Getting Started

So you've never played the game before and you're looking to get started. Sweet. New players are totally awesome and there are a ton of people playing on the servers who love to help you get going. However, even they can't help you if you don't have understanding on how the very basics work. So let's get started on that!

Step 1: Download BYOND[1].

Build Your Own Net Dream (or BYOND for short) is the platform that Space Station 13 runs on. We aren't going to lie - it's pretty bad. It's mostly held together with equal parts duct tape and prayer, and it took numerous attempts to work around the slipshod code to make it so it could be played with minimal latency. You will likely be cursing BYOND at least once. The sooner you get used to this, the better off you'll be.

Step 2: Find the appropriate server

Since the vanilla version of Space Station 13, many servers have branched out in their own ways and developed many different ideas. Many have borrowed code from one another, but most of them are different in some way. To join a server, you can either join by clicking on a server on the Main Page, by joining from the page on BYOND's site[2], or by entering the IP into the connect/favorites bar on your BYOND client for easy access. Since you're reading up on Goonserv, you're going to want to look for Gibbed #3/Gibbed #4, hosted by the Galactic Order of Oppressive Neckbeards.

First Things First

Welcome goon sir!

Successfully connecting to a server will bring you to the screen shown above. It's very likely that you'll catch any given server in the middle of a round. The screen for pre-round stuff is mostly the same, and you can often tell when a round has just started or ended by the OOC chat being allowed briefly. In any case, the very first thing you should do is click on Character Setup. This will display a menu that is mostly self-explanatory, and allows you to set your job preferences as well as your character's name, whether to randomly generate that name per round, and their age and general appearance. Tweak these settings however you like.

Selecting your job preferences is the most important thing here, for the moment. If you don't know how to do anything, enlisting as some form of Assistant is strongly recommended, and definitely do not sign up for antagonist, Head, or AI roles if you don't know what you're doing. Assistants are essentially free from responsibilities aboard the station and are thus ideal for going around and learning the basics from people.

In any case, once you've configured your character how you like, make sure to save those preferencces, and then back out and click Declare Ready. Pre-round, this will automatically spawn you in your proper place when play starts, and in the middle of a round, it gives you another screen to select your job. Again, if you're clueless and eager to learn, Assistant-level work is recommended strongly.

When you select your job mid-round you will spawn in the Arrivals shuttle, which may add another thing to your plate if you need to get around and find your designated workspace. Mentorhelp and just plain asking over the radio is strongly advised for stuff like this.

In any case...

My God, It's Full Of Complexity

Take it a bit at a time.

Try not to panic. Seriously. Don't take any hasty actions because Space Station 13 is the sort of game where it is possible for one to kill oneself with one's own shoes. The controls and UI are probably the real reason that you're reading this, anyway. Let's break down the User Interface first, then, and after that we'll figure out how to avoid attacking random people and ourselves.

The left side of the game window is occupied by the actual game itself, showing all the environments and sprites. The right side of the window is occupied by chat and informational text. Both sides are important. Let's start by looking at the left side first.

• Your Character is always in the center of the game screen. Your sprite is mostly determined by what you're wearing and your appearance preferences.
• Other Players are represented by very similar-looking sprites in the game. The man in red standing next to my sprite is a fellow player.
• Your Health is indicated by a number of boxes that occupy the top-right of the game window. Currently my health is at 100 percent; as one takes damage from any source, it will begin to go down, and the color will change from green to less friendly colors such as orange, and until you hit Critical state and eventually die. The game will popup windows denoting the sources of damage you're taking over time, as opposed to direct injuries or attacks. If you see a source-of-damage box, it's a red flag that you need to leave the area and seek protection from whatever is hurting you.

The rest of the in-game UI is occupying most of the bottom of the game window.

