Участник:Mook/Starting Guide
This guide is designed for ease of use for first-time players, so non-essential information is segregated into expandable text boxes. Reading these isn't necessary to get into the game, but it's recommended.
What is SS13?
Tuterr, the Private Eye говорит: "Hmph. Fresh off the boat from Nanotrasen's recruitment office, huh? Let me tell you something, kid. You won't last five minutes on this floating deathtrap without help. You're as likely to be left for dead in a dark maintenance tunnel riddled with bullet holes as you are to get out of here alive. Lucky for you, I'm in a helpful mood today." |
Space Station 13 is a multiplayer sandbox that has a heavy focus on player interaction. In the year 2564, the megacorporation Nanotrasen has employed you as a staff member onboard their latest state-of-the-art research station. Nanotrasen claims to be researching plasma, a mysterious new substance, but are rumors abound that the station is little more than a twisted social experiment...
At the start of each round, each player is assigned a role onboard the station. There are many jobs, such as the scientist performing research and development of new technologies, the medical doctor trying to keep people alive with medicine and surgery, the shaft miner journeying into hellscapes to bring back resources for the station, or even the simple janitor toiling to keep the station clean. The game randomly chooses a a round type to throw a wrench in works, ranging from an all-out assault on the station by nuclear operatives, a sinister cult sacrificing crewmembers to summon their god, or more commonly, good ol' fashioned traitors. Every round on Space Station 13 is different, and there are many different ways to play.
Before Playing
READ THE RULES! It is imperative to at least read and understand the Main Rules before connecting for the first time, or else your time on the servers may end very quickly. Some common new player mistakes to avoid include:
- Being violent towards other crew members without any reason, particularly murderboning. The role of |antagonists are generally selected at the beginning of the round, and a visible alert and audio cue at roundstart to notify you if you are selected. Let the bad guys do their thing while you stay with the crew and learn the game. Going ballistic and then telling the admins you were "roleplaying an insane person/serial killer" when they ask may get a chuckle or two, but you'll still get banned.
- Asking questions about the ongoing round in OOC (out-of-character) chat, AKA IC in OOC or some variation of "Icky Ocky." In general, if it relates to your character/job, a situation on the station, or someone can figure those out from your words, don't say it. It's okay to discuss the current round in deadchat, and admins are available for any question in a private F1 adminhelp message.
- Not following the name format of "Firstname Surname" when creating a human character. Other humanoid races such as lizards, plasmamen, ethereals, and mothpeople have their own naming conventions. Mimes and clowns are exceptions to this policy.
The admin team generally tries to give players the benefit of the doubt, so it's okay to mess up. Be polite and willing to learn from your mistakes and you won't be in trouble. You can press F1/the adminhelp button at any time to send a message directly to the admin team if you have any questions.
One last point: please, remember the human behind the screen. Everyone is here to play a silly spaceman game, so keep that in mind before you ruin someone's round by bashing their brain in with a toolbox because they took your multitool.
Setting Up
Make your way to the BYOND download page and download the client. Once you've downloaded, installed, and logged into the client, you've done everything you needed to do on the client and can safely close it. With BYOND installed and your account logged in, you can access a server link and choose to open it with BYOND to join a game directly. The /tg/ servers, around which our wiki is based, are:
<byond server=bagil.tgstation13.org port=2337>Basil (US-West)</byond> | <byond server=sybil.tgstation13.org port=1337>Sybil (US-West)</byond> | <byond server=terry.tgstation13.org port=3336>Terry (EU)</byond> |
<byond server=manuel.tgstation13.org port=1447>Manuel (Roleplay/US-West)</byond> | <byond server=campbell.tgstation13.org port=6337>Campbell (Roleplay/EU)</byond> | <byond server=events.tgstation13.org port=4337>Events Hall (Sandbox/EU)</byond> |
<byond server=tgmc.tgstation13.org port=5337>Terra-Gov Marine Corps</byond> has a vastly different playstyle than the above servers, and as such has its own wiki and starting guide.
Links to all current servers and their player counts are available at the tgstation13.org website. If joining by clicking a link doesn't work, open the BYOND client, open location with Ctrl + O, then (if using a Windows computer) right-click the server name, select 'copy link address', then paste the link of the server you want to join in the client.
Set Up
Character Creation
Once you've connected to a server, you'll be greeted by the lobby. If this is your first time playing on /tg/station, you'll need to create a character. Click on in the lobby, and the character creation menu will open.
