Introduction
To create your character, you should use the terminal just below the I1 HUD dispenser in the INSILICO welcome center. You can sit at this terminal, which will indicate to others that you're using it. For security's sake, if someone else touches the screen whilst you're editing your character, it won't affect your character's attributes - but, only one person can use it at once.
As this is an in-game entity, it might be very responsive, or not, depending on current sim lag. Please give it a couple of seconds for a click to register before clicking again, or it might skip through a couple of screens and you may miss something.
Getting started
You should see something like this on the terminal screen. If you click on it, it may update and show you any unfinished characters you have been recently working on. If you haven't been working on any, then it doesn't matter - just keep going regardless!
At the very top of the console screen is a red title and navigation bar, which looks something like this:
◀ ■ ▶
Welcome to INSILICO
| | +- step forward through the character creation stages
| +--- refresh this stage
+------ step backward through the character creation stages
Name
So, to move on to the next page, click the ▶
arrow at the top of the page,
next to the Welcome to INSILICO title. This will
then display something like this:
A prompt will appear for you to enter your character's name here. Note that if you want to resume a character you've been working on, just enter their name here and it will load in the current values from the INSILICO database. Otherwise, please just enter the name of your character to continue.
Your character's name shouldn't have "special" characters in it. If you try to enter these, it'll either throw it back at you, or "correct" it for you. We're going to follow a fictional character, Jane Lane, as her character is developed.
Once you've entered this information and sent it from the prompt, it should
automatically advance to the next stage. If it doesn't, then please click
the ▶
again. Note that this applies for every stage - they should automatically
advance, but if there's a lot of server lag then it might get a bit stuck.
Core information
Your character has some characteristics ahead of the stats to think about; race, date of birth, gender and serial number. You can enter these here.
Race
Race has some bearing on your attributes, and you should refer to the guidelines for more details via the Roleplaying System Forum
You can choose from being human, allogene (mutant), fabricant or artificial (AI, robot). Note that any race can be augmented or cloned in principle. Please be certain that you understand the bounds of your chosen race and speak with a moderator to clarify anything you're not sure about.
Date of birth
Remember, it is 470 years ahead of where we are today, so take that into account! If you put in that you were born in 1962, that would make you over 500 years old.
Enter this with the year first, then the month, then the day. So, if your character was born on the 9th April 2452, you should enter 2452-04-09.
Gender
Gender can be anything you like. There are no restrictions in the 25th century, nor is there any bias or advantage to choosing one thing over another. Of course, many people still prefer the old-fashioned 'female' and 'male' gender names.
Base stats
Base stats contribute to other stats so what you choose here will have a more nuanced impact further down the line. Note that the total must come to 120 points, no individual stat can drop below 5, or be raised above 30. Here, Jane has a slightly below par strength, but she's more perceptive than some. If you raise the total beyond 120, then an "alert" will appear underneath to draw your attention to it.
◀◀19▶▶
Agility
| | | | +-- increase target stat
allocation by 5 points (10 for secondaries)
| | | +---- increase target stat
allocation by 1 point
| | +------ current target stat value
| +--------- decrease target stat allocation by 1 point
+------------ decrease target stat allocation by 5 points (10 for secondaries)
Finalising your character
Once you get through with choosing all of your character's details, and the numbers you have chosen are all within bounds, you can commit the character to the database.
Once this has been completed, you cannot edit your character any more and any further progression must be worked through by playing it. In some cases an admin or moderator might be able to help you out if you've made a mistake, so please get in touch if you think something has messed up. Similarly, if you've made an error that you might not have realised, for example, if you've set your year of birth in the 18th century, then an admin might contact you to work through changing it. In certain cases your character might have to be corrected without consulting with you, if you cannot be contacted in a timely fashion, in order to ensure continuity with the other players.
A prompt will appear asking if you want to commit your character. You can dismiss it if you don't want to, or agree if you do.
After a successful commit, you can then load in and play your character. Either attach the HUD (if not attached), reattach the HUD (if attached) or alternatively click the tick mark in the corner of the HUD and select your character.
Remarks
You can only have up to six active characters at any one time in INSILICO. If you wish to deactivate one or more of your characters, then please speak with an admin or moderator.
Secondary stats
Previously, the character creator was much more in-depth. Whilst this was ideal for veteran players, it could be overwhelming for new players. Instead, people creating characters now are given 20,000 prestige points to spend freely on their secondary statistics. Three points:
- Bear in mind that although you are free to allocate your points as you see fit, you should attempt to put your points in three or four secondary statistics to ensure your chance of successfully rolling against them.
- Your secondary skills should reflect your character. If your character isn't a programmer, then what reason would your character have to put points in programming? It is unwise to allocate points based on what you think will help you succeed against skill checks for their own sake, as these checks can vary wildly depending on the tasks!
- Finally, the prestige HUD can be found somewhere in the city of INSILICO. Good luck!