If you have any questions about this document, please feel free to send them to the Captain!

U.S.S. Coronado Simulation Manual Table of Contents

	Chapter 1:	Who are you and what was your past like?
	Chapter 2:	What is your job?
	Chapter 3:	How do you talk and perform actions (including LCARS actions)?
	Chapter 4:	Nicknames during the sim
	Chapter 5:	Ranks and seniority, including Marine ranks
	Chapter 6:	What are personal logs and how do I record them?
	Chapter 7:	How do you hear and use sounds during a sim?
	Chapter 8:	Promotions, commendations, medals, and other honors
	Chapter 9:	What makes for a superior simmer?
	Chapter 10:	I've mastered all of that. What's next?

 
 
Chapter 1: Who are you and what was your past like?

First, and most important from a characterization point of view, is to choose a race and a gender. If you're new to simming, I'd suggest picking a human of your own gender. However, if you're an experienced simmer or role-player, you might find it enjoyable to play another race, or even another gender. By race, I do not mean black, white, Latino, and so on (though you can choose one of these as well if you like), I mean the wonderful alien races that Star Trek has introduced over the years -- Vulcans, Klingons, Andorians, Betazoids, Bajorans, Trill, or even stranger races such as Gorn, Horta, Dolphin, or Caitian are all appropriate for U.S.S. Coronado. If you're really imaginative, you can make up your own race with its own culture and personality, but discuss such with the Captain before making this selection.

Super-races, or obvious Star Trek enemy races, such as Borg, Changeling, Cardassian, Romulan, or Q, among others, would not be appropriate aboard a Federation starship. In addition, be cautious of selecting racial mixtures -- half and half is fine, or three-quarters/one quarter is fine (but borderline). Anything more detailed is not appropriate. If you do select a mix, make sure that the mix is compatible, both physically and in terms of personality (half Klingon, half Vulcan, for instance, is unacceptable unless you have a very good story behind it).

Once you've chosen a race, choose three adjectives to describe your character's personality: "imposing, diplomatic, and forthright" perhaps, or "shy, eager-to-please, and nervous." This will go a long way toward defining how you play your character.

As you define these elements, a mental picture of your character will begin to form in your mind. Take a moment to answer these questions: how tall is your character? How much does your character weigh? What color hair and eyes does he or she have? If your character is male, does he have a beard or mustache? Is your character athletic-looking? Shapely? These will further help you in role-playing.

Finally, think about your character's past history, before he or she became a Starfleet Officer. Are your character's parents or family still alive? Where was your character born? What has he or she been doing between then and now? How old is your character? A character with a rich back-story provides the Captain with lots of opportunities to help build future stories ("Lt. Jameson's sister is missing, or has been kidnapped."), or to insert opportunities for your character into a story ("Dr. Calloway finds the jade sculpture she's been looking for for years on Risa.").

Once you've decided on all these elements for your character -- write them down! Pick one of the character biographies in the Departments section of the site, use it as a model, and fill it in for your character. Some people even like to draw pictures of their characters to include with their bios. Once you've done this, turn your bio in to the Captain, show up for your first sim, and start playing your character!

The Commanding Officer of U.S.S. Coronado takes biographies very seriously -- as a matter of fact, no officer will be granted a Chief position in his or her department without transmitting a valid, up-to-date bio to the Captain first. If you are serious enough about Coronado to sim with us week after week, you should be serious enough about it to take 30 minutes and put together a character biography...

