First Week

Your first week in SWC will be difficult. You will be learning how to use our interface and understranding the various aspects of the game which you will be using. This section should help you in this time, and get you used to everything.

Joining a Faction

As explained in Creating your Character, joining a faction when you begin is one of the most helpful things you can do for yourself. Factions have the resources and manpower to get you quickly to where you can interact with the game in a meaningful way. They can, and often will, provide training to you that will familiarize you with the interface as well as the more specific activities you will be performing.

If you've followed the instructions on the Character Creation page, you will have waited to spawn your character - which means, your character will be in limbo, waiting to appear. If you wait until you are accepted into a faction, then once you choose to spawn, your faction's HQs will be listed as additional options for your initial spawning location, which can significantly reduce the delay before you physically reach your chosen faction. If you do this and later change factions, beware that some of these HQs will be under Shields, which will prevent your new faction being able to pick you up, unless they manage to arrange passage for their pilot through the shield.

See the Joining a Faction page for further instructions and suggestions.

You've Spawned, Now What?

This will depend primarily on where you spawned.

Homeworld

If you spawned on your Race's homeworld, you have several options available to you. You can leave the Starport you start in and wander around the city. You can do this by clicking the [Position] link on the sidebar on the right. This will give you the page where you move around. It will automatically open to the travel page, so look to the left of the screen, just under the central horizontal bar that holds several buttons. Click the [Exit] button, and confirm. You will be in the city.

You will be able to see the map view in the main window, and you can drag the map around to see more of the city. Yellow icons that look like men indicate Tutorial NPCs that will give you an In-Character (IC) description of various features of the game. To move to one of them, click the [Travel] button in the central horizontal bar. Then, on the map of the city that appears underneath, click on the grid square you would like to move to. An Estimated Time of Arrival (ETA) will appear, telling you how long it will take in real-time. Click the [Accept] button and you will begin to move.

To talk to the NPCs, you must be in the same grid square as them. Click on the main map view where you are. This will show more information under the central bar. Simple scroll down to the NPC you want to talk to and click the [Talk] button. You can then progress through the speech of the NPC. In addition, you can buy several cheap and common items in the NPC shop. Simply make your way to the NPC Shop (if you hold your mouse over the facilities in the main map view, it will tell you its type and name). You will then need to enter, which is done similarly to how you exited, except using the [Enter] option. You can then make your way through the facilities rooms using the arrows. Find the Shopkeeper NPC and talk to them to buy various items. These items will be dropped on the ground, and you will need to pick them up or they will be left behind.

To do this, simple click the [Equipment] link on the sidebar, just under the [Position] link. You will then see the items on the floor that you bought. Just drag the item onto the slots on yourself (the figure in the top left with boxes over it) and if you chose an acceptable slot (the back for a backpack, or example, or either hand for a weapon), they will then be equipped.

You can also use the NPC Transport system to fly to other Homeworlds, or to Starports that your faction owns. See the links for more details.

Faction HQ

If you spawn your character at your faction's HQ, you may have less to do compared with starting on your Race's homeworld. However, this is balanced by the fact that you will generally be a lot closer to your chosen faction's area of operations, and so will be picked up much sooner. It's even possible that your faction has some ships nearby that they can assign to you, so you can start flying immediately.

Moving Around

This is dealt with in more detail on the Travel page. However, a quick overview is as follows:

'Ground Movement' To move from place-to-place on the ground, you need to do the following:

• Find the [Position] link, (under ::Control:: on the sidebar)
• In the middle of the webpage, you should see a [Travel] button. Press it.
• On the bottom half of the screen, some other buttons should appear. Click on [Terrain]/[City].
• Choose the coordinates and speed you desire, then press the Go button.

'Space Movement' To move from place-to-place in space, you need to do the following:

• Find the [Cockpit] link, (under ::Control:: on the sidebar)
• In the middle of the webpage, you should see a [Travel] button. Press it.
• On the bottom half of the screen, some other buttons should appear. Click on either [Sublight] or [Hyperspace].
• Choose the coordinates and speed you desire, then press the Go button.