@xSun: Go
Chat changes may be kind of awkward. Do you mean that the text (game messages and player chat) appears in a separate window in the top left of the screen rather than the middle of the screen?
Rather bottom left as in Photon Cycles, but yeah, pretty much.
Or take a look at Pictionary, where the chat is not even altered, just moved to the bottom left.
That would improve the map very much, as a huge part of the fun is teasing and raging and laughing together, but it's just very annoying for the players that are still alive.
What do you mean with awkward?
Oh now that I think of it: There is a option in the Menu to make the menubar in the top left (Achievements, Menu etc.) non-clickable, so that you have to use the F-keys. I've died so many times because i accidentally clicked on Help. :D Is it possible to block them in the map itself, or do I have to use the SC2 options?
Hey! :D I just thought I'd say that I played the map with a couple friends, and am now upset that the map isn't popular, because I really wish I could keep playing it. =(
Is there some sort of organization going on so we can find players? If there already is then you can just hit me in the back of the head and point me in the right direction, haha.
(@Sandtrout UI buttons can be removed using SC2Layout files. I agree with you in that removing the MenuBar buttons would be beneficial to gameplay.)
Hey! :D I just thought I'd say that I played the map with a couple friends, and am now upset that the map isn't popular, because I really wish I could keep playing it. =(
Is there some sort of organization going on so we can find players? If there already is then you can just hit me in the back of the head and point me in the right direction, haha.
(@Sandtrout UI buttons can be removed using SC2Layout files. I agree with you in that removing the MenuBar buttons would be beneficial to gameplay.)
I know that, the question was only if it is also possible to block them in the map itself, so you can still have the menu bar in every other map while you don't die to it in battle planets ;)
You could always try the battle planets chat channel. In EU it's sadly always empty, but maybe it's different in NA.
Currently the only chance to play it seems to be to get friends into it. On EU we get a lot of games going because in the mafia channel (where i am quite regularly) a lot of people are open to try other maps when they don't want to play mafia atm.
So, basically, just convince other people to try it :)
Oh, and once the map of the week project starts, I hope there will be more games.
Sorry guys, I've been quite busy prepping for heading off to college and haven't had much time to work on the map. I'd like to try and get the tutorial redesigned asap however. The current issues I see with it are as follows:
1. Even with text in new players faces, its still hard to get them to grasp that you need to shoot to move, and that moving pushes yourself in the OPPOSITE direction of your shot.
2. New players like to start clicking around randomly, then get confused why they are flying off the map very fast in random directions.
3. There is nothing that explains how secondary weapons work in the tutorial. I may add a 3rd tutorial stage explaining this, or somehow pack it into the second one.
4. If text isn't working, I think I'll have to switch to a more image oriented tutorial, where a short cinematic shows you how to move/fight before the tutorial gives you a chance to do it yourself.
5. The host needs to be able to force a tutorial to start.
If you guys have any suggestions for changes in the tutorial PLEASE don't hesitate to let me know. This is the most important part of the game for retaining new players.
How about a quiz? This is what I am going to be putting in my map. Let me explain.
At the beginning of the game, you will be prompted with a tutorial. If it is not your first time playing, you have the option to skip it. The tutorial would be fairly long, about 5 minutes I would guess. It would explain everything that you need to do. If you are, for example, playing on a different computer so you don't have your banks, you can take the "quiz". This would contain 10 random questions from a pool of say 25. If 9 or 10 out of 10 are answered correctly, the player can skip the tutorial. That way, new players are practically forced to watch the tutorial, and if a friend taught them how to play, they can just take the quiz and continue.
But yeah, that is just my recommendation for the tutorial part. Just have some "move camera" functions to show what is going on in the game and describe it. So say something like "notice how the planets are forced backwards when they fire their primary weapon". This should make the tutorial more interesting, and more informative.
It's been ages since I last saw the tutorial so I just went through it with AIs :D
I think a short cinematic + text would be the best option (+ a chance to try it out afterwards). It can explain everything relatively fast and seeing what you are supposed to do is oftentimes easier to understand than when you have to read it without seeing it and then practically being on your own.
I drew beautiful paint pictures to visualize how I could imagine part of the tutorial xD
Additionally, it would be useful to explain the difference between Orbital War and Super Smash Planets before you actually chose one mode and that Sol is "easier" than the other maps / a beginner map. Maybe it would be best to include these explanations in the voting process, but I'm not sure (because you only have 10 seconds to vote and once you played a few times you don't need this info anymore).
The stage where you try it out could basically be the current second stage, where you try to knock out your opponents.
As reference to what TacoManStan said: Battle Planets is rather a minigame, you learn a lot of it simply by playing it. The tutorial shouldn't be too long and mostly show you how to move and how to use your weapons.