Besides, even above and beyond Chief promotion potential, the bio is worth two promotion points for your next rank! At a minimum, biographies for the Coronado must contain the elements described below:

Element	Description
Name, species, gender	These are simply the basics.
Age, height, weight, hair and eye colors	You would be amazed how often these elements are forgotten, but they provide the most basic physical description of your character.
Physical description	Are your character muscular? Shapely? If male, does he wear a beard or mustache? If your character is non-human, describe the apparent differences between your species and the human norm. Does your character always seem to be smiling? What would an outsider's first impression of him or her be?
Physical notes	Optional section. If there is something physically unusual about your character, list it here. An artificial heart, strength of your psionic abilities if Betazoid or Vulcan, age of your symbiont if Trill, etc.
Marital status	Is your character married? Single? Divorced? Widowed?
Family	Are your character's mother or father alive? Does he or she have sisters or brothers? Any other important family members?
Personality dominants	Pick three words that best describe your character.
Personality description	Here's where you can go into a little more detail about your character's personality and responses, as well as the background that shaped them.
Interests	What does your character do in his or her spare time?
Starfleet experience	Optional section. Describe the other jobs or posts that your character has held, in and out of Starfleet.

The more detailed your character biography is, the more useful it will be to the Captain in developing stories or opportunities centered around your character. In addition, you'll find a printed biography makes it much easier for you as a role-player to "get into character" before the sim starts, especially if you review your three "personality dominants," at the very least. Don't get stuck playing all of your characters as if they had your personality -- they should have their own!

In addition, some sort of visual image of your character would be highly appreciated, and gives your biography a wonderfully "finished" appearance. If you have a picture that you would like to use, please send it to the Commanding Officer, and he will modify it as needed (including adding a Starfleet uniform, if needed) to fit within the biography framework. The picture can come from any source you like, from an actual photograph of yourself to scanned images from a variety of sources. The CO's picture, for instance, comes from an image scanned from one of the cards of a collectable trading card game, and was decidedly not wearing the Starfleet uniform shown on the finished picture on the original card image.

If the picture you would like to use is on hard-copy of some type, and you don't have the ability to scan it, you can make arrangements with the CO to mail your picture to him for inclusion on the site.

Most important when simming: visualize your character, not yourself, in the story! How would your character react to the situation or problems presented? The more accurately you can portray your character's actions, the better simmer you will be. Have fun!

Chapter 2: What is your job?

For more information about the specific jobs available aboard Coronado, and what the Starfleet officers in those jobs do, visit the Departments section of the site and read the descriptions there regarding what each officer is responsible for. Choose a department that is interesting, and request that department from the Captain (please give a second and third choice also in case your first choice is currently full).

Once in a department and position, do your best to fulfill the responsibilities of your position during a sim. If you're playing the helm officer, and the Captain or XO orders evasive maneuvers during combat, try to imagine the evasive maneuvers a real Starfleet helm officer would execute in that situation, and implement them "::ship rolls to one edge, then turns suddenly avoiding fire::". Try to anticipate orders, the way a real officer would. If the ship receives a distress call, while the Captain and XO are listening to it, the Science officer might report that the ship is at "257 mark 11." If you then plot a course and speed, and report this to the Captain before he asks for it, you not only look more efficient, but you help speed the sim into the story. All the Captain has to do is say "engage."

At all times during a sim, use your imagination, but keep your actions and words consistent with the sim. If you're the ship's Chief Engineer, and the Captain reports that the ship has taken fire and is damaged, and then the XO asks you for a status report, "Hull microfractures on decks 10 and 11! Power transfer conduits there are failing! I am rerouting to compensate!" would be an appropriate answer. "Warp core going critical! 10 seconds to breach!" would not. Based on the first answer, the Tactical officer might report that he doesn't have enough power for phasers, or the helmsman might report that impulse engines are fluctuating from lack of power, in turn giving you an opportunity to repair the problems and save the ship!

The Captain and the XO are your eyes and ears during a sim. If you're the Ops officer, and you're spending the sim trying to decipher an alien code, the Captain or the XO will tell you when you've succeeded, and what the code says. If you're scanning a new lifeform, and the results of the scan are important to the story, the Captain or the XO will tell you what those results are. From time to time, you'll also receive unsolicited messages from the Captain or the XO, about things you'd learn at your position. As Tactical officer, you'd naturally be the first one to know about a warship closing on Coronado's position. The Captain will message you: "Warship approaching at high warp." It's then your turn to report that into the sim at large so that everybody knows it, not just you.

