GENERAL OVERVIEW OF SIMMING

SIMming is another name for Role Playing over the Internet medium with a group of people in a particular genre.  Basically, you are playing a game of "Let's Pretend" typically over the EMail and IRC mediums.

In ACIP, the genre you will be playing is Star Trek, though you do not have to be a Star Trek buff in order to do this.  You will apply for a position within the group, and from that point on, your In Character involvement with the group shall be from the viewpoint of your character.

During a SIM, when you are playing your character, you will be doing things similar to that of the characters in Star Trek, adapted of course, for the situation that your SIMulation is currently in.

You will create this character, with a background and a history.  Commanding Officers may will typically ask that you submit that information in the form of a "Character Biography", for posting on the SIMulations Web Page.  This is done so that other people on the SIMulation, and within the organization, can know who your character is, and some basic information.  It also enhances the SIM experiences, giving your character a history that can potentially affect his present (for example, your character almost drowned in a pool as a child, he now has a phobia about large bodies of water).

As you gain experience in SIMming, you will learn that adding small subplots is often encouraged.  Over the course of time, you will discover what is and is not appropriate.  Always remember, however, that when you are in doubt about something you wish to do, check with the GM and his Assistant.

IRC SIMming involves "live" participation over IRC.  You and the rest of the crew will meet at a specific time, in a specific place to do your SIMulation each week.  You will be working from the point of view of your character, and basically ad-libbing an "episode" of Star Trek.

Your GM (Game Master) who is typically the the Commanding Officer, will give a "Mission Briefing" before beginning the SIMulation.  In most cases, you have a goal to accomplish, twists and turns are written by the members of the SIMulation, and you can often end up going in directions you did not anticipate.

EMail SIMming involves writing at least one log each week and sending it your SIMulation mailing list.  You will be writing from the point of view of your character, generally in second person.  To help you do this, visualize a room with 20 people in it.  Each person is in charge of a character in this episode of your SIMulation.  As a team, you must work together in order to write the story.  Once something has been written, however, you cannot change it, but must adapt what you wish to write in order to fit what has been written.

Your GM (Game Master) who is typically the the Commanding Officer, will send a SIM Report each week to summarize what has occurred since the last Report.  This will generally include information you may need to know over the coming week.  It is important to remember that an EMail SIMulation is ongoing, missions and plots can last anywhere from a few weeks, to several months.  There is never a certain and clear ending to the story, and conclusions, if there are any, will depend solely on what happens as the weeks pass by.

1. Creativity is key, creativity gives life to your character
2. Pay attention to detail.  Keep up with what others are doing and writing, it just might affect your character
3. Be flexible, anything can happen in a SIM
4. Remember the Golden Rule.  Treat others in your logs the way you would want to be treated in theirs, with respect.
5. For every action, there is a reaction.  If you put a phaser to your head and fire, chances are, you're dead.  Don't do dumb stuff.
6. Words are powerful, use them carefully, and write so others understand what you're doing.
7. Communicate; talk out of character (OOC) with other crew members in email. It builds cohesion and can add to creativity.
8. Stay involved, you can't always be the center of attention... but that doesn't mean your character can't do anything. It is a big ship.
9. Develop your character. Make sure you use traits about your character in your logs. Don't just write a BIO and then play your character completely different.
10. Be consistent, that way others know what to expect of you. Over time it can be like ESP.

Lieutenant L. Horatio Hawke
EMail Academy Commandant, Starfleet Academy, 1998
"We are smarter than we know"- Emerson

COMMANDING OFFICER (CO)

• The Commanding Officer of a vessel is "God"  His duty is to run the ship on a day to day basis.
• Keep track of what is happening on the SIM at all times.
• Maintains discipline on the SIM
• Is the only person on the SIM who may order weapons fired and Away Teams sent.
• Is the only member who may use the ACTION (explained later) command.
• Is the only member who may cancel a log or cancel an event
• Be the final judge in all disputes in a SIMulations


The ACTION command is used to further the plot without having to actually SIM it out using the crew and the phasers.  This speeds unnecessary parts of the plot along during the SIM and provides a direction for the SIM to go.  It is also used to clarify points of contention between two crew members whose sensors show two different things.

