The Basics

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Getting Started on CHOMPstation
The Basics General Help
Commands Server Rules
A Crash Course In Roleplaying
Character Creation Guide to Vore
Terminology More Guides


Congratulations on your employment by NanoTrasen. Make sure to check out the other Starter Guides (listed above) as well as the Job Guides.

Space Station 13 is a multiplayer roleplaying game developed using the BYOND engine. In Space Station 13 (from here on to be referred to as SS13), players take the role of workers on a space station. There are many different jobs available, and each player chooses and plays a role in the space station.

Let's get one thing out of the way from the start. WE EAT PEOPLE AND GET OFF ON IT.If you don't like that kind of thing, or you don't like erotic roleplay in your spacestations, you can always play somewhere else.

CHOMPstation is a heavily roleplay-focused server. The choice is not optional; it is enforced. Should you be new to roleplaying, consult A Crash Course In Roleplaying. Should you still have questions, ask them at the CHOMPstation forum.

The Rules

Yes, there are rules set in place to ensure an enjoyable experience for all players. Please take a moment and read them.

What to Expect

What to expect from CHOMPstation:

  • ~ADULT CONTENT~
  • A large, evolving community of players
  • Dynamic roleplaying over several-hours-long ‘shifts’
  • Creating an ongoing story for your character (shifts have story continuity between them)
  • A flexible setting to allow you to create a diverse array of characters to play
  • A game to play while socializing, meeting new people, and enjoying yourself
  • People who will accept you for who you are, and what you’re into
  • The ability to duck into a dorm for isolated ‘anything goes’ RP*
  • Staff-driven storyline events involving the playerbase as characters

What to NOT expect from CHOMPStation:

  • A high-action SS13 server with 24/7 robusting
  • The ability to create characters which do not fit into the setting (without approval)
  • A place to have every roleplay you want, at any time, anywhere, without restriction**
  • A private chatroom where your roleplaying has no chance of being interrupted or seen by others
  • Roleplaying with just your friends from other places
  • Playing as specific characters from other licensed media
  • 'Anything goes' refers to the fact that you can roleplay things that do not fit in the setting, or things you would usually be quickly arrested for, not that you can ignore the server’s rules.
    • Do not expect to be able to perform illegal acts in public or create scenarios that don’t fit within the setting without repercussions from other characters, or possibly admins.

Joining the Server

To join the server you'll need to follow a couple of steps:

  1. Download the BYOND client from here. You'll need it to start playing
  2. Register for a BYOND account here.
  3. Join our Discord server, fill out the 18+ form, and ask for the ss13 role gain access to our server: here

If all has gone well, congratulations! Before you can jump in and start playing, we strongly recommend you set up your character first.

Character Setup

The character setup screen.

Before you start throwing together a character, make sure you glance at Rule 11 so that you know what types of characters are generally unacceptable and require a special application before playing. If in doubt, ask. Whitelisted species can be applied for via Discord threads in #ss13-whitelisting, or alternatively, the forums as per normal.

Cosmetics

Cosmetics have no actual effect on gameplay, but we recommend that you take some time to change them to your taste.

  • Name: As part of the roleplay guidelines followed by the server, it is required that all characters have a first and last name (with the exception of different languages or cultures, but use common sense!). By randomizing your name, the game will pick a suitable name for your character, accounting for gender.
  • Gender: Self-explanatory; this is purely for roleplay purposes.
  • Age: The only cosmetic setting that is basically useless. It will only appear on in-game security and medical records and won't change your character's appearance. The only other effect is has is the Skill System.

Look and Feel (Global Tab)

  • UI Style: Your user interface theme. You have the choice of Orange or Midnight, newer, sleeker layouts which differ only in their color scheme, and Old, a familiar legacy theme that preserves the 'traditional' Space Station 13 feel. There is now also a "White" theme. This theme is mostly for crafting your own UI.
  • Play admin midis: If enabled, you will be able to hear music played by admins. Usually best to leave it enabled, as you can turn it off in-game and admins will rarely play MIDIs.
  • Ghost ears/Ghost sight/radio: When you're dead or observing, these determine whether you hear speech and see actions, respectively, from anywhere in the world, or only from the area on-screen. (These can also be changed in-game.)
All of these setting are capable of being changed in-game through the preferences and ghost tabs on the right-hand side of your screen.