If you haven't been told the results of an action you're taking... don't panic! Make something up that is consistent with the sim. If you're at the helm, and the Captain asks for the "ETA to the Bianus system" and you haven't been told what that ETA is, pick a good amount of time out of the air and say that. "42 hours, 8 minutes at present speed, sir." The Captain will then base future results on what you said: "ACTION:: 42 hours and 7 minutes pass uneventfully." That's your cue to say: "Approaching the Bianus system, Captain."

During a sim, the Captain is very busy keeping up with all the officers on the ship and directing the flow of the story, so if you have a question, please direct it to the XO. It is this officer's job to make sure that everyone has something to do (and the Captain will design the story to make sure that this is so), and to answer any questions that might come up during a sim. If the XO doesn't know the answer, he or she will direct your question to the Captain.

Finally, from time to time, Coronado will return to base or a friendly planet for shore leave, and you'll spend an entire sim without being told to do anything. This is your opportunity to further build on the personality and history of your character -- what would your character do with a little free time away from his or her post?

Chapter 3: How do you talk and perform actions (including LCARS actions)?

First, watch the sim and what other characters are doing and saying. More important, watch their actions and words from the perspective of your character, not yourself. Paying attention to what everyone else is doing and saying is critically important. If you're not up to date on what's happening, anything you say or actions you do might not make sense.

Second, keep track of things your character would know, and things that he or she wouldn't. If you're in Sickbay, and your sister's face appears on the viewscreen on the Bridge, you don't know this until someone tells you. Sometimes, to make sure this rule is being enforced, the Captain will break up the players into different channels, each channel representing a specific location.

During a sim, "ACTION" messages will be posted by the Captain or XO. They'll come in two types: actions that only affect certain locations on the ship, or certain people, and actions which affect the entire ship and all the officers. Be careful to watch all ACTION statements, but your character may only act on those ACTIONs that are known to you. Examples:

ACTION:: A Romulan warbird decloaks in front of the Coronado, appearing in the holographic viewscreen. This is an action that affects only those officers on the Bridge. Officers below decks would have no way of knowing this information unless they happened to be monitoring sensors at the time, or if someone told them about the warbird.

ACTION:: The warbird fires disruptors! Coronado rocks, and shields fail near Engineering. Damage to the warp drive! This is an action that everyone would know about -- everyone on the ship would feel it shake.

Everything you type during a sim affects how your character responds to what other characters are doing, ACTION messages, and private messages from the Captain and XO. Everything you type without a modifier is something your character says, and is considered to be audible by everyone in your immediate vicinity. You can also use the following modifiers on things you type:

Placing what you type between double-colons changes what you type into an action taken by your character. This can either represent emotional states, modifying what you say, or can reflect actions taken by your character. For instance:

<LTHL_Jameson> ::smiles at Dr. Calloway:: Thought you had a date tonight?
<LJDR_Calloway> ::frowns:: I did. He never showed up.

or...

<CPCO_Aldur> ::turns to Jameson at Helm:: Lieutenant, lay in an intercept course, warp 7.
<LTHL_Jameson> Aye, Captain. ::taps on his console, entering the course and speed::
<CPCO_Aldur> Engage.
<LTHL_Jameson> ::engages engines::
<CoroLCARS> ACTION:: Coronado enters warp!

If you are separated from the person or persons you want to talk to, preface what you want to say to them with "+taps+" or "+comm+". The first indicates that you are tapping on your communicator, and then talking. The second indicates that you are either using the ship's communication system to talk to someone inside the ship, or using it to contact another ship.

If the Captain or XO has a message for everyone on the ship, you will see that they use the "+allcall+" modifier. Other officers with announcements for the whole ship can use this also. An all-call is considered an ACTION known to all officers on the ship.

