Boombox - Cassette and Radio Guide

Boomboxes

Boomboxes are physical inventory items that can be placed in the world for nearby characters to hear. There are two models.

Device	Cassette features	Radio
Boombox	Play/Pause, Previous, Next, Stop, Side A/B, Eject, Volume	Full Radio V1 controls
Advanced Boombox	All BC-400 controls, plus Auto Reverse and Repeat	Same Radio V1 controls as BC-400

Boombox

The Boombox plays the selected cassette side and stops after its final populated track. It does not Auto Reverse, and Repeat is unavailable.

Advanced Boombox Auto Reverse

The Advanced Boombox adds Auto Reverse and Repeat:

• Repeat Off: finishing Side A continues to the first populated track on Side B when Side B exists. Finishing Side B stops.
• Repeat On: playback continues across populated sides and loops from the final populated side to the first populated side.
• A one-sided tape loops its populated side while Repeat is on.

Placing and Using a Boombox

1. Use a boombox from inventory and place it.
2. Interact with the placed boombox through the normal target system.
3. Choose Radio, Cassette, or Pick Up.

Only the owning character can pick up the boombox. Nearby characters can operate its audio controls. Pick Up returns the physical boombox to its owner through the protected return system.

Cassette Mode

Choose Cassette to open the physical cassette faceplate.

Inserting a cassette

When the deck shows NO CASSETTE:

1. Select the cassette deck door.
2. Choose an eligible cassette from the selector.
3. The cassette leaves your inventory and is held by the placed boombox until it is ejected or recovered.

Blank, invalid, unavailable, or already-inserted cassettes do not appear.

Cassette controls

• Play / Pause: starts, pauses, or resumes the selected track.
• Previous / Next: moves among populated positions.
• Stop: stops cassette audio.
• Side: changes between populated Side A and Side B.
• Eject: removes and returns the cassette.
• Volume: controls cassette playback volume.
• Repeat: BC-1200 only.

Empty positions are skipped. A tape may use any positions from A1–A6 and B1–B6, but A1 is always required when it is recorded. Side B may be empty. This supports a single, demo, EP, one-sided tape, partial mixtape, or full 12-track tape.

Eject and custody

The cassette inserter or boombox owner can eject a tape. It returns to the character who inserted it. If that character is offline or cannot carry it, the system holds the return safely and retries through normal recovery processing. Make inventory space and reconnect to the same character before contacting staff.

Recording a Cassette

1. Use a blank cassette from inventory.
2. Enter a Tape Name.
3. Fill Side A and Side B as desired.
4. Enter A1; it is required.
5. Leave any other positions blank or populate up to A6 and B6.
6. Select Record.

Sparse positions are valid and are skipped during playback. Recording is permanent in Version 1; a recorded cassette cannot currently be erased or rerecorded.

Supported music links

Current player recording accepts approved HTTPS sources only:

• YouTube watch URLs, such as https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VIDEO_ID
• YouTube Share URLs, such as https://youtu.be/VIDEO_ID?si=...
• YouTube Shorts URLs, such as https://youtube.com/shorts/VIDEO_ID
• Approved direct .mp3, .ogg, or .wav files on configured Broken Compass domains and paths

YouTube si and feature sharing parameters are accepted but are not stored. Playlist, timestamp, fragment, non-HTTPS, unsupported-domain, and malformed URLs are rejected. SoundCloud and other unlisted providers are not currently supported.

After recording, the tape name and recorder information remain with that physical cassette when it is traded or stored.

Radio Mode

Choose Radio to open the physical radio faceplate.

• Turn the Tuning dial or use its previous/next buttons to move between configured stations.
• With the tuning dial focused, use the keyboard Left and Right arrows.
• Presets 1–4 select the first four configured stations.
• If more stations are configured, they remain reachable through tuning.
• Power / Off stops radio playback.
• Volume controls radio playback volume.

The LCD shows the current station, power state, and volume. The red needle moves between configured station positions. The frequency-style scale is visual and does not claim real FM frequencies.

Closing Radio Mode does not turn the radio off. Reopening shows its current state. Tuning or selecting a preset while the radio is off turns it back on at that station.

Radio and Cassette Audio

A boombox plays either Radio or Cassette audio, never both:

• Starting Radio playback stops cassette playback.
• Starting cassette playback stops Radio playback.

Cassette Cases

A Cassette Case holds up to 12 physical cassettes and rejects other items. Retrieve a case from storage before opening it, and close it before giving, dropping, or storing it. Moving a cassette preserves its identity, title, and recording.

Cleanup and Recovery

Placed boomboxes have a limited world lifetime. A disconnected owner receives a grace period before cleanup. Pickup, timeout, /clearprops, disconnect cleanup, missing-entity cleanup, and restart recovery use the protected return process for the boombox and any inserted cassette.

Troubleshooting

Problem	What to check
Cassette is absent from the selector	Confirm it is a playable recorded/official cassette in your inventory and the deck is empty.
Side B is unavailable	The tape has no populated Side B positions.
Radio continues after closing the UI	This is expected. Use Power / Off to stop it.
Cannot pick up a boombox	Only its owning character can pick it up.
Ejected cassette or boombox did not return	Make inventory space and reconnect to the appropriate character so pending recovery can retry.
Cassette says Invalid Cassette	Stop using it and contact staff; its recording authority could not be verified.
Item remains missing	Contact staff with the character, tape/boombox name, approximate time, and action taken. Do not create replacement copies during investigation.