Comlink

"Every comlink is a party line. The party just has not introduced itself." — Comms Officer Ilun Rask
Verified

A comlink call reaches one character anywhere on the map, without either of you being in the room.

Your own comlink must be on to send anything. With it off, /com and /reply refuse before they do anything else.

What it does

/com addresses a named player and delivers your line to them at full strength, whatever the distance between you. It is the closest thing StoryForce has to a private channel. Use it when 2 characters need to talk across a map.

It is not secret. Your character is understood to be speaking into a device, so bystanders overhear the call. People near you read it at ordinary say range, clear to 370 units and faint by 900. People standing right beside the person you called read it too, at whisper range from them, clear to 60 units and faint by 110, or 220 for a listener with Diplomacy 2 or higher. The line they all see names who you were calling.

Using it

Type part of the person's name, then your message. The match must be unique, so use enough of the name to pick out one player. An exact name always wins over a partial match.

Comlink state is saved with your character, so it survives a map change and a relog.

Commands

Calling someone

comm is an accepted alias for com. If the name matches nobody, or more than one person, the call is refused with ^8+++^7 No unique match for '^2Tomas^7'^8.^7. There is no way to call a character id, only a display name.

Broadcasting

A broadcast reaches everyone whose comlink is set to on, at full strength, wherever they are. Anyone in any other mode gets nothing at all.

Replying

r is an accepted alias for reply, and both work as say-line shortcodes. With nobody to reply to you get ^8+++^7 Nobody has commed you yet^8.^7.

Setting how you answer

Run /comlink with no argument to see the current state. You need to be logged in to use it.

Every mode except on stops you sending as well as receiving. What changes is the excuse the caller is given, which lets you pick one that suits the scene.

Mode What a caller is told
on nothing, the message is delivered
off This comlink is currently switched off
ranged This comlink is currently out of range
noresponse The message could not be delivered

Settings

Server-side. How close a Tech 3 character with the interceptor on must be to either end of a call to read it. Defaults to 2000 units.

Things to note

Things that catch people out:

  • Turning your comlink off does not silence the caller. A blocked call is still broadcast around them at say range, so bystanders near them hear it anyway.
  • The overheard line names both ends. Bystanders read the caller's name and the name of the person being called, even when the call was blocked.
  • A delivered call is sent to every player. Bystanders near either end read it in their chat box, and every player's console keeps an undimmed copy whatever the distance.
  • A blocked call never reaches you, so you cannot /reply to it. Only a call that is actually delivered makes the caller your reply target.
  • A Tech 3 character running /intercept reads your real text. It works whenever either end of the call is within sf_interceptrange, and it catches blocked calls too. Broadcasts are not intercepted, because they are already public.
  • /com broadcast skips silently. Anyone whose comlink is not set to on misses it, and you are never told who.
  • You cannot call yourself. The attempt is refused with ^8+++^7 You cannot com yourself^8.^7.

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