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HOW TO
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Greetings Explorers!
This space is text based so all commands are entered as text on the command line of the interface.
The following is a quick list of some of the commands for moving around and talking with other explorers.
(Note in what follows the commands do not include the quotation marks and are sent with the enter key)
THE DISPLAY
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The Starless Sea is best experienced using the Text only interface to the MOO which can be accessed from the TELNET link on the main login page for Literary Worlds.
Once the webpage opens you will see two panes in the browser window the upper one showing the output from the MOO and the lower one where you type commands.
To login type 'co guest' or, if you have a Literary Worlds ID, co ID followed by your password.
Once the login completes the display will open to the Literary Worlds Cafe.
Enter SS and you will be taken to the landing page for the Starless Sea.
A typical display of a room would be something like this:
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Misty Stones
You stand surrounded by walls of mist. The faint shapes of ancient stones rear up in a circle just outside of clear sight. There is a faint salty tang to the mist and the low rumble of surf can be felt as much as heard.
You see A Menhir here.
Dickens Guest is here.
Obvious exits: [West] to Headland, [North] to Stargate Glen, [East] to Well of Wonders
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The name of the room or space is listed at the top and the description of the room follows.
The line starting with 'You see' lists all the objects in the room and a list of the players in the space is on the next line.
All exits from the room are listed on the last line following 'Obvious exits:' Note there may be some exits which are hidden that are not listed.
Anything on the objects list, or the list of players, can be looked at by tying 'look' and the name so for example:
look menhir
Would result in:
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A large, rough hewn, block of stone. It is mostly moss covered and appears to be ancient.
One side is flat and bears the rough outline of a door scratched into the mossy surface.
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look dickens guest
Would give:
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Dickens Guest (idle 9m)
By definition, guests appear nondescript.
It is awake, but has been staring off into space for 9 minutes.
--
The look command can be shortened to just the 'l'
MOVING AROUND
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The obvious exits from the room you are in are listed either at the bottom of your screen, or if there is a map or image, perhaps marked by a words or letters on the map itself. Exits use directional words like in, out, up, down, east, west etc. To move in a given direction simply type the name of the direction or exit. For example, if you see an exit named 'West', you type 'west' to go there. If a code on the map says 'LIB', you type 'LIB' to go there.
If you get lost, you can always get back to where you started by typing 'home'. A fast and convenient way to move around is to '@join' other users. To see who is in the MOO type
@who
If you see another user online named John, you can join him by typing:
@join John
Another way to move quickly between locations in the MOO is to use the '@go' command if you know the name of the place. If, for example, you want to go to a place called 'Classroom', you type:
@go Classroom
Note: In the Underground of the Starless Sea '@go' does not work use 'go' with the name of the room instead.
USING OBJECTS
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There are many objects in the Underground surrounding the Starless Sea. It is a good idea to 'look' at everything to see their descriptions and sometimes what they can do.
The 'examine' command will usually show you the commands that you can use to manipulate the objects but their descriptions often have information as well.
Type 'examine' followed by the object's name.
For example from the room listed above:
examine menhir
Would result in:
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A Menhir (aka #5754, A Menhir, Menhir, Standing Stone, and Monolith)
Owned by Max123.
A large, rough hewn, block of stone. It is mostly moss covered and appears to be ancient.
One side is flat and bears the rough outline of a door scratched into the mossy surface.
Obvious verbs:
g*et/t*ake A Menhir
d*rop/th*row A Menhir
gi*ve/ha*nd A Menhir to anything
v*iew A Menhir
dis*play A Menhir
connect A Menhir to anything
@webpref*erences A Menhir
--
The first line shows the objects name followed by a list that includes the objects number followed by all the aliases that the object can be referred to by. This is useful if the objects name is a long multiword string usually there will be a shortened alias that can be used and an 'examine' will give that to you. If the name has several words in it using the first word is sufficient to reference it for example:
look standing works
but
look stone does not
The names are not case sensitive so 'look menhir' and 'look Menhir' both work. MOO commands are not case sensitive in general.
The list of Obvious Verbs includes commands specific to the object. This is important for the many objects and machines lying in and around the Starless Sea so it is always worthwhile to do a 'look' or 'examine'. In the example above the last four are not applicable to the text based version we are using and the first three are standard for nearly every object, but don't always work. Menhirs are really big and heavy so cannot be taken or thrown for example.
COMMUNICATING WITH OTHER PEOPLE
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To talk to someone in the same room as you are, you type a quotation mark \" followed by what you want to say, like this:
"Hello there!
You see this in the output frame:
You say, "Hello there!"
Everyone else in the room sees:
Ann says "Hello there!"
You can use body language, also known as emoting, by typing a colon followed by text like this:
:smiles
You see this text in the output frame:
Ann smiles.
Everyone else in the room sees:
Ann smiles
Often, when several people are in the same room, you may want to address a particular person. To do that type 'to' followed by the name of the person you want to talk to, and then what you want to say.
to John Good to see you again :-).
John, you, and everyone else sees:
Ann [to John]: Good to see you again :-)
To communicate with people who are not in the same place you are, you can 'page' them:
page John Do you have time for a question?
The 'page' command can be shortened to '-' like this:
-john Hi, may I come over?
You can also 'remote emote' by typing:
+john smiles and waves
People come to the MOO for many different reasons, some come to work, others to hang out or visit with friends. Out of courtesy, you should always ask before you join someone. For example, if you want to talk to John and he is not in the same room as you, you should type:
@knock John
If he wants to talk to you he can reply with:
@invite player-name
To log out type: @quit
Finally, remember that one of the most useful help commands in any MOO and the Starless Sea in particular is this one:
say Hi, I'm new here. Do you have a minute for a question?
Enjoy your time in the world of the Starless Sea!