A method of analysing plasma performance over large regions of density and temperature space with time-dependent multi-dimensional transport codes is presented. Contour plots of global steady-state plasma parameters are generated and then used to show: the relationships between driven and ignited operation; regions of thermal stability; the effects of the shift of the magnetic axis with increasing beta on beam penetration and thermal conduction losses from toroidal field ripple; and optimal neutral beam heating during start-up in tokamak reactor applications.