Getting Started

Welcome to Star Wars Testbed

Star Wars Testbed is a roleplay sim in Second Life with a game system built in. You make a character, pick a home planet, earn credits, buy things, own property or a business, and fight in turn-based combat. Almost all of it runs through your HUD.

You arrive at the HUB. It is neutral, out-of-character ground. Everything you need to get started is here: character creation, the HUD, the skill tree terminals, the help desk, and the teleporter to the planets.

Want the story so far? Read the Lore Primers.

First steps on sim

Do these in order. Each step links to the section that explains it.

1. Make a characterTouch one of the character creation terminals at the HUB. How it works
2. Get your HUD and RP ToolClick the big SW TESTBED sign that says "Click to get the HUD". Do this after you make your character. The HUD will not work without one.
3. Wear bothFind them in your Second Life inventory and wear them. What the HUD buttons do
4. Go to your planetWalk through the HUB teleporter. It sends you to the planet you picked. About the planets
5. Set up your comm-linkClick the comms button on your HUD and pick a comm signature. Businesses use it to contact you about jobs. Comms
6. Find your peopleBrowse the player groups at the XChange and join one. It is the fastest way to find people to RP with. Groups
7. Pick a way to earnFind a job, fish, farm, gather, buy a mining contract, or hunt bounties. Compare them

Create a character

Your character is who you play on the sim. Credits, items, property and XP all belong to the character, not your Second Life account. You can have up to 3 characters.

How to

1. Touch a character creation terminal.
2. Pick SL Experience or Web Page. SL Experience puts you in a booth so you can see your avatar while you create your character. Web Page opens the same thing in your browser. If you pick SL Experience, accept the SW:TB Experience when Second Life asks.
3. Pick an empty slot.
4. If it asks about a faction, pick No, create an independent character unless you are joining one.
5. Fill in your name, species, homeworld and starting planet. Names have to be unique on the sim.
6. Check the ID preview on the right, then confirm.

More detail

Pick your planet

You pick a starting planet when you make your character: Tatooine or Naboo. Both have the same systems and the same pay. What is different is the setting and the people you will run into.

Tatooine Suggested

Desert frontier city built around a sarlacc pit. Lawless, busy, full of bounty hunters, smugglers and people who don't want to be found.

Read the Tatooine primer →

Naboo

Keren City. Green, wealthy and political. Nobles, gamblers and people chasing influence.

Read the Naboo primer →

Getting there

1. Walk into the teleporter at the HUB. It sends you to your character's planet.
2. To travel to another planet later, use a transport terminal at the spaceport. Pick a destination and a ticket class, then pay for the ticket.
3. To get back to the HUB from anywhere, type /5 hub or pick HUB at a transport terminal. Both are free.

Your HUD

The HUD is how you use the game. It shows your inventory, profile, bounties and combat, and it has the buttons for gathering and comms.

SW logo

Minimizes the HUD to a small logo. Click the logo to bring it back.

Profile

Your credits, View ID and Show ID. The gear icon in the corner shows what you have equipped.

Inventory

Your backpack. Click an item to use it, equip it, show it or destroy it.

Bounties

Your current bounties.

Combat

Your health, and the Open Combat button for fights.

Comms

Bottom left. Opens your comm-link. White means nothing new, yellow means unread messages, red means it is open.

Gather

Bottom right. Use it at resource nodes and fishing spots.

Inventory

Click Inventory to open your backpack. Use the arrows to change pages. The Trade button in the corner starts a trade with someone near you.

Profile and equipped gear

Click Profile to see your credits and your ID buttons. Click the gear icon in the bottom corner to see the weapon, armor and other gear you have equipped. Click an equipped item to get Info, Show or Unequip.

More detail

Minimizing the HUD

Click the SW logo at the top of the HUD. It shrinks to a small logo on your screen. Click that to bring the HUD back.

If the HUD ever gets stuck off screen, type /9 hudshow.

