Instant Action New Player Tutorial

[Hamma]

http://www.planetside-universe.com/news-instant-action-new-player-tutorial-3024.htm

It's been a while since the last episode of AGN Instant Action. In this video I talk about an issue which I believe was one of the core problems with PlanetSide 2. New Player Experience and the new Player Tutorial on Public Test.
AGN PlanetSide 2 Instant Action: New Player Tutorial - YouTube

Be sure to post your comments and feedback! :D

[Malorn]

Nice run through! The floating help box being in the middle of your screen is a bug, as is the lighting. The lighting for tutorial looks really cool when it is at the correct hour.

This is the first cut of the tutorial. There is more stuff planned as you surmised. One important thing about the tutorial is that it is intended to be short and not teach everything about PS2. Its intended to teach the fundamentals of getting into a fight and having fun with some of the more complicated parts of the game learned over time.

For example, if you look at the Deadspace games, the first level is the tutorial, but more complex concepts (like using stasis to slow a door to squeeze through) are taught later on in the game. They spread out the learning so it isn't too overwhelming. WOW does the same thing - you don't learn about professions, talent points, or instances until well after the tutorial area is done. Many tutorials do this, and PS2 is modeled the same way. The goal was to teach them the fundamentals in ~10 minutes and then get them into the action so the size and scale of the game can hook them. And like other games, the more complicated aspects can be learned as they play.

[EvilNinjadude]

Nice run through! The floating help box being in the middle of your screen is a bug, as is the lighting. The lighting for tutorial looks really cool when it is at the correct hour.
Another thing about the tutorial that could be fixed is the VO. You should temporarily mute the facility status announcer during the capture/IFFshield tutorial, as it interferes. Also, moving back and forth through the teleporter causes the Voicing to bug out and overlap.

(Is there a thread on the official forums where i can best post this?
EDIT: Found it, it wasn't stickied. Will move feedback there.)

[Hamma]

Thanks for the info Malorn! Definitely an excellent start I can see it only getting better.

And yes - mute the capture sounds! I actually muted them in post editing.

[Phantomdestiny]

Nice run through! The floating help box being in the middle of your screen is a bug, as is the lighting. The lighting for tutorial looks really cool when it is at the correct hour.

This is the first cut of the tutorial. There is more stuff planned as you surmised. One important thing about the tutorial is that it is intended to be short and not teach everything about PS2. Its intended to teach the fundamentals of getting into a fight and having fun with some of the more complicated parts of the game learned over time.

For example, if you look at the Deadspace games, the first level is the tutorial, but more complex concepts (like using stasis to slow a door to squeeze through) are taught later on in the game. They spread out the learning so it isn't too overwhelming. WOW does the same thing - you don't learn about professions, talent points, or instances until well after the tutorial area is done. Many tutorials do this, and PS2 is modeled the same way. The goal was to teach them the fundamentals in ~10 minutes and then get them into the action so the size and scale of the game can hook them. And like other games, the more complicated aspects can be learned as they play.

malorn i hope by that you mean that the more complicated aspects can be learned later on using another tutorial because the more complicated things such as certing , map use , leading , generators , flying , outifts also need to be addressed in the tutorials maybe making optional advanced tutorials ?

[EvilNinjadude]

malorn i hope by that you mean that the more complicated aspects can be learned later on using another tutorial because the more complicated things such as certing , map use , leading , generators , flying , outifts also need to be addressed in the tutorials maybe making optional advanced tutorials ?I wrote a post on that in the official forums, linky link (http://forums.station.sony.com/ps2/index.php?threads/tutorial-available-feedback-here.124609/page-4#post-1713659).

[Phantomdestiny]

I wrote a post on that in the official forums, linky link (http://forums.station.sony.com/ps2/index.php?threads/tutorial-available-feedback-here.124609/page-4#post-1713659).

that's exactly what i meant , thanks

[Mordelicius]

If they are going to add more tutorials, at least do the most common tips and tricks first to help new player pitfalls:

examples:
- New players do not know, you have to equip AMS first to a loadout before deploying a Sunderer (so they either summon a Sunderer without AMS or have AMS but summon a Sunderer without AMS equipped).
- What button to push to deploy a Sunderer? (B)
- Where is the VR room? Again, it's almost a hidden feature. It should be more prominently displayed because it's a major feature to aid new players. Better yet, the VR room should have their own terminal with a large VR hologram :lol:.
- Dropping a C4 is different from dropping a mine. C4 is right click to drop, left click to detonate (it should be standardized).
- While dropping an engineer turret, press B to switch to alternative ammo instead.

Yesterday a new player was asking if Engineers have a turret. If new players don't even know how to summon a turret, they won't know they're supposed to drop the ammo too, or heck even be the repair guy.

The reason why I switched Engineer is because I used to fight a **** storm of Magriders at launch. I run out of ammo everytime, because few if any ever drop ammo. So I switched to Engi and basically tell everyone to switch to heavy assault so we can fight the Magriders. Then I go a round supplying all the heavy assaults.

