New Character Setup

Congratulations
Your app was approved, and you've logged in. Whether you're a brand new player or an old hand who's been around since TF1, there's certain flags, attributes, and settings you can configure on your new character. However, they're kind of spread around the Chargen room on the MUSH, the Wiki, and the help, +help, and info pages. This page is an attempt to be a one-stop shop to set your character up on your first login.

Alias
An alias is another series of symbols used to abbreviate (usually) a character's name. This makes it easier to page, @mail, radio, or +nom them. For example, if someone's name is something like Ultra Magnus or Anachronism, an alias of UM or Ana means that you don't have to type out their whole name (in quotes for Ultra Magnus). You can have multiple aliases; just separate them with semicolons. Or you can have just one.

@alias me=Alias1;Alias2 (etc., but having 10 aliases would be kind of excessive.)

Alternate Mode Name
You'll be set up with a default name for each of your alternate modes, but if you want to change the displayed name, you can by typing:

!name 2= 

This won't change your altmode name in your profile, but will be what people see as your name when they look around a room. It can be as simple as “Car,” or as complicated as “Black and Orange 1957 Chevrolet Bel Air Convertible ” with ansi colors.

Sex
“Wait a second, Gyro,” you protest, “Transformers don't have sex. At least on this MUSH.” And you're absolutely right! (Although, if you watch The Search For Alpha Trion {season 2, episode 32}, Optimus Prime does “interface” his power filter to Elita One and say “Aaahhhhh... Please, Elita...”) Ahem. In this case, what I'm talking about is grammatical gender. So, when you see something like 'Combat: Skullcruncher strikes Repugnus with its laser attack.' then a character's sex setting is off. In most cases, it's hardly noticeable, but if you want, you can set your @sex.

@sex me=Male	Most Transformers, half the human FCs

@sex me=Female	Some Transformers, half the human FCs

@sex me=Neuter	Some aliens?

@sex me=Plural	The duocons?

Ansi
Who says we don't have graphics? With these settings, you can see dazzling colors.

@set me=ansi

@set me=xterm256

Myopic
Do you see (#3780) or the like after every person, place, or thing? Those are called dbref numbers, and can come in handy when coding. If you see them and don't want to, then type:

@set me=myopic

Aconnect & Adisconnect
If you want to execute commands whenever you connect or just before you disconnect, these settings are for you. There used to be an excessive amount of  spam as everyone broadcasted five or more lines of witty text each time they connected or disconnected, but this was halted.

Although programs such as MUSHclient allow you to input commands once you connect, these settings are tied to your character, so if you switch computers a lot, they might come in handy.

&aconnect me=

&adisconnect me=

Some things you might do when you log on: check the bulletin boards, check your @mail, and see who's online. To do this, you would type:

&aconnect me=+bbscan;@mail;who

Let's say you want to go ooc, transform into robot mode, and wave goodbye to everyone as you disconnect:

'''&adisconnect me=ooc;!transform 1;+p : waves. “See you later!”'''

Descriptions
Descriptions might seem superfluous; if you don't know what a Feature Character looks like, you can easily google them. Still, this is a text-based MMORPG, and a good description can not only tell other players what color your character is, how big they are, and what weapons they're carrying, but their demeanor, stance, and hints at their altmode.

An example of a good description:

Steadfast and tested, this bot stands firm in the face of any obstacle, taking any challenge head on. Bold pride and grim determination define her decisive movements as she embodies a grace bent on breaking barriers.

Chromia is a tallish bot of solid build, yet feminine in her modeling with a shapely waist and curved chest chaise. While her features might appear delicate they are carried with a boldness that conveys her strength and durability, well matched with the muted navy blue that dominates her calm, controled appearance. Her shoulders are accented with a a red light bar and further enlarged with a split wheel, and her collar is protectively high. Short skirted plates flare from the hips and her ankless boots set a rigid stance, her toes touched with red brake lights. The softer areas of her form, belly and thighs, are a lighter hue of blue and another split wheel forms her knees.

Chromia's smooth face is highlighted by the pure white that it is, framed by the blue winged brow plate that sweeps back, her crown also white with a square red light mounted at the crest. Her mouth port is small yet powerful, and her eyes are an intense luminated blue, bright upon those she cares or dares to focus them on.

An example of a... description that needs work:

Black robot.

(Get with it, Trailbreaker! ;)

To set your descriptions,

'''&desc_1 me='''

&desc_2 me=

And so on for other modes. (Happy typing, Sixshot!)

If you want to allow people to enter you, e.g. you're a transport like Astrotrain, or you anticipate a human sitting in the driver seat, you can set an internal description, which people will only see when they're inside you.

&idescribe me= 

To allow other characters to enter you, type:

@set me=enter_ok

Transformation messages
To let other people in the same room know you've transformed, you can set a transform message. This can be as simple as “Submarauder sits down and touches his toes” or “Topspin lays on his back and puts his feet alongside his head,” or can be a bit more complicated. However, if the messages are longer than about three lines, you might want to pare them down. No one wants to see a page describing where all Needlenose's limb kibble goes.

'''&transform_msg_1 me='''

'''&transform_msg_2 me='''

And so on, for other modes.

Custom +nom message
It can be nice to let someone know you think their RP was inspiring, and that you have +nom'd them. Instead of paging them, saying “I +nommed you,” you can set up a custom message. Instructions are here. (Someone please add the link, I'm not very wiki savvy.)