If your character is telepathic, or is attempting to communicate with a telepathic species, you can use double braces to reflect things that your character is thinking or doing using telepathy. If the good Doctor Calloway were a Betazoid, she could do this, for instance:

<LJDR_Calloway> {{scans Lt. Jameson's emotional state}}

Sometimes you'll need "phantom" officers and crew to implement things that your superior officers ask you to do. Make up these phantoms as needed -- the Coronado has more than 300 people aboard, but only a handful of them will be played by people in a sim. The rest of your department is yours to do with as you please. Choose a name, type it in, add a parenthesis or greater than symbol, and then type in the phantom's words and actions. If you're really creative or organized, you can make up your whole junior officer staff, and then use the same names sim after sim. Example:

<CPCO_Aldur> +comm+ Doctor, we're going to have a lot of wounded colonists coming up in a few minutes. Better get ready.
<LJDR_Calloway> +comm+ Acknowledged, Captain!
<LJDR_Calloway> ::turns to her staff:: Dr. Flores, take charge of holodeck 2 -- turn it into a triage ward. Let me know when you're ready.
<LJDR_Calloway> Flores> ::nods:: Yes, Doctor.

During most sims, a small channel-control bot known as LCARS will be available and active in the channel. LCARS' primary role is to recognize Coronado crew members as they come aboard and grant them the appropriate priveliges in the channel. In addition, LCARS watches for inappropriate behavior, and acts as the channel security system should sim observers become disruptive.

Most of the time, though, LCARS' primary usefulness is acting as the Coronado's main computer system, and responding automatically to the command functions entered by the ship's crew. As Coronado crew members activate ship's systems that are more or less automatic, LCARS will provide the appropriate ACTION statements to show the ship reacting to the commands of the crew. The functions that LCARS currently recognizes and their effects are:

When you type...	LCARS...
+taps+	...automatically makes the combadge chirping noise.
+comm+	...automatically makes the ship's communication noise.
+allcall+	...automatically sounds the All Call chime.
hails	...sounds the "hailing frequencies open" console chirp.
engages engines	...sounds the "engage" console chirp and engages the engines.
engages warp	...engages the warp engines.
engages * slipstream	...engages the quantum slipstream drive, and activates the conduit.
intruder alert	...if CO or XO, automatically initiates the intruder defense systems.
yellow alert	...if CO or XO, automatically sets ship's condition to YELLOW.
red alert	...if CO or XO, automatically sets ship's condition to RED.
blue alert	...if CO or XO, automatically sets ship's condition to BLUE.
stand down	...if CO or XO, automatically sets ship's condition to GREEN.
raises shields	...automatically raises the shields.
fires phasers	...auto-fires a single phaser volley.
fires multiple phasers	...auto-fires all phasers.
fires torpedo	...auto-fires a single torpedo.
fires multiple torpedoes	...auto-fires a torpedo volley.
fires all weapons	...opens a can of butt-kickin' on the target.
fires lance	...unleashes the experimental "lance" weapon on the target.
engages tractor	...locks the tractor beam on target.
activates EMH	...auto-initiates the Emergency Medical Hologram.
energizes	...beams the Away team to the transporter coordinates.
rings doorbell	...sounds the doorbell chime.
enters TL	...takes the turbolift to the specified destination.

If you have any other automatic functions that you think would be good candidates for LCARS, please send your suggestions to the Commanding Officer.

Finally, from time to time, you might find yourself with little to do. A sim might center around you one week, and give you virtually nothing to work with the next. If you're the Chief Medical Officer, and the current mission involves trade negotiations with little chance of anyone becoming wounded, don't be discouraged! Take the opportunity to build you character, run tests or experiments, make up something for your character to do that doesn't impact the main story, or visit another character with little to do that sim. You can even start an on-ship romance if you like... Have fun!

