As to speaking for other people in your sim, here’s the basic premise you should follow: feel free to write small things for other characters, as long as they are accurate with that character. Here are some examples using the characters that played in the StarBase 118 Operations sim. One example included a dialogue between the captain (Lysander) and a medical officer (Bizak): (StarBase sim from 10/1/99):
“BIZAK: Well, I guess I’d better start at the beginning?”
“LYSANDER: I’d say that’s the best place.”
In this situation what Bizak wrote for Lysander was not something that would change the situation dramatically, nor was it something that was beyond the scope of what Lysander would say in that situation. So, we could say that “low impact dialogue”, or dialogue that really doesn’t have much effect on the entire sim is acceptable. HOWEVER, if Bizak had written:
“BIZAK: Well, I guess I’d better start at the beginning? “
“LYSANDER: Why would I want to start from there?! I have to go, I don’t like you.”
… that would be unacceptable. Why? First off, Lysander probably wouldn’t say something like that because he has never given an indication that he doesn’t like Bizak. After all, in that sim, HE asked HER to have a drink with him, so obviously he wouldn’t then decide that he didn’t like her.
The following also wouldn’t work:
“BIZAK: Well, I guess I’d better start at the beginning?”
“LYSANDER: Uh oh, watch out!! The Enterprise is crashing through the wall behind you as we speak!!”
… for most obvious reasons. For starters, nothing dramatic is happening in the sim that would suggest that there would be any reason for a ship to come crashing into the station. Next, before you put something into a sim that will changes things, like the Enterprise set to ram the StarBase, you need to talk to the captain first.
Another example of a GOOD use of someone else’s character:
“LYSANDER: Locke, fire phasers!!”
“LOCKE: Aye Captain, firing phasers!!”
Lysander put the words in Locke’s mouth that would more than likely be spoken by Locke, the tactical officer.
You simply have to walk a fine line between moving the sim along, and giving too much of someone else’s character. Use your good judgment, and try to use the other person’s character as little as possible, to avoid a problem. Keep your words neutral (so that you’re not stepping on the other person’s character in the wrong way), and only use the other character for simple actions, if you have to use them at all.
If you’re going to involve another character in such a way that the other character may be injured, you should CO-WRITE the sim together, or at least ask the other person how far you can go with their character. Co-writing a sim means contacting the other character via Instant Messenger or e-mail to write the sim out piece by piece. (So, one person would write one thing, and send that to the other person. Then the other person writes their response, and sends that back. Then you put all that into one sim and send it out.)
(Written by: Captain Malcolm Lysander)