Occupations

This is an important option and will be covered in more detail below.

Skills

The skills settings here have no actual effect on gameplay — only roleplay — but give you a framework to define your character's knowledge, skills and experience. It's best to leave these alone until you're familiar with the various aspects of Space Station 13. These are covered in more detail on the Skill System page. Don't gives skills unrealistic values if you don't plan on using the system, just leave them alone. It makes the mod's/admin's jobs easier.

Appearance

  • Body: Pressing the (®) will give you a completely random appearance. Can produce some pretty strange results, so it's not recommended (unless you happen to like playing a bald woman with an enormous purple beard).
  • Species: This option will allow you to change your Species. There are a number of Species that you can encounter. Some of them will likely be unavailable to you however, such as vox, diona, and xenochimera.
  • Blood Type: Blood type isn't important until your character is injured; he or she can only give or accept blood transfusions from people with a compatible blood type.
  • Body Color: This will change your character's skin color. You can use one of the presets, or define your own custom color using the custom tab in the window that pops up.
  • Underwear: Changes the color of your character's underwear, visible when naked. Even if set to none, nothing particularly explicit is shown.
  • Backpack: You can choose between a standard gray backpack, two different types of satchels (one brown leather, the other department-specific design and color), or none at all.
  • Hair/Facial/Eyes: These let you change the color and, if applicable, style of your character's hair, facial hair, and eyes. Hair and facial hair styles can be changed regardless of gender. Use common sense, though: red eyes and bearded women aren't really a good idea.

Disabilities

Allows you to set disabilities for you character to start with. Allows one to set a requirement for needing glasses, and Haemophilia, if wanted. (List may change as things are added/removed from disabilities list). Harmful disabilities (such as haemophilia) are not recommended for new players.

Flavor Text

This blurb is shown when people examine you (see Controls for more information).

This text should only describe your character's physical traits and mannerisms. It's not a good idea to mention anything someone wouldn't know by looking at you or something that is opinionated (e.g. "has long brown hair" or "has a gruff look" rather than "is extremely beautiful" or "has problems with authority").

Character Records

This will pop-up a window that will allow you to set your character Medical and Security records, and have them be able to be read in-game by Medical Doctors or Security Officers respectively.

This is mostly a fun little RP tool that can be used to help flesh out your character more. However, since it appears in-game as an official record, it should be written as such. Try to write it as you would expect from a large company like NanoTrasen.

Do not put your records in your Flavor Text. Flavor Text is meant for your physical description

There is also the "Employment Records" which can show your character's past occupation history.

Not recommended for newer players.

Antagonist Options

These will put you in the running for the role of various antagonists. As a new player, it is strongly recommended that you set all of these options to no until you have had the opportunity to play the various game modes as a normal crewman. Should you be chosen to play an antagonist without wanting to, tell an admin via Adminhelp that you are new and do not wish to do so.

Bear in mind that these are hardly ever used - most events occur on the Extended gamemode, with administrative hands behind the scenes.

The only exception is pAI candidate, which will give you the chance to play as a Personal AI. You can safely leave this enabled, since you can still reject it in-game.

Data Management

You can save your character and preferences for future rounds by clicking the save button at the top of the window. Doing so will allow you to play that character over different rounds.

This is required so you do not lose your character.

You can also add more character slots by click the 'Create New Character' link. You have quite a few, so try experimenting with different characters and personalities!

Occupations, Revisited

The job preferences panel.

Your occupation is, by far, one of the most important settings in the game. It affects your station access, rank, authority, equipment, and purpose in life. These range from civilian jobs such as Chefs or Janitors, all the way up to the Head of Personnel or the Captain.

