Intro tutorial and progressive info book
BVKnight
Join Date: 2012-02-26 Member: 147496Members
Join Date: 2012-02-26 Member: 147496Members
This is my first post, so forgive me if I mess up on some protocol of the forums.
I think it would be cool, once NS2 hits release, to have an intro tutorial for new players to learn how to play the game. Something as simple as a fixed map single-player game with scripted bots and actions, one that walks the player through the basics of each side, including: navigating the maps as the basic unit of each race, accessing multiple weapons or abilities, killing an enemy, building a structure, and the basics of each commander role. It doesn't have to cover every aspect, but could just do one or two evolutions/weapons while saying something like "There are many other upgrades/new life forms available at higher levels." However, it should give the new player the basic framework for understanding how the upgrade/evolution system works, and especially to get their feet wet with the commander mode.
I imagine this to be a combination of the Starcraft tutorial and the Team Fortress 2 class tutorials, all rolled into one.
I was also reading <a href="http://www.unknownworlds.com/ns2/forums/index.php?showtopic=113555" target="_blank">this thread</a> and it made me think about some way to incorporate a progressive "ranking" system for new players that wouldn't have any real effect on game play. What about a type of "log book" (for marine side) or "hive mind" (for aliens) that served as a lore depository, but that also offered up strategic advice?
The "book" would represent the knowledge that each team had of its enemy, and would offer up snippets of lore that would add flavor to the game. It would start out as pretty general, with perhaps limited knowledge of the advanced classes. E.g. "The Fade: Little is known of this alien evolution. Those who have encountered it do not usually live long enough to tell anyone."
HOWEVER, the book would fill itself out as the player does certain actions in online games. For instance, once the player sees a Skulk leap for the first time, the log book would record more information about this new ability, or once they help build (or build as a commander) an observatory their book will update with more information about that building and the upgrades it enables.
This book could also be used to give strategic information to players. For example, there could be several tiers of information revealed about enemies. Before they encounter a type of enemy, the book is pretty spare. Once they see one in-game, it fills in a bit more general info. If they damage one, but don't kill it, it reveals more info, and perhaps a strategic bit of advice as to how to best engage this enemy. Once they deliver the killing blow, the book reveals a deeper piece of strategic advice for killing that enemy. These pieces of advice could be very valuable, written by the developers who know the best strategy for avoiding/killing each enemy class.
When a new piece of info is unlocked in the book, the player would get a notification in-game in some noticeable place, similar to the "weapon level upgrade" notification but styled/placed differently.
I think this would be a really cool system to encourage deeper connection with the game without being unfair to anyone. The book would become gradually unlocked or filled out just by playing normally, but for new players could provide an engaging bit of lore and strategic advice that would give some structure and pseudo-ranking to their first few weeks of playing the game, while making them better players by learning from what they are doing.
tl;dr Give players an intro, scripted tutorial, and a guide book that gets filled out the more that they play, with good pieces of strategic advice.
What do you guys think? Sorry for the long post! :)
I think it would be cool, once NS2 hits release, to have an intro tutorial for new players to learn how to play the game. Something as simple as a fixed map single-player game with scripted bots and actions, one that walks the player through the basics of each side, including: navigating the maps as the basic unit of each race, accessing multiple weapons or abilities, killing an enemy, building a structure, and the basics of each commander role. It doesn't have to cover every aspect, but could just do one or two evolutions/weapons while saying something like "There are many other upgrades/new life forms available at higher levels." However, it should give the new player the basic framework for understanding how the upgrade/evolution system works, and especially to get their feet wet with the commander mode.
I imagine this to be a combination of the Starcraft tutorial and the Team Fortress 2 class tutorials, all rolled into one.
I was also reading <a href="http://www.unknownworlds.com/ns2/forums/index.php?showtopic=113555" target="_blank">this thread</a> and it made me think about some way to incorporate a progressive "ranking" system for new players that wouldn't have any real effect on game play. What about a type of "log book" (for marine side) or "hive mind" (for aliens) that served as a lore depository, but that also offered up strategic advice?
