Architectural Design Simulators
IntroductionArchitectural design simulators allow you to build and customize property to add to the game. Through a holographic avatar of yourself, you can configure and customize a blueprint to your liking. All building commands work inside a blueprint, and no charge is incurred for your character in reality.
Getting Started
Once you have purchased an architectural design simulator, you should BOLT it down and USE it. You will be presented with a number of options, most prominently to create, edit, or delete a blueprint. To get started, choose 'Create Blueprint' and follow the prompts.
First, you will be asked for a name. This name should be indicative of what you wish your completed area to be called. It cannot have punctuation save for hyphens, and it will appear before each room name when you are in the area itself. Once you have decided on a name, you will arrive in a menu of choices for which real estate you wish to simulate. If you are building this property for yourself, pick what type of structure it should be upon finalization. If you are building this area for eventual inclusion in the game's global geographics, choose house. Be sure that you have spoken with a host prior to building an area for general inclusion, as you will need permission to add a public area to a pre-built planet. Public areas should be thematically appropriate and not offer exclusive benefits to the person creating it. If your simulator is bolted in a private structure that you are an owner of, you will also be presented with the option to import it in as a new design. This may be useful for experimenting with possible new additions to your current structure. Submissions of imported designs will not, however, usually be accepted. If you wish to update your current design, you need to build it by hand.
Finally, you will be asked if you want to password protect this blueprint. If other people have access to the simulator and you do not want them modifying the design, choose yes and enter a password. Passwords are encrypted one-way, so if you forget your password, it cannot be read or recovered by a host. Keep this in mind when adding a password.
Building
Once you have finished configuring your blueprint, you will be connected to a holographic avatar. Your avatar is naked, and thus lacks a communicator, message board reader or other gadgets. You can use the NEWBIE channel or the DESIGN channel. The design channel is IC and allows you to speak to any other avatars that may be connected to the blueprint. It should not be used to circumvent communicators.
Most building commands work inside of a blueprint. For more detail on these, review HELP BUILDING COMMANDS. You cannot create or submit stores inside of a blueprint, nor can you access authorization lists or use security center functions. Similarly, holographic avatars can move through any biometrically locked exit without requiring authorization. There are some commands that are exclusive to building avatars, which are listed below.
DESIGN <text | who> - Speak on the design channel. This channel employs minimal filtration and is for conversing about your design with other avatars that may be connected. It should remain in character. Providing the [who] argument will show other avatars that are connected to your design.
@DESCRIBE/DESCRIBE <object | here> as <text> - Describe <object>. Using "here" as the object will describe the room you are standing in. If you wish to have a multi-line description, use the syntax DESCRIBE <object> by itself instead.
CREATE <name> - Create a custom item. Custom items can be props, containers or furniture and there is a limit; 5 for a house, 10 for a space station, 15 for a moon and 20 for a planet. Each item will add 5,000,000 credits to the final cost of the blueprint.
DESTROY <item> - Destroy an item. This is not reversible.
DIG-GO <exit name> to <room> - Digs a go exit with the provided name. If you don't provide a name, the room name will default to "New Room".
DEMOLISH-GO <go exit> - Demolishes a go exit. The other side must not have any connecting rooms.
ENVIRONMENT (or ENV) - Alter the environment of a room.
EXIT-MESSAGES (or EXITMSG) <exit> - Set messages that are shown when moving through an exit. Pronouns and other substitutions can be used here.
PRONOUNS - Show a list of pronouns that can be used in various messages.
LIGHTING (or LIGHTS) - Turn lighting on or off in a room. Rooms that are not lit will not show descriptions or contents.
DOORTYPE - Change the door type for an entrance accessible with the ENTER-command. You must be standing in the room with the entrance.
ROOMFIX (or DEMOLISH HERE) - Remove a room that has no exits, go exits, or enter exits and move your avatar back to the first room of the blueprint.
ROOMS - View all rooms in your blueprint.
WORTH - View a cost breakdown for the entire blueprint. This is how much you will need to pay once you wish to make this design a reality.
ZAP (or TELEPORT) <room name> - Instantly transport your avatar to <room name>.
ADDNOTE <text> - Add notes for a specific room. You should leave a note in the room that you wish to set as a docking bay or landing pad if you are making anything other than a house.
DELNOTE [<text | number | all>] - Delete a note from within the simulation. Arguments can be partial text of a note, a number as shown in the NOTES ALL command, or "all" to delete everything. Providing no arguments will display a menu of notes to delete.
NOTES [all] - Displays all notes for the current room. NOTES ALL will display all notes across the entire blueprint, regardless of room.
AMBIENCE-MESSAGES (or ROOM-MESSAGES) - Configure flavor messages that will be printed to occupants of the current room periodically.
MASSRENAME - Mass replace the provided text in all room names with something else.
SIMULATOR - Allows you to use simulator functions from within the simulation itself, such as creating new blueprints or connecting to other ones.
END - Terminates the simulation.
Further Customization
The second option in the initial menu allows one to edit blueprint parameters. If your blueprint is password protected, you will need the password to access and change settings.
Change Parent - Change the type of structure that governs your design.
Enable/Disable Map - Toggle specific mapping on your blueprint. This defines whether people can type MAP [room] to receive directions to a specific room.
Rename - Change the name of a blueprint.
Add/Change Password - Change an existing password. If you have not set a password, this option will guide you through adding one. If you wish to clear the password, type the old password and then leave the new password field blank.
Manage Notes - Add or delete attached notes. Notes should detail special accommodations for your structure such as lifts and should also include where you wish to place it in the real game world.
Set Sector Coordinates - Set coordinates for a private station, moon, or planet. These will be the coordinates that your new structure occupies in the sector once it has been physically built.
Submitting Blueprints
Once you have finished your blueprint, you should submit it. Keep in mind that you cannot submit a design if you lack the points to own it. Submission can be done through the simulator menu and puts your design in a queue for hosts to review. While your blueprint is in the queue you will not be able to access or modify it. Once it has been approved, a host will approach you to take payment and implement your design into the world. Be sure to include painful amounts of detail in the notes attached, lest it not be done exactly how you intended.
Miscellaneous Notes
Related Topics: Player-owned Space Stations | Moons | and Planets | Houses | Building Commands