Job Assignment

With the exception of Visitor, all job preferences have four levels: Never, Low, Medium, and High. These change how likely the server is to assign you that job when it compares your preferences with those of the other players.

Because of the diversity and range of jobs available, there are many ways to roleplay. A lot of these jobs, however, require a good knowledge of the game mechanics, the layout of the station, and how to use in-game tools and machinery. Because of this, the following jobs are recommended for new players:

  • Intern: The most basic of all occupations, the intern has no authority and, generally speaking, no responsibilities. It's an excellent opportunity to learn the game mechanics — but your access is limited, so feel free to ask other people if you can help, and they'll usually be happy to show you around their department and help you learn the ropes. It also lets you practice roleplaying, if you're still unsure about it.
  • Janitor: A simple, if menial, job that involves replacing lightbulbs, cleaning up messes, putting out wet floor signs, and then pointing them out to people who've slipped on the floor you just finished mopping. Your only responsibilities are to keep the station clean and well-lit, and it'll help you learn your way around the station and its various departments.
  • Chef: A fairly simple job that gives you a good introduction to mixing ingredients, and there's even the possibility of cake into the bargain. Recipes are available here, to help kickstart a budding Chef's career.
  • Bartender: Like the Chef, but with more alcohol. The Barman's job is primarily mixing and serving drinks to a thirsty crew. The recipes are also available here. You'd be surprised at some of the stuff you can make, so try it out!

If you're interested in other jobs, feel free to browse the Jobs list. Each job has it's own guide linked by clicking the name of the job. Try to avoid any Security, Engineering, or Command positions until you get a hang of the game. (Jumping into a position you're not prepared to do is a guaranteed way of making people angry at you.)

Playing the Game

If all has gone well, you should be just about ready to play your first round, and you'll be entering one of two ways:

Starting the Round

The joining panel (Bottom-Mid), character setup(Right), and main panel(Top-Mid). Server background on left, and tabs on the top (including admin ones, which you will not see).

Each round starts with a 3-minute delay while players chat and set up their characters. If you're lucky enough to join at this point, the first thing to do is set up your character's appearance and job preferences, then click Ready.

More than likely, however, you'll arrive halfway through a game in progress. Clicking View Crew Manifest will give you a list of who's on the station, and what position they have filled. Clicking Join Game will bring up a list of positions you can join as. These are filtered based on what YOU choose in Occupations. Observe will allow you to view the world + explore as an incorporeal ghost.

When joining a game in progress, you'll spawn on the Arrivals Shuttle (or your character's selected method of entry. On CHOMPStation, the current map, Southern Cross, has the following options available: Arrivals Shuttle (default), Gateway (planetside), Station Gateway, Pred/Prey Vorespawn, and Cryogenic Storage). On join, you will be introduced to the crew by the Arrivals Announcement Computer. From there, you can either try to find your workplace and get started, or just explore the station a bit.

Gameplay

At the start of every round, make sure to stop by Medical to get a backup implant! This is what lets you be resleeved should you die!

Never fear, though, if you forgot, Medical will usually rescue you.

You can also use the Autoresleever if you have a mind record! On CHOMPStation, this is located above Virology and Genetics, and in the Ghost tab, there is a verb to locate one.