Chapter 4: Nicknames during the sim

Coronado has a very specific protocol for nicknames for characters on duty. While off duty, you will generally use your character's first name, without rank. The general format for a Coronado on-duty officer nicknames is:

{Rank}{Position}_{Name}

Position is a two-character code indicating your position on the vessel. Rank is your character rank. The values are taken from the following two tables:

Exploration Rank	Rank Code	Marine Rank	Marine Rank Code
Captain	CP	Colonel	CO
Commander	CR	Lt. Colonel	CL
Lt. Commander	LC	Major	MJ
Lieutenant	LT	Marine Captain	LM
Lieutenant (JG)	LJ	1st Lieutenant	L1
Ensign	EN	2nd Lieutenant	L2
Cadet	CD	Cadet Officer	CD
Master Chief PO	mc	Sergeant Major	sm
Chief Petty Officer	cp	Gunnery Sergeant	gs
Petty Officer	po	Sergeant	sg
Specialist, 1st class	s1	Corporal	cp
Specialist, 2nd class	s2	Lance Corporal	la
Crewman	cr	Private	pr

Position	Chief Position Code	Assistant Position Code
Commanding Officer	CO
Executive Officer	XO
Marine Commandant	MC
Company Commander	CC
Squadron Leader	SL
Operations Manager	OP	op
Tactical Officer	TC	tc
Flight Control Officer	HL	hl
Engineering Officer	EN	en
Science Officer	SI	si
Medical Officer	DR	dr

So, if you are playing Lt. Brian Jameson, Coronado's Chief Helmsman, your nickname while on duty should be LTHL_Jameson. If you are playing Squadron Leader 2nd Lieutenant Anna Crispin, your nickname while on duty should be L2SL_Crispin.

The advantage of this nickname format is two-fold. First, since most IRC clients sort nicknames alphabetically, it allows you as a player to immediately identify the ranks of the personnel around you. Second, you will be able to determine at a glance, who the Chief Engineer is, for instance, without having to remember. This is especially useful for new players, and established players working with new players.

The second nickname change has to do with Away team missions. While from time to time, Coronado Away missions will happen in channels other than the main one, most of the time Away missions will be held in the #uss-coronado channel with the sim so everyone can be part of the excitement. However, to easily differentiate who is on an Away mission and who is not during these times, a nickname format change is needed.

While you are on an Away mission, the commander of that mission (usually the XO) will instruct you to change your nick to include two brackets on either side of your nickname. This tells everyone at a glance where you are. If more than one Away mission happens at once, each team will have their own nickname separator defined by the team commander. Dashes and underlines are two other possible separators. So while on the Away team, Lt. Jameson above would change his nick to [LtHL_Jameson]. Do NOT remove your position designation from your nick while on an Away team. It helps give your team commander a sense of where your specialties lie during the Away mission.

Chapter 5: Ranks and seniority, including Marine ranks

Officer	Notes
Commanding Officer	Regardless of relative rank
Executive Officer	Regardless of relative rank; Can relieve the CO for cause
Marine Commandant	Regardless of relative rank; Can relieve the CO for cause; Outranks CO with regard to Marine personnel
Operations Manager	Regardless of relative rank
Chief Tactical Officer; or Chief Helmsman	In order of rank, then seniority in rank
Chief Engineer	Regardless of relative rank
Chief Science Officer; or Chief Medical Officer	In order of rank, then seniority in rank; CMO can relieve CO for medical cause
Other officers	In order of rank, then seniority in rank

For Marine vs. Exploration officer rank equivalencies, see the table in Chapter 4, and consider ranks in equivalent rows to be equivalent for comparison purposes. However, Marine officers will generally defer to Exploration officers in chain of command questions, though this is not always the case -- in ground combat actions in particular, senior Marine officers will expect same-grade Exploration officers to defer to their expertise.