From the top-left of your character preview, you can rotate your character, select a race, and select your sex. For now, just ensure that your species is set to human. As a human, you are usually protected by the Asimov laws built into the synthetic roles and are able to eat most recipes the chef can cook.
In space, surrounded by robots and monsters and wizards, your sex and gender do not have any mechanical impact. Satchels and backpacks have identical stats, while duffelbags can hold more items but slow you down. Other clothing options are just cosmetic.
Design your character's appearance as you deem fit, or press "Randomize" if you don't care, and select choose a name. Generally, humans follow the "Firstname Surname" naming convention. Other naming options (opened by pressing the three vertical dots on the right of the name) include your name as a cyborg, AI, clown, mime, and religious identities for chaplains, but feel free to ignore it for now: You can change all options between rounds.
Security department and Uplink Spawn Location are tied to Security Officers and traitors respectively, so don't worry about those for your first few rounds.
Once you are happy with your character, you can select the next tab.
Occupations
Tuterr, the Private Eye говорит: "You're brand new here so consider what sort of stuff you want to do. Wanna help people recover from their workplace injuries and dismemberment? Consider applying for our Medical Doctor program. Wanna unravel the mysteries of the universe, and also make massive, massive explosions? Get your degree in theoretical physics and become a Scientist. Wanna put your back into work and really get down and dirty with the station? We got openings in our Botanist, Chef, and Janitor programs. If you're here at the start of the shift, those'll put you in your workspace, with plenty of tools to get the job done. Nanotrasen usually has checks to make sure fresh meat doesn't get to be the Captain, but if you somehow end up in that position... Well, you'll probably end up another case for me to solve." |
When the game begins, the server checks each player's occupation preferences and assigns jobs accordingly, starting by assigning "High" preference jobs first, then "Medium," then "Low." Some roles have limited player counts - for example, there is only one Captain], there can be two janitors, and there is no limit on assistants. Some jobs that are critical to game progression and station function are locked until a specific amount of playtime in certain roles has accumulated. Check the job selection and assignment page for more info.
For now, some low-responsibility jobs great for learning the game's mechanical control and pace are:
- Cargo Technicians work directly with the quartermaster to ensure
Cargonia will never fallthe station receives much needed supplies. Utilize the comradery between the other technicians and your boss to learn communication skills and command relationships in this game. - Janitors work hard to keep the station clean. This job can efficiently teach inventory management and a station's layout. Just take care when venturing into maintenance tunnels by your lonesome for long. Who knows what dwells in the dark.
- Chefs are a solid introduction to interacting with equipment and combining/crafting objects. The botanists will supply many ingredients
and drugsfor you to experiment with. - Prisoners are separated from the rest of the station through the brig, which grants them a buffer from the chaos of the station. Learn the game inside your own bubble without worrying too much about the bloodshed happening in the station's halls.
- Assistants are, like prisoners, without responsibilities or expectations. Unlike prisoners, they inhabit the station proper and are thus vulnerable to all its wonders and horrors (mostly horrors).
Or, if you'd prefer something with more difficulty and responsibilities:
- Shaft Miners are often away from the hustle of the crew and can take time learning the controls while being helpful to the station. They are also in prime positions to teach newer players about combat, should one feel dangerous. Put on your suit, turn on your internals, read the page on your job, and get to mining! Beware, overconfidence and overextending can lead an unwary miner into some very dangerous situations.
- Paramedics are the first step towards being a Medical Doctor, and are in the prime position to teach newer players about the game's health and medicine systems.
Finally, at the top right, ensure the dropdown menu has selected either "Return to lobby if unavailable" or "Join as Assistant if unavailable." The last option, "Join as a random job if unavailable" will throw you into any available job, including the joke roles or high-responsibility roles like Quartermaster.
Antagonists
For your first few games, make sure all [[Jobs#Antagonists||antagonist options are disabled. All antagonist jobs have the responsibility of improving the excitement of a round, and many make do with complex or specialized mechanics to do so.
Quirks
Quirks can add new passive mechanics to a game; some with subtle effects, others more extreme. Each quirk has a cost associated with it that you can use to purchase positive traits like an occasional mood boost or healing while drunk.
Joining the Game
Now that you've created your character, you're ready to join the game. (You may want to continue to read the guide before jumping in.)
There are two possible options here - the lobby screen will either display or .
This is ideal, because you'll be playing the round from the beginning, when things are the going to be calm and allow you to get your bearings in a relatively safe environment. Toggle the button to Ready, then wait for the game to begin. (You can see the time until the game begins on the Lobby tab, on the top right of the game window.)