The User Interface

This is how the HUD looks when you first hop into Space Station 13
  • 1. Clothing (1 + 2): Anything your character is wearing. Clicking the backpack icon on the bottom left will show/hide this menu. Anything inside the ORANGE box (2) will be hidden on toggling the backpack icon. Most clothing has pockets, and all clothes have a belt/backpack/ID slot. Anything in them is displayed here. You won't be able to use them if you're naked. See below for more details.
    • Pockets (1a): Slots that allow stowing of small items, gun quickloaders, etc.
    • Belt (1b): Things labeled "belt" generally go here, but you can also slot certain weapons here. On roundstart, your PDA will usually be here, so simply take your ID by clicking on it, click on the PDA to put it in, then take the PDA with another click and slot it into the ID slot.
    • Backpack (1c): This is where your backpack will go, and what holds most of your items. RIGsuits (also called Hardsuits) will go here, which requires you to take your backpack off.
    • ID Slot (1d): This is where your ID (and PDA once your ID's been slotted into it) goes. This falls off if you lose your undersuit slot (2a), as does belt/pockets/etc.
    • Suit Storage (1+2a): This is where oxygen tanks/etc, large weapons like sniper rifles go, and your backpack when using a RIGsuit. YOU MUST have an item in your Overwear slot.
  • 2. Clothing Slots: Explained below, toggled by the backpack icon covered in point 1.
    • Undersuit (2a): Labeled i_clothing when hovered over, this is where most basic clothing goes. You must have an undersuit to have backpack/ID/belt/pocket slots usable.
    • Overwear (2b): Labeled o_clothing when hovered over, this is where your suit/jacket/voidsuit goes. This opens up the Suit Storage slot if your overwear supports it. See (1+2a) for what can fit there.
    • Gloves (2c): Labeled gloves when hovered over, this is where gloves go. RIGsuits and Voidsuits will automatically deploy over this slot.
    • Footgear (2d): Labeled shoes when hovered over, this is where shoes, boots, etc goes. Optional if your species has Hard Feet. RIGsuits and Voidsuits will automatically deploy over this slot.
    • Eyewear(2e): Labeled eyes when hovered over, this is where items such as glasses, HUDs, goggles go. Self-explanatory.
    • Mask (2f): Labeled mask when hovered over, this is where masks + facewear go. Things like dog balls, lollipops, etc are put here, too, for a bit of fun interaction.
    • Left Ear (2g): Labeled l_ear when hovered over, this is where your headset should go. It is automatically there, but if you are ever EMP'd, take the headset off and re-enable the speaker! Mice can be put here, and they'll show up on you. SQUEEK.
    • Headwear (2h): Labeled Head when hovered over, this is where headgear such as berets, hats, hoods go. RIGsuits and Voidsuits will NOT automatically deploy over this slot, it must be empty. Mice can be put here, and they'll show up on you. SQUEEK.
    • Right Ear (2i): Labeled r_ear when hovered over, this is where a spare headset should go (useful for two sets of comms, if not stealthy. Much better to unscrew the encryption key with a screwdriver and pop it into your primary headset. Mice can be put here, and they'll show up on you. SQUEEK.
  • 3. Hands (3): The items you're holding in your hands. The hand you're currently using will be highlighted, and you can switch hands by clicking the appropriate hand or clicking 'Swap'. (Keyboard shortcut: X)
    • If you wish to open objects with their own storage (while their in your inventory), simply move them to one hand, and click on them with an empty hand.
    • If you want to quickly equip an item, hold it in your active hand and press the E next to Swap. (Or press E in Hotkey Mode).
  • 4. CHOMP-Specific Menus (4): The following menus are shortcuts to CHOMP/VORE specific features. Listed below in order from top-left to right, and bottom-left to right.
    • Character Setup (Red Dot): This opens the Character Setup pane, which can also be accessed from Preferences, Character Setup.
    • NIF Menu (Blue Dot): This appears contextually and ONLY if you have a NIF installed.
