The Preamble

Right, right. So anyway, after being on Cybersphere forever, I figgered I'd put up a fat list of semi-useful to useful commands for newbies who don't like help files and oldbies who never bothered with help files. The order is vague, the purpose is even more so, and the commands are whatever came to my head.

Don't complain; I very nearly didn't do it at all.

However, there are a few things you should keep in mind.

First of all, all of these commands WORK, I think. Or they should.

Second, anything in bold is a command. Typing these bold and often cryptic phrases will get you somewhere, if you read the explanations.

Third, anything contained by brackets, e.g. (whatever), means that you can put whatever you feel like in those brackets, at least within reason. If you're going to substitute something in those brackets, DO NOT INCLUDE THE BRACKETS, TOO. IT'S SILLY, COUNTERPRODUCTIVE, AND WILL GET YOU NOWHERE.

Fourth, if you notice a * in the middle of a word (e.g. disc*onnect), that means that the letters prior to the star will suffice in place of the whole word. If you feel like typing the whole word, or the letters before the star, DO NOT INCLUDE THE STAR IN YOUR TYPING. EXAMPLE:
Type: DISCONNECT
NOT DISC*ONNECT
INCLUDING THE DAMN STAR WILL GET YOU NOWHERE FAST. JESUS H YOU PEOPLE ARE IMPATIENT.

Fifth, if you see a slash "/" in the midst of a command, that means that either word or character preceding the slash or succeeding the slash can be used with equal effectiveness, BUT NOT BOTH AT THE SAME TIME. EXAMPLE:
Type: emote (whatever)
OR: : (whatever)
NOT: emote/: (whatever)
Capiche?

Right, so that's the end of the preamble. Onto the amble.

Every Day Life

These commands are basically how to go about Cybersphere. They include IC commands, OOC commands, and a lot of things you can use just about anywhere. They're just things that might come in handy, some of which you may not have run across in the help files, nor will you any time soon.

Help

This is important.

Rules

The lowdown on the Do's and Don'ts of CS, and how to avoid being toaded.

who

You get the idea.

@ic

Sets you In Character; that is, ready to play the game from an IC perspective.

@ooc

Takes your character out of the game, briefly, and allows you to speak freely through your character, reflecting your own opinions, thoughts, statements, etc.

help map

This gives you an out of date, archaic, and completely wrong map of the city. Half of the locations on it are wrong or have been changed, but nonetheless, the streets are all the same. It's useful, believe me.

@idea

This is a command that'll allow you to send an idea...any idea...to the admins behind the game. It's your ideas that keep things moving and changing in the end, so use this as often as possible. The admins are sometimes cranky, a lot of the time your suggestions will get shot down, but all input is good, right? A lot of cool shit comes from @idea.

@bug

This is what you use when one of the admins has fucked up, and you see a traceback. A traceback is a series of lines, looking similar to this:

#3292:unlock (this == #3581), line 10: Invalid indirection
... called from #10691:lock unlock (this == #19418), line 5
(End of traceback)

@BUG EVERY ONE OF THESE YOU SEE! TRUST ME! That means that there's been a glitch somewhere in the code, and it's fucking up. Sometimes it fucks up in a good way (you get extra credits, your stats go up, etc), or in a bad way (you die, your stats go down, you pay for something but don't get the item, etc). In any case, it's important to @bug things....doesn't take too long, usually, and it keeps the MOO from grinding to a halt.

And, of course, if things fuck up in a good way, and you DON'T report it...well, just read the rules, baby. That falls under cheating somewhere.

@my tag is (messages)

Sets your tag.

@my title is ( message)

Sets your title.

@addalias (alias) to me

Adds an alias (an alternate name) to your character.

@my room_status is (whatever)

This changes what people see when they look at a room when you're there. It works like this....(your name) is (room_status message). So if you type, for example,
@my room_status is "Billybob is standing here looking mean,"
it'll say:
"Billybob is Billybob is standing here looking mean".
Always assume that the verb will put your char's name and the "is" in for you...write the room status from AFTER the "is".

@stats

Checks the stats on your character.