Pressing Observe will spawn you as a ghost, which is essentially a spectator - you won't be able to spawn normally until the next round if you select this option!
Click on the button, and a window will pop up asking you to choose a profession. The jobs available will vary, but Assistant is always available*. The numbers in the brackets next to the job title show the current number of players who have been assigned that job for the round, if there is a zero inside the brackets, no one has been assigned to that job for the round. When you click on the job you want, you'll be brought to the station via the arrival shuttle. You'll start out on a transit shuttle that will dock at the station in a few seconds. You'll also be strapped into a chair, so don't forget to unbuckle yourself (click your seat, the Buckled HUD icon, or press B if hotkey mode is enabled).
*Sometimes, at the start of a round, a different service job is chosen to be the infinite slots job at random. If Assistant is not available, just click the one with the highest numbers.
Interface 101
Tuterr, the Private Eye говорит: ""Interface"? What the hell are you talking about, kid? "Blue buttons?" Geez, you've been here for five minutes and you're already cracking. Hmmm... *recorder crackles* Note to self - check atmospherics. Gas might be poisoned." |
Character Control
The biggest barrier to entry in Space Station 13 is the controls. The UI is, at a glance, complex and the controls are unintuitive. Thankfully, once it clicks you'll never have an issue with it again. Don't let it overwhelm you - after a round or two of practice, you should be fine.
- (1) The leftmost icon is your clothing tab. You can left-click Ordinary left-click. It doesn't matter if Combat Mode Включить на 4, выключить на 1 или переключение на F по умолчанию. Щелчок левой кнопкой мыши по людям пустой рукой нанесет им вред если включён, или поможет если выключен. Не позволяет вам переключаться местами или толкаться при столкновении с людьми.. is on or not. the icon to expand the tab (as seen right) to access what your (organic) character is currently wearing (or not) on their body.
- (2) The icons to the left of your hands are for items strapped outside your clothes: The suit storage , ID slot , belt , and backpack
- (3) Your hands are the most important elements of the HUD. You have the ability to hold an item in each hand (unless an item takes up both hands). The highlight around one of the hands is the active hand. If you have an empty active hand and Ordinary left-click. It doesn't matter if Combat Mode Включить на 4, выключить на 1 или переключение на F по умолчанию. Щелчок левой кнопкой мыши по людям пустой рукой нанесет им вред если включён, или поможет если выключен. Не позволяет вам переключаться местами или толкаться при столкновении с людьми.. is on or not. on an object, you'll pick it up/open it/use it. If an object is in your active hand and you Ordinary left-click. It doesn't matter if Combat Mode Включить на 4, выключить на 1 или переключение на F по умолчанию. Щелчок левой кнопкой мыши по людям пустой рукой нанесет им вред если включён, или поможет если выключен. Не позволяет вам переключаться местами или толкаться при столкновении с людьми.. is on or not. on something, you'll use the item you're holding on to what you just clicked.
- (4) Your pockets are additional storage locations for small items. Items stored in your pockets are hidden from view, but observers can tell if items are in your pocket.
- (5) Your actions and modifiers are the most complex of the bunch:
- The four small icons on the left are (clockwise from top-left) your known Languages (where you can select your default language), Area Creation , the Crafting tab (where you can look up recipes and craft items), and Navigation (where you can select a location and follow a holographic waypoint to reach the chosen location.)
- Combat Mode Включить на 4, выключить на 1 или переключение на F по умолчанию. Щелчок левой кнопкой мыши по людям пустой рукой нанесет им вред если включён, или поможет если выключен. Не позволяет вам переключаться местами или толкаться при столкновении с людьми.. is a toggle for when you're ready to get down and dirty in a brawl. Combat is a
cumbersome, awkward, and unfair endeavorrobust, rewarding, and tactical activity, and you will practice this skill sooner or later whether you want to or not. - The Run/Walk Toggle icon can be pressed to switch between running and walking. Running is faster, but walking has benefits, such as being able to walk over water without slipping - useful for when the janitor doesn't put wet floor signs down.
- The bodypart selector icon is used to choose which body part you want to target. This is used for both targeting specific sections to heal, or targeting specific sections when attacking someone. Click a limb to target it. (You can target individual arms, legs, the head, the upper torso, the groin, the eyes, or the mouth.)