EXECUTIVE OFFICER (XO)

• Responsible for raising shields during an imminent battle situation
• Keeps tabs on how the crew feels about the CO
• Advises the CO during times of both battle and diplomacy
• Leads Away Teams
• Insures the Captain's personal safety on rare occasions when the Captain must be on an Away Team
• Assists the CO in any way necessary during a SIMulation
• Observes all ship-to-ship communications, receiving status reports from all departments and passing them along to the CO

"The First Officer is also expected to give alternate points of view  on a given situation. The Captain typically turns to his First Officer for another take on a situation. There may be times that a First Officer may believe that the Captain is making an error in his decision-- it is HIS JOB to make sure the Captain understands his objections so that he knows the XO's viewpoint for consideration. HOWEVER, once the Captain's decision has been made, it is the RESPONSIBILITY of the First Officer to carry them out, no matter how he or she feels personally."

CO/XO RELATIONSHIP DURING SIMS
All Cadets and Ensigns will someday rise to higher posts, his section has been included because it is vital that members of the SIMulation understand the relationship between the CO and the XO

CO's and XO's are, ideally, a fast running and efficient command team. A truly smooth running ship will be one in which the Captain is constantly advised and reminded of certain things as the SIM goes on.  The XO must slowly learn to do the small things the CO usually does not have time to do, such as call for shields to be raised in battle situations, report new information to the captain from non-SIMming personnel (such as repair crews and etc. that aren't actually simmed by people).  Though the Captain outranks the XO and voids any bad decisions on the XO's part, the XO should (unless told otherwise) assume a wide role of responsibilities regarding everyday bridge functions or small problems inside the ship. A large amount of trust and faith between a CO and an XO will prove to make the ship twice as efficient during battle SIMs. 

CO's:  Please make sure to pick XO's from your crew that you are FAMILIAR with, that you have worked with, whose judgment you know to be sound and are quick acting during emergency situations.  Keep in contact with them, keep a tap into the crew psyche, and your ship will run even more smoothly.

XO's:  Keep in constant contact with your Captain unless he's off duty or asleep (and of course call him to the bridge no matter what if there is an emergency).  Keep him in touch with what is going on in and out of the ship.  If your Captain has no objections, when you are both off duty, visit him in his quarters or buy him a drink in the lounge occasionally. If he seems to be happy with that and comfortable with it, continue, and if he doesn't, then stop, and keep in touch with him only on duty.

FLIGHT CONTROL OFFICER (CONN/HELM)

• Lays in a course at the direction of the Executive or Commanding Officer
• Performs evasives during battle
• Executes maneuvering commands after (not before( the order to "engage" is given.


For those of you who recall Star Trek CO's saying "you have the conn, Mister X" this is an ancient maritime reference which harkens back to the days when the Captain steered the ship himself and when he gave up control of the bridge to someone they literally steered the ship.  Now, since the only person who may give the CONN officer orders is the Commanding Officer on the bridge, the Captain is handing over control of the CONN now, not the actual CONN itself.

OPERATIONS OFFICER (OPS)

• Declares all planetary sensor readings (If it's a planet, it's yours) and notifies the Science Department.
• In the absence of a Science Officer, takes over for Science
• Declares in-ship sensor readings that would not be caught by engineering, such as minor drops in sensor efficiency or electrical interference (including all reasons for interference during communications between ships)
• Declares all onboard damage during battle. (Not the enemy's')
• Declares status of the ship and non-combat status of enemy ships
• Monitors ship-to-shore sensors
• Monitors non-combat long range sensors.

TACTICAL OFFICER

• Responsible for maintaining balance between the ship and enemy damage in battle situations.
• Controls and fires all weapons, raises and lowers shields, but only does so when ordered by the CO
• Controls the cloaking device (if there is one) and coordinates with Operations in running the tachyon beam to scan for other cloaked
• Opens hailing frequencies and informs CO of incoming hails.
• Only Tactical my detect ships in the vicinity.
• Monitors ship-to-shore sensors
• Takes over for Security when the Chief is not present or unavailable

SCIENCE OFFICER

• Responsible for the proper functioning of the Science Department in a SIMulation
• Does detailed planetary scans (such as for life signs)
• Scans for temporal anomalies, wormholes and other spatial discrepancies
• Takes over for Operations when operations is unavailable.

