Newbie Guide to Starting in the SimChamber

[Freyia]

Reading this before diving into the fury of the SimChamber (referred as the 'SC' below) will make your life much easier in upcoming battles.

Assuming you have already registered and is reading this, here are the steps you need to take. See respective FAQs on each section if you want to know more about each part.

The Steps to become a SC pilot

1. Choose a name
2. Create PC Depot (PCD) Account
3. Create Axial Mainframe (AM) Account
4. Choose your initial Pilot Ability/Class and first seishin
5. Get your *FREE* SC Welcoming Pack
6. Rack up PCs
7. Buy a Mech/Items & Update Accounts
8. Orientation

One more thing. If you have any questions, feel free to ask any of the mods. They should be well versed in the workings of the SC and you might be able to learn from them as well.

[Freyia]

1. Choose a name

Before you can do anything, you need to choose a name for yourself in the SimChamber. This name is very important, for it is how people will identify you. Once you have chosen your display name, you cannot change it without first consulting one of the admins of the board. Going about changing your display name willy-nilly can, and will, cause confusion among the members. So make sure that you choose a name you like. The admins are forgiving, and will typically allow a change, but don't try it too many times or too often, or risk their wrath. Their tolerances only go so far.

[Freyia]

2. Create PC Depot (PCD) Account

Before I go into the PCD Account, let me introduce to you the official currency of the SC: PCs! PC used to stand for "Post Count", which was to be the primary means of acquiring money in the SimChamber. As time went on, such means became phased out, but the name stuck. PCs are VERY important to you, since you use it not only to buy stuff, but also to dodge attacks in combat (covered in another thread), use certain mecha attacks, or enable certain abilities, weither it be from your Pilot Class, mecha-inherent, or given by an equipped item. Again, this is covered more in-depth in further threads.

The PC Depot Account is your SC Bank Account. You keep track of your earnings and spendings in here. It is also used as evidence by the mods to see if you really bought the mech/item and not 'shoplifted'. Please see the rules thread within the PCD for more information.

PCs are gained through a number of ways, the primary way being through SimChamber fights. You can also gain PCs via monthly allowance, contests/giveaways, or by nice people giving you some in a pinch (don't count on it very often). When you gain (or lose) PCs through any means, update your PCD account as soon as possible (fight losses are typically consolidated at the end of the battle. No need to note fight losses as you use up PCs).

[Freyia]

3. Create Axial Mainframe (AM) Account

Your AM Account is like your locker or storage space or personal hangar or whatever you like to call it. You'll need a space to store everything you've bought. Without it, you CANNOT participate in any battles because we have no proof what you have does exist.

As well as storing mechs/items, the AM also houses your PILOT PROFILE. You MUST state what Pilot Class you are in at your AM, as well as your Rank. Other info your AM must contain are your Seishin stats, which includes what seishins you have and how big your SP pool is.

Luckily, AM accounts are free (Just like the PCD Account). All you have to do to start your AM account is go to this section and start your own thread. You can name it anything you wish. Be creative with your layout! (Take a look at some current ones for examples)

Again! Your AM must contain, in addition to mechs and items:

[/li][li]Your Pilot Info:
-Pilot Class
-Rank
-Seishins[/b]

Even if you don't own any mechs or items, you MUST have these.

[Freyia]

4. Choose your initial Pilot Ability/Class, and first seishin

This is another important step. Choosing your character class would ultimately decide on your tactics in a battle. There are over 10 classes to choose from, ranging from offensive Newtypes (NTs) to more defensive classes such as Heavy Metal, as well as classes with special abilities such as Tensai. Take a look at the Bio Enhancement Lab and choose carefully. If you want to have a feel for what the ability is like, check the Sim Chamber battles and see for yourself how others fight using that ability. Of course, some are more appealing than others.

Your initial decision on your pilot class is FREE. However, once you made that decision (and posted the details in your AM), any subsequent changes to pilot classes will COST you.

You also get to choose a free seishin from the list in the BEL. The only catch is that you can only choose those that cost 400 UPs or BELOW. Any seishins you may want to obtain after that are purchased normally via UPs.

[Freyia]

5. Get your *FREE* SC Welcoming Pack

This one is easy. Any newbie which signs up automatically receives:

10 Repair Kits
10 Propellent Tanks
10 Reloaders
500 PCs

You can only claim this once, of course. Put it into your AM to have immediate effect.

[Freyia]

6. Rack up PCs

Currently the best advice is to fight, fight and fight. Winning fights nets pilots a considerable amount of PC's. Alternatively, monthly stipends also provide a resource of PC's for each member, as long as they are active in the SC. Finally, you can also participate in any PC-gaining contests which happen occasionally around here.

[Freyia]

7. Buy a Mech/Items & Update Accounts

Well, at this point you should have enough dough to buy a mech or some items. Go take a look at the Hangar (Mech Shop) or the D.A.B.A. (Item Shop) to see what appeals to you. There are hundreds of mechs for your choosing!

Also note that some mechs have Rank or Class requirements so look carefully and do a bit of window-shopping before you buy.

Once you have selected your mech or item, paste its statistics in your AM account. Post each new mech and item in separate posts. If you have more than a single item, you can put the amount in the same post to spare the repetition.

Then, make an entry in your PCD Account to say that you made a purchase for that amount of PCs (the price) and deduct it from your account total. The PCD and AM mods will go around checking your accounts once in awhile.

Remember to also check your funds before buying. You obviously can't buy a mech or item if you do not have sufficient PCs!

[Umbaglo]

8. Orientation

You should be well equipped for your battles ahead in the Sim Chamber. Hopefully you have found some allies by now, as they will back you up in times of trouble! Familiarize yourself with the RPG aspect of the SC and you'll do fine. You can also post in the Open Challenge threads in either the SimChamber Unit-1 or the Parallel Assimilator to ask to create or join a battle, to gain some experience. The differences between a SimChamber and Parallel Assimilator battle is described in another thread.

Familiarize yourself with the rules of the SC. If you miss something once in a while, it's fine, but don't commit too many mistakes or you'll be looked down upon. You should also observe some fights to see how they are executed.

Remember who the mods are. All of them should be able to help you if you have any questions. You can also find us (and other players) in the IRC channel where you can get realtime responses.

And now, in closing, a message from the Admiral himself:
'Good luck in the SimChamber, and most of all, have fun. Don't take fights seriously. '