Aboard Coronado, Exploration officers at the rank of Lieutenant Commander and above are considered Senior officers; those at Lieutenant or below are considered Junior officers. For the Marine officers aboard, all those below the rank of Marine Captain are considered Junior officers; all at or above, Senior. Please keep these distinctions in mind while reviewing the following forms of address suggestions:

Situation	Notes on forms of address
Commanding Officer of a starship	"Captain," regardless of actual rank
Lower-ranking to higher-ranking officer	"Sir," or by rank; Can also use rank plus last name
Higher-ranking to lower-ranking officer	By rank, or rank plus last name; Can also use last name only
Senior officer to Junior officer	"Mister" may be used, but implies a rebuke
Female higher-ranking officers	Unless specifically directed otherwise, as above
Exploration to Marine, or vice versa	By rank, or rank plus last name; "Sir" is almost always inappropriate
Lieutenant grade of any rank	The next higher rank is used as a courtesy
Lieutenants (JG)	The phrase "Lieutenant, Junior Grade" is never used; The next higher rank is used as a courtesy
Marine Captains	Generally use "Lt. Major" when aboard Starfleet ship

Note that in general, the Exploration and Marine officers aboard Coronado have separate chains of command. The exception to this rule is the Marine Commandant, who is third in command of the ship and whose orders should be obeyed by every officer aboard except the Commanding and Executive Officers. When working together on an assignment, the senior Marine officer will generally defer to the senior Exploration officer, except as noted above. However, every officer aboard ship except the CO, including the Marine Commandant, reports to the Executive Officer.

Chapter 6: What are personal logs and how do I record them?

First and foremost, it allows you to broaden your character and his or her personality. There's nothing saying that the log has to end when the sim did, or strictly include those things that happened during the sim. If you made a date with another character during a sim, get together with that player after the sim ends, and decide how the date went. Then put it into the log! Make up a series of experiments that your character has been running. Put in a throwaway line during the sim: "::checks the status of his crystal growth experiments::", then include the results in the log.

Second, logs allow the other players to get to know your character better, and make your character more "real" in their eyes. The character of a player that writes logs week after week will be broader and more interesting than the character of a player who does not.

Third, logs allow players that miss a week or two to catch up on what happened while they were away. You might find this helpful if you ever go on vacation or miss a sim for some other reason... do the other players a favor and write logs so they'll have something to look at!

Logging of Coronado sims is very similar to logging other IRC sims, also, but the ship uses its own log system. This allows visitors to the site to read everything about the ship, including the officer's log entries, without having to visit other websites to do it.

To log your sim on Coronado, simply visit the Logs section of the website, select Current or Previous depending on whether you are logging the sim that occurred in the current week or the previous one, fill out the fields on the form, and click "Transmit". That's all there is to it! The log is posted instantly, and you will receive a visual confirmation that it has been done.

A good simmer will try to write logs at least once a month or so. Not only will they help you develop your character and assist other players in getting to know your character, they will help your promotion potential! The more you are "into" your character's likes and dislikes, the better you will play him or her, and the more likely it will be that you will be remembered come commendation or promotion time. Keep it in mind...

Chapter 7: How do I hear and use sounds during a sim?

There are also more routine sounds available -- turbolifts, replicators, the ship's computer, comm badges and the ship's communication system -- all of these have relevant sound files in the Coronado sound library. From time to time, the Captain will also send you special "top secret" sound files that will be used as part of the next week's sim. For your own enjoyment, just save them to your sound directory without listening to them: when the new sound is played, let it be a surprise!

In addition, from time to time when actions are performed, LCARS may play a sound out of the Coronado sound libraries to inform the players what has happened. This is most common with red alert klaxons and the like, but even many of the more pendantic technology aboard ship has its sounds stored in LCARS' actions... all the more reason to have the libraries available!

The first step to using Coronado's sounds is to download all of the sound packs available from the Support section of this website, unpack them, and save them to the sounds directory that your IRC client uses (check your IRC client documentation for more information on where to save the files). That's half of what you have to do, done. With the sound files saved on your system, you will now hear all the sounds that all the other players use.

The other half of the fun is playing the sounds yourself for the other players to hear. Go through the libraries, and pick the sounds you'd like to use. To use them, enter the following command in mIRC:

/sound {sound} {action}

or the following command in IRCle:

/sound {#channel} {sound} {action}

Note the {action}. You can use this to simultaneously play a sound, and do an action. For instance, if you were playing the character of Lt_Jameson and typed this:

/sound doorbell.wav rings the doorbell to Dr. Calloway's quarters.

you, and all the other players in the game would see:

* Lt_Jameson rings the doorbell to Dr. Calloway's quarters.

and everyone would hear the sound of a TNG doorbell.