• Equipment Slots are generally on the top row of boxes, and denote what your character has on you in some fashion, whether it's a helmet, a breath mask, a radio headset, etc. Clicking on an item occupying this slot will bring it to your active hand. Having a compatible item in your active hand and clicking on an empty slot will equip it, or clicking on the green left-most button on the bottom row, which will automatically attempt to equip your active hand's item and will also display or hide the top equipment slots.
• Belt, Pockets, and Back slots are next to the green INV button and occupy the left half of the bottom row of buttons. These are like the equipment slots, and compatibe items can be put into these slots. Different slots can hold different items, and you will always start with your PDA in your belt slot and typically a water battle or pen in your pockets. Everybody also starts with a backpack on their back slot, which can be removed by dragging it to the active hand or opened by clicking on it with an empty active hand.
• Your Hands are denoted by the middle slots of the bottom row, which have a hand background on them. You can hold items in your hands, which allows you to use them, or if you hands are empty what you will do by clicking on yourself and others is determined by your Intent. These slots are incredibly important. One hand will always be surrounded by orange, denoting the active hand, which is the one that will act when you click. You can switch active hands with the middle mouse button or by clicking on the hand slot. Most items in the game will be wielded like weaponry when you click on something, even if your intent is set to Help! Be sure you're not about to bash somebody with the item you're holding; ignorance is no excuse! Many items in the game can be interacted with only if your hand is free.
• Throw or Drop are the next two buttons. Throw is on the top; when clicked, it will enable you to toss the item in your active hand in whatever direction you click with your mouse like a projectile. When you click the Drop button, you simply and noiselessly toss whatever was in your active hand to the floor.
• Intent Settings are the next four buttons in the UI; these determine what action you will take when your active hand is empty and you click on another person (or yourself). The four Intent settings are:
  • Help, the green hand. This will cause you to shake a person in an attempt to wake them up from stun or knockdown effects, or, if they're badly hurt, will allow you to attempt CPR. Gear worn on the head such as helmets and masks will block this until removed.
  • Disarm, the yellow hand. This will allow you to attempt to remove something from another person's hands. An unwary attacker is often undone by a single lucky disarm levelling the playing field, and you should always be aware of Disarm's power. Store items that might be used against you in other slots than your hands to keep them safe from theft or worse.
  • Grab, the orange fist. This allows you to grab somebody, and, like Disarming or punching, is typically seen as an aggressive action except for specific circumstances. Grabbing can lead to strangling by tightening your grip on a target, but if the target is capable of Resisting, it may prove ineffective. Gear on their head will also block strangling just as it does Help. Grabbing can also be used to toss a person, and it has other, more advanced functions. For the new-to-moderately-skilled-player, this is definitely the least common Intent setting.
  • Harm, the red fist. Clicking on somebody, even yourself, with this Intent on will lead you to you punching and swinging away with every click. While it's generally better to wield some sort of weapon, even an improvised one, in an emergency you can target punches to vulnerable areas such as the head and groin This can land a surprise knockdown on your opponent, which can be deadly in a fight due to the robust combat engine.

Intent also governs how you collide with other players; attempting to move into someone else with Help on will lead to the two of you quickly switching places. Any other Intent will cause your character to shove them forward to make room for yourself. Excessive shoving is seen as a possibly aggressive, and definitely quite annoying, action, so in crowded areas, having your Intent set to Help is usually better.

• Target Settings are next, and allow you to aim actions you take towards people by clicking on parts of the body until they are highlighted in red. This is used in special actions as well as simply to aim attacks for important places, such as the head or groin. Aim does not matter for the purposes of disarming, helping, or grabbing, but it does affect where you will try to punch or attack with a weapon.
• Run/Walk is the top-left button of the four remaining on the in-game window. This will determine your movement setting. Typically you want to be moving at a run, and that is the default, but when the floor is wet ahead you want to slow to a walk or you will fall over. If you slow to a crawl and you aren't hurt and it's not BYOND lagging, check to see if you've accidentally toggled yourself to walk.
• Pull is the top-right button on the bottom right side of the bar. It will be lit with orange around its border if you are currently dragging something, and you can click on it to release the object.
• Resist is the bottom-left button of the bunch, and it has a few specific applications. If somebody is attempting to put a grab on you or remove something from your person, click 'resist' to mess that process up. This is why, to do these things, one must often render a target incapable of resisting. If you are lit on fire and actively burning, you must use Resist as well as Stand/Rest in order to first drop to the ground and then click Resist repeatedly to roll around and extinguish yourself.
• Rest/Stand is the final button on the in-game UI and the final of the four we're looking at. This governs whether you are on the floor, recovering at a slow but steady rate, or on your feet. If you are knocked down for any reason, use this button to attempt to stand. On the other hand, if you need to rest from being drunk or something, use this button. You cannot move while resting.