CPtrade

When you have three character points, it allows you to increase your stats.

help levels

This just brings up a list of the levels of your stats, from least to greatest. So you'll have an idea if "impressive" is better than "superior" or not.

i*nventory

Displays your inventory.

co (whomever)

Shows what another person has in their hands.

ht (whomever)

Shows the health of another person without looking at them. A plain ht will show you your own character's health.

l*ook (whatever)

Checks something's description. Works on damn near everything.

inspect (whatever)

Like look, but different. Works on damn near everything.

exam (whatever)

shows possible commands and aliases for something. works on absolutely everything. to examine a room, type exam here.

@messages me

displays the messages about yourself that you can change.

@messages (anything)

Displays the messages on something that you're allowed to change. Most things you won't be able to change... clothing is usually an exception.

pay (whomever) (creditamount)

Assuming you have the credits on your stick, you can pay a person a specified amount of credits. Example: "Pay Graye 5000" will pay Graye 5000 credits, if he's in the room with you.
Do this as often as possible when you see Graye.

speak (language)

This will allow you to speak any languages that you know besides English. If you're speaking one of those languages, speak english will cause you to speak normally again.

say (whatever)

Guess what this does.

to/` (whomever) (whatever)

Directional speech. Allows you to say something to a specific person in the room, as opposed to the room in general.

mu*tter (whomever) (whatever)

directional whispers....allows you to say something to another person that only they will hear. Useful stuff.

shout (whatever)

Causes your character to shout. People in adjacent rooms to the one you're in will hear your shout.

emote/: (whatever)

This is a basic emote. Replace the emote or : with your name, and you'll get what message will come out after you enter the command. Example: "emote looks around the room, smiling." produces "Graye looks around the room, smiling."

:: (whatever)

The possessive version of emote.Two colons will allow your emotes to work in a possessive fashion. Example: "::'s eyes scan the room, obviously bored." will produce "Graye's eyes scan the room, obviously bored." Not that things like commas, semicolons etc can be substituted for apostrophes.

pose/. (whatever)

This is advanced emoting, as the pose verb conjugates verbs and applies appropriate pronouns. Type "help pose" for more info. Basically, though, it works like this: when posing, type everything as if it were happening from your persepctive, as an action. Any verbs that you use from your character's persepctive must be preceded with a period.Example:
".scan the room, my eye clouded and my face tight with worry as I .look for Barb."
I would see "You scan the room, your eye clouded and your face tight with worry as you look for Barb."
Barb would see "Graye scans the room, his eye clouded and his face tight with worry as he looks for you."
Anybody else would see "Graye scans the room, his eye clouded and his face tight with worry as he looks for Barb."
The verb gets worse, too...it conjugates pronouns for OTHER people too. So our earlier example can be changed to:
".look at Barb with a grin, my eye slowly winking as I .look at her form."
I would see "You look at Barb with a grin, your eye slowly winking as you look at her form."
Barb would see "Graye looks at you with a grin, his eye slowly winking as he looks at your form."
Anybody else would see "Graye looks at Barb with a grin, his eye slowly winking as he looks at her form."
Any amount of people can be included in the pose, if your brain can handle it.

!(whatever)

Creates a Spoof....typing !A big fat balloon pops in the corner. would result in A big fat balloon pops in the corner (by Graye). A mildly useless verb.

sniff (whomever)

Basically lets you test the air around another character. Useful? Good for RP and that's about it.

@social

Brings up a short list of all the social verbs extant on CS at the time. Useful. Usage for a social verb is either (social verb) or (social verb) (whomever). Ain't it fun.

@mode brief/verbose

Turns room descriptions on and off; helps to cut down on unnecessary spam, if you happen to be walking your char through an area that, well, I described. @mode brief = no description, @mode verbose = long description

search

makes your character look around for hidden things or people in a room

hide

Makes your character try to hide in the room he or she is in.

hide (object)

makes your character try to hide an object in a room. Said object will only be found when somebody else searches for it, and maybe not even then. Oh yeah, your character has to have the object in his/her inventory first, too.

frisk (whomever)

A fun little command. If the player is unconscious, you pat them down to get a peek at what they might have upon their person. If the player is conscious, your player will try to grope them. Fun in public places.

hold (whomever)

A verb that will lock another player into an arm-hold...this blurs into the combat category, methinks. Anyway, it prevents the other player from moving/running away, and allows another player the frisk the held player as if they were unconscious.

resist (whomever)

Causes your character to try and break free from whomever might be trying to hold him. Useful most of the time; it won't be often that your char will have no hope of breaking free.