Anyway, go through the sound files available and experiment! Of course, if you have sounds you'd like to add to the libraries, please feel free to send them to the Captain. Enjoy!

Chapter 8: Promotions, commendations, medals, and other honors

Current Rank	New Rank	Time to Promotion
Cadet    (Cadet Officer)	Ensign    (2nd Lieutenant)	3 sims plus UCIP Academy graduation
Ensign    (2nd Lieutenant)	Lieutenant (JG)    (1st Lieutenant)	8 sims plus character biography
Lieutenant (JG)    (1st Lieutenant)	Lieutenant    (Marine Captain)	12 sims    (Senior Officer course recommended)
Lieutenant    (Marine Captain)	Lt. Commander    (Major)	16 sims    plus detailed character biography
Lt. Commander    (Major)	Commander    (Lt. Colonel)	20 sims plus UCIP Subfleet approval    (Command course recommended)
Commander    (Lt. Colonel)	Captain    (Colonel)	28 sims plus UCIP Command Officer Course    plus UCIP Command approval

In particular, though, promotions will not happen in lockstep with this table. These are minimum requirements, to which the Commanding Officer can and will add other prerequisites. The more responsibility you take for your character and your simming, the more likely it is that you will be promoted. There are many ways of doing this. Consistently writing logs is an excellent way, as is good role-playing, character development, and writing a good solid biography for your character. In addition, the highest ranks (Lt. Commander and higher) are only open to those players that consistently write logs.

Another good way to expand your responsibilities is to go for one of the Department head positions on Coronado. These slots require a written biography for your character, but also provide you with the opportunity to be much closer to the center of the action. A good Department head will also take the effort to instruct the other simmers in their department in the finer points of how to sim and develop their characters. Even keeping those in your department busy is a good way to stay on the CO and XO's good sides!

Plot ideas sent directly to the Commanding Officer that are later used are also a good way to make yourself stand out. Even if the Commanding Officer decides not to use your plot idea, just the fact that you're interested enough in the sim to submit ideas is often a sign of a dedicated officer.

Commendations and other recognitions will be awarded for superior simming, superior logs, or character actions above and beyond the call of duty that did not involve risk of life. A commendation may be awarded to a Junior officer by any Senior officer. Senior officers may be commended by the Captain, or by the Marine Commandant in the case of Marine officers. Other ribbons may be awarded for completion of Academy courses and other minor reasons.

Medals may be awarded for character actions above and beyond the call of duty that involved risk of life to the character, with heroic result. There are many types of medals available to Coronado officers and crew, detailed from the UCIP Awards website.

Chapter 9: Tips and Tricks -- What makes a superior simmer?

First, do your best to have a good working knowledge of Star Trek and Star Trek technologies. The following reference works will help:
* Star Trek Encyclopedia, © 1998, Michael Okuda, et. al.
* Star Trek:TNG Technical Manual, © 1991, Rick Sternbach, et. al.
* Star Trek:DS9 Technical Manual, © 1998, Herman Zimmerman, et. al.
* Star Trek:TNG Interactive Technical Manual CD-ROM
* Star Trek Omnipedia CD-ROM
* Star Trek:Klingon, Star Trek:Borg, and other interactive CD-ROM games
* Star Trek novels, published periodically by Pocket books
* Star Trek comic books, published by DC Comics (you'd be surprised how good some of them are...)
* Star Trek fan websites, especially ones that concentrate on "technical articles"
* and of course, the Star Trek episodes and movies themselves.

Second, many ships are filled with players, many of whom have been playing certain types of characters for months and years, who are often willing to help you with your portrayal of a Chief Medical Officer or Chief Engineer in sim. Ask around -- find out who the best "position" players are, and then ask their advice!

