After a few hiccups the Tutorial is now available on Test! There are two ways to get to the tutorial. 1) Open up the "Support" menu in the bottom left part of your main menu. There is now a "Go To Tutorial" button that will start the tutorial and send you there, so you don't need to create a new character to check it out. 2) Make a new character! Known issues: Map is missing from the tutorial The "Welcome to the test server" window is not playing nice with the tutorial windows. This causes the floating help to appear in the center as opposed to being docked on the side like it is supposed to be. You cannot complete the tutorial if you enter as a MAX. Please give your feedback on the tutorial in this thread, especially places where you were stuck or confused about where to go next.
Went through it.. some of the voice-overs Clash with eachother. The popup that comes up telling you what keys do what is overlayed//overridden by the tooltip//subtitles of the voiceover.. making things dificult to read. I don't believe I saw the VR Training mentioned in the tutorial. That should Definitely be included sometime around accessing the warp terminal, told to go there, and perhaps to check out some vehicles, note that they have *infinite* certs while in the VR area, THEN come back to the warp terminal in the VR training area, and warp to a continent and use instant action.
I thought the tutorial was pretty good Pros: I liked that it has voice overs It explained most of the objects in the game Animated menus Explains the basic controls Cons: Did not explain how to read the map Did not explain how to gain and spend certs Did not show an example of a jump pad Did not show an example of a generator Did not show how to join squads A bit too much time spent on the basics of shooting (explaining what hip fire is, aim down sights are, the long pauses where you just shoot dummies). And I don't know if I went to quickly, but I didn't seem to get any indication that I needed to go to the teleporter after the firing range. Also, I think it should include something with grenades given how wonky grenade physics can be Also, it should explain switching fire groups and how the ace has a turret and ammo pack Its been a while since I was new, so dunno what else a new player might want
You can teleport to the tutorial as a MAX, which will stop you from being able to capture the point. I did this from VR, unsure if you can go from the regular world as well. edit: just saw that in the op now double edit: ok the flashing box and arrow to show you the capture progress never go away. I went to join the stress test at zurvan and had it flashing on my UI the whole time.
When you die and enter the tutorial without spawning back in any way I found my self inside a big grey warehouse room and I saw several smaller rooms and lights above me.
Wanted to put more into this the first comment was just something I had to say immediately before I forget. Anyways the tutorial is nice but needs to cover vehicles and each class if possible before throwing the player into the furnace.
Ran through the tutorial I liked it for the most part, though the text from what the useful TR guy was telling me, was clipping over the button diagram, so I am not entirely sure what he was telling me at one point about action buttons. I like it being a closed environment, I liked it being guided by your actions and not via time. You might want to make sure that it defaults enemies as Blue, because I had mine set on Empire specific colors and it conflicted with the instructions. I would agree with what was said about using the cert interface and the SC interface. Those are more difficult to use than anything else.
1) Generators are important but are never mentioned in your tutorial. Maybe have an area where the player is given a vehicle and told to drive through an anti-vehicle shield. He will try and be stopped. Then direct him to a nearby generator that controls the shield. 2) Tutorial never talks about vehicles. Well scratch that it ho-humily mentions that Sunderers + AMS are a form of Redeploy, but new players will have no idea what a Sunderer or AMS is let alone fully grasp the Redeploy system that the narrator is talking about at this point. You have players visit an Infantry terminal. Why not have them visit a Vehicle Terminal, ask them to pull a vehicle of their choice, and then briefly talk about the resource system? This could be make part of the tutorial section as mentioned above (I.e., Visit Terminal, Pull Vehicle, Attempt To Drive Through Anti-Vehicle Shield + Blow Up Generator). I think a problem you are still going to have with new players is they still won't understand how to capture one of the main facilities. Horizontal/Vertical gens, SCUs, etc are never mentioned. And neither is the all important Map screen ("M" button). I think discussing the Map screen would be far friendlier than the "Instant Action Hotdrop to Your Death HAHAH Now You Are Lost And Don't Know What to Do" route. As soon as they get to Indar have them open the Map. Talk about it, the overlay icons, and then have them "Redeploy" back to their Warpgate so they can see how the Redeploy system works during the actual game rather than the vacuum that is the Tutorial area.
I tried it and it looks nice, it still misses alot things that are allready mentioned by others like the overload of generators, spawning of vehicles, the mechanism behind spawning doors. I also noticed that i could not attack the practice dummies and that the voices overlap if a voice started and the player moved on and the next one started.
Just pass trough the (( training )) it is generic and very basic , limite anoying , everyones who play a shooter know how to aim crouch and run .... :S this isnt what peoples do not understand from planetside capturing a terminal everyones who play BF game or any capture and hold etc.. know this as well The training should show classes and tactics and classes roles and how the maps and region caping works etc.. not some very basic stuff like shoot a grenade or shoot at this target hip firering peoples will still feel lost after this Generic useless training Only the Terminal part is important and the teleporter etc.. pass that nothing as been explain its generic and not that usefulll Tuorial should show Squad structure Platoon structure Team coordination Generator ( type of shield ) etc.. Primary objective secondary objective , way point , platton and squad waypoint how to read a map Importance of the SCU symboles etc... Command chanel Classes abilitys Classes custumisation how capture and the game work as a whole Goal of this game etc...etc.. not showing how to press crouch , jump and aim .....