The host should be able to force it and if most players are new it should be played by default. That's another reason to make only a short tutorial: If one players knows what to do but has to sit through the tutorial or wait for the others to finish it he might just quit.
Again, I strongly advice to make Super Smash Planets the standard mode, as it is considered more fun by practically everyone and so newbies will get to see it first.
Another thing we noticed:
When a player leaves, their planet doesn't disappear anymore which is confusing and fairly annoying. Would be great if you changed that :)
Yeah, I think I'll go with the short cinematic with some sort of instructional subtitles. Afterwards, the player will be given time to do what was just shown to them in the cinematic.
Thanks for the suggestion Taco, but if the game has enough new players, the tutorial is already forced on them. I want everyone to be in the tutorial at the same time, so if new players don't understand the cinematic, they can watch the more experienced players work their way through the tutorial and ask them questions. A quiz would fit more if the tutorial was quite long, but its only about 2 minutes long at the moment, and it's not a major hassle to sit though it if someone is new.
As for the chat improvement, I'll try to get that in after I spruce up the tutorial. Also, I'll make Super Smash Planets automatically selected, and I'll put a 'Recommended' tag next to Sol. I may make a new map that has no stars in it, but with some other hazard that's different. (Such as comets that fly through the screen as the game goes on).
@Sandtrout: Go
That's strange. Planets should be deleted and removed from that game after a player leaves. There must be some new issue that came up with the patch because this didn't used to happen. I'll look into it.
UPDATE:
I've got 2 cinematics totally done, which explain how to move and how to knock other players around. Working on the 3rd one that explains how suns/gravity works and secondary weapons. Between each cinematic is an arena that gives players a chance to test out what they just saw, by using the stages that are already in the tutorial.
Finally finished the tutorial. Changed a few things at the start of playing the game. Uploading a test version to bnet to play with some random people and see if they get it.
I've got the new version with the tutorial completely done, but I'm still working on the next version which will add features. I can release it version right now if you guys would like while I still work on the new content for the next update.
Also I'm starting college tomorrow so I'm a bit busy.
Bit of a tangent, but 400 APM wouldn't be too difficult to pull off on Battle Planets; it requires about 4.4 actions per second, not accounting for any sort of cooldown. The event manager puts an upward limit on player APM. At 24 actions per real second, that's 1440 APM.
I've got the new version with the tutorial completely done, but I'm still working on the next version which will add features. I can release it version right now if you guys would like while I still work on the new content for the next update.
Also I'm starting college tomorrow so I'm a bit busy.
You don't have to release just for the tutorial, looking forward to the content update. :)
Apparently my map got raped by the latest patch, causing weird UI interactions and once again breaking my player leave functions. I don't know when I can get around to fixing it, I'm up to my neck in classwork. Sorry guys.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
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Rather bottom left as in Photon Cycles, but yeah, pretty much. Or take a look at Pictionary, where the chat is not even altered, just moved to the bottom left. That would improve the map very much, as a huge part of the fun is teasing and raging and laughing together, but it's just very annoying for the players that are still alive. What do you mean with awkward?
Oh now that I think of it: There is a option in the Menu to make the menubar in the top left (Achievements, Menu etc.) non-clickable, so that you have to use the F-keys. I've died so many times because i accidentally clicked on Help. :D Is it possible to block them in the map itself, or do I have to use the SC2 options?
Hey! :D I just thought I'd say that I played the map with a couple friends, and am now upset that the map isn't popular, because I really wish I could keep playing it. =(
Is there some sort of organization going on so we can find players? If there already is then you can just hit me in the back of the head and point me in the right direction, haha.
(@Sandtrout UI buttons can be removed using SC2Layout files. I agree with you in that removing the MenuBar buttons would be beneficial to gameplay.)
I know that, the question was only if it is also possible to block them in the map itself, so you can still have the menu bar in every other map while you don't die to it in battle planets ;)
You could always try the battle planets chat channel. In EU it's sadly always empty, but maybe it's different in NA. Currently the only chance to play it seems to be to get friends into it. On EU we get a lot of games going because in the mafia channel (where i am quite regularly) a lot of people are open to try other maps when they don't want to play mafia atm. So, basically, just convince other people to try it :) Oh, and once the map of the week project starts, I hope there will be more games.
So, what about a custom chat, colors? :)
Sorry guys, I've been quite busy prepping for heading off to college and haven't had much time to work on the map. I'd like to try and get the tutorial redesigned asap however. The current issues I see with it are as follows:
If you guys have any suggestions for changes in the tutorial PLEASE don't hesitate to let me know. This is the most important part of the game for retaining new players.