Clear as mud, right? I know it seems that way, but the complexity of the UI will soon become like breathing to you, and you'll be able to work around it with ease.

The right-hand side of the window is where the chat box goes, as well as information on the top-right. All sorts of information can be displayed and is often obvious or can be learned later. Mostly focus on the chat itself for now.

• • Text spoken normally will appear black and unitalicised, and can only be heard by people in the same general area as the speaker. Type say "message" to speak in this manner when you don't feel like broadcasting idle/treasonous chatter to the entire station.
  • Text spoken into the radio will appear green and will denote with a symbol whether it came from the headset or intercom, as well the frequency of the channel. To send radio messages, type say ; "message". This will broadcast to all active radios and the AI itself and is the most used method of chatting by far. An AI can click on your name from a radio message to zoom to your location with its cameras. Note that sometimes you may be spoken over if multiple people are trying to talk on the same frequency at the same time. If you need to get a message out, just retype it or copy-and-paste it and try again. Even the AI can be spoken over, which is usually seen when it is trying to recite its laws.
    • Special radio channels can be accessed by specialist headsets such as Security, Medical, or Engineering. These appear red, dark blue, or yellow, respectively, and you can send a message on this channel with say :h "message". Note that people standing near enough to you are able to hear your headset.
  • Whispering is a special ultra-short range version of 'regular talk' that is black and italicized and only understandable from a short number of tiles away. Those father away may catch garbled snippets of the message. To whisper, type whisper "message".
  • Machinetalk is a special form of communication only available to the AI, its Cyborgs, and anybody with a Machine Translation Implant. Messages can be sent this way with say :s "Message". Although it is unlikely you will encounter this at this stage, know that it is black and italiciized, and it gives no indication you are communicating at all to outsiders, unlike radio broadcasts.
  • Updates from CentComm will appear with a large title and red text and generally be very obvious. These can either be canned messages denoting specific or random events in the game, or messages straight from the Admins. In any case, it is frequently bad news and definitely to be attended to.
  • Event Messages can be black, blue, or red, with the red ones typically demanding the most attention, since they can be potentially or overtly hostile actions. Not all red-text events are hostile, though; context matters. Red-texted event messages are rarely smart to ignore.
  • Deadchat is only available if you are dead or spectating, and denotes messages from other players in a similiar situation. Speak as you would normally speak, with say "message". Except for in very rare instances, deadchat cannot be seen by the living and is a safe place to discuss and spectate about the events of the match or talk about what happened without getting into trouble like you would for doing that in OOC.
  • OOC is a special chat channel that is often disabled during the rounds proper and enabled before and after each round. BYOND usernames instead of character names are used and there is no expectation of RP or anything other than just an internet chatroom at all. Broadcasting in-Character information (IC) over OOC during a match is forbidden and will often end up getting OOC disabled and yourself punished for your attempt to metagame and break the rules. Don't even try this..
  • Goonsay is a special chat channel reserved for verified members of the Something Awful forums, that is, goons. It's the only thing you get for verifying you are a goon. Treat this like a different OOC channel for most respects.

Okay! So that's the chat information. Now you are capable of communication across a range of mediums and methods, although it will take some getting used to. Now that you know about the UI, let's move on to...

How Does Walk? What's a 'HoP'?

So at this point you are officially into the world of the game and have either appeared at your designated workspace, or more likely mid-round on the Arrivals shuttle in the northwest corner of the station. In either case, the first thing you have to do is understand how to move and interact with the world around you. The arrow keys, and not wasd, govern your character's movement. The number pad can also be used for diagonal movements. Things such as what you're wearing as well as server leg can affect the rate of speed your character moves at, and in a straightaway a crewman can build up some real speed. Practice moving about whatever room you're in until you're comfortable with that. It shouldn't take too long.