Using Your Head

These are commands to help out with the complant system; the CS equivalent of pages, mail, and other fun stuff that Most MU*s use. The difference between CS and other MU*s, though, is that they made it ic. Gotta admit that this list is FAR from complete, but this is the basic stuff.

-w (whoever)

Writes somebody.

-w on/off

Turns your writes on our off

-p (whomever)

Calls somebody with the complant

-b

Enters the BBS ssytem

-m

Enters the Mail system.

-m (whomever)

sets up a mail to somebody

-p 505-neon

calls a hovercab. only works when you're on the street.

-x

resets the complant

Fisticuffs, Duelling and Murder

These commands will help you kill somebody on the meatside of CS. They're intended to allow your character to become a bastard with basic combat (different weapons and how to use them are easy to learn), or allow you to have a vague idea on what to do if your character should be jumped on CS.

@natural-weapon (whatever)

allows you to set what you'll fight with when you lack any hand-held weapons. Default choices are hands, feet, and teeth. If your has a specific martial art advantage, you'll be able to choose the specific art. The different arts are aikijitsu, ninjitsu, white crane, dirty infighting, and tae kwon do.

@fatal

switches between your fatal status...meaning whether or not your blows in combat will be to kill. If the fatal status is fatal, you will try and kill combatants. If it is merciful, you will try and knock them out. Very useful in combat and RP.

mode (whatever)

allows you to choose your level of combat readiness and your attack pattern. chopices are between defense, cautious, normal, aggressive, and allout. Defense will do little damage in combat, and you will attempt to dodge more. Allout will attempt to do the most damage, but you'll almost ignore trying to dodge. The middle modes are varying degrees of these.

at*tack (whomever)

Will initiate combat with somebody

stop fighting

Will make you back off from battle, regardless of who you're fighting with. They'll still atack you, though.

flee

makes you run away from a fight

heal (whomever)

allows you to bleeding wounds from combat on the fly...you can't be in combat to do this, though, and often you won't be able to do it yourself. If your char bleeds too much, he will die from blood loss, so it's a good idea to heal your char up or another char up as soon as their wounds begin gushing blood.

Hacking, Phreaking, and Kracking

This is how to deck (basic commands). It's essentially how to get started, which can be difficult, and what to do once you're jacked in, which can be even MORE difficult. Anyway, Meatside commands (when you're NOT jacked in) are listed first, and matrix commands (when you ARE jacked in) are listed second. Happy decking.

Being a Meatbag

jack in (deckname)

First you need a deck...any deck. A colordeck, a trailblazer, an Ono-Sendai, a Gothix Mindseye...any deck. Then you need a DNI Implant (Find Dr. Benway or Doc Oc). Once you have these two things, you need to find a room with a matrix jack. When you have all three elements combined, you can successfully type: jack in (deckname).

Some explanation is due, though.

A deck is your character's computer/modem for interfacing with the Matrix. It's very important, and they can be very valuable.

A DNI Implant is a direct neural interface; a hardwired data transfer unit to your character's brain, allowing him to "experience" the so-called VR of the Matrix.

A matrix jack is what you plug your deck into in a room, allowing his deck to interface with the public data lines that house the matrix.