ENGINEERING OFFICER

• Responsible for the proper functioning of the engineering department
• Responsible for keeping the ship systems running smoothly
• Monitors power output and usage, keeping the shields and engines in balance.
• May be called upon to eject the warp core in cases of an imminent breach
• May be called upon to solve non-ship related engineering or mechanical problems

MEDICAL OFFICER

• Responsible for the proper functioning of the medical department
• Ensures the ship is protected against any and all biological hazards
• Approves and helps coordinate any possible beam downs for Away teams into possible biohazardous situations
• Coordinates the Medical teams in emergency situations
• Fills in for the ship's counselor when there is no counselor or the counselor is unavailable

SECURITY OFFICER

• Responsible for the proper functioning of the security department
• Responsible for the internal security of the ship, detention cells, weapons lockers, and the alert status of the security teams
• Make maintenance schedules for the security systems on the ship, and let Tactical know the week before the work needs to be done
• Selects members of the Security Department on every away mission

Officers should be familiar with both IRC and EMail SIM procedures.  Please pay attention to both parts.  There are many times when an IRC COs will request that his crew write logs during the week.  Likewise, there are many EMail COs who will schedule IRC SIMulations to enhance the SIM experience.

IRC SIMMING
 

• Arrive to the SIMulation on time.  Preferably 15+ minutes before the SIM is schedule to begin (ask your CO)
• At the schedule SIM time, the XO will call the crew to attention saying "Attention on Deck".  You should then type ::attn:: so that the CO and XO both know you are paying attention.
• The CO will give the SIM Briefing, or mission of the SIMulation.  If there are holes in the crew in regards to posts, he will organize people so that those posts are filled.

EMAIL SIMMING

• Due to the nature of EMail SIMulations, they often have no clear beginning or ending.
• When you join a SIMulation, the mission it is on will most likely have ben under development for some time.
• Watch the logs that the other crew send out to see what they are doing.
• Read the SIM Report that goes out er week in order to catch up on the SIMulation  It will clarify any confusion during the week.  If it doesn't clarify things, contact the CO and the XO for advice.
• Watch the CO and XO for direction in the SIMulation.
• Write a log, if you are unsure about it, send it to the CO and XO for approval or suggestions
• In most cases, crew will be permitted to log whenever they please.  In a few cases, you will be asked to hold on to your log until some one else has done theirs in order to avoid conflict.
• Jump in when you feel ready

STARDATES

Stardates are in the following format:

24YYMM.DD  (240012.31 would be Dec 31, 2400)

This is standard for both IRC and EMail SIMulations.  On some SIMulations, the "24" at the beginning is understood. If you have any more questions, please ask your CO, they will be more than happy to answer any questions you may have.

SIM LANGUAGE - IRC

• ::walks into the turbo lift::
Indicates your character has done the action that is between the colons.
Under no circumstances should the /me or /action command in IRC be used for actions during a SIMulation.
Actions should be done in second person
• {{Hello Bethany}}
Indicates your character has telepathically sent a message to some one
When combined with colons, indicates an action done telepathically {{::sends privately to Bethany::  Hello Beth}}

SIM LANGUAGE - EMAIL

• Procedures are basically the same as IRC, when used.
• Second person narrative is preferable to conversation style logs.

OUT OF CHARACTER COMMENTS (OOC)

• Will always be enclosed in brackets <<out of character>>
• Should be kept to an absolute minimum
• Used for clarifications during the SIM
• In EMail, come before or after the log

COMMUNICATION PROTOCOLS

• When communicating with some one via the comm badge or comm system +taps+ should preface the communication itself

+taps+  Riker to Picard, we have detected a hostile vessel
+taps+ On my way Number 1
• +taps+ is for use within the ship
• For out-of-ship communications, +com+ is used in place of +taps+

SHIP LOCATION LINGO

• In IRC SIMs, it is standard procedure, that when you are not on the bridge, you put a location symbol in front of everything that you say.  These are used to cut down on confusion during the SIMulation. The abbreviations are as follows:

• A CO may also specify alternative designations for things that are not listed here.
• In EMail, a line at the beginning of your log which states your location will suffice.

BEHIND THE SCENES (BTS)

• Behind the Scenes is often the most crucial element during a SIMulation.  Behind the scenes work is the stuff that goes on "behind the scenes".  This is often the work that goes into creating a plot, keeping track of the SIM Roster, writing Briefings and Reports, keeping track of who is on leave and excused and when.
• Behind the scenes work is encouraged with members on a SIMulation.  It can be as simple as asking the CO if a particular plot twist will be okay, to as complex as coming up with a subplot involving multiple members of the crew collaborating together.
• During an IRC SIM, the CO or XO may msg you with a specific set of directions because they wish to steer the plot in a certain direction.  What results is a seeming seamless story line.  The more Behind the Scenes that can be used, the smoother and more enjoyable a SIM can be.
• In general, if you need to clear something with the CO or XO by EMail, you will receive a response from them with 24 to 48 hours.  It is perfectly acceptable to use EMail for Behind the Scenes work.

