Prerequisites

1. Make sure you have an NS-compatible battery. ARES robots must periodically recharge to remain functional, or they will shut down. Any battery purchased for an older Companion unit will suffice.

Don't be intimidated by this—there are lots of protections to ensure you don't get stuck just because you went AFK, and chargers are cheap; they can also be found in many places.

2. Turn on RLVa. Viewers based on Marine Kelley's original RestrainedLove implementation will not work. Up-to-date RLVa viewers are:

The Black Dragon viewer has incomplete implementation of RLVa's setsphere functionality, which is necessary for many of the visual effects used by ARES. This viewer is not recommended.


If you absolutely hate the idea of RLV, this is the wrong product for you. However, you do not need to consent to ownership or users to enjoy ARES.

Getting equipped

3. Attach your battery, the "ARES" object (the HUD), and your main controller.

This is not the same as a Companion main controller. Unlike most robot systems, the ARES platform is inside the HUD. Don't wear ARES and Companion at the same time—they'll fight over your battery.

4. Activate the ARES Alert Response gestures. These are named "ARES Alert Response A (F2)" through "ARES Alert Response D (F5)" and can be found in the same folder as your ARES HUD. They allow you to respond to special prompts by pressing the corresponding keyboard key.

Make sure you have no other gestures assigned to the same hotkeys as the ARES Alert Response gestures, as this can cause conflicts that cause the ARES gestures to not activate properly when their assigned keys are pressed.

5. Touch your battery to ensure it is inserted. You may need assistance for this.

If you are using the Firestorm viewer, then you may right-click on your battery in your inventory and choose Touch instead of clicking the actual object.

Booting up

6. Type @on in local chat to initiate the boot sequence. If you see the message Cannot power on: no battery is installed. then try touching your battery again, to ensure it is inserted.

7. Look in the folder in your inventory where you received your main controller unit. There should be a notecard named autoexec.as there. Holding the Ctrl key (Command on Mac OS), drag this into the big "NS" logo at the bottom of your HUD. Without this step, you will not be able to access yourself!

8. After booting, a message should appear in the top-left corner of your screen saying an "autoexec script" has been found. Press F4 to run it.

Once the autoexec process has finished, you are now ready to run the Setup Wizard.

Next Tutorial: Running the Setup wizard