A strange person in a fox suit stands upon a dark stage, lit up by a single spotlight,”Welcome to my humble guide. Please take a seat, drink some complementary coffee or tea and relax as I impart wisdom upon you.” The spotlight dims, casting the fox-suited person into shadow. Smoke begins to roll in from the sides, there’s a hiss then suddenly light as dozens of colorful sparklers light up to reveal the rest of the stage. A neon sign on the far back wall lights up, displaying the words SIDE SIMMING in eye-bleed pink. More sparks of fire as the lights come up and the fox-suited person is now wearing a black turtleneck over the fox suit for some reason. Welcome, to the show.

Side Sims! What are they? Side Sims are, get ready for this, side stories separate or adjacent to the ship’s main sim. These sims could be related to events going on in the main sim or entirely separate stories. They can be fully realized side plots with beginnings, middles and ends and span across multiple connected side sims. They can be character driven to display character growth or to drive that growth. Or a side sim could be your character relaxing in their off time and pursuing their interests and hobbies. There are so many ways to do side sims!

How To Start A Side Sim

Hit the New Thread button, type in: Side Sim [Side Sim Title] [Location]! There you have it! Easy peasy- wait? What’s that? You don’t know what to write? You don’t have ANY side sim ideas? THEN TODAY IS YOUR LUCKY DAY, MY FRIEND. Because if the opening wasn’t enough to inspire you here are 5 ways you can find side sim inspiration right now!

5 Ways to Find Side Sim Ideas and Inspiration

1. Read your ship’s specs. Really! Some ships have pools, others have gyms, or bowling alleys! Read through your ship’s specifications and see what locations pop out at you. Start a thread in the gym, go to the lounge, maybe even write a thread about exploring the ship! There are plenty of places around ships (that aren’t holodecks!) for your character to visit or interact with.

2. Character bios. Look at your own character bio (or start writing one!) and look at the other bios of the other characters. Does your character have something about them that you want to write about more? Maybe you think they’ll get along with another character (or maybe they will be mortal enemies with a rivalry that would make the very heavens quake?) What new ways could you develop your character? Do they have a phobia? Is there something they’re bad at but they want to improve? What are their hobbies? Use those ideas for side sim starts!

3. Bingo Cards! What do I mean by that? Well for one I make bingo cards as a sim idea resource. In each of the bingo spaces are various words and phrases for players to utilize in their sim. Like if a space says “transporter accident” well, wouldn’t that make for an interesting side sim? Go to the TVtropes website and hit the random trope button and there is your next idea!

4. Star Trek Episodes. Love Star Trek? Make a side sim inspired by your favorite episode! Now, don’t copy the episode exactly, but definitely borrow some ideas or themes and even mash those with ideas from other episodes! Think of all the character-focused episodes revolving around one of the main characters. Do that for your own character in side sims!

5. Talk to your fellow players. Maybe you don’t have ideas but your fellow shipmates might! See if they have any plots they’re thinking of doing and figure out how you can get involved! This would be a great option for developing relationships between characters!

Writing The Side Sim

Tell me, have you ever started a side sim but no one ever replied? I have! May people on the site have experienced it. Sometimes people are too focused on the main sim to do any side simming or sometimes you started your side sim during a time were most of the other crew are awol or on LOA. It happens and it’s okay. But what about the other times? I’ve seen a lot of side sims come and go. I’ve seen various sims started only to slowly phase out of the ship threads page, never to be seen again. Sometimes you just have bad luck or timing but sometimes it could be that your side sim was either awkward to join or wasn’t engaging for outside players. Here are my side sim Do’s and Don’ts.

Do: Start your sim in a public space or recreation area such as the science labs or on the bridge. Places where it’s easy for other characters to join in without having to come up with an excuse to be there. Holodecks can count as well but honestly I find the “accidentally stumbled into your holodeck time, sorry!” to be tiring. If you’re going to start a side sim in the holodeck then make it clear that other members of the crew were invited to join and or make it a program that’s open! Make it easy for other players to slip in their characters without having to come up with excuses. Give other characters a reason to join! Write the hook that pulls them in and make them interested!