- On top:
- The Resist icon can be pressed to break out of Hold CTRL and left-click a person with your hand empty. It doesn't matter if Combat Mode Включить на 4, выключить на 1 или переключение на F по умолчанию. Щелчок левой кнопкой мыши по людям пустой рукой нанесет им вред если включён, или поможет если выключен. Не позволяет вам переключаться местами или толкаться при столкновении с людьми.. is on or off. Repeat after a short delay to upgrade grab to aggressive (lvl 2), neck (lvl 3) and strangling (lvl 4)., restraints, and if you're on fire, is the "stop drop and roll" button.
- The Rest icon lets you lie down on the floor, and crawl into crates or under flaps. If you actually want to rest, click the Sleep verb in the IC tab.
- The Throw and Drop icons do what their names imply. is self-explanatory, but is a toggle - if it's on and you Ordinary left-click. It doesn't matter if Combat Mode Включить на 4, выключить на 1 или переключение на F по умолчанию. Щелчок левой кнопкой мыши по людям пустой рукой нанесет им вред если включён, или поможет если выключен. Не позволяет вам переключаться местами или толкаться при столкновении с людьми.. is on or not. somewhere, you'll throw the item in your active hand at where you clicked. If it's on and you have an empty hand, you'll catch whatever is thrown at you.
- The Pull icon only appears when dragging something, and can be pressed to stop dragging an object.
Character Status
From top to bottom:
- Internals indicate whether you have an active supply of oxygen from a tank or not. You can press the icon to activate your internals if you have a mask on and a non-exhausted tank on your person.
- Morale
- Health Файл:HealthMax.gif is the indicator of your current overall health. As you take damage, the icons grows increasingly red Файл:HealthLow.gif until you enter Crit Файл:HealthCrit.gif.
- Damage Locator indicates where on your body you are damaged. Match the bodypart selector to the damaged area when using healing items to properly heal.
- Stamina Файл:Stamina.png
Alerts
Alerts will appear on the HUD if something is wrong. The most common ones are:
Oxygen warning - The air you're breathing doesn't have enough of oxygen (or other substances) (black), or too much (red). You'll usually see a black oxygen warning from being exposed to space. Put on a gas mask and have an oxygen tank! You can put a small emergency oxygen tank in your pockets or belt if you don't want to be holding it, and if you can find a hazard vest or suit you can put it in the leftmost storage slot. You can find small oxygen tanks and masks in the survival box in your backpack and in blue oxygen emergency lockers. They don't last very long, though.
Pressure warning - Pressure levels are too high (red), or too low (black). Low and high pressures can kill you. You'll usually see a black pressure warning from being exposed to space. Put on a space suit! There's hardsuits in the red fireman lockers.
Toxin warning - You are breathing in toxic gases.
Fire warning - The air is hot enough to burn you.
Freeze warning - The air is cold enough to freeze you.
Temperature warning - You're too cold or too hot.
Hunger warning - You're either fat, hungry, or starving. Being fat slows you down considerably, so consider eating less.
Controls
Main article: Controls
There might seem like quite a few controls, but don't worry - you'll only be using a few the majority of the time. There are a lot of edge cases in SS13, due to the sheer nature of features and content available. You can check this page for a list of every keybinding. Although your control scheme was changed to Hotkeys in the Game Preferences menu, it may not have applied itself - if there is a large red bar going across the bottom of the screen, click somewhere on the game window and press Tab. This is the manual toggle for hotkey mode - if the bar changes to white, you're good to go.
- Use WASD to move.
- Press T to talk in-game.
- If you insert ; at the beginning, you'll transmit your message to the general chat radio. You can look up department-specific radio shortcuts here.
- Press O for OOC chat.
- Be careful not to mix the two chat buttons up - your cry for help might end up going in OOC, where anyone can see it at any time.
- Press M to write an custom emote.
- This is for nonverbal actions - for example, writing "sighs." in the text box would show as "[Character Name] sighs."
- Ordinary left-click. It doesn't matter if Combat Mode Включить на 4, выключить на 1 или переключение на F по умолчанию. Щелчок левой кнопкой мыши по людям пустой рукой нанесет им вред если включён, или поможет если выключен. Не позволяет вам переключаться местами или толкаться при столкновении с людьми.. is on or not. on objects in the game world to interact with them. For most objects, you'll need to be adjacent to or on top of them.
- This is used for things such as interacting with computer terminals, picking up items, using an item on something, or attacking someone.
- Your selected hand is the one that will pick up an object (if empty) or use the object in that hand (if holding something). You can tell which is selected by the highlighted box around one of your hands.
