Learning To Play

nitsuj

I know this topic has probably been done to death, but I just thought I'd ask. Outside of the manual, is there other learning resources for this game? The "manual" doesn't really explain how to play the game. It's written like a science fiction book. I'd like to have more of a clue what I'm doing, before I play. It seems that players of this game are much less tolerant of novice players than most other multiplayer games I've played. Plus the maps are dark and complicated. If you spwan as an alein, you end up just running around, not knowing what your goal is, and as soon as you poke your head out somewhere, you get it shot off. I've never even played as a marine, since every server I've joined said the marine team was full. Whats the advantages of tarting out on an CO map vs. an NS one? I have lots of other questions, but those should get me some good flames for now.

Spooge

You shouldn't be getting flamed in the New Player section of the forums. You've got a legitimate question and you've come to the right place to search for answers.

Now then. The manual hasn't been properly updated yet (as far as I know) but it does have some valuable info. It sounds like you're really looking for <a href='http://www.natural-selection.org/faq.html' target='_blank'>The Offical NS gameplay FAQ</a>. This FAQ hasn't been completely updated either but the fundamentals are still the same.

As for the New Player Tolerance Problem, here's a bit I wrote for a new players awhile back:
<!--QuoteBegin--></div><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td><b>QUOTE</b> </td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'><!--QuoteEBegin-->The one thing I would mention is that in NS, no matter which side, you are part of a team. Unlike a typical HL mod, your team will depend on you to know what you are doing. That seems to be the main reason why new people get *griefed* so heavily.

Always remember that what you do will have an effect on your team. <!--QuoteEnd--></td></tr></table><div class='postcolor'><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Teamwork is not only beneficial in NS, it's mandatory.

Starting out on a CO map is a good idea to get familiar with the different marine weapons/upgrades and the alien evolutions/upgrades. Combat (CO) is exactly that--the culmination of direct battles in NS without the heavy strategy.

My best advice is: When you join a server, let everyone know that you're new to the game and ask if someone will lead you around. If you don't get help, find a new server. There are plenty of players willing to help if you ask. But I strongly recommend reading the FAQ prior to this. Just to get an idea of what's going on.

Good luck and don't be afraid to ask questions here <!--emo&:)--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html//emoticons/smile.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='smile.gif' /><!--endemo-->

Nikon

Everything Spooge said is good advice and true. Another thing you can do to familarize yourself with the game maps and movement is to just load up NS, and use the console to load a map. You can run around and get used to the movement. Also if you search for 'cheats' in the forums, you can use these in single player to give yourself upgrades and resources so you can practice building and commadning. These cheats only work using the method I described above, they are disabled on the dedicated servers unless otherwise specified.