Don’t: Start your sims in personal quarters or holodeck programs. I find the “I go to my quarters and start to read a book” side sim starts to be very awkward to join. If my character isn’t friendly or have a previously established connection with your character then why would they intrude upon your character’s personal time? Though these starts could work, they put the pressure upon the joining player to find a reason to join in and engage. In short, why did you start a side sim only to then make other players work to be involved and interact with your character?

Do: Work with your fellow players and write replies that are both Reactive and Proactive! What does that mean? To be Reactive means your character reacts to what other characters said or did. It shows you read their post and are now responding accordingly. To be Proactive means you contribute to the forward momentum of the side sim by adding new plot details or conflict. I find that a lot of people seem to struggle with this. They will write posts that are Reactive but when you are only reacting to a reply and not adding onto it you will give your partner little to respond to. This once again puts the pressure of driving the sim forward upon your partner, rather than it being a shared writing experience.

Don’t: Write single sentence replies or use bad grammar. If you don’t give your writing partners anything to respond to then they won’t respond. Also, there are plenty of free grammar and spell checkers available online. All you have to do is copy/paste your post into one then make the suggested corrections. Posts with poor grammar and sentence structures are difficult to read and interpret. If your partner can’t understand what you are trying to say or convey then they may not be inclined to continue to respond. I’m not saying you have to be an expert writer or a master of English grammar, but I am asking that you put in some effort.

When you write your side sims make them interesting. Introduce a conflict or problem. Make something happen to draw interest and get some reactions! Have your character get hurt or make a mistake. Maybe something important to them goes missing? If you start a side sim but there is nothing for another character to do or react to then why would they join? What would there be for them to do? Don’t just put your character into a room and assume other people will always come to interact with you. Make your character interesting to interact with OR make them the one trying to interact with others! Be PROACTIVE!

Lastly, show an interest in characters other than your own. When a side sim is all about your character and no one else then other people may not be inclined to continue the sim. And don’t make your characters act sad and neglected when they don’t get the attention you feel that they deserve. No one owes you interaction, no one has to write with you. Why should I go out of my way to interact with your character while your character does nothing? When you make an effort to be involved and push sims (both main and side) forward then other people will return that courtesy. Roleplay is collaborative writing. It only works when people are willing to help and work with one another.

How to Join A Side Sim

So someone has posted a fun side sim and you want to join. First. Please read the whole thread. It’s very annoying to put effort into a sim starter, only for the next person to join to get the location and other details wrong. This is a break of the thread continuity and it’s one of my personal pet peeves. Yes, I am taking about this in my write-up. People put effort into starting side sims so please show the same effort in getting the location right. Second. Unless there is a plot-line for the thread (and generally this is loose or more of a guide than a set in stone plan) then be ready to CONTRIBUTE to the side sim. We talked about this previously in writing posts that are Reactive and Proactive.

This may be something you have to work at improving but keep trying. Ask for guidance but don’t stick your head in the ground and declare that you don’t know what to do. Make something up. You are allowed to do that. You are encouraged to do that. Many people don’t have specific plots in mind when they start side sims. Many people just want to make it up as they go and you are expected to help do that when you join a side sim.

So join all the side sims you want and feel that you can keep up with. But make sure that you are contributing! Don’t be a dead weight that drags the thread.

Conclusion

Thank you for reading this far. I hope you found this little guide helpful. Perhaps I was a bit direct but sometimes there is no one to hold your hand. There is no script you get to read off of. Star Fleet is a creative writing roleplay site. You are expected to be creative and show some independence. I may be a person in a luxurious fox suit but I believe in you. I believe that you can learn and grow. So go out there and start some side sims. Make momma proud.

Fox Tarts