[waldizzo]

Glad to see this was added. I've had quite a few people tell me they were waiting to play this game until something was added which explained what was going on.

[Rivenshield]

This is the first cut of the tutorial. There is more stuff planned as you surmised.

You still need a user's manual. Badly.

[Dougnifico]

I really liked the short video introduction. It really helped bring the lore into things. I hope they keep that then drop you into the tutorial.

[Sifer2]

Looking good but I hope it's still no where near finished. Since this really didn't cover enough. For example there needs to be an entire tutorial section on the Map. How to open it, how to read it, what everything means. This shooter isn't like others the map is incredibly important in this game.

Ideally there would also be optional tutorials on each class explaining what they do an how to use their special abilities. And optional tutorials on how to drive, and fly.

[ChipMHazard]

All of this is feedback is based on what is currently in the tutorial. I completely agree with Malorn about there needing to be things that players learn by themselves or is otherwise not covered by the main tutorial.

-The gravity pad VS speech is too long (Don't need to hear how great the technology is). Keep it short like the TR version of said speech. Generally keep everything short and precise as with the TR version.
-If the player completes a task as soon as said task is presented the tutorial needs to move along as to not force players to listen/read text that they don't want/need to. (For example, when you're told about hipfiring then allow players to complete the kill amount before being told to kill the dummies)
-Don't have the player resupply until after having changed class and kill the dummies with hipfire.

Have a short explanation for the following
-Show the player the health bar and shield bar and what they mean.
-Ammunition/grenade count.
-Special ability energy bar.
-Show how to enter a vehicle and change seats. (Have a Sunderer that becomes enterable after compeleting the repair tutorial.)
-How to overload/secure generators.
-How to use the engi/medic tool. (Have a damaged vehicle to repair and a fallen soldier to res and heal)
-Grenade throwing (You don't need to show each grenade type since some things should be left for the player to find out for him/herself)
-Explain friendly fire and grief points.
-Hacking
-How to resupply your ammunition.

The following could be voiced or not, wouldn't matter much. They wouldn't have to be part of the tutorial, could just be made into a tooltip when tutorial mode is toggled on.
-You could have a short overview of the map, leaving a more detailed explanation for self reading. Show and explain the most important parts of the map; the legend, statistics, filters, warpgate locations (which territory belongs to whom) etc. Keep it short and precise, will be especially important with the new-new lattice system that was teased.
-Squads (playing/communicating with others).
-Short explanation of each vehicle and its role.
-Resources.
-Cert points and what they are used for; Explain customization.

Might want to have the following NOT be voiced. Have the tips/explanations pop up with you have the tutorial mode toggled on.
-Explain the map elements: When capture points are contested, friendly or taken by the enemy. Pie chart. Etc.
-Map icons.
-Detailed menu explanation: Profile menu, social menu etc.
-A basic overview of each of the main facilities.
-Basicly anything that would require information too detailed, or not important enough, to warrant voice over.
-Show the virtual training button and explain what the area is about.
-XP modifier.

Also there's an easter egg at the back of the firing line. A nasty, evil, smelly easter egg.

[Gatekeeper]

Slightly off-topic, but I think one of the key problems in terms of making PS2 easy-to-learn is that there are a lot of inconsistencies or strange, obscure little facts tucked away in the game design, for example:


Every class has a special ability on F. Except LA who has it on space. And Engineer, who doesn't have one.
Every class has a special class-defining 'tool' in slot 3. Except for LA, who doesn't.
Engineer has ammo drop in a particular slot, but can replace this with other options - like health kits. Except they can still drop ammo even if it's been replaced by something else, by using their turret after pressing b. Intuitive stuff! :D
Glowing shields can be shot through from the inside, but not in from the outside. And they block grenades, but not rockets. Most of the time. Except sometimes they can't be shot through at all, and sometimes they can be shot through both ways. Except not by vehicles.
Every default weapon is solid and useful, the other weapons you can unlock are sidegrades. Except for ESF fuel tanks, which aren't weapons at all - and can be upgraded to kill-everything rocket pods.
Drivers also get the vehicle's main gun, because they paid the resources to acquire it and the certs or SC to unlock its weapons. Except for in Liberators, Galaxies, Sunderers and Harassers, which all require a team-mate to fire the main gun(s).
MAXes can't drive or gun vehicles, or man turrets. Except for Sunderer turrets, which are ok.
To heal someone, you equip your healing tool and press fire. To repair something, you equip your repair tool and press fire. To hack something, you press E on it. There is no hacking tool.
Scopes are perfectly steady and don't sway. Unless you go over a certain magnification. But then there's a special button to make them stop swaying for a bit.
To blow up vehicles, you shoot them. To blow up turrets, you shoot them. To blow up generators, you go up to them and hold E, and then wait for the timer to run down.
When a vehicle or turret explodes it will hurt you a bit if you're next to it, but probably won't kill you. When a generator explodes it will go up violently enough to kill everyone nearby.
Grenades are marked by a special bright-red warning icon. C4 and mines are not - although they can still be deployed in the middle of a fight.
Putting down an ammo pack takes a second or two, appears right at your feet and is blocked by anyone moving through the area. Mines and C4 can be thrown some distance and appear instantly.