EXPECTATIONS

• The CO will generally expect one quality log per week.  A quality log will add to the current plot, develop your character, or start a new subplot within the current plot.  A quality log does not worry so much about length as it does about content.  Do not take that to mean you can write a paragraph for your log and get away from it.  The better logs will typically have some kind of development in them and be at least two if not three good solid paragraphs long.
• If you are unsure about your log, always contact the CO or the XO.  They will generally get back to you within 24 - 48 hours.  In most cases, the log that is initially sent is fine, and your CO will tell you to go ahead and post it.  If not, your CO will write you back and tell you what you might want to change.  Your CO is there to help you have a good time, not the other way around.

POSTING A LOG

• You will post your logs as your CO instructs, most of the EMail ships in ACIP use a mailing list.  Ask your CO for details on this.
• One extremely important thing to remember, as this often is a pet peeve of many people who are on multiple mailing lists, make sure you do your Subject Lines of your posts (emails) appropriately.  The standard format is:
• Ship, Stardate, Position

ex:   USS-Intrepid, 9805.06, Assistant Science Officer
ex:   HB-Omega, 9804.21, Civilian - Joe Shmoe
ex:   Red Sect, 9803.16, Senior Botanist

TYPES OF LOGS

• There are two types of logs, Communicative and Narrative.
• The Communicative style will look something like this:

ENS> ::enters the turbo lift, heading to his quarters:: Deck 12!
Cmdr> (TL)>::enters the turbo lift at deck 5 smiling at the cadet:: finally heading for some rest I see ensign.
Ens>TL> Aye sir, its been a long shift!
Cmdr>TL> I want to finish that gamma study of this quadrant tomorrow, report to the bridge at 1100 hours.
Ens>TL> Yes Sir ::exits lift::

• The narrative style, however, is greatly preferred over the communicative style of log, a narrative style will look something like this:

Ens Joe decided to head back to his quarters. Entering the turbo lift, he requested to be taken to deck 12, where his quarters were. As the Turbo lift reached deck 5, it stopped to allow Cmdr to board. Smiling as he entered, the Cmdr, looking at his exhausted appearance, asked if I was retiring to my quarters. The Cmdr replied that he was, and that it had indeed been a long day. As Joe disembarked the turbo lift, the Cmdr made a request to meet him on the bridge at 1100 hours to complete the gamma study of the quadrant. He agreed.

• At the same time, logs can be a combination of both style, interwoven into the one log.  As time passes on your ship, you will come to discover other methods used in doing logs.  Feel free to incorporate these methods into yours.  You do not have to write the same type every week.  Make sure that if there is a conversation in your log, however, that it is clear who is saying what.

GETTING IDEAS

• It has happened to everyone. You need to write your log for the week, but you cannot think of anything to write.  The first step you should take, is figure out where you left off in your last log, and what, if anything, has happened to your character since then.
• Once you find something, copy the bit, and write from that point.  This gives a good reference point to everyone else as well as far as time time frame goes, then add in your own stuff.
• If you can't find something, ask other crew members for suggestions, or as a worst case, go to the CO and XO and ask them for suggestions.
• Failing this, write a character development log, be creative, look for things that are happening on the SIMulation, or start up a new subplot.

Too often SIMs get far too technical to be fun.  Make sure that when you say something regarding a technical facet of your SIM that you know wherein you speak before you say anything that could result in a later SIM pause in order to sort out exactly what happened.  And above all, remember when you are SIMming this is supposed to be *FUN*, it is supposed to be a form of recreation in order to be a StarFleet officer for one hour each week.

Don't get so entranced by a SIM that you lose sight of the main goal and start arguing tiny points that ruin the whole thing.  I realize this SIM guide may make SIMming sound hard but once you have done it a few times, it will come naturally to you, like second nature.  And someday, you may get your very own ship to command and be teaching new Cadets the same thing you're learning right now.

Commodore Jeremiah Soran
Academy Commandant Stardate 950625.5
UCIP Internet

• Adapted from the UCIP Internet SIMulation Guide
• Commodore Jeremiah Soran Knight, UCIP Internet
• Version 4.3 Update by David Bussard, UCIP Internet
• Version 4.6 Update by Horatio Hawke, UCIP Internet
• Version 5.0 Update by Evelyn K Hawke, UCIP Internet