    • Vore Organs (Green Dot): You can access your vore organs from here, to set them up, as well as your preferences for vore, such as mobs eating you, etc. See Guide to Vore for more explanation, screenshots of the vore panel + prefs.
    • Crafting Menu (Orange Dot): Not used currently, but allows for crafting things on the fly, or via objects nearby. WIP feature.
  • 5. Actions (5):
    • Throw (5a): Toggle throwing; you can then throw the item in your active hand by clicking something to throw it at. (Top-right) (Keyboard shortcut: R)
    • Drop (5b): Immediately let go of the item you're holding. (Left of Throw) (Keyboard shortcut: Q)
    • Resist (5c): Resist against restraints and grabs. (Left of Drop) (Keyboard shortcut: B)
    • Let Go (5d): You can pull people and some items by control (ctrl)-clicking on them; if you're pulling something, click this button to release it. (Left of Resist, depending on your settings it may only appear when you've grabbed onto something) (Keyboard shortcut: Q, works only if you're not holding anything actively in your hand.)
  • 5, cont. Target, Speed, and Intent(5):
    • Body Target (5e): Shows which part of the body you will interact with, whether helping or harming. To change this, click on the different parts of the body. (Bottom-right)
    • Movement Speed (5f): This will toggle whether you run or walk. Walking is slower, but safer, and you won't slip as easily. (Left of Body Target)
    • Intent (5h): This selects how you will interact with an object or a person when you make an action. (Left of Movement Speed)
      • (On Intent box: Green is Help (Top-left), Blue is Disarm (Top-Right), Yellow is Grab (Bottom-Right), Red is Harm (Bottom-Left)).
  • 6. Weapon Mode (6): When you use a ranged weapon, this determines whether you shoot where you click, or select targets to take captive. If you activate the latter, you may set various conditions for when you will shoot automatically. These range from movement to talking on the comms.
  • 7. Status Icons (7): Health + Internals are here.
    • Internals: Shows whether you are running on internals (an oxygen tank and breath mask). If you have them equipped, clicking this will switch them on or off.
    • Health: Health fades to yellow, then red as you take further damage, highlighted per-body-part. If it flashes with the word CRIT, it means you are close to death and require immediate medical attention to stabilize or you WILL likely die. Alternatively, you're in PAINCrit, which is different - extreme sources of pain will put you in CRIT for a short duration, similar to immense, agonizing pain IRL.
  • 8. Warning/Alert Icons (8): These will appear variably based on the situation, and are known on /tg/ and other stations as Thrown Alerts.
    • Cold Warning: Appears if the air you're breathing is too cold. Usually shows up on Sif without cold adaptations or internals. The lighter version of this alert is simply "too cold", the secondary is danger, and you will start being harmed.
    • Heat Warning: Appears if the air you're breathing is superheated. Usually shows up near fires or in deserts. The lighter version of this alert is simply "too warm", the secondary is danger, and you will start being harmed.
    • Toxic Warning: Appears if you're breathing air that you cannot breath normally, such as phoron, Nitrogen, etc. This will kill you via oxy + toxin damage and is EXTREMELY dangerous. In this situation, your backpack usually has an internals box you can take out to put on mask + tank from, and then hit the Internals button to turn on, allowing you to breath safely.
    • Pressure Warning: Appears if pressure around you is too high or too low. Space has extremely low pressure and will kill VERY fast. (It's hard vacuum, after all!)
    • Oxygen Warning: Appears if the air you're breathing has too little oxygen. If you linger too long, you'll eventually pass out and slowly asphyxiate.
    • Hunger: Appears and gradually fades to red as you get hungrier. (It'll take a while to disappear after you eat something, though, depending on your metabolism.)

