Tutorial for noob

[Guest Warcryptic]

Everybody complains about noobs asking stupit questions about lumber, how it works and all that sjit, maybe a tutorial part would be the solution, that when you press -tut or when a player presses -tut that he gets loads of text. If you make it into -tut the problem is hell ruin his own game, because he only gets that text, but it's a noob, it's a way to learn, he'll live with it

Tip is a good idea, but tips aren't everything, it gives small parts of how some aspects work, not complete enough i think.

Let's see what you think of it.

[Cisz]

There allready is a turorial, as well as a huge stack of imformation, all in the map.

Select your worker, there is a "Tipps" button. Explains pretty much everything if you keep pressing it.

Or press F9, there are lists of all the towers.

[holepercent]

it will be something like the tutorial that the host can choose to play before games of gem TD. the tips don't really cover everything. you have to know at least a bit of the game for the tips to make sense.

then again, i don't really think a tutorial is necessary. maybe flash a clearer message at the start of the game that players get lumber every 5 lvls and other basic info. ele td isn't as complicated as gem... most new players to a td will just build the cheapest tower they see...

[Guest mrchak]

Yes, I agree - there's already a lot of information at the player's fingertips.

In the "-air" thread in Suggestions I suggested that if a player enters text with the word "lumber" and perhaps some other key words, the game can display to them some information like "Press F9 for game rules" or "Click the 'Tip' ability - (looks like a big '?') on your builder."

The problem is, players just don't pay attention to text on the screen. It could say over and over "Type -help to get a tutorial" in huge letters, and they'd ignore it. They'd still say "What level is air" or "when do I get lumber?"

I like the idea of making the game noob friendly though. I just don't want people to have to turn off the 'help' thing.

Is it possible to check with triggers or JASS how recently the player downloaded the version of the map? If that was possible, then the game could detect if the player should have tutorials or not. And they could be on automatically in that case. you could type -help at any time to toggle the tutorial messages on or off.

[Guest Warcryptic]

First my respond on cisz his message, keep pushing tip button, you really think people will keep clicking and reading, if you have to keep clicking the game allready started and lost allready and then they still don't know how it excactly works. That's why i suggested a constantly giving texts, they can read and can try out what they read.

Holepercents:The host choose?? Won't work, most of the time will the host be pro, so he don't need it and most people think of the joiners so won't typ -tut for them. Clear message, thatll maybe annoy the people that won't need it, and I agree with mrchak in that point, most of the time they concentrate on the creeps and towers then, not on the text, unless they chose to learn and will pay their attention to read it.

It isn't the meaning to annoy players with text they don't want to read, or allready read it. So it needs to be toggable for everyone individuelly.

[Guest mrchak]

Yes: Each player should be able to toggle tutorial text on or off for themselves.

Options:

1) Tutorial is on for all players by default

Annoying for anyone who's played the game a couple times. Annoying to always turn it off. Very friendly towards noobs.

2) Turorial is off for all players by default

no guarantee a noob will know turn it on, or read the instructions for turning on hints. There could be a couple Messages with a sound that says "FIRST TIME PLAYING? Type '-help' for a tutorial." This could work. It's easy enough for pros to ignore this text, and noobs would (hopefully) read it and understand what to do.

3) Tutorial is on for any player if their version of the W3X is less than (for example) 1 week.

Complicated? Yes. Possible? Don't know! But it would be pretty cool.

So the tutorial could be things like:

At the beginning of the game

• Concept of a TD

Conecpt of getting lumber

When the next round starts

Concept of interest

As a result of events happening:

• first time they leak, explain losing a life

first time a round is Fast, Healing, Undead, Mechanical

how to spend lumber

first time units have elemental armor (lv6), explain the armor types

When they get first element, explain how arrow towers can be upgraded to elemental arrow towers (same with cannon) and how they can build elemental towers.

each lv 1 element they get, the game can explain what are those elemental towers like: e.g. "You've just received the power of Light. Light towers shoot blasts of light far distances, do extra damage to dark armor and reduced damage to earth armor."

When they get a second element, explain how they can combine the elements to make a dual

when they get a third element, explain that they can upgrade to a triple

when they get a lv 2 element, explain that their single element towers can be upgraded to a higher level

If they get an interest rate upgrade, explain what that means

if they get all 6 elements, that they can now build a periodic tower

if they get lv 3 in an element, explain that they can build a pure

if they get all 6 or a lv3 element, explain Essence and what is is used for.

when they get certain element combinations, tell them what towers they can make, for example, if they get light and they already had nature (or vice versa) the game can say "You can make life towers now. They are a great way to regain lost lives."

Messages that give information as the game unfolds.

• before a few levels that are particularly difficult, give them a warning message.

mention things about over-building

mention how they can sell towers

Is this basically what you're looking for?

[Guest Warcryptic]

Yes, indeed. Not that i need it myself I understand it very good. But im a little bit tired of explaining it (I help allmost 2 people a dayon the days that I play), i could refuse, but then they nag or say that im mean XD

[Guest Sancdar]

3) Tutorial is on for any player if their version of the W3X is less than (for example) 1 week.

