Introduction
This guide was designed to help out new and unfamiliar players in the SeriousRP genre, and also to acquaint people within the Half-Life universe and its roles. Staff members may feel free to use this guide to direct a new member, I will be working on this document actively to make adjustments and improvements in the coming days!
Initiation
Before you connect to the server, you wanna make sure that all of Limefruit’s server content has been downloaded to ensure you do not receive any missing textures or errors. You can do this by pressing on the following link. . .
https://steamcommunity.com/workshop/filedetails/?id=2422242557
The content pack is updated on a regular basis to improve and optimize the server for peak performance.
Once done you should now be able to connect to our Black Mesa SeriousRP server, where you will be greeted by a questionnaire to which you will need to fill out the proper answers.
Now, I will not give you all of the answers since that defeats the purpose of the quiz. I will however be going through some of the more difficult questions and explain a few terms used commonly within Garry’s Mod.
Roleplay Dictionary
OOC - Out of Character
Is the meaning of communicating outside of a roleplay environment, you would use this to talk to other players when for example chatting about things not related to roleplay, which could be really anything regarding yourself and not your character.
Usually there is a specific chat for this and commands can vary but usually you type /ooc or // in front of the message you wish to display. Bear in mind that all present players on the server can see your message when using these commands.
LOOC - Local out of Character
Basically the same meaning as OOC, with the difference being that you communicate OOC’ly with those next to you on the server, commands can be .// or /looc to talk. Bear in mind that not everyone on the server will see your message.
IC - In Character
Is the meaning of communicating within a roleplay environment, talking IC does not need a command, you should be IC most of the time while on the server and actively portray the character you have created.
Power Gaming
This is a term often used within the Garry’s Mod roleplaying community, it defines a player forcing an action on someone else without giving them the initiative to play along or forcing someone to engage in a RP scenario they themselves do not wish to participate in.
Meta Gaming
Meta Gaming refers to the action of using OOC information in an IC context to gain an advantage over others. For example, if someone tells me in OOC chat where their secret stash is located and I use this information to find their stash and create an IC scenario out of it. My character could not have been aware that this stash even exists and thus it would be impossible to know.
Character Creation
Once you’ve passed the quiz, you can create a new-character to which you will be given a set of options on which factions you can join. It is up to you alone which one you’ll choose.
After you’ve chosen a faction you will need to make a proper first and last name for your character which should not be a celebrity or someone from the actual Half Life Lore.
Then you can make a description for your character, a description should merely entail your physical-appearance. Such as what you’re wearing, how tall you are, how much you weigh, features of your character such as eye-color etc.
It should not include things like your degree or back-story, it should be something that people can pick up on ICly. You also have the ability to customize your character to your liking, you can choose a model and even edit the bodygroups and skins.
Once done you will be moving on to select attributes for your character, depending on the faction you should modify them accordingly.
Here are all of the attributes which you can choose from. .
Endurance - The duration for how long you can run.
Medical Knowledge - Your expertise in a medical setting, useful for certain items. It's really only useful for medical characters.
Stamina - The speed at which your character can run at.
Strength - How hard you can punch.
Factions
There are many factions, some of which are gained through donating and some of which you could gain by roleplaying. I will not be covering every faction as this will simply clog the guide further.
The three main factions, or rather the most played factions are the following:
Scientist
The Scientist faction is the most vital of all factions within the server. As a scientist, your goal is to bring new ideas by creating your own projects or by participating in an existing project.
Bear in mind that while joining the server with prior knowledge can assist you in this faction, it is completely not necessary. You can join without any prior experience or knowledge in the scientific fields and simply gain it over-time (at least the relevant parts) while playing on the server. This may require time and patience, but people will always be glad to help you out.
This faction provides you with a great deal of freedom while playing on the server, which you can use to develop interesting roleplay scenarios.
Maintenance
The Maintenance faction is all about making repairs and replacing materials, ensuring the facility is maintained properly and to verify that all of the equipment is working proficiently, making sure all of the vending-machines are restocked etc.
Maintenance characters would come with an in-character background in different engineering or construction fields, and may also participate or be asked to participate in a variety of science projects.
Security
As a Security guard you’re tasked with ensuring the safety of all Black Mesa personnel and of course the scientific equipment within the facility, you are required to regularly patrol and man the lobby-desk. Your occupation is quite vital to verify that all of the Code of Conduct guidelines are followed properly.
There are of course more factions for you to choose from such as Medical, Janitor, and Chef which should all be quite obvious from what they entail. Event factions such as the H.E.C.U - Hazardous Environment Combat Unit are as mentioned previously, donator only but could however be subject to change.
You should not flag on event-factions unless a situation allows for it, if someone asks you to flag off you do so.
Commands
/me
Is a command used to describe what your character is doing physically, all /me’s are written from a third-person point of view.
Example: /me would appear to be searching for his wallet albeit finding it eventually, he removes a total sum of five dollars, placing them on the stand.
You can describe really any action you think is appropriate for what your character is doing in the given situation.
/it
This command can describe something that happens in your environment or with a certain object, it is still to be taken ICly and should be written from a third-person point of view.
Example: /it An accumulation of dust would begin to build-up coming from the parking-lot.
/y
Yelling will allow your character to communicate with someone at a distance, this command is audible from afar compared to talking normally.
/w
Whispering is quite the opposite, this can be used to communicate with someone privately. The distance while using this command is quite short, so you’ll need to be standing very close to someone to communicate.
/pm
Gives you the option to privately message someone, this command is an OOC command and not to be taken ICly.
/page
Page is basically the IC version of PM, you’re able to page anyone at any given distance ICly.
/help
Is very useful when you’re in-need of a staff-member to help you out with something specific, maybe if you’re stuck or you simply would like to ask a question.
/report
This command is used to report someone if you think a rule has been broken, if someone does not conduct themselves maturely etc.
I believe these are the most vital commands you need to know, I hope this guide could help you out. You are of course allowed to contact the staff-team for any further questions, I hope you’ll enjoy your stay!
-Shadow
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