Guess they could take a page out of the Starship Troopers playbook and at the end of the Infantry Terminal / Hip-fire / Scope area pop-up a, "Would You Like to Know More?" with the options: Light Assault : Medic : Infiltrator : Engineer : Heavy Assault : MAX : No Thanks For the player to click on. Clicking on a class would give a brief narrator overview of the class and its role in the game. LA: High maneuverability thanks to its jet pack (tell player how to use it). Infiltrator: Excels at both long-range and close quarters attacks. Cloaking mechanism, can hack turrets and terminals to disrupt enemy, recon tool for scouting. Engineer: Support class. Supplies ammo, good for piloting vehicles, can carry both anti-infantry and anti-vehicle ordinance. Special ability of deployed AI and AV turrets. No Thanks: Continues the tutorial by proceeding to talk about the teleporter. Of course the brief overviews would be more corny and glamorous to catch the newbies attention. But yeah.
It's important too. And it doesn't take much. You may not believe me, but there are people out there with not as much FPS or overall gaming experience as most of us. Think about it. Everyone started gaming at some point. And SOE shouldn't shy away from trying to convince as many rookies as possible from the awesomeness of planetside 2 itself and FPS games in general. You don't do that by not explaining the very basics real quick. I'm not doubting in any way that there are a lot of other, maybe even more important things too. Just click on my link two posts earlier for a few good suggestions about that.
Nice start, obviously needs polish, it's missing a brief tutorial on the insert-autosquad options, communication options (/say,/yell,/re,z,prox voice .etc) and their limitations, information on the map, and information on the vr training area... though I did skip through a bit.
Tutorial text blocks overlapped each other. W, A, S, & D are what most use for movement, not the up, left, down, & right keys. I would suggest taking the newcomer to their own separate VR Training area, explaining the most used features of ground and air vehicles, and the unique characteristics of each class. At the end, then have them use instant action. When I used it as a VS, it sent me to the same area as for the TR and NC characters. It was right next to the TR warp gate on Esamir. I couldn't capture it as a VS. There was no influence at all there. Lit floor arrows to guide their path would be good. Maybe they could be made to automatically join the largest open platoon and drop pod where they are at, instead of using instant action. Going through a small working facility may also help.
This is a good start but no where near complete. Just off my first time though and off the top of my head here are some of the things you are missing: - Full run through of each screen when you press escape. (Profile, Map, Classes, etc) This run through should cover everything from how to change your title to customizing classes to ordering off the depot... etc. - Full run through of the UI Should cover what symbols are what, enemy, ally, mini-map, etc etc - Basic key bindings Open chat, get to different menus, etc - Each facility in depth "This is a bio lab, you capture it by doing this and doing this and etc etc" Players need to know what kind of facility they are attacking This should include the basics of how to take a base, take down a shield gen, SCU, etc etc Also should include jump pads, turrets, shields you can walk though and those u cant, etc - Resources Although they currently do not matter they hopefully will sometime in the future so it should be covered. - Territory what are we fighting for, why we need territory, etc etc - Vehicles Go though every vehicle, what seats do what, different types of guns, purpose of the vehicle, how to access them, where to access them, etc etc The tutorial should force the player to try out each vehicle, hit a few targets, etc - Certs How to get them, how to use them, etc The tutorial should MAKE the player spend a few certs on something during the tutorial (maybe you get some free certs by completing the tutorial........) - Respawn screen run though What buttons do what, how to change loadouts, etc - Battle rank Overview of what it means, what you get at different ranks (loadouts, etc) - Score screen (tab) What it displays, how it is calculated, etc - More detailed look at each class, their abilities, advantages/disadvantages, etc Force the player to try out each class - Squad / platoon layout What it looks like on the map, the platoon screen, mini map, etc - Basic chat commands Squad, platoon, leader, etc Also should include a overview of voip - Overview of the VR training area How to get there, why it is there, what is in it, etc Honestly the list above is just the basics that I came up with off the top of my head. For a game as complex as PS2 you need more of a Basic Training then a tutorial (something closer to what America's Army had). The tutorial should be simple but not too short. Make a extended tutorial if you have to but you need a ton more. After the player completes the tutorial (or extended tutorial if you decide to do one) they should be rewarded with some extra certs, or ribbon, or title, or all of that as a incentive. Again, I commend you, SOE, as this is a good start but you have a lot more work to do.
There should be an optional advanced tutorial after the current one that covers more technical things.
One more thing, when it goes live ask EVERYBODY (in-game "invite"!) if they want to do the training and don't just hide it in the support menu! Maybe even make it mandatory to do it at least ONCE per SOE / P7 account.
I can get to the end of the sprinting hall before he finishes talking (which is bad because it makes his talking skip forward), as well as wheres the crouching part of the tutorial? Nothing on the map, or Certs? Didn't explain vehicle terminals? The stuff you do have is quite good
1: The tutorial can be completed easily and quickly. This is a huge plus. 2: The tutorial doesn't cover certs at all. I recommend giving starting players some small amount of certs (50?) and then explaining how to use them. 3: The tutorial doesn't cover resources or vehicles. I feel this should be an optional part of it. 4: The instant action aspect of the tutorial seems pointless and kinda nags you if you want to do other things. I recommend not forcing the instant action if they don't want to. Perhaps say something like "Click Instant Action to go directly to the fight, or use a vehicle and find the fight on your own".