You can't even begin to learn a profession or trade yet, however, until you come to grips with the controls. The way your character interacts the most with the world is, well, through their hands. An empty active hand is very often required to operate machinery, open and close lockers, work computer terminals, or pick anything up. When trying to pick up an object, if you have anything at all in your hand already, your character will decide to try and smash the objects together like an idiot. Clear space by dropping the already-held item or clicking on your backpack or pocket slots to stow it away. As mentioned above, clicking on a person with anything in your hand, until you are sure of what it does, is a really bad idea, as well. Most times it will turn out that, even with your intent on help, you just attacked somebody, and in this game that means that somebody is going to respond in kind. If you're lucky, and explain your error, they might relent.

Whether you started as an Asisstant or not, then, once you are proficient enough to walk around and pick up items, your first task is to become at least passingly familiar with the station's layout. The map is changed every so often, but the Goonstation servers stay on a map a pretty long time, definitely enough to learn it by heart. Run around, check things out, perhaps even ask for directions in person or via radio. The station AI will probably be happy to assist if it's able. The Head of Personnel, whose workspace is near Arrivals anyway, may be used to fielding basic questions as well. As any flavor of Assistant you are essentialy invisible until you start causing trouble (don't do this until you know what kinds of trouble won't get you reported to the admins). As a personal goal, you should in your first round be able to find the Arrivals Shuttle, Customs Checkpoint, and Escape arm, which are all in the far north of the station, the Bar, which is in the heart, Engineering, which is denoted by yellow stripes when you get close and yellow airlocks, and Medical, which is southeast of the Bar and denoted by blue stripes near the walls when you approach. These are where the average joes of the station are, for the most part, and house a majority of the jobs.

The world won't sit and wait for you to get ready, however; that's one of the overarching themes of this game. Things happen. If you find yourself in a combat situation before you're prepared, then the best course of action would be to attempt to disengage, flee, and call for help. Giving your location would be best, but if there is a functional AI present they can trace you if you just start yelling for 'HELP' in caps. Stopping to speak may let whoever's chasing you catch up, however, so get moving. Generally, going to an area like the Bar to escape is a bad idea; try to head for the Medbay. If you aren't hitting back and somebody's trying to hurt you, the Doctors and Medical staff there will flip out and come to your aid. They hate violence in their workplace for understandable reasons.

Alternately, the best way to sharpen your robust combat skills is to have at them! Toolboxes, fire extinguishers, and crowbars are plentiful and prove effective if targeted correctly, such as for the head. They can knock an opponent down if you can land a few hits and from there things get much easier. If you're being attacked by somebody with a weapon, try to disarm them if possible, and use their own weapon on them! I promise they'll realize the irony. If it's a regular member of the crew who attacked you, don't try to kill them generally; leave it for Security Officers when they show up or more experienced crew. Obvious antagonists can usually be killed safely, although, again, you should defer to more experienced players. Some enemies are tougher to kill than others.

(As a final note on this , if some random person does try or succeed in killing you or steal some essential tool of your job like the Singularity Engine, or if they're just set out to grief you, adminhelp it. No, seriously. If they're a traitor or something they obviously won't get punished, but a regular person wrecking your shit like that, unprovoked, especially against a new person, is a shitty thing to do and the admins will help you.)

Once you can navigate through the station layout, it's advisable to head to a specialized workplace, ask for permission to enter, and simply tell them that you're blindingly new to the game and ask if they would mentor you a bit. More often than not you'll get a positive reply and at least some help, although note that if you start thirty minutes into the round a black hole or space weeds may be eating the station and the professionals may be too busy to help you. For that matter, you may spawn in Arrivals and be trapped by bolted doors or decompression; don't worry, this is just the game's way of helping you come to grips with how vulnerable you are. There are many, many ways to meet your end in Space Station 13, and never feel bad for dying.

Heed advice given via radio, from the AI, using the helpful mentorhelp verb, or given in-person. If you can really listen, understand, and internalize advice, then you'll be up and robusting people in no time.

Job Prospects

Here's a rough summary of jobs on the station and how difficult they would be for a new person to learn and master successfully.

• Assistant - Any flavor of Assistant is blindingly easy because you have basically no responsibilities or duties, nobody expects anything from you, and you are effectively ignored. Even the optional crew goals are always wacky or strange. The only reason somebody would pick this job instead of at least something else is to learn a more advanced job, avoid responsibilities, or if they join an hour in and there are literally no other slots available.

