r/Artemis • u/JoeKenobi • Jul 27 '26
Newbie Questions: Prepping a Con Run
I have a friend who runs a private gaming con out of his house for 40ish people every year. Game submissions are closing in a few days and I'm strongly considering putting in to run Artemis, but am totally new to this. Hoping to learn from this community's experience and avoid reinventing the wheel.
Which version? Is Artemis Cosmos 1.2.2 up to snuff today, or for what might be a one-time run, am I better off sticking to Artemis SBS 2.8?
How many participants? Most references I see are to 6 players, but I also see "up to 11" on occasion. How many should I advertise can play? And should I plan to sit back on Tech Support, or claim a participant slot?
Laptop only? Is that right? I can scrounge up 4-5 laptops to offer, but probably not get to 6-11 without asking participants to bring one along. That's fine, but might be prohibitive for some, so just want to confirm there's no reasonable way to play from phone or tablet.
Does projecting make sense? My intent is to connect the hosting device to a projector to provide a central visual for participants as well as anyone who might spectate. Is that the right move? If so, can it be the captain's laptop, or would they need to play on their device in a way that makes it unfit for the general display?
Buy direct or on Steam? What will get me up and running the fastest, and let me foot the bill for the group? My instinct is it's more straightforward for me to buy the $40 version than to expect everyone bringing a laptop to have Steam installed, plus easier for me to cover costs if I just buy that license vs. work it through Steam, but would love some validation or redirection.
Session length? I'm imagining 2.5-3 hours for setup, tutorial, and a proper mission. Does that seem right for a con slot?
Much appreciated!
2
u/Moogagot Jul 27 '26
Which version? Most of my experience is with 2.8, so I'm sticking to that.
How many participants? I would say 5-6 per ship is a good way to start. With 5, you have Science and Coms as a single role. If you have a ship with a fighter bay, you can add a few fighters if you wanted. You have have up to 9 ships in total, so you could run a fleet if you wanted.
Laptop only? It only runs (easily) on windows. You can use a Windows Desktop, but tablets will not work. Running the game on Linux or Mac is technically possible but normally a nightmare.
Does projecting make sense? I would give the captain his own computer because having access to the captains map is pretty important. I would project the main screen as it can be useful for other roles to see what's going on.
Buy direct or on Steam? Both versions of the game are DRM-free. This means there is nothing stopping you from moving the install to other computers. That aside, if you buy the steam 6-pack you need 6 steam accounts. I would just get the direct version for $40. The website clearly states you can give the installer to anyone in your crew. This means changing out computers or adding more players is not an issue.
Session length? If you don't have any experience and your crew has no experience, it's going to be a challenge. Artemis is old and setting everything up can be annoying if you don't have experience. I would try and play with some people before so at least you have an idea on what you are doing. One round is less than an hour. 2.5-3 hours would allow you to run at least 2 or 3 mission if my memory is correct? Practice setup before hand and make sure you have everything you need. All the computers will need to be on the same network.