In modern terms, your deck is your computer, your DNI is your keyboard and monitor, and your matrix jack is your phone line, allowing you to connect to the internet. Miss one of these three things, and you'll have problems.

dir on (deckname)

Allows you to check the directory on your deck, without jacking into it. Convenient when you find a deck on the guy you just shot in the head, and don't want to bother heading up to the Enkian Temple.

insert (ramcard) in (deckname)

If you have one, this will insert the specified ramcard (computer disk) into your deck.

eject (ramcard) from (deckname)

If there is a ramcard in your deck, this will take it out of the deck, putting it in your inventory.

install (program) on (deckname)

If there happens to be a program on a ramcard in your deck, this command will move the program from the ramcard to your deck's storage area.

archive (program) on (deckname)

Will move a program from your deck's storage area to a ramcard in your deck, if you have one.

vol*ume (deckname) is (name)

Names your deck, and allows the name to be used as an alias for that deck. Similar to naming your hard drive "Hard Harry" IRL. However, it's useful in that it allows you to name multiple decks of the same types (e.g. trailblazers), and move programs among them without confusion. I hate using "insert first ram in second trail," and so on.

label (ramcard) as (name)

Allows you to label ramcards, making it easier to figure out which ramcard is which, when you have multiple ramcards. The label can be used in place of "first ram" when identifying the card.

Being a Matrix Cowboy

help here

This will give you some very important matrix specific info...basically what's listed here, but in some depth.

stats

This displays the stats on your deck. It's different from @stats, in that it shows your deck. Displays the amount of storage the deck has, the amount of ram the deck has, the CPU level of the deck, current coprocessors installed, and current shielding levels, as well as how much you might owe Matrix International, if you're not phreaking the line. ;)

map

This displays a map of the matrix, showing locations of different nodes (shown as "o" on the map), locations of other players (shown as "p" on the map), your own location (shown as "*" on the map), locations of datastreams (areas your matrix self - your icon - can walk around normally in, without entering a node, shown upon the map as either main datastreams "%%%" or smaller datastreams ":::". ), and other nifty goodies on occasion.

dir

Brings up the current directory listing of your deck, showing you what programs you have.

info (program name)

If information exists about the program, this will display it. Information is usually what the program is, what it does, and the syntax to run it. Some programs lack this sort of information, though.

run (program name)

Will run any program you have, if it's stand alone. Most programs require a bit more complex run commands. Some require targets, some don't, some require specific rooms in nodes to run in, some don't...etc. It's best to refer to the info on programs in these matters, or better yet, other deckers.

enter here/(nodename)

When you type map on the matrix, and you (*) are placed beside a node (o) like this " :*o:::", you will be able to enter that node by typing enter here or enter (nodename). This will connect your icon to the login port on the node, where you will be in an environment at least partially similar to the meatside.

disc*onnect

Disconnects your icon from the node you're in, if you are in one. If you aren't in a node, and are just on the regular matrix, it does jack shit.

jack out

THIS IS VERY IMPORTANT. It's how your character wakes up from the matrix, as it were. Without it, you're pretty well stuck on the matrix. Well, there are other ways to get off...not necessarily GOOD ways...

install (program name)

Moves a program from your ramcard to your deck's storage.

archive (program name)

Moves a program from your deck's storage onto a ramcard in your deck.

download (file #)

Assuming you've managed to find a searching program, and you've made your way into a datavault in a node, and have found a list of files there by running the search program, you can retrieve files from the datavault. Remember, though, you MUST use the download number listed, NOT the name of the program. It likes the number, and the number only, for some reason.

upload (file name)

If you're in a datavault that supports uploading, this will move a program from your deck to the datavault. Not every datavault supports this.

Slinging Lingo

These are some terms used on Cybersphere...both In Character and Out of Character....see? Catch 22...those will be explained below.

Cybersphere

The game we all enjoy so much.

MOO

Multi-User Environment, Object Oriented (yeah, yeah, it doesn't fit the acronym...I didn't make it up).

IC

In Character; that is, to act, speak, think, react, or do anything at all, from the perspective of your character. Your character is (or should be) a personality created by you, with distinct opinions, habits, beliefs, affinities, and whatnot separate from your own. When you are In Character (IC), it's assumed that you act as your character would act, i.e. Your character detests coffee, and smashes coffee urns wherever possible, whereas YOU (the player), ADORES coffee, and surround yourself with coffee memorabilia. When acting IC, you would smash coffee urns, yell and scream at coffee drinkers, and generally aggravate anybody drinking a cup of joe. When acting as yourself, you'd sing the praises of coffee, dance joyous coffee dances, and imbibe vast amounts of the brackish liquid.