Interacting With the World

Interacting with your surroundings in Space Station 13 is mostly done by the mouse. You can click with an empty hand active to pick up items or open containers, click on something with an item in your active hand to use the item on it, click on a computer or device to view its display, and so on. Once you get the hang of managing your character's hands, things will make more sense: you can't, for example, open a toolbox in your left hand if your right hand is full.

A good way of interpreting the interaction system in Space Station 13 is to think of each click as 'using' the object (or hand) on whatever you're clicking on. For instance, to use a computer in real life, you'd essentially 'use' an empty hand on it to start typing. Using an empty hand on an object will pick it up, if you can hold it. Holding an item in your hand and clicking on something can result in three things:

  • If the object in hand is meant to be used with the object you're clicking on, the desired effect should occur. In the case of containers, such as drink bottles or beakers, you'll transfer a certain amount of units (usually 10) of the liquid from the container in your hand, to the container you're clicking on. For things like crowbarring the floor, you'll pry off a floor tile.
  • If the object in hand is not meant to be used with the object you're clicking on, more often than not (and very annoyingly, sometimes) you'll attack the target with the object. This can result in rather funny cases of hitting people with first aid kits, hitting your drinks machine with a bottle of vodka, etc. Or more dangerously, hitting someone with a crowbar, scalpel, toolbox, etc. This happens to be the essence of Robusting, as well (which we do not recommend you to try on unsuspecting crewmembers for no reason), which is basically clicking on someone, but with a weapon or very damaging object in hand.
  • If what you're clicking on is something that stores objects, the object will be taken out of your hand and placed in or on the target. This can be something like a table, opened locker or crate, which will place the object on top of the target, such that drinks will be placed on tables and jumpsuits will be placed in (technically, on) lockers. Objects like boxes and backpacks/satchels, which can be opened to reveal more slots for storing objects, will remove the item from your hand when clicked on, placing it in a slot inside.

It's okay to memorize those, but playing jobs that involve more object handling, such as Chef, Barman or Cargo Tech, will really help you understand how the system interprets clicks, and what to expect when trying to use something.

Interacting with Other People

CHOMPstation is a roleplay-focused server so your interactions with those around you are going to be very important. You won't get very far with pointing-and-clicking alone, so there are several basic commands to remember when dealing with other characters on the station:

  • Say: Speak to those in sight. You can prefix your message with a semicolon (;) to talk on the general radio channel, if you have a headset, or a colon and a letter (i.e. :m or :s) to talk on your department radio channel. (You can examine headsets to see which channels they can access.)
  • Whisper: Speak quietly, only audible to those right next to you. Anyone farther away will be told that you're whispering something.
  • Me: Lets you narrate your character's actions in an emote. This will have your character's name in front of the text.
    • A nice tip to remember is that you can still use quotation marks with this command like so: Me "tries to stand up, but falls and shouts, "Damnit!"
  • OOC: Speak to everyone currently playing, in an Out-Of-Character way. This can be used to ask about game mechanics and other things not concerning the game. Try not to mention events happening in the game in OOC, as everyone can see it.
  • LOOC: Speak to everyone within your view in an Out-Of-Character way. This can be used to ask other players to explain procedures or ask for help without having to broadcast your request to the entire server.

Don't be afraid to be creative! Writing speech with an accent, or being descriptive with your emotes, will make you a lot more memorable.

For example:

Say ":n Dr. Glass, could you come to Xenobiology, please? I think you should see this...

Whisper "Don' bloody move, yeah? Or you're a dead man.

Me "grumbles irritably and kicks his feet up on his desk, glowering at his boss.

And don't forget to type properly! Consistently making typos or forgetting punctuation looks about the same to other players as showing up to a job interview drunk and slurring.

Here's a quick list of the different radio keys: (NOTE: YOUR HEADSET MUST HAVE THE CHANNELS TO USE THEM. EXAMINE THE HEADSET TO DETERMINE IF THEY DO)

  • :h Will send your message to your department radio directly.
  • :c Will send the message to the Command Channel
  • :s Will send the message to the Security Channel
  • :m Will send the message to the Medical Channel
  • :e Will send the message to the Engineering Channel
  • :n Will send the message to the Research Channel
  • :u Will send the message to the Supply Channel
  • :v Will send the message to the Service Channel
  • :i Will let you talk into the neighboring intercom.
  • :y will send a message to the Explorers Channel

If you wish to emote something over coms then use " say;! [...] ".

What To Do Now

There's a couple of things to do to help you settle in at CHOMPstation once you've gotten the hang of the game:

  • Read up on the guide and lore pages: You can never know too much.
  • Try advanced jobs: Once you feel you have the basics of the game under your belt, don't be afraid to check the job masterlist on the other positions available. Not only is it more fun, but you might actually get to help the station!
  • Help out the game: If you're good with programming, drawing sprites, telling stories or designing maps, feel free to drop by the forums and show us what you can do.

Most importantly, have fun! After all, isn't that we're all here for?