Complicated? Yes. Possible? Don't know! But it would be pretty cool.

Not possible, sorry.

[Guest Warcryptic]

Too bad, would be pretty cool if it was. And easy XD

[0rb3r]

Noobs normally choose easy or very easy. Just activate tutorial by default for those choices. Make the acolyte say twice "type -tut to learn how to play", dont create a general display text (it is more likely to be ignored). It would be neat if after choosing the tutorial, the acolythe autobuilds on his own during the first 6 levels, so while the noob is reading, he can see how it is done and start on his own starting on wave 7. Something like "guided instructions", i.example:

"As you see, your acolyte is upgrading tower... bla bla"

"The money your acolyte just received is his interest, and depends on..."

center image on summoning place "The lumber you just received can be spended..."

if you could time it correctly it would be a really great idea.

[Guest Ryukira]

Oh snap!, thats was a great idea Orb3r, however there must be a way to turn that off aswell, cause it would be oh so irretating not to have control b4 lvl 6 when uve played a few times but still feel more comfortable on easier difficulties. I play on eurobattle.net and about 80% of the games there are normla or below, thus it would get unbelievebly annoying after a while.

Mrchak: When they get the tips about interest wouldnt it be pretty good to explain the advantages of selling and rebuilding, i didnt know that you could even do that until i saw Cisz' sun_ftw replay.

[Guest mrchak]

Mrchak: When they get the tips about interest wouldnt it be pretty good to explain the advantages of selling and rebuilding, i didnt know that you could even do that until i saw Cisz' sun_ftw replay.

Yea, I would consider that as a tip that can be displayed as the game went on.like:

"Tip: Look at the interest counter; when it reaches 0 you will get interest based on current gold. If you sell some towers well-timed, you can get extra interest!"

And a little "ding" sound effect can play too when these tips pop up.

I like the idea that the acolyte SAYS the tips rather than them popping up, but it can only work if the player does not have control of the builder, otherwise it will block the UI controls.

Lots of good ideas in this thread.

[0rb3r]

I play on eurobattle.net and about 80% of the games there are normla or below, thus it would get unbelievebly annoying after a while.

What i meant is that by default on Ve & E the acolyte says twice to press -tut. As soon as you type it (before of lvl1 end), you lose control of the acolyte (all by noob created towers are sold at lvl1 end), and he starts a nearby predefined and incontrollable routine, commenting what he is doing and teaching you some basics, on lvl 7 end you gain back control of the acolyte.

Would 2 messages of "press -tut" really be that annoying? You dont need to do it if you don't want.

The acolyte should also react if he is leaking, the same way a player would, and comment it: "If you leak you can build fast a tower on right passage...".

Only problem I see is what to do if other players finish the levels 1 and 7 before of the tutorial guide.

[Guest Warcryptic]

Yes, maybe you should try and find the minimun time they can play lvl 1 to 6 out. And make de tut on this, still a long shot but its allways possible that there are rushers in a easy mode game. And i don't think the acolite will be so well programmed that he will place the towers on spot 6 when that happenes. its alla bout timing and everything, i n other words allot of work

[Guest Ryukira]

Sorry orb3r i was lazy when i read that post, i didnt take notice of the fact that you had to write -tut first, my bad

[Guest mrchak]

So here are the requirements currently. As they develop I'll edit this post.

1. Tutorial mode would be off for all players by default

2. If a player is on EASY or VERY EASY mode, then they will receive a few messages spoken by the builder "Type -tut to turn on tutorials" which would either be floating text above the builder's head, or dialog where the builder's face pops up in the portrait (in the bottom left corner of the UI).

3. A player may toggle tutorials by typing "-tut" at any time.

Tutorial Messages:

As soon as player enables tutorials

(Tutorials on; turn them off at any time by typing "-tut")

Welcome to Element Tower Defense. A Tower Defense is a game where you win by strategically building towers to defeat enemy units that are spawned and move through the play area. In Element TD, you may use the elements of Fire, Water, Earth, Nature, Light and Darkness to create a mixture of towers to defend against 60 rounds of spawns.

(pause for 15 seconds)

At the beginning of the game, though, you do not have access to any elements. After every fifth level (5, 10, 15, etc.) you will be rewarded 1 lumber which can be spent at the Elemental Research Center, located at the top of your play area. This is how you will gain access do different elements.

(pause for 15 seconds)

Element TD is a survivor map, which means the winner is the last player alive. A round ends for all players when any player defeats all of their spawns. So if you are slow, the game will continue to the next round whether you are finished killing off the spawns or not!

(pause for 15 seconds)

In Element TD, players are rewarded for strategic building. That means building the right towers, and not over-building; every 15 seconds all players are given interest based on their unspent gold. (You can see the interest countdown timer on the Game Board

First time player leaks

Oh no! One of your spawns made it all the way through your area alive. When this happens it is called "leaking" and you lose 1 life as a penalty. The leaked spawn will start again from the beginning with its current health.

