A Guide to the Game and the Community
By ThePrivateer
This thread is designed to help out new users to the forum. It provides friendly information about the game itself, and the forums in general to help get you on your feet and getting active in the fabulous community we have.
The Basics
What is Transcendence?
Transcendence is a free form, top-down space shooter/trader, made by George Moromisato, who has a nice website. The game follows a Nethack-esqe approach to random item generation, enemy generation and level generation, meaning the game is highly addictive, and replayable, as every new game is different.
What Version of Transcendence should I play?
Currently, the latest stable version (version released to the public) is 1.01 and can be downloaded here.
The latest Beta release can usually be found in theAnnouncements Board. Currently, the latest Beta is 1.04.
What do I do to play Transcendence?
To play, once you have downloaded the game, run the executable (it will have an unmissable icon). From there, just click New Game, choose a ship, and the game will explain everything else.
Hold on. Which ship do I choose?
I have already made a helpful thread here. But for quick reference, try the Sapphire the first time you play, as it is a balanced ship - once you get the gist of Transcendence, move to the Wolfen, and once you want more out of the game, go to the Freighter. Or choose one randomly and have fun!
Mods and Extensions
Okay, so what are all these extensions and mods I hear about?
Mods, short for Modification, is the term for files that change Transcendence and extend it, or give the player a whole new adventure. The main site for mods is Xelerus.
How do I get a mod running?
It's easy! The first time you run Transcendence, a folder should be created alongside the Executable, called "Extensions". Download a mod from Xelerus., and (usually), all you need to do is un-compress it and place it inside the Extensions folder. That's it! The author usually has more details on Xelerus, or with a Readme that comes with the mod.
I'm having troubles with a mod.
Ok. You should probably post your problem in the Shipyards. Please tell us the name of the mod, and what version of Transcendence you are running, plus any other noticeable details and we'll help you out.
The Forum
So...I want to post something. Where should I do it?
Currently, this is how the forum works:
- Announcements - This is where Administrators and George post stuff, but you can feel free to reply to anything in here.
Commonwealth - This is where we discuss Transcendence in detail - stuff like the storyline, factions, races, end-game tips etc.
Beginner's Luck - Like it says. New players post here if you are having trouble. This is a friendly board, because we were all once newbs!
Bug Reports - Post in the subforum that belongs to your version of Transcendence if you have found a bug that you don't feel is related to a mod you have installed.
Ideas and Suggestions - Think Transcendence could be better? Post here with an idea and it may just end up getting made into the game!
Tech Support - Having trouble with the game? Is it too slow, too fast, or just plain old doesn't work? Post here for help!
Shipyards - Here we discuss mods - troubles with mods mainly nowadays, or just comments on mods, or modding in general.
Mod Announcements - Finished making a mod? Here's the place to put it, or just praise the finished product of another modder
Drawing Board - Got ideas for a future mod? Post here and we'll all discuss the idea!
Official Extensions - Here goes posts about the Official Transcendence Extension project
Modding Reference - Tutorials for modding and scripting!
Community Discussion - Here, we talk about the community in general, such as the IRC and other things. the subforum of Forum Tech support discusses bugs in the forum itself
Fan Fiction - Want to make your own lore about Transcendence? We'd love to hear it!
Off-Topic - Want to discuss something unrelated? Here's the place!
So, how do I advance ranks on the forum?
This is currently in-the-air, but it is mostly based on post count. Assuming you don't spam-post, here is the current list:
25-50-100-250-500-1000-2000
What are member groups?
Again, this is being developed. You can get invited to a group if you have done something exceptional, or have been a loyal community member in that field.
Gee you guys use acronyms a lot. What does it all stand for?
Whilst internet slang varies, here are common acronyms:
- Trans - Transcendence
Mods - Either the modifications that Xelerus hosts, or it is short for Moderator
Admin - Administrator
WTF - What the F.... Well you get the idea.
OMG - Oh my god. With option 'F's in there.
LOL - Laugh out loud if you find something funny
ROFL - Rolling on floor laughing - supposedly the highest praise on the internet
IRC - internet relay connection - a chatroom to speak to other community members
PM - Private Message. On the forums, these are like private emails you can send to other members
St. Kat - Saint Katherines Star - a major system in Transcendence
IIRC - If I recall correctly
AFAIK - As far as I know
PHPBB3 - PHP Bulletin Board 3 - the forum technologies we use
SMF - Simple Machines Forum - another forum technology
IDK - I dont know
JK - Just Kidding
TBH - To Be Honest
ATM - At the Moment
GIYF - Google is your friend - do not use, as this is considered very bad netiquette, and is a dismissive reply.
RTFM - Read the F***ing Manual - as above with GIYF, even worse perhaps. Again, do not use.
If you are having real trouble, with the game, the forums, anything and have no idea what to do, or where to post, just post somewhere (anywhere, but Community will be best) and the thread will get moved to the correct location when all your questions have been answered.
What kind of Forum policies do you have?
The usual. Don't spam. Don't troll. Don't double post. Don't swear (use * if you have to). Don't dimiss people (no GIYF, or RTFM please). Don't insult people, don't make sexist or racist jokes or post things that are considered to be derogatory. Acronym slang is fine, but this is a forum - we can use more than 140 characters, so please don't bring twitter/sms style writing to the forums. Srsly, pls.
What are all these funny links, like "bit.ly" and "tiny.cc"?
short links, or Link Compression shortens really long hyperlinks. This is best used in Signatures, or on the IRC - it is good netiquette, to detail where the link is going to when you post - so no one gets a surprise. You'll need to visit a site like http://tiny.cc to make a short link.
The Community
So, what are all the other things in the community?
For a list of all links, see this post here.
But, for a quick list, we have the Transcendence Wiki, which is a community run site that collates data about Transcendence (and anyone can edit it).
We, of course, have Xelerus for hosting all the mods.
Also, is the very popular IRC channel on freenode. But, if you are just a casual user without an IRC client, you can always use the Web-based version, like I do!
If you happen to miss out and want to see what everyone was talking about, you can visit the Transcendence logs, which is run by Ttech.
Among other things, we also have our very own bug-reporting system here that is used to report bugs in the game for George to fix.
Wow. Anything else I need to know?
Yeah. Have fun!