RP Tool & chat commands

The RP Tool puts your character's name over your head and lets you talk as your character. Talking in character is also one of the ways you earn XP.

Talking in character

Type /3 before your message, for example /3 walks over to the counter and waves. It posts under your character's name.

Some rooms are private, like homes, business back rooms and hospital rooms. Inside one, your /3 is only heard by people in the same room, and you get a message when you walk in or out.

RP earns XP over time while you are taking part in a scene with someone else nearby. See How XP is earned for how it works. We never save what you say. We only note when a post was made, so we can tune how long a scene lasts. Your posts are checked automatically to make sure they are real RP and not gibberish, and keyboard mashing earns nothing.

Status commands (channel 8)

While you are AFK or OOC you cannot post on /3, and your look line is hidden.

HUD commands (channel 5)

How money works

Everything on the sim is paid for in credits. There are six main ways to earn them. You can do any of them and switch whenever you want.

You spend credits on gear, food, backpack space and tools. Later on, the biggest cost is usually weekly upkeep on a home or business.

Jobs

Jobs pay you for time spent working in a business. You clock in at the job terminal, roleplay your shift, and clock out. The more hours you put in, the higher you get promoted and the more you earn.

How to

1. Touch a job terminal. The job page opens.
2. If the business has an owner, you need to be hired first. Open the Apply for Work tab and send an application.
3. Once you are hired, or if the business has no owner, click Clock In on the Status tab.
4. Roleplay your shift. Stay near the job site.
5. Click Clock Out when you are done. You get paid for the time you worked.

More detail

Farming

Plant seeds at a farm plot, keep the crop healthy while it grows, then harvest and sell it. A healthier crop gets a better grade, and a better grade sells for more.

How to

1. Buy seeds from a shop that sells farming supplies.
2. Touch an empty farm plot, then pick the seed in your HUD inventory.
3. While it grows, the plot will describe a problem, like dry soil or bugs. Touch the plot and pick the fix: Water, Shade, Pesticide or Prune.
4. When it is fully grown, touch the plot to harvest. The crop goes into your backpack.
5. Sell it at a shop that buys crops.

More detail

Fishing

Buy a rod, stand near a fishing spot, and click when a fish bites. You sell the fish at shops. You have to be actively at your computer to catch fish, so fishing does not work while you are AFK.

How to

1. Buy a Fishing Rod from a shop that sells tools. Keep it in your backpack.
2. Stand near a fishing spot and click Gather on your HUD.
3. When a fish bites you get a prompt. Click it quickly or the fish gets away.
4. Fish go into your backpack. Sell them at a shop that buys fish.

More detail

Fish traps

Buy a fish trap, click it in your inventory and pick Use near water to set it. Come back later and touch it to collect. You do not have to stand next to it while it works.

Resource gathering & refining

Resource nodes are spots in the world where you collect raw materials like ore or sand. You can sell raw materials as they are, or take them to a refinery to turn them into something worth more.

How to

1. Some nodes, like sand and salvaged metals, need nothing. Others need a tool, like a drill for ore or a scythe for crops. Buy the tool from a shop and keep it in your backpack.
2. Stand next to a node and click Gather on your HUD.
3. Stay close while it works. Materials go into your backpack.
4. Nodes run out and come back after a while. Move to another one if yours is empty.

Refining

1. Touch a refinery. The refinery page opens.
2. Pick a material, pick how much, and click Start refine.
3. Come back to the same refinery when it is done and click Collect all ready.

More detail

Mining contracts

A mining contract pays droids to dig for you. You buy the contract, go roleplay or log off, and come back to collect the result. There is a mining office on each planet. They work the same way and only the setting is different.

How to

1. Touch the NPC at the mining office. The office page opens.
2. Check the Site Report tab to see how each level looks today.
3. On the Office tab, pick a level. Deeper levels pay more but are riskier.
4. Pick how many hours the shift runs.
5. Hire droids for the hazards on that level. Each droid protects against one kind of hazard.
6. Click Buy. The shift runs in real time, so you can leave.
7. Come back to the office when it is done and collect your credits.

