"What is IRC?"
"Internet Relay Chat (IRC) is a protocol for real-time Internet text messaging." That's fancy speak for "it's a chat".

"Why would I want to use a different chat? I've got my instant messager(s) of choice and I've got all chat!"
IRC is very convenient. IRC can be used with a number of different clients or web based applications and it supports a lot of useful features, such as file transfers, custom channels and more. But that's not the main reason why you should use IRC. Keep reading!

"How do I use IRC?"
The easiest way would be to follow Trevor's Guide. Click on the link, enter your username and you are basically done. Personally, I use a client called "mIRC".



And now to the fun part! I have developed a chatbot, called "IngenBot", for IRC with a wide variety of useful features. Such as:

Automatic server status updates!

Ever wondered if the StarSonata servers are down or if it's just a problem on your end? IngenBot updates the channel's topic in realtime. As long as you are in the channel, you wll always know wether the server is up or not!

Need to calculate manhours or want to know how much commods you save in multibuilds? No problem!

IngenBot has easy-to-use commands for that! More info on how to use them below.

Want to know what a specific blueprint takes? Ask IngenBot!

Checking the wiki is easy, you don't need to use an IRC bot for that! But you can, if you want to. However, IngenBot can do more.

Want to know what the blueprints for the ingredients of a blueprint take? All the way down to basic commods? Ask IngenBot!

Most blueprints in StarSonata take other things that have to be built by other blueprints, finding out the base ingredients is very hard. Well, WAS very hard!

And more!







How to use IngenBot:

The most obvious step is that you have to be either in the same channel as IngenBot or query IngenBot directly for any of the commands to work.

The commands are as follows:

!help: Lists all available commands. Some of the commands are for adminstrative purposes and not for the average user.
!help (command): Tells you how a specific command works.e.g.: "!help !manhours"
!manhours (Number of manhours) [Workers] [Number of builds]: Calculates the time it takes for a build or multiple builds with a set amount of workers. i.e.: "!manhours 100" will calculate the amount of time it takes for a single worker to do 100 manhours. "!manhours 100 10" will calculate the time it takes for 10 workers to do 100 manhours. "!manhours 1000 10 10" will calculate the time it takes for 10 workers to do 1000 manhours of 10 builds, with multi build savings
!savings (Number of builds):
Calculates the percentage of commods saved in a multibuild. e.g. "!savings 1000"
!wiki (Blueprint name) [explode]:
Outputs the periodic and initial requirements for a blueprint. Only works for blueprints that have their own page on the wiki and are properly formatted. i.e. "!wiki "Hephaestus Machine+ Blueprint"
If the "explode" parameter is used, the bot will break down any commodity that is produced by a blueprint as well. e.g. "!wiki "Hephaestus Machine+ Blueprint" explode"
!twitter read (Name) (|last|all|(twitter number)):
Outputs the twitter feed of a specific person, e.g.:
"!twitter read TwitterTestGuy" will output the latest tweet of TwitterTestGuy
"!twitter read TwitterTestGuy last" will do the same thing
"!twitter read TwitterTestGuy all" will print the latest 3 tweets of TwitterTestGuy, as well as how many tweets he has left in total
"!twitter read TwitterTestGuy 5" will output TwitterTestGuy's 5th tweet. 1 being the first tweet that person made
!proverb: Instant wisdom. Just add water
!time (time) (timezone1) (timezone2):
Converts a time from one timezone into another, e.g.: !time 8:00 GMT EST
!time (timezone):
Tells you the current time of a specific timezone, e.g.: !time GMT+7
!time until (event):
Tells you a countdown to a specific event, e.g.: !time until reset
!condense:
e.g.: !condense 6 good
!condense 10 minor 5 basic 7 std 8 good to exc



"That's really cool! I want to help! How?"
Multiple ways to help:
1. Use it! Seeing people use it motivates me to work on it more
2. Add blueprints to the wiki! There's quite a few blueprints missing, which means that the !wiki command can't successfully break down blueprints into their base components yet.
3. Donate! In order to run the IRC bot permanently, I have to pay a monthly fee. If you are rich or simply think you have to much money, a donation to my paypal account (email: smw3@gmx.de) would be greatly appreciated.


Disclaimer: IngenBot is private property and not owned by or associated with StarSonata in any way

Very good guide, and indeed very useful for finding information about the server status and getting in contact with both players and people from the game management.

One tip if you use an in-browser client (such as Mibbit) is to setup an account and make it auto-connect to #starsonata. Then it will instantly connect you to the right channel every time you enter www.mibbit.com, so you don't have to enter the server information every time.

I'm having trouble figuring out how to get mibbit to autoconnect me, even after reading the short page on their wiki. Can you point me in the right direction?

Sure thing.

1. Go to www.mibbit.com.
2. Make an account, and log in.
3. In the top right corner, you will find a link to "Channels". Click it!
4. Type in:

Server: www.starsonata.com:7777
Channels: #starsonata
Check the "Auto connect"
Click "Save changes"
Connect

Every time you login to your account on www.mibbit.com it will go to the chat after 5 seconds and automatically connect you. You can also add more entries that it should auto-connect to, and you can add in passwords as well if the server requires that.

Yeah i really like the bot it was funny watching you guys breaking it a few times trying to get it to work:p

im banned

so surprising

Haha, awesome.

I added a bunch more commands, including a countdown to the reset. Just type "!time until reset"