Keep in mind during a sim that the Captain and the Exec are not perfect. They are trying to keep up with eight or more people, often all talking to them and sending them private messages all at the same time. Sometimes, they miss something. If that seems to have happened, repeat what you've done or said once in sim, then, if you don't get a response, send a message to the XO about it. If the Captain and XO don't take your first suggestion, though, don't get discouraged! The idea you had might simply not work with the storyline or projected resolution of the sim. Pick another idea, and suggest that instead!

Sometimes, you just can't type fast enough to keep up with the action. It happens. To decrease this sort of occurance, keep track of the actions that you most often perform, type them into a text editor or word processor, and before the sim begins, load that file and have it ready. That way, if a situation comes up that calls for one of your common actions, you can just copy it from the text editor and paste it into the sim. You can also use IRC aliases for this function. Keep this to routine actions, though, or the other players might get bored watching you fire the ship's phasers the same way every time you have to do it.

For instance, if you're the Chief Helmsman, you might have aliases or lines in your text file like "::engages engines::", "::sets course and speed:: Ready, Captain.", "::is thrown from the console to the deck::", etc. Keep a close eye on the routine things you commonly do -- these are good candidates for inclusion in your alias or sim text file.

Finally, don't be scared to experiment! In a recent sim I attended, the Chief Medical Officer, grief-stricken over the loss of two fellow crewmates, got together with another officer, got drunk, and stole a shuttlecraft! It was an action that was completely unexpected by the Captain, but turned into an amusing story that lasted three sim sessions, and got everyone on the ship involved before it was over. This might be a bad example -- the two officers had to stand before an in-sim court martial and attempt to defend their actions (grin) -- but it made for several sims that were fun for everyone.

Most important of all -- have fun! That's why you joined the crew in the first place...

Chapter 10: I've mastered all of that. What's next?

Character growth and interaction is a big part of what Coronado is all about. At any given time on the ship, there are one main plot and two to three subplots, but there can be an almost infinite variety of minor subplots running revolving around the characters or the interactions between them.

For instance, two characters on the ship could be having a secret affair, or one character could secretly hate or envy another. Your character might have a secret he or she is keeping from the rest of the ship. You might be mourning the loss of a loved one back home -- any number of things. The important thing is to keep in mind: your character is a real person too!

Make that real person grow and develop and change, just as you do. Even simple things can make your character stand out and be more vibrant and "alive." Start simple: what does your character do on his or her time off? What are your character's hobbies? Is he or she developing a new skill?

From time to time, your character will have nothing to do in the course of a normal sim. Especially on such a large ship as Coro, the focus can shift to or from your character as the sim goes on. It is important to have something for your character to do on their off-hours, and developing a good character background can go a long way.

At all times, please show respect for your fellow Coronado simmers. In particular, please report for sim duty on time, or if you cannot attend, please notify the CO or XO through IRC or e-mail that you will not be able to attend. Reliability and responsibility are also two hallmarks of good simmers. In these cases, it's also often a good idea to notify the players of characters that are currently interacting with yours that you will not be able to attend.

Coronado sims, if they were rated as movies, should rate no higher than a "PG-13" rating -- therefore, cussing should be kept to an absolute minimum, as should graphic descriptions of violence or sexuality. In addition, discriminatory, inflamatory, or gender or racial slurs will not be tolerated aboard under absolutely any circumstances -- not as a joke, not ever. If you break these rules, the CO or XO may deduct one or more promotion points, kick-ban you from that sim, or remove you from the roster, temporarily or permanently, depending on the nature and seriousness of the offense.

In conclusion, remember: simming is fun! If it's not fun, don't do it. In particular though, do whatever makes the Coronado experience fun for you. So long as you don't disrupt what others are doing, the rest of us will appreciate that you're having a good time.

See you on board U.S.S. Coronado... "forever the leader!"

Once you're done here, tap Back to return to the Coronado Sim Information index or the Return key at the bottom of your PADD, and you will be returned to the main index.