More detail

The Site Report and probes

Every level has one condition per day: stable, normal or unsettled. Stable is safer and unsettled is much riskier. The report is blank until someone sends a probe. Click Send a Spelunker Probe to read today's conditions. A probed level also pays a little better.

Stamina

Working makes your character tired. Jobs, farming, fishing, trapping and gathering all use stamina. After a few hours of work you need to rest before you can do more.

• You get a message when you are getting tired, and another when you run out.
• When you run out, jobs clock you out and pay you for what you worked.
• Stamina starts coming back once you stop working for a bit. It keeps coming back while you are offline.
• Type /5 stamina any time to check it.

NPC shops

Shops are run by NPC vendors. Touch one to open its shop page. You can buy from it and sell to it. Each vendor sells different things, so if you don't find the item you are looking for, try another shop.

How to

1. Touch the vendor.
2. On the Buy tab, click Add on what you want. Click Checkout to pay.
3. To sell, open the Sell tab and pick what to sell from your backpack.

More detail

Player businesses

Some shops belong to businesses that players own. The owner picks what the vendor stocks, so each one carries something a little different. You buy the same way as at any NPC shop.

Shopping at a player business, and roleplaying there, is how businesses earn credits and build their reputation.

Food, gear & backpack

Food and drink give short boosts. Weapons and armor are what you fight with. Your backpack holds everything, and you can make it bigger.

Food and drink

Click the item in your inventory and pick Use. Some give a boost with a downside, some are just a boost. Click Info first to see what it does. Effects run on a real-time timer. Type /5 effects to see what is active and how long it has left.

Weapons and armor

Buy them at shops, then click them in your inventory and pick Equip. Weapon upgrades are used the same way and make the weapon a higher tier.

Armor comes in light and heavy, and every weapon has its own range. See Armor and weapons in a fight for what each one does.

Durability

Tools, weapons and armor wear out as you use them.

• Tools (rods, drills, scythes and so on) lose durability every time you gather or fish with them.
• Weapons wear when you use them in combat.
• Armor wears when a hit lands on you.

You get a warning when an item gets low. When it hits zero it breaks and is gone for good. Click Info on an item to check its durability.

If you buy something and never use it, a shop takes it back for the full price, so a mistake costs you nothing. Once it has been used, it sells for half what it cost. Tools, weapons, armor and speeders also lose value the more worn they are. A storage crate or fish tank counts as used the first time you set it down. The shop's Sell tab marks each item new or used.

Backpack

Your backpack has a limited number of slots. Buy upgrades at any vendor to get more. If you need more room than that, see storage crates under Other things to do.

Real estate

You can buy a home on the sim. You pay the price once, then weekly upkeep after that. At your home you can rez your own things and choose who is allowed in.

How to

1. Find a property that is for sale and touch its terminal. To see everything for sale, type /5 listings or check the For Sale page.
2. Check the price and the weekly upkeep, then click Purchase Property.
3. Put credits in the property's bank on the Banking tab. Upkeep comes out of it every week.
4. Add people you trust on the Whitelist tab.

More detail

Running a business

A business is a building you own with a job terminal and an NPC shop vendor. You hire staff, pick what the vendor sells, and keep the business bank topped up for upkeep. This is a short overview.

• Buying: touch the business terminal and click Buy Business. The same one-per-person rule as homes applies.
• Staff: people apply from your job terminal. Hire or fire them on the Staff and Applications tabs.
• Staff ranks: make up your own ranks on the Staff tab and hand them out. They show over your staff's heads while they work. Ranks are titles for RP only, pay comes from their pay grade. You can pick a title for yourself too, or give someone the Manage Ranks permission to handle it.
• Your shop: pick what your vendor sells on the Shop tab. You can change the stock once a day, and you get more slots as your reputation grows.
• Notices: leave notes for your staff on the Notices tab.
• Doors, whitelist and rezzing: control who gets in and what goes where.
• Banking: upkeep comes out of the business bank every week, same as a home.

