What is SS13

Space Station 13 is a two dimensional, multiplayer, role playing game developed on Byond.

What is it?

The game takes place on a fully destructable space station which is in orbit of a nearby gas giant.

The primary purpose of the station is to research a newly discovered material called Plasma. Unfortunately Nanotrasen, the megacorp that owns Space Station 13, is not the only corporation interested in this mysterious new substance. Dealing with the threats posed by the many enemies of Nanotrasen becomes an important part of the daily lives of the crew.

The game begins in the game lobby where you can customize your character and select which job you would like him to have. Jobs range from the Captain, to the heads of staff, to engineers, medical doctors, scientists, security officers, atmospheric technicians, the chef, bartender as well as the occasional clown to lighten the mood.

What do you do?

When the round begins you spawn with a job title. Now it is up to you to play with that job, doing all sorts of tasks. Each job has endless replay value. The game has an incredibly large number of systems, subsystems, and mechanics for limitless amounts of fun.

While you spawned with your fancy job title, someone else spawned as something much more special. Each of the game modes, excluding Extended, has some sort of antagonist whose job it is to cause you problems. These antagonists usually have objectives which range from stealing a specific item to the assassination of a crew member or even the complete overthrowing of the station. Different antagonist types have different ways of doing this.

• Traitors are the most common antagonist type. Usually several spawn on board the station. They spawn with a Syndicate uplink which they use to get special items and weapons to aid them in their goal.

• Changelings have special powers. They can absorb the DNA of crew members and transform themselves to look and sound like them.

• Nuclear operatives are small teams of elite soldiers sent by the Syndicate to nuke the entire station out of orbit.

• Wizards can use magic spells to aid them in their quest.

• Revolution leaders spawn with conversion flashes which they then use to convert crew members to their glorious cause so they can aid them in overthrowing and killing the Heads of Staff.

• Cultists use their own blood to make runes and talismans, which give them special powers and abilities.

• Blobs destroy the station little by little unless they are destroyed.

• Malfunctioning AIs, unlike normally functioning station AI units, have one goal: to assume control of the station, puny meatbags be damned.

And the best part of this is that you, with your fancy job title, have absolutely no idea who the antagonists are -- if any even exist.

Rounds usually last for an hour or two and they either end when the escape shuttle gets called or when the ship reaches Outpost 45. If the shuttle was called it becomes your job to get on board the shuttle or an Escape pod and escape alive while the ship is exploding. But if the crew has successfully managed to complete the patrol, the ship can safely fly to the outpost (assuming the coast is clear) where the round will end automatically.

How do I play?

If you would like to play the game, head over to the Starter guide and follow the simple steps starting from "Connecting to the Server".

The only thing you need to install is Byond. If you just need help you should look at this wiki or use the Mentorhelp function. You can also always chat to people in Discord.

Enjoy.