20 seconds after round starts, the first time next round is FAST

In the next round spawns will be faster than usual, so be careful! Later on in the game you will have slowing towers which will be very helpful against these fast units.

20 seconds after round starts, the first time next round is HEALING

In the next round spawns will have health regeneration, so when your towers attack finish them off quickly before they have a chance to heal!

20 seconds after round starts, the first time next round is UNDEAD

(appropriate message depending on the undead ability, which will change)

20 seconds after round starts, the first time next round is MECHANICAL

(appropriate message depending on how mech is changed)

End of Level 5 (first lumber - instead of normal message?)

Round 5 is over, and all players have been given 1 lumber. You may spend it at the Elemental Research Center on an element. An elemental will be summoned for you to defeat.

Elemental defeated

Congratulations! You've just gained your first elemental power! You can now build [element name] towers, or upgrade arrow and cannon towers using the element.

Fire towers have a short range, but an area-of-effect damage. Fire does double-damage to nature armor, but half-damage to water armor.

Water towers shoot a steady stream of water at targets, with a small area-of-effect. Water does double-damage to fire armor and half-damage to dark armor.

Dark towers shoot a high damage missile long range at a single target. Dark does double-damage to water armor and half-damage to light armor.

Light towers shoot a medium damage missile long range at a single target. Light does double-damage to dark armor and half-damage to earth armor.

Earth towers hurl a boulder at targets, doing large area-of-effect damage. Earth does double-damage to light armor and half-damage to nature armor.

Nature towers shoot a medium damage missile medium range at a single target. Nature does double-damage to earth armor and half-damage to fire armor.

Now that you have two elements, you can combine them into a "Dual-Element" tower. You do this by upgrading an Amplified elemental tower. Click the "Tower Query" ability of your builder to see a list of all dual towers available.

Now that you have three elements, you can make 3 different dual-element towers and a triple-element tower! To create the triple element tower, you simply upgrade into it from the dual. Click the "Tower Query" ability of your builder to see a list of all dual towers available.

Now that you have [element] Level 2, you can upgrade your Aplified [element] towers to a Focused [element] tower. Plus you have a HERO now!

Now that you have all 6 elements at your disposal, you have the potential to build the Periodic Tower of the Elements. You need 15,000 gold and 1 Pure elemental essence to build it. You can buy an essence for 1 lumber, or wait until rounds 52 when you will get one for free.

Now that you have [element] Level 3, you can upgrade to a Focused [element] tower. You also have the possibility of a Pure [element] tower, but you'll need ##### gold and 1 pure elemental essence to upgrade to it. You can buy an essence for 1 lumber, or wait until rounds 52 when you will get one for free.

Hey! Now that you have nature and light, you can build the Life Tower, a great support tower that can help you regain lost lives!

Combining water and nature, you can build Well Towers, a powerful support tower which increases the attack rate of your towers!

First end of a round when the next round has elemental armor

From now on many spawns will have elemental armor. Elemental armor is strong vs one element and weak vs another. Next round, for example, is [element] armor. [strong-element] attack type will do double-damage while [weak-element] attack type will do half-damage.

[Cisz]

Hey, great work.

When is the healing warning supposed to appear, if say, wave 12 is healing. After wave 10, at the start of 11? Or after wave 11, which I think is to late?

And I expect the -tut command to be a toggle, so I can turn it off again, right?

[Guest mrchak]

tut is a toggle, I edited the wording to make it more clear.

So you think the warning about fast/undead/mech/healing should be at the START of the round before it? Ok I'll make that change, it sounds good.

[Cisz]

Not necessarily the start, just not right as the healing wave begins. And the wording needs to be clear, like at wave 11 begins (12 is healing again) it goes: "The wave after this will be.." Or something similiar clear. It's a bit difficult to determine if "next" refers to 11 or 12 at the beginning of 11.

[Guest mrchak]

ok, so if round 12 is fast, the game will warn you 20 seconds after round 11 starts. Sound good?

[Cisz]

Well, it might confuse the beginners, while they are building towers. Maybe the start is better? Dunno.. Hm.

[Guest mrchak]

Well, it might confuse the beginners, while they are building towers. Maybe the start is better? Dunno.. Hm. :?

Well, that would defeat the purpose right?

How about when round 11 STARTS the message says "Heads up, round 12 is FAST...." so there will be no confusion. Does that resolve all the problems?

[Cisz]

Yes, that would be very clear. Would that work with the new chaos mode as well?

[Guest mrchak]

Yes in theory, because in chaos mode NEXT is known, but nothing beyond next.

It's probably easier to code if the first fast level is a known constant, but it can still be done, sure.

I should point out, though, that it is a brave noob that plays on chaos mode.

[Guest Sancdar]

Eh, the host could force it, whatever. The only problem I have is that they thing about -tut to turn it off shouldn't be popping up every 5 minutes. After the first ten waves, the help messages are going to be less frequent than the -tut messages. Just tell them when they activate it that they can turn it back off.