Back in my day, we used to do 17-hour overnight missions, where the crew would have to sleep in ships, since the simulation would continue through the night.

We once did an away mission where the crew was stranded on a remote planet and running out of water. We split the crew, where one half we going to find a viable water source and the other needed to track down a local scientist who had the parts we needed to repair the ship.

After dressing them up in our weirdest costumes, we trekked them outside. The water group were sent to a local convenience store with a couple of dollar bills and told to "act natural" as they picked up some bottled water. I was happy to find that they absolutely did not act normal.

The other group went to a local staff member's house, which had been decorated to look like the scientists laboratory.

Needless to say, the whole experience was quite memorable, and highlights how the computer controls are only part of what makes the simulation fun.