Big difference between your Character and You.

OOC

Basically explained in the above explanation. OOC means Out Of Character; that is, anything your character does while Out of Character is assumed to be what YOU are doing....if your character is OOC and says "I hate dogs," it's assumed that you are saying that YOU hate dogs, not your character. A very distinct difference.

CharGen

The Acronym for Character Generation. This is where it all begins, as it were. This is where you make your character, from scratch. From chargen comes your character's name, his stature and description, his advantages, and his stats. CharGen is important. Yep yep.

Decking

Refers to the act of jacking into the Matrix, ICly

The Matrix

A part of the IC world of Cybersphere; essentially today's internet thirty years later, with the capability to support full sensory immersion, via DNI Implants and cyberdecks.

Gods

First off, they have no place in the IC world. Gods on Cybersphere are the top dog administrators...they do the down and dirty coding, make the executive decisions affecting the games, and are generally ostracized, reviled, or alternately adored by the player populace at any given time. They are the final authority on anything, but should be the absolute last people you need to talk to. You can tell a god on the who list by the little g--- beside their name.

Wizzen

These dudes are the second in command admins...their not the highest of the high, like the Gods, but they've got authority and they've got coding ability. Among the wizards (identifiable by the w--- beside their name on the who list), there are two breeds: $deities, those who are nearly Gods, and $wizards, those who nearly aren't. For your reference, though, both are on the sphere to create plots, create nifty goodies, fix bugs, police badness, and be cheerful people that get ragged on a lot, so they occasionally rag back. The wizzen are your friends, treat them nice, pat them onna head, and they won't tear your arms off.

Promise.

Builders

This dying breed is the second-to-last class of Administrators; they have the power to build rooms, build objects, and that's about it. They're kind of like Cannon Fodder for the wizzen. Just feel bad for any builder that's around.

GMs

The Game Masters...these are the player Administrators sent out by the Gods to initiate plots, help out with meager powers when wizzen are elsewhere (nothing requiring code fixes), and just try to keep the game moving along at a nice place. How do you identify them? I honestly have no idea. They turn up in odd places sometimes, and are occasionally the people you'd least expect. So keep an eye out for GMs, and remember that they're here to augment your fun by helping you out.

RP

Role Play, baby...what Cybersphere is about, to a degree. It's the assumption of a persona for fun...like the make-believe games you played at when you were a kid, but a bit more in-depth. Role-playing, for the smattering of you who have no idea what it is, is pretending to be someone you're not, as much as possible. That means you try to play this character as much as you can; you get an image of the character you have in mind (Big Bad Bounty Hunter, Sleazy Weasel of a Fixxer, etc), and you try to act and react to every situation as a person like that would. Meaning, if you're a towering brute in real life but your character is a spinless loser In Character, and somebody threatens your character, you don't immediately respond with "Wanna fight?" No, instead, your cowering wimp of a character would grovel, beg, and try to talk his way out of the situation....of course, there's nothing wrong with playing a towering brute in character if you're a towering brute In real life, too.

That's roleplay, insofar as I feel like defining it. Believe me, it's debatable. Especially on Cybersphere.

Cyberpunk

This is, debatably, Cybersphere's theme, with a fat wad of post-apocalypse and some Blade Runner thrown in. Basically, if it happens to come from William Gibson, Neal Stephenson, the CP2020 tabletop game, Escape from New York, or Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep, then it's a fair bet that it'll merge marginally well with CS.

PKilling

This is the act of killing another person's character without motive, without preamble, and without any sort of reason or even warning. It used to be a way of life on Cybersphere, but is now heavily frowned upon. i.e. I wouldn't do it. Give the person who you're going to kill a chance or two to participate in his death, and guaranteed it'll go over much better all around the farm.

