How to Play TriadCity
The TriadCity Players' Guide
Sammie J's TriadCity Newbie Guide
Editor's Introduction:
Although this excellent getting started guide is getting on in years, it's still pretty darn accurate, which just goes to show how excellent it is. Or that the basics haven't changed much over time!
One difference to note is that newbies no longer arrive in the location Sammie describes. There's now a special in-game tutorial for brand new players, to help them get used to mechanics and commands. Click the link for info.
Take it away Sammie:
Your Character:
On entering TriadCity for the first time you will notice the following things:
The panel to the left is the statistics for your character. The first one you see, "Health", shows you how much health, energy, hunger and thirst you have. When you have been logged in for a few minutes, you’ll notice the Hunger and Thirst bar start to show green. This means you are a little bit hungry/thirsty. As you get more and more hungry/thirsty they will go orange and then red. It IS possible to starve your character or die of thirst. Watch this one constantly, and keep all your stats in the green as much as possible.
To drink, simply find a vessel (bottle, canteen, fountain, sprinkler etc) and type "drink vessel". Example, "drink fountain".
To eat is similar, just choose what you are going to eat, make sure it is in your inventory, that is that you've already gotten an edible item from somewhere, and type "eat item".
If your energy gets too low, you will receive a message "Alas, you are too exhausted". To stop this from occurring, you need to sleep. To do this simply type, "sleep".
There is another panel called "Attributes". Have a look at it. It shows you the values you chose for your character, and also some combat stats.
There are ways to increase your attributes, experiment; you’ll work it out.
The third panel is "Exp, Align $". This shows you that you are Level 1 and you require 100 experience points to Level 2. It also shows you how much exp you have already (0 at the start) and that your alignment is neutral. Your alignment can be affected by a number of things in the game. This panel also shows how much money you carry (0 to start).
The inventory panel show you how much weight and items you can/are carrying.
The final panel is the Skills panel. On starting, it shows you have 6 practices and 0 skills learnt. You can learn many skills from various places.
In the centre is the panel "Game". This is where all the information from the TriadCity world around you is displayed. When you first arrive you will be at The Origin Stone at Sanctuary Island. Read what it says.
The right hand panel is for communication between other players. This one is VERY handy if you need help, as there will almost always be someone on with you who can help you out.
Below these panels is a long white bar. This is your Command Bar. In it you type the commands, which tell the system what you want it to do. You will find a list of commands and what they do here.
How to manipulate the game/chat windows:
If you want to ask a question, say hello or just generally chat in the game, type "chat" in the command line followed by what you want to say. For example to say Hello, you type "Chat Hello". On the right hand panel you will see a message come up saying You chat: "Hello"
There are other commands you can use in the same way. To speak to one person only, without the others seeing what you say, use the "tell" command. This is similar to the "chat" command but requires you to enter whom you wish to speak to. Example, to say Hello to Shirrah, type "tell Shirrah Hello". This one is useful for asking embarrassing newbie questions of the higher-level players.
There are other chat commands available, which can be used in different situations.
Now that you have worked all that out, it’s time to look at the Game panel. You can manipulate this in MANY ways, and you can find that information on the website. The basic commands you really need to know are how to look and how to move around.
First of all we’ll start with the origin stone.
You’ll see the description has a paragraph describing the room followed by two separate sentences telling you The Origin Stone and a Monk are in the room with you. (There may be others too, but these two will definitely be there). In the command line, type, "look stone". It will give you a description of the Origin Stone. Now, look at your exp, align $ panel and you’ll see that just by looking at the stone, you have earned 3 experience points! Now try it with the monk...
The next step:
Now, we need to move around in the TriadCity world. To move in any direction, simply type the direction in the command line. At the bottom of the room description is [Exits: north east south west]. I suggest to start with you go north. Type "north" or just "n"
You are now in the donation room. This is where you can get some basic equipment for your character.
In the command line type "look sign". This will tell you how to look at, and get things from, the tables. (Note, other tables around TriadCity can simply be referred to as "table" but in the donation room, there are five tables, so you need to specify which one you want).
You should be able to get some clothes, water, food and things like that at the donation room. If there isn’t something there that you think you need, simply ask one of the experienced players and they should be able to help you out. You should DEFINITELY get a robe or cloak to cover your newbie nakedness and a water bottle.
Getting Food:
Once you’ve played with the donation room, and got everything you need, lets go east! Type "east" or just "e" in the command line.
Here you will find a golden pear tree. Type "look tree" and it tells you there are many juicy pears to be had from the tree! To get a pear from the tree, you need to tell the system (like with the tables) what you want, and from where. So, for the pear we type, "pick pear tree" or "get pear tree".
Now, look at your inventory panel. It tells you that you are holding one item, which weighs 1. To see what is in your inventory type "inv" in the command line. By now, your character is probably a bit hungry. Type, "eat pear" in the command line and see the hunger bar drop.
Have fun!
You now have enough information to get started on your adventure in TriadCity. If you haven’t already, look at the Command Reference, and have a look at the other helpful references available, like the FAQ and the Player’s Guide.
These will help you enrich your experience with TriadCity.
Make sure you look at EVERYTHING! If you see a noun, try looking at it! Many things gain you experience, just from looking at them!
There are Players and NPCs to interact with, things to see, find, get, earn and buy/sell. Try everything, and feel free to ask the other players for assistance if you are confused or lost.
Players' Guide TOC
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