- Shift + Ordinary left-click. It doesn't matter if Combat Mode Включить на 4, выключить на 1 или переключение на F по умолчанию. Щелчок левой кнопкой мыши по людям пустой рукой нанесет им вред если включён, или поможет если выключен. Не позволяет вам переключаться местами или толкаться при столкновении с людьми.. is on or not. on something to examine it.
- Shift + Ordinary right-click. It doesn't matter if Combat Mode Включить на 4, выключить на 1 или переключение на F по умолчанию. Щелчок левой кнопкой мыши по людям пустой рукой нанесет им вред если включён, или поможет если выключен. Не позволяет вам переключаться местами или толкаться при столкновении с людьми.. is on or not. something to open the context menu, which can be used for a variety of things.
- Ctrl + Ordinary left-click. It doesn't matter if Combat Mode Включить на 4, выключить на 1 или переключение на F по умолчанию. Щелчок левой кнопкой мыши по людям пустой рукой нанесет им вред если включён, или поможет если выключен. Не позволяет вам переключаться местами или толкаться при столкновении с людьми.. is on or not. on something to drag it.
- Click-dragging is used for a couple of specific actions.
- For example, to climb onto a table, drag and drop your character to the table.
- To put things on/take things off of someone, drag and drop their character onto yourself. (To put things on them, you'll need to have the item in your selected hand.)
- You can open a container without holding it in your hand by Alt-clicking it or click-dragging it onto yourself. This also works for storage items you're wearing, which is useful if your hands are full.
Gameplay Concepts
Tuterr, the Private Eye говорит: "You know, as much as I like to rib the fresh meat, it doesn't really matter if something happens to them - Nanotrasen thinks death is a waste of money, they'll just get revived or something. What? Oh, shit, I gotta go. *click* You, uh, didn't hear that - right, kid?" |
Before getting into anything else, it's important to note that since SS13 is such an open-ended game that has other people in it, when you get in-game and try to follow the guide, things may go wrong - the station might have been almost entirely consumed by a singularity, a traitor could attack you with a powerful weapon, or something no one could have predicted will kill you. It's important to not let death get to you - Rule 10 exists for a reason! There are multiple ways you can be brought back into the game - don't get frustrated if something happens.
There are a few specific concepts that are often stumbling blocks for newer players, so let's address those first. (These are all in expandable boxes to save space, but it's not a bad idea to read them beforehand.)
The Hands System
One of the things the majority of new players have trouble with is the hands system. It's not complex once you've figured it out, but it can be difficult to understand without help.
You have two hands at your disposal. The bright box around one of your hands is the selected hand. This is the hand that's used whenever you click on something - if it's empty, you'll either pick up an item, or interact with something (like a computer terminal or vending machine).
If you have something in your selected hand, you'll use that item on whatever you click on. This can lead to confusion, because if you have something in your hand, you can't use things such as terminals or vending machines - you'll either hit the object with your item or do nothing.
This is because you're trying to directly use the item on the object - this is why you're able to use a screwdriver to open the panel on a door, use wirecutters on a grille, or similar actions.
This can also cause problems with backpacks, boxes, and other containers - if you want to open a container, alt click it. You can also pick it up, then switch hands and click on the container with an empty hand. Clicking on a container with an object will put it in the container. This also means that if you'd like to take your backpack off, you need to click and drag the bag to an empty hand - a normal click just opens the equipped bag.
Basic Interactions
Damage
There are a few different damage types in SS13. Some common ones are brute, burn, toxin, suffocation. If you take enough damage you'll fall unconscious into critical condition, better known as Crit. If left untreated in this state, you'll slowly suffocate until you die. Read more about damage types here. To learn how to best treat them see the Guide to medicine.
Combat
Combat in SS13 is very heavily focused on who falls over first. If you're prone, you've likely lost. This means items like soap Файл:Soaps.gif or disablers are extremely useful.
If you get into a fight, consider your options - it may be best to try and simply run away. If you think you can disarm your opponent, you could turn the tables by taking their weapon. Combat in SS13 is fast paced and revolves around a lot of back and forth swipes, almost like a strange joust between 2D spacemen.
Getting better at combat in SS13 requires practice - there's only so much you can be taught. The rest is learning how to create and take advantage of opportunities. Hopefully, you won't have to get into many fights as you start out.
To learn more about combat and how to win fights, see the Guide to Combat.
Ghosts
If you end up dying, don't worry, there are a few ways to go from there.