• Barman/Chef/Chaplain - These jobs are civilian-sector occupations and overall are quite easy, since they also aren't really expected to contribute to the station overall. It's a good chance to socialize, learn basic mechanics, and have some fun with making food, getting people drunk, or shouting religious messages at the AI.

• Janitor - The custodian role is an easy one for the most part. The only time people notice you really is when you start wetting floors, which causes people to slip. Make sure to put up your wet floor signs when, not if, this happens; it may make all the difference between complaints over the radio and a lynch mob at your door. Otherwise this job is similar to other civilians ones. Basically just clean up horrible bloody messes when they happen.

• Botanist - Of all the 'technical' roles aboard the station, the Botanist is arguably the easiest. Hydroponics is one of the departments that aren't really expected to contribute useful products during an average round, so you can play around, see what the seeds do, and tend your crops. The real action on the station rarely occurs at Hydroponics so it's a relatively safe workplace.

• Medical Doctor - Almost certainly the easiest of the Medsci professions, the MD's overall usefulness to the station is a subject of heated debate, but in a pinch you can be a literal lifesaver. Ask what the drugs do, talk to fellow doctors, roam the stations, inject hurt people with the right stuff to make them feel better. The learning curve is gentler and people will rarely blame you for losing a patient, although injecting them with the wrong stuff may get somebody on your case. Learn how to be efficient with your Med supplies because getting more can be tough.

• Cyborg - Subordinate to the AI and crew, you are expected to be a busy little worker bee. This job can be easy to medium difficulty depending on what you're asked to do and what you arleady know of the game. Learning the ropes by starting as a Cyborg and having the AI's guidance isn't a horrible idea, though, and although limited and shackled, Cyborgs can do amazing things. Remember, the AI's laws are your laws and you are effectively answerable to it as your boss.

• Quartermaster - Techincally this is an Engineering-sector job, but really it's not, and it's not terribly hard to learn. Your duty is essentially to guard your cargo bay, earn money by gathering things from other station departments or purchasing it and then reselling it to CentCom for a profit, and answering supply requests from the crew. As the QM, you decide which requests go through. It can be boring if you prefer running about and hitting people, though.

• Scientist - The bog-standard scientist job is really a medium challenge profession, and there's several different fields you can choose to focus on, such as Artifact Research [medium], Telescience [quite hard], and Chemistry. [medium to hard but fun]. When you're ready to move up and really get into how things work, this is a good specialist job to apply for. You'll often get it and get to mess around with some of the most fun mechanics and tools in the game.

• Detective - Of all the jobs with Security access and duties, probably the easiest to start with is the Detective, as it's only about medium difficulty. You are not a Security Officer, and for somebody just looking to get into the Sec/Command fields, that's a good thing. You can learn and observe from the regulars as well as play around with the gimmicks and cool toys at your disposal. Practice your robust technique on perpetrators and antagonists with other Security support.

• Engineer - A job that isn't as daunting as it may first appear; medium difficulty at best, although much that is expected of you revolves around starting up the Singularity properly. Learning an Engineering profession is often best when you just jump in as a regular rank-and-file Engineer and ask how to do things. More often than not, like in all jobs, people will be willing to teach you. If you can set up the Singularity in a timely fashion, then you're set for the round pretty much and can practice construction/repairs/hacking at your leisure.

• Electrician - A specialized form of Engineering job, Electrician work is definitely in the medium range and requires a good grasp of game fundamentals. Your tasks as an Electrician are often more complicated or obscure, such as building computers, replicating important devices, and monitoring and repairing the wiring. Ask for help if you don't understand something and just have fun trying to copy the really important stuff. This is another good job to practice your hacking skills.

• Roboticist - You are one of the two professions capable of bringing the dead back to life, by turning them into Cyborgs, and this job is medium to advanced in some respects. Learning how to construct robot frames and perform basic brain surgery isn't all that complicated, however, and with a little practice you can find yourself proficient. Robotics offers a lot to those willing to learn it, and it might be worth a try if you think you'd be into it.

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