Making money with a business

Every item a customer buys from your shop's vendor counts as a sale. Once a week, on upkeep day, your sales pay out into the business bank:

• Your first sales pay your rent. Hit the target and your customers cover your upkeep for the week.
• Sales after that are profit, up to a weekly limit.

Example: a 1-star shop with 450 CR upkeep.

Business Reputation

Your reputation (1 to 4 stars) sets how much profit you can make each week, and how much your vendor can stock. A 4-star shop can earn several thousand CR a week.

Every new star gives your vendor more shelf space, so you can sell more kinds of items. Your Shop tab shows the extra slots and when they open.

You earn stars by roleplaying in your shop. Any RP there counts, staff or customers. New customers coming in to RP help the most. Sales have to keep up too, but RP is the main thing. Each new star takes a few months of steady effort, so you can't rush it.

Your terminal shows how your week is going and what to work on.

XP & skill tree

You earn XP by being on the sim and active, and you earn more by roleplaying on /3. You spend XP on abilities at a skill tree terminal and take those abilities into combat.

How to

1. Touch a skill tree terminal at the HUB.
2. Pick a tree along the top, then click an ability to read it.
3. If you have enough XP, hold the ability for a second to learn it.
4. Open Ability Kit and put the abilities you want to use in fights into your kit slots.

More detail

Combat basics

Combat is turn based and runs in a window on your HUD. You take your turn, then write a roleplay post describing what happened. This is a quick look. The full guide goes into detail.

How a fight works

1. Click Combat on your HUD, then Open Combat.
2. Create a battle or join one near you. The battle starts when everyone is ready.
3. On your turn you can move forward or back, use an ability, change equipment, or try to escape. Then click End Turn.
4. When someone attacks you, pick Defend or Counter.
5. After your turn, write one roleplay post in local chat covering what happened, then click Done.

Other ways into a fight: hunting a bounty target, or watching someone else's battle with Spectate.

Fighting other players? There is a limit on how outnumbered a fight can be, and the smaller side gets a boost. Read the rules for fighting other players before you start one.

Your combat stats

Every character has the same five stats, and they all start at the same level. Skill tree abilities raise them. Armor, food and some abilities can push them up or down.

Armor and weapons in a fight

Armor is a trade. Light and heavy are worth about the same. They just play differently.

Each armor comes in T1, T2 and T3. Higher tiers have a bigger bonus and a bigger penalty. You buy each tier as its own item.

Weapons differ in two ways: how hard they hit, and how far they reach. Weapon upgrades add damage.

The field has three lines on each side: Front, Mid and Back. Everyone starts in Mid. Moving forward brings you closer to the enemy, moving back takes you farther.

If a target is out of your reach, the combat window shows Out of range and you can't pick them. Move closer first.

The full combat guide is coming soon.

Getting hurt

Fights cost HP, and losing one leaves you wounded. HP comes back slowly on its own. A wound does not, so you need a hospital for that.

• HP comes back a little at a time, even while you are offline.
• Wounded means you lost a fight. While you are wounded you do worse in fights, and a Stimpack will not heal you.
• Stimpacks heal you in or out of a fight. Use one from your HUD inventory. They cannot fix a wound.
• Training fights never cost you HP or leave a wound.

Hospitals

There is a hospital on Tatooine and one on Naboo. They heal you to full and fix wounds.

1. Touch the check-in terminal in the hospital lobby and click Check In.
2. Pick a treatment. The public ward is free. Paid rooms are faster.
3. Go to the room you are given and lie on the bed. If every room is full, wait in the lobby until your name is called.
4. Stay in the hospital until your treatment is done. If you leave, it ends early.

Comms, trade & ID

Your comm-link lets people find and message you. The trade window lets you swap items and credits safely. Your ID shows who your character is.