I'm sure there's a lot more that I'm missing, but you get the idea. Many of these are things that I've seen players not know about, even after playing the game for months (or since launch in some cases) - others are just missed opportunities to make the game feel more consistent, logical or balanced.

You'll never cover all this stuff in any tutorial, but if things were simpler and/or more consistent then you wouldn't need to! /rant

[shaql]

Hamma, why didn't you show the tutorial BFR? :(

[Shogun]

playe the tutorial yesterday and it is nice.

but i didn´t find a button to toggle tutorial off!
and since the last tutorial step didn´t work (instant action button did nothing after countdown) i was stuck with the tutorial window on screen and a constantly repetition of the voiceover.

@ gatekeeper: VERY VERY good analysis of inconsistances! you should copy it to a new thread because most of them should be fixed, rather than explained in the tutorial.

especially the engineer stuff. he has no F ability, but has to doubleuse the turret? why? make F drop the ammo pack (and make it an easy drop like c4 or mines, the disappearing after throwing sucks)

[Gatekeeper]

@ gatekeeper: VERY VERY good analysis of inconsistances! you should copy it to a new thread because most of them should be fixed, rather than explained in the tutorial.

especially the engineer stuff. he has no F ability, but has to doubleuse the turret? why? make F drop the ammo pack (and make it an easy drop like c4 or mines, the disappearing after throwing sucks)

Thanks, was worried I was just ranting wildly there TBH :)

Personally I'd rather see C4 and mines work like ammo packs, but either way it's pretty strange how it works currently :)

And you're probably right about it being a separate thread - I'll post it as a new one now.

[Hamma]

Hamma, why didn't you show the tutorial BFR? :(

I didn't know it was there till after I already recorded it. :D

And agreed - great points Gatekeeper.

[Stew]

The majority of players that start playing Planetside are already experienced in the core mechanics of FPS style games. These players already know the basics of movement and aiming/firing weapons, as such they do not benefit from many aspects of the tutorial. The primary things that the tutorial should address are aiding players in understanding the unique aspects of Planetside’s gameplay.

A good starting point would be to introduce new players to how base defense works in this game, such as the roles of the various generators within bases. Furthermore, the tutorial needs to show the strong and weak points of the different factions’ weapons and vehicles, along with the appropriate way to fight against other factions. The tutorial should also show the importance of squad and platoon channels, in addition to explaining the importance of reading the comments made in the command chat channel. The tutorial also does not show various tactics and abilities used by players in the game in relation towards vehicles. The current tutorial also doesn't explain any of the features or icons that are found in the map. There is also no mention about the primary aspect of advancement within this game, certification points.

Planetside is a greatly more complex game than the average FPS style game. New players often leave Planetside due to not understanding the many aspects of the game. The current tutorial in its current state does not help new players out in understanding the many aspects of the game. I feel that the current tutorial is aimed at children, or people that are generally unfamiliar with computers. Planetside desperately needs an improved tutorial.

What I said was that most of the newer players are already experienced in the general aspects of FPS games, they know how to crouch, aim and fire weapons. The current tutorial fails to aid new players in understanding the unique aspects of Planetside, rather it focuses on teaching new players information that they most likely already know.

The tutorial needs to aid players in understanding the things that make Planetside stand apart from other FPS style games. Things such as how the squad and platoon systems work in addition to the roles of the various generators found in bases. At the very least the tutorial should try to explain the recoil patterns of the different weapons within Planetside. Basically, this current tutorial teaches information that the majority of new players already know, the only people that would find the tutorial useful would be children and persons whom have no experience playing video games on a computer. Upon completing this tutorial most new players will still have a very poor understanding of how the unique aspects of Planetside work.

comment adds nothing to the discussion. Your comment is basically saying that eating garbage is better than eating nothing; would you prefer to eat garbage rather than nothing in the future?

If you were given the chance to plan for your future in terms of eating, would you plan to grow and harvest vegetables/ fruit or would you plan to eat some garbage that you found?

I hope what I have said is understandable. I must say that I disagree with your point of view, the game developers should aim at teaching new players aspects of Planetside that are not common place in your typical FPS style game. Things such weapon handling, how to attack and defend bases, use special abilities such as the AMS addition to the sunderer, squad and platoon organisation, how to understand the map.

The things that I previously mentioned are examples of aspects of the game that the tutorial should teach new players. New players do not need help in understanding basic FPS mechanics, such as movement.

( Thanks to Stew360 translator )

[Sarloh]

Here's some of my opinions:
1. The person speaking should never mention any keys or real life buttons - it breaks the 'atmosphere',
2. You could add some 'collaboration' with the VR training area - for example the course you take could be added in that area so players can do it without the entire tutorial and there could be a part covering vehicles at the end instead of the teleporter, telling you to drive something and the player will then be leaded to the VR training area's 'spawn room' and the tutorial could end there,
3. The old introduction screen should come up as well (before the training course), but the text might need to be 'tweaked' a little.