Click Assign A2. Making Over to a Person Step 1. ::Inventory:: / Vehicles / [ Manage Personal Vehicles ] / select a vehicle / Under Assign/Make Over choose "Person (enter name below) / enter a name in the field / Click Make Over A3. Making Over to a Faction Step 1. ::Inventory:: / Vehicles / [ Manage Personal Vehicles ] / select a vehicle / Under Assign/Make Over choose a faction name / Click Make Over Same step works for assigning to a faction, just click 'Assign', not 'Make Over' A3. Authorized Vehicle List This list will only be found in a facility or a ship or a vehicle; anything that can carry other vehicles. Step 1. ::Control:: / Enter Cockpit / Vehicles / Authorized Vehicles (Only vehicles that aren't moving, ones that are at the same location, and provided you aren't moving, can be added) ------------------------------------------ 8. ::Inventory:: | Space Stations Space Stations are handled in the same way ships and vehicles are. Space Stations are stationary and cannot move. Only one space station may inhabit a coordinant location. To manage a station Step 1: ::Inventory:: | Space Stations / select a station Step 2: "Select Action to Perform" Step 3: "Make Over selected Space Stations to:" and enter a name in the field that appears if it is for a person, not a faction. To assign/make over to a faction, just select the faction name in the drop down field. ------------------------------------------ 9. ::Inventory:: | Cities Cities can be found on planets. They can be named, given a description, and made over to another person or faction. A. To manage a city Step 1: ::Inventory:: | Cities / select a station Step 2: "Select Action to Perform" A1. Making over a City ::Inventory:: | Cities / "Select Action to Perform" / Make Over / Person(Enter name below) OR Select a Faction A2. Making over a City with ALL Facilities (This option comes in handy if you are making over the entire city including all it's buildings) ::Inventory:: | Cities / "Select Action to Perform" / Make Over with all facilities/ Person(Enter name below) OR Select a Faction ------------------------------------------ 10. ::Inventory:: | Facilities Facilities are the buildings found in cities. They can be assigned/unassigned, the name changed, description changed, and can be made over to a person or faction Managing facilities is similar to managing other inventory items. ------------------------------------------ 11. ::Inventory:: | Raw Materials Raw materials are the natural or refined products that go into manufacturing of goods. Currently raw materials can only be 'found' by mining factions. Managing raw materials consists of changing the name(s) and making over to a person or a faction. Managing a pile of raw material is similar to managing other inventory items. ------------------------------------------ 12. Faction Inventory Faction inventory is exactly the same as personal inventory, so depending on the privileges that you have been allocated, will depend on what you can access. Most Faction privileges that don't involve Faction Inventory can be found under ::Manage:: / Faction Depending on what level your leader gives you, will determine what privileges you can use. For a complete list of all possible privs., see the rules section of the Combine. ------------------------------------------ 13. Communications A. Darkness messaging Click the envelope (left of the Logout Button) A1. Send a message Click [ Send Message ], Enter name under Receiver:, select if it's visible/anonymous, write the message, then click send. A2. Read received and sent messages [ Read Messages ] are messages that others have sent to you. [ Sent Messages ] are messages that you have sent to others. A3. Deleting messages Messages have to be deleted individually. Unfortunately, there is no mass delete feature at this time. B. Message Boards Under Communications the following can be found Message Centre -- http://p211.ezboard.com/bcombinemessagecentre Problem Centre -- http://p066.ezboard.com/bproblemcentre RPG Centre -- http://p084.ezboard.com/broleplayingcentre White Scenario Board -- http://pub60.ezboard.com/bswcombinewhitescenarios C. Instant Chat Clients IE: ICQ, IRC, AIM, Y!, MSN ICQ (I Seek You) is downloadable at http://www.icq.com and is mainly used for communication between faction members on a 1 to 1 basis. Same goes for, MSN, Y!,and AIM. IRC (Internet Relay Chat) is the main way everyone chats. For the PC, a popular client, mIRC, is downloadable at http://www.mirc.com For a list of Combine IRC chat rules visit http://www.swcombine.com/community/chat/rules.php For help on understanding mIRC commands see the "Understanding IRC" tutorial *Coming Soon* For ppl who cannot download mIRC, and do not want to use the jIRC (javachat) client available in the Combine site, they can try going to Google and searching for " cgi irc " without the quotes. Find one that allows you to change the server and type in the following. Click "Advanced" and Replace the info with Nickname: Your nickname of choice (cannot have a space in it) Server: irc.redbat.org Port: 6667 Channel: #swc-members (is a good one to start out in) *More on IRC chatting coming soon* MSN (Microsoft Messenger) downloadable at http://messenger.msn.com/ Y! (Yahoo Messenger) downloadable at http://messenger.yahoo.com/ AIM (AOL Instant Messenger) downloadable at http://www.aol.com | click AOL Downloads, then "Download AOL Instant Messenger Service ------------------------------------------ 14. Sim News, the GNS, and other helpful tools Sim News, where all the news concerning the game appears. GNS (Galactic News Service) - where the IC (In Character) news is displayed along with new factions created, stocks issued, new faction leaders, etc are listed at the bottom ------------------------------------------ 15. Acronyms - Don't understand the lingo? Here's a list of commonly used acronyms and traders speak. For an exhaustive database of acronyms visit http://www.acronymfinder.com ---Trading Lingo FA - For Auction FS - For Sale FT - For Trade MM - Middleman WTB - Want to Buy WTT - Want to Trade ---Commonly used acronyms and shorthand AFAIK - As Far As I Know ATM - At the Moment BBS - Be Back Soon B/C - Because BRB - Be Right Back GTG - Got To Go IC - In Character IMHO - In My Humble Opinion | IMO - In My Opinion IRL - In Real Life J/K - Just Kidding LOL - Laugh Out Loud MSG - Message OMG - Oh My God OOC - Out of Character ROFL - Roll on Floor Laughing STFU - Shut The F*** Up TTYL - Talk TO You Later w/ - With w/o - Without WB - Welcome Back WTH - What the Hell WTF - What The F*** k = thousand ie: (100k = 100,000 or One Hundred Thousand) m = million ie: (10m = 10,000,000 or Ten Million) FACTION ABBREVIATIONS (Because of the many factions, I limited the list to the governments, just to give you an idea) FF - Falleen Federation GE - Galactic Empire NAO - New Anzat Order RA- Rebel Alliance TF - Trade Federation