@lotsofcolors: Go
How about a quiz? This is what I am going to be putting in my map. Let me explain.
At the beginning of the game, you will be prompted with a tutorial. If it is not your first time playing, you have the option to skip it. The tutorial would be fairly long, about 5 minutes I would guess. It would explain everything that you need to do. If you are, for example, playing on a different computer so you don't have your banks, you can take the "quiz". This would contain 10 random questions from a pool of say 25. If 9 or 10 out of 10 are answered correctly, the player can skip the tutorial. That way, new players are practically forced to watch the tutorial, and if a friend taught them how to play, they can just take the quiz and continue.
But yeah, that is just my recommendation for the tutorial part. Just have some "move camera" functions to show what is going on in the game and describe it. So say something like "notice how the planets are forced backwards when they fire their primary weapon". This should make the tutorial more interesting, and more informative.
Great to be back and part of the community again!
It's been ages since I last saw the tutorial so I just went through it with AIs :D
I think a short cinematic + text would be the best option (+ a chance to try it out afterwards). It can explain everything relatively fast and seeing what you are supposed to do is oftentimes easier to understand than when you have to read it without seeing it and then practically being on your own.
I drew beautiful paint pictures to visualize how I could imagine part of the tutorial xD
Additionally, it would be useful to explain the difference between Orbital War and Super Smash Planets before you actually chose one mode and that Sol is "easier" than the other maps / a beginner map. Maybe it would be best to include these explanations in the voting process, but I'm not sure (because you only have 10 seconds to vote and once you played a few times you don't need this info anymore).
The stage where you try it out could basically be the current second stage, where you try to knock out your opponents.
As reference to what TacoManStan said: Battle Planets is rather a minigame, you learn a lot of it simply by playing it. The tutorial shouldn't be too long and mostly show you how to move and how to use your weapons. The host should be able to force it and if most players are new it should be played by default. That's another reason to make only a short tutorial: If one players knows what to do but has to sit through the tutorial or wait for the others to finish it he might just quit.
Quality post. :)
Again, I strongly advice to make Super Smash Planets the standard mode, as it is considered more fun by practically everyone and so newbies will get to see it first.
Custom chat incoming?
Another thing we noticed: When a player leaves, their planet doesn't disappear anymore which is confusing and fairly annoying. Would be great if you changed that :)
Yeah, I think I'll go with the short cinematic with some sort of instructional subtitles. Afterwards, the player will be given time to do what was just shown to them in the cinematic.
Thanks for the suggestion Taco, but if the game has enough new players, the tutorial is already forced on them. I want everyone to be in the tutorial at the same time, so if new players don't understand the cinematic, they can watch the more experienced players work their way through the tutorial and ask them questions. A quiz would fit more if the tutorial was quite long, but its only about 2 minutes long at the moment, and it's not a major hassle to sit though it if someone is new.
As for the chat improvement, I'll try to get that in after I spruce up the tutorial. Also, I'll make Super Smash Planets automatically selected, and I'll put a 'Recommended' tag next to Sol. I may make a new map that has no stars in it, but with some other hazard that's different. (Such as comets that fly through the screen as the game goes on).
@Sandtrout: Go That's strange. Planets should be deleted and removed from that game after a player leaves. There must be some new issue that came up with the patch because this didn't used to happen. I'll look into it.
UPDATE: I've got 2 cinematics totally done, which explain how to move and how to knock other players around. Working on the 3rd one that explains how suns/gravity works and secondary weapons. Between each cinematic is an arena that gives players a chance to test out what they just saw, by using the stages that are already in the tutorial.
Finally finished the tutorial. Changed a few things at the start of playing the game. Uploading a test version to bnet to play with some random people and see if they get it.
Can't wait to see the new tutorial :)
When is the new version coming, colors? :)
fun map, but I would like if I could move my planet a bit easier somehow...I feel like I need to have 400apm clicking just to keep myself in the game.
@zenx1: Go
Well, if you don't want 400 APM, 300 works fine for me :P
@xSun: Go
I've got the new version with the tutorial completely done, but I'm still working on the next version which will add features. I can release it version right now if you guys would like while I still work on the new content for the next update.
Also I'm starting college tomorrow so I'm a bit busy.
Bit of a tangent, but 400 APM wouldn't be too difficult to pull off on Battle Planets; it requires about 4.4 actions per second, not accounting for any sort of cooldown. The event manager puts an upward limit on player APM. At 24 actions per real second, that's 1440 APM.
You don't have to release just for the tutorial, looking forward to the content update. :)
gl hf @ university!
Apparently my map got raped by the latest patch, causing weird UI interactions and once again breaking my player leave functions. I don't know when I can get around to fixing it, I'm up to my neck in classwork. Sorry guys.