Clones

During your time on Cybersphere, you'll likely hear many people talking about being "cloned" or "updating their clone." In terms of the game, IC clones is how we prevent players from having to go through character generation all the time. Essentially, Clones are "Extra Lives" for you character. You can get them from a couple different places, and they'll allow your character to clonedie (die, then wake up in Clone Arrangers or similar clonebank), as opposed to permadie (die, and wake up in chargen).

In terms of the way clones work on Cybersphere, the argument as to how they're created and maintained is extremely vague. It's been debated ruthlessly in the past, and it's just a general assumption that the how's are glossed over. Essentially, though, a clone contains the full context of your character's phsyical and neural data; that is, the makeup of the body at the time of cloning, and the memories, thoughts and personality of the character. When your character clonedies, the new clone of the character will remember everything up until the point of cloning, or updating.

It works like this: Harry purchased a clone on June 24th, 2028 at about 9pm. The clone data in the clone bank contains both his neural data (memories, thought patterns, beliefs) and his physical data (his build, skeletal structure, etc....his stats, basically). So, if Harry were to clonedie, not permadie, he would wake up in the clone bank, complete with his physical state intact and his memories....up until June 24th, 2028 at 9pm. If he had clonedied on, say, June 25th, 2028, at 9pm, exactly a day later, he'd lost the entire day after day he cloned. Anything he did, anything he found, anything he hid....instantly gone.

If your character should clonedie, and you have a vague idea of the last time you purchased a clone or updated the clone (updating recopies the information on your character, including stat increases, or new information), then you should play your character as if he forgets everything that happened after the last time he cloned or updated. It can be difficult, occasionally frustrating, but in the end, it helps to keep the game balanced. It can become very frustrating when a character is killed, with no witnesses and not a soul about, and the next day the victim comes screaming at you with a group of friends, saying "That's the guy that killed me!" Especially when he couldn't possibly have any idea that it happened, either.

WORDS OF ADVICE

These are just a few helpful hints, from me, to help you on your way....things to do, things not to do, etc...

• Don't be afraid to ask questions. Either OOCly, or ICly, most people will be willing to help you out with some questions on what's up, how to do something, where something is, etc.
• Go out and explore. It's very, very important to familiarize yourself with the MOO...so you know where things are, how to get certain other things, and whatnot. Some areas are dangerous to be in, and some aren't...you'll just have to risk it.
• Locate the Bank. The Bank will give you starting credits, if you open an account there...your credstick will be one of the most important things you'll get in the game. You can't lose it (barring glitches) once you have it, so get it and forget about it. Of course, credits make the world go 'round...
• Locate cloning facilities, if you can. Clone Facilities will allow you your "Extra Life," provided you can survive long enough to gain the credits. I'm not going to tell you where to find cloning facilities, but they're out there.
• Find the character "Kingpin," and the character "Janya." They're the best way to make cred, right off the bat, and you can be assure that they'll get you out and about. Look around, neither are hard to find, in the end.
• Talk to people. Want to survive on Cybersphere? Make friends. Make lots of friends. Nothing protects you from your enemies more than your friends. Believe me.
• Read descriptions, keep a sharp eye out, and take risks. Descriptions often hide things you might not normally notice, and it sometimes requires a fairly close glance at things to find out what the hell is REALLY going on. Taking risks is important, too....your character might end up in a bad way sometimes, but other times he may profit - however you define that - immensely.
• Read the BBS Message Boards. Yes, they're full of shit, boasting, gloating, and empty threats, but they're also a good source of IC information. Latch onto these, if possible, as it's likely that you'll find things out you might otherwise miss through them. If you really hate reading the BBSes, try to read News, NCI news, and Metanews, if nothing else.
• Be aware of Who's Who and Who's Nobody. You'll find that Cybersphere has a very prominent character hierarchy ICly, and by keeping your eyes adn ears open, you'll learn who to fuck with and who NOT to fuck with...at least not openly, or right away. Attitude is great, and do what your character would do, but it's a good idea to get an idea about the populace of the town.
• Finally, don't think anything is set in stone. If you can think about it, chances are there's some way to do it....either via IC methods, or through a bit, if the idea stands up to some reasoning. Going out on a limb is a good thing, you see.

Go back to Graye's CyberSphere Page.