Comms

1. Click the comms button at the bottom left of your HUD.
2. The first time, pick a comm signature: 2 to 8 letters and numbers. This is how people find you. Click the box first, then type.
3. Add contacts, message them, and call them from the comm-link.

The button turns yellow when you have unread messages.

Trading

Open your inventory and click Trade, then pick the person you want to trade with. When they accept, a trade window opens. Both of you add items and credits and click Lock Offer. Then both click Confirm Trade to finish.

Your ID

Click Profile on your HUD. View ID shows your own card. Show ID offers it to someone near you, and they choose whether to look.

Groups & the XChange

Groups are crews, gangs, companies and clubs run by players. The XChange is where you find them. Joining one is the easiest way to meet people, get shown around and always have someone to RP with.

Finding a group

1. Go to the XChange in the city on Tatooine or Naboo and touch it. It opens in your web browser.
2. Browse the groups. Each one has a page that says what they are about, what they are looking for, and when they were last active.
3. Open groups have a Join button that lets you straight in. Others have Apply to join and the leader decides. Some are invite only.

What a group gives you

• Group chat. A Group tab on your comm-link to talk with everyone in it.
• A tag. Your group's tag can show on your RP Tool under your title. Use /8 TAG to pick which group shows, or /8 TAG OFF to hide it.
• A shared bank. Members can pay credits into the group.
• A base and a vault. A group can make a player business its base and buy a shared vault there for items that belong to the group.

You can be in a few groups at once, but lead only one. Your faction counts as one of them.

Starting your own

Anyone can found a group at the XChange. It costs credits to start. The leader sets the name, tag, description, pictures, ranks and who can join.

Books & libraries

Anyone can write a book at a Crafting Bench. Books sit in your backpack like any other item, and you can trade them. You can give your book to a library so other people can read it.

Writing a book

1. Touch a Crafting Bench. Stay within about 10m while the page is open.
2. Give it a title and write the text. Your draft saves as you type.
3. Click Craft. It costs a small fee and the book goes to your backpack.
4. To read it, click the book in your inventory and pick Use.

Libraries

Touch a library to open it. Originals and Copies are the books on the shelves. Click one and pick Read. Library books are read at the library, so stay close. Your books lists the books in your backpack.

Putting your book in a library

• Donate gives the library your book. It leaves your backpack.
• Submit a copy costs a small fee. The library gets a copy and you keep yours.
• The library's staff reviews every book before it goes on the shelf.
• If they turn down a donated book, click Take it back within 30 days to get it back.

More detail

Other things to do

A few more systems you will come across.

Bounties

Players and NPCs have bounties on them. Join the Bounty Hunters Guild, take a bounty, track the target and bring them in. Guild gear, like the bounty puck that tracks your target, comes from the guild page.

Storage crates

Buy a crate, rez it at your property, and store items in it. Touch it to open its page and move things between the crate and your backpack.

Fish tanks

Buy a tank, rez it at your property, and keep fish in it. You manage it from a page in your browser.

Slot machines

Touch one to play. Each spin costs credits and the sign on the machine tells you how much.

Help & the sim bot

If something is broken or you need the sim team, type /5 ticket from anywhere on the sim. That opens a support ticket. You do not need to find a terminal or wait for someone to be online.

Support tickets

1. Type /5 ticket, or touch the support terminal at the HUB's Administration & Helpdesk area.
2. Describe the problem. Include what you were doing and what went wrong.
3. The sim team picks it up. You get an IM when they reply or change its status.
4. To read and answer their reply, open the ticket again with /5 ticket or at the support terminal.

The sim bot

The sim bot sends you Second Life IMs about things that happen while you are away. If you are offline, you get them when you log in. You do not have to keep checking terminals. It messages you when:

Other help

• Ask in the Discord.
• Read the sim rules.
• Writing a bio? Read the character creation guidelines first.

Quick fixes

Common problems new players hit, and what to do.