The "book" would represent the knowledge that each team had of its enemy, and would offer up snippets of lore that would add flavor to the game. It would start out as pretty general, with perhaps limited knowledge of the advanced classes. E.g. "The Fade: Little is known of this alien evolution. Those who have encountered it do not usually live long enough to tell anyone."
HOWEVER, the book would fill itself out as the player does certain actions in online games. For instance, once the player sees a Skulk leap for the first time, the log book would record more information about this new ability, or once they help build (or build as a commander) an observatory their book will update with more information about that building and the upgrades it enables.
This book could also be used to give strategic information to players. For example, there could be several tiers of information revealed about enemies. Before they encounter a type of enemy, the book is pretty spare. Once they see one in-game, it fills in a bit more general info. If they damage one, but don't kill it, it reveals more info, and perhaps a strategic bit of advice as to how to best engage this enemy. Once they deliver the killing blow, the book reveals a deeper piece of strategic advice for killing that enemy. These pieces of advice could be very valuable, written by the developers who know the best strategy for avoiding/killing each enemy class.
When a new piece of info is unlocked in the book, the player would get a notification in-game in some noticeable place, similar to the "weapon level upgrade" notification but styled/placed differently.
I think this would be a really cool system to encourage deeper connection with the game without being unfair to anyone. The book would become gradually unlocked or filled out just by playing normally, but for new players could provide an engaging bit of lore and strategic advice that would give some structure and pseudo-ranking to their first few weeks of playing the game, while making them better players by learning from what they are doing.
tl;dr Give players an intro, scripted tutorial, and a guide book that gets filled out the more that they play, with good pieces of strategic advice.
What do you guys think? Sorry for the long post! :)
Comments
One cool scripted map, which lets you play as marine first would be nice. Starting with a little "patrol the surrounding of the base" mission (to learn the waypoint mechanic.) Then you build up an extractor. Than you encounter one scripted skulk running at you through a long hallway. (Easy shooting at first.) Than you go back to base, and got told to use the armory, buy a shotgun etc.
A similar mission could be made with the aliens. To show the importance of vents and so on.
Many people think, that the time to develop such a scripted tutorial would be wasted time for other features. But I think it is extremely important to get a huge player base. Because many people are stupid d***heads, who can't tolerate noobs in their team. And a community with only a few who constantly flaming, will be a dead community soon.
<a href="http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=90474&st=0" target="_blank">NS1 Training Map</a>
Impatient players do not play tutorials.
<!--quoteo(post=1909412:date=Mar 3 2012, 05:09 AM:name=Soylent_green)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Soylent_green @ Mar 3 2012, 05:09 AM) <a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=1909412"><{POST_SNAPBACK}></a></div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->Impatient players do not play tutorials.<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Maybe he meant the type of new player who buys the game and, starry-eyed with naivete, joins his first game as a marine only to get munched into smithereens sixteen times in a row by hungry skulks, accidentally hops in the CC and gets shouted at by his team, and then switches over to aliens and spends his whole time as a gorge wondering why he can't kill anything. :D
In those cases, I imagine a scripted tutorial would be a nice haven for newbies to *temporarily* retreat to, and get their space-legs back.
Logbook:
I really like the pokedex comparison. That's kind of what I'm envisioning, as you guys have all mentioned. A pokedex/manual/guidebook compendium thing. Did anyone play the Metroid games on the wii? It had this feature where you scanned things with your visor and it would unlock a piece of storyline or item info. I think that's the feel that I think would be cool (except minus the active scanning), so that as you encounter things it updates in your logbook.
I would love for UWE to consider putting this in as a Release-point final embellishment on the awesome ambiance of the game. It definitely needs a bit of ui design/artwork/good lore writing to pull it off well, so it might have to be outsourced if they don't have all that in-house. If the game (hopefully!) gets popular enough, I could see a high-quality print version being made, like those nice books you get with a lot of special edition AAA games.
Thanks for all the responses, keep 'em coming! :)