Newbie Guidebook / Tutorial

[Xan]

Jun 7, 2010 8:56:48 GMT -5 (,,,) Syn Kitten (,,,) said:

---BIG ONE---
An adventurer’s lodge journal. Not one to record your quests and the like but one that gives a newbie a chance. We have no issue answering questions, but when a player starts in the lodge and are all WTF do I do… we can give them a start. If needed create a tutorial for training purposes. To be able to leave Avant you must complete the tutorial and become registered as an adventurer for first time players. All others give an option to skip the tutorial.

Have the tutorial give an example of farming materials, equipping amps, installing ability disk, have them try to equip an item that’s to powerful for them. When done with the tutorial, strip them of all that crap and drop them in the lodge.

I'm working on writing up a guidebook for new players. This should hopefully suffice until an interactive tutorial can be implemented. Just wanted to shoot an outline down here and see if anyone had suggestions. Definitely let me know if I missed something.

• Basics of NWN: This tutorial assumes you already know the basic function and controls of NWN. If you do not, please play Neverwinter Nights: Prelude.
  
• Synopsis: Character strengths and weaknesses are based on equipped gear and abilities. Classes, levels, feats, skills, or races chosen at character creation have no impact. Every character has the same base stats.
  
• The Rest Menu: The key to information.
  
• SOO Skill System: Level as you use a skill. Restricts what equipment, abilities, crafting, and harvesting you can use.
  
• Firearms & Reloading
  
• Armor, Armor Tiers and Types, and Shields
  
• Weapon Tiers
  
• Equipment Durability and Repair Kits
  
• Natural Health Regeneration and Stim Packs
  
• Death, Item Drop, and Sanctuary
  
• Harvesting: Where to find a harvester, what to look for, and how to use it.
  
• Crafting: Blueprints, materials, the terminal, and difficulty.
  
• The Bank
  
• AMPs: AMP terminals, the uses of AMPs, and ability points.
  
• Passive abilities: Ability disks and equipping/unequipping abilities.
  
• Essence: Function, regen, and essence packs.
  
• Weapon Abilities: Weapon ability queue, and effects.
  
• Ether, Black and White: Casting time, interruption, effects, and comparison to magic.
  
• PVP
  
• Guilds
  

[mercuryman]

This came up a while back - as before, I can write a scenario for this, but first you'd have to take me on a walkthrough of all the features in game so I can get a grasp of how it all comes together and then plays out.

[Xan]

So I shouldn't write it?

[mercuryman]

Not at all suggesting you shouldn't go ahead with the guidebook, by all means do so!

It just reminded me this issue came up before and I had planned to write a scenario for the initial tutorial.

The guidebook will probably be necessary regardless of whether we use such a tutorial or not.

[Xan]

oki \o/

[Xan]

This tutorial assumes you already know the basic function and controls of NWN. If you do not, please play Neverwinter Nights: Prelude.

[Xan]

In Solar Odyssey Online (S.O.O.), every character begins with the same stats. Race, Class, and character levels have no impact on gameplay. In addition, any skills or feats chosen at character creation are removed. Advancement is dependent on attaining better equipment and abilities, then mixing and matching to suit your playing style. If you even wish to change your style later, or to fill a different role, you can do so without ever needing to create another character.

Probably need summarize everything else in here... I don't even mention guns or ether or guilds or....
Dx
I'll do it at some point. Just a reminder to myself.

Another reminder to moi: Need a section in here for impatient peoples who still don't want to take the time and read what's laid out for them. At least with the guidebook, Zun (and anyone else) can tell them to use the self-help available instead pestering him (or us). This section? Skip the details on the mechanics, just give them suggestions on where to get started. Grab the quests in the lodge, go to the store, get a weapon, if they have 30gp left over have them pick up an organic harvester to collect wood while wandering, start slaughtering jungle critters, turn in the quests when they're done, upgrade your AMP and check out the Ability Disk Store, kill some more crap with new abilities, check out crafting for upgrading your equipment, and leave it at that.

Will spruce that up a bit... later

[Xan]

Here you will find important information about your character such as skills, available abilities, the guild menu, and an FAQ. The Rest Menu can be accessed in any of 3 ways: by clicking the Rest button below your portrait, pressing the corresponding hotkey (default: R), or by activating the blue essence gem in your inventory.

[Xan]

When a player refers to a skill in S.O.O., he/she is speaking of a skill found in the Rest Menu. There is a wide variety of skills, each of which is tied to something your character can do. From combat, to spellcasting, to crafting, these skills determine what gear you can equip, which abilities you can use, your chances to successfully create something through crafting, and which grades of resources you are able to harvest.

[Xan]

Every skill levels up through experience, which is gained as you do something related to that skill. It is gained when a foe who struck you is slain, in the case of armors; when a foe whom you hit is slain, for weapons; as you successfully cast spells, for Ether; as you successfully harvest resources, for harvesting; and as you succeed in crafting something of difficulty level Very Easy or higher, for crafting.