If you try to move, you'll ghost out of your corpse. This is essentially spectator mode - you can communicate with other dead players (and talking about the round out of character is okay in this chat) by talking normally and are able to fly around the entire map. (Note that while it's okay to talk about the round in deadchat, if you're revived, you cannot use any information gained while dead. Anything you saw while alive is fair game.)
If you die, you can be revived, turned into a podperson, have your brain removed and put into a cyborg, or more. There are ghost roles that can be played by dead players - some areas have objects that, when clicked on as a ghost, will spawn you as a new character. (You're a new character, so don't use any information from your past life.) There may even be alerts that pop up while you're dead, asking if you'd like to take control of a xenomorph, a morph, or almost anything else. These are often provided by admins, but can occasionally happen via random events. Please note that if you take on a ghost role you CANNOT be revived or return to your original body!
Playing the Game
C-05-MO, the AI говорит: "Hello! The automatic diagnostic and announcement system welcomes you to Space Station 13. Remember: Have a secure day." |
Now that we've gone over the interface and some more important game concepts, let's jump into the game. If you join a game in progress, you'll usually spawn on the arrival shuttle. (You'll start buckled onto a chair as the shuttle docks with the station - press the Resist button on the HUD or the picture of the chair to unbuckle yourself). If you "readied up" roundstart as an assistant you'll be spawned in a random, public area of the station.
/tg/station has multiple maps that the server will vote for at the end of every round. The game can take place on Meta Station, IceboxStation, Delta Station, Kilo Station. You may occasionally see other maps, but these are the ones currently mantained. You can visit the individual wiki pages to see the layout of a specific map.
Each station has a unique layout, so you'll likely want to use these maps to get your bearings.
- "MetaStation" Click here for a map of MetaStation. Visit the wiki page for MetaStation for more details.
- "DeltaStation" Click here for a map of DeltaStation. Visit the wiki page for DeltaStation for more details.
- "IceboxStation" Click here for a map of IceboxStation. Visit the wiki page for IceboxStation for more details.
- "KiloStation" Click here for a map of KiloStation. Visit the wiki page for KiloStation for more details.
If you've chosen Assistant as your role, you'll have no responsibilities. This means you can safely attempt to get your bearings without fear of someone telling you that you need to be doing something. It might be awkward at first, but it doesn't take much time to get to grips with how to control your character.
What to do if There's a Breach
If you hear the telltale sound of air being sucked out of a room or see a hole in the station, something's gone wrong and caused a breach. It's wise to avoid being exposed to the vacuum of space for too long, but if you need to pass by, you can put internals on.
When you spawn, inside your backpack is an emergency kit with a small tank of O2, a breath mask, and an epipen to stabilize someone who's in crit.
- Step 1
- Using an empty hand, click on your backpack, then click + drag the box inside to your character's sprite. This will open the box.
- Step 2
- Take the breath mask and put it on your mask slot (press the equipment icon to see it).
- Step 3
- Take the O2 tank and put it in one of your pockets. This leaves your hands free for other tasks.
- Step 4
- Press the internals icon to turn on your air supply.
This will keep you breathing clean air - make sure to avoid exposure to a vacuum for too long, and watch your air tank's supply in the Status bar!
1. Inventory Management:
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Файл:Nuvola apps important.svg2. Hazards:
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What Jobs to Take After Your First Few Rounds
- Though many say that Assistant is the best starting role, the lack of a focused objective can make learning the game difficult. Many people also will dismiss any Assistant as a "greytider" or something similar. You might be better off trying a role that isn't critical to the game, but still has a job to do, such as Chef, Cargo Technician, or Janitor.
- After you've gotten used to the controls and general idea, you might want to move to a role such as Scientist, Botanist or Station Engineer. These jobs have more depth to them than some other roles.
- Don't play security roles like the Security Officer or Warden until you're proficient with the controls and know enough about the game to treat people fairly. It's very easy to play security poorly, and letting the power get to your head is a bad idea.
- You'll want to avoid round critical roles such as Captain, AI, or any heads of staff until you're well versed in the game and know what's going on. If, by some coincidence, you end up being one of these roles and you aren't prepared, just ahelp (F1) explaining the situation. We'd all much rather someone admits they aren't ready for a role than to do a bad job, or even worse, silently disconnect.
- Avoid joke roles such as the Clown or Mime at first. Many players find harassing the on board entertainment much more fun than any jokes the clown might otherwise have.
- After some time, when you're confident enough in your combat abilities, you should enable antagonists within your game preferences, so that you can roll for antag when the shift starts. A good portion of the game is arguably being an antag and unleashing yourself.