Matrix Games Forums

Forums  Register  Login  Photo Gallery  Member List  Search  Calendars  FAQ 

My Profile  Inbox  Address Book  My Subscription  My Forums  Log Out

RE: MWiF Tutorial

 
View related threads: (in this forum | in all forums)

Logged in as: Guest
Users viewing this topic: none
  Printable Version
All Forums >> [New Releases from Matrix Games] >> World in Flames >> RE: MWiF Tutorial Page: <<   < prev  1 2 [3] 4 5   next >   >>
Login
Message << Older Topic   Newer Topic >>
RE: MWiF Tutorial - 2/12/2006 6:37:34 AM   
rtamesis

 

Posts: 78
Joined: 7/24/2004
Status: offline
quote:

ORIGINAL: Froonp

quote:

Tutorial #1 Countries
Countries are described in the first tutorial with the distinction between major powers, minor countries, territories, and regional areas within countries explained and demonstrated. For example, the USSR is a major power, Rumania is a minor country, and Bessarabia is a regional area within Rumania. Hawaii and the Philippines are territories held by the USA at the start of the war. Within each country the objective hexes can be identified (e.g., London) and then expanded to include those not within a major power’s country proper (e.g., Gibraltar).

The Philippines is a Minor Country, not a territory.
A Minor country has a capital city, a territory has not.
This is important for conquest purposes.
The Hawaiian Islands is a territory, and is conquered when all ports in the Hawaiian islands (Honolulu & Midway) are conquered.
The Philippines is a minor country and is conquered when Manila is conquered.



The Philippines was a US commonwealth (like Puerto Rico today) when the Japanese invaded. The Philippines didn't fall to the Japanese until US forces surrendered in Bataan and Corregidor 5 months after the Japanese landed. MacArthur quickly abandoned Manila when the Japanese landed in Lingayen gulf and withdrew US and Philippine forces to the Bataan peninsula to continue fighting and deny the Japanese the ability to use the ports in Manila and the Cavite naval shipyards. The Japanese could not use the ports of Manila because they were within range of the big guns of Bataan and Corregidor. Having the Philippines automatically surrender when Manila is occupied will therefore be a historical inaccuracy and upset Filipino wargamers who are always interested in how events that took place in the Philippines are portrayed by outsiders.

(in reply to Froonp)
Post #: 61
RE: MWiF Tutorial - 2/12/2006 9:53:06 PM   
Mziln


Posts: 1107
Joined: 2/9/2004
From: Tulsa Oklahoma
Status: offline
rtamesis and Patrice you are both right.

The Philippines was up graded to a U.S. Commonwealth in 1935.

BUT, for game purposes...

"There are 2 geographical entities in the game ~ home countries and territories. Home countries have capital cities, territories do not."

The Philippines (controled by the U.S.) has a minor capital Mannila.

Malaya is also a is a minor country (controlled by the Commonwealth) with a minor capital at Kuala Lumpur and controls the territory of Singapore.

This makes them minor countries controled by major powers not minor powers aligned to major powers.

< Message edited by Mziln -- 2/12/2006 9:59:23 PM >

(in reply to rtamesis)
Post #: 62
RE: MWiF Tutorial - 5/4/2006 11:00:48 PM   
Shannon V. OKeets

 

Posts: 22095
Joined: 5/19/2005
From: Honolulu, Hawaii
Status: offline
I am trying to flesh out what the tutorials will look like and would appreciate your opinion on the following discussion about the first 2 tutorials. Now there are a total of 17 tutorials, so please focus on the topics that have been identified for these 2. We’ll get to all the other stuff later.

What I am after is something that is interesting to view, communicates information well, doesn’t belabor the obvious, and doesn’t require a lot of the player’s time. Traditionally, tutorials fail abysmally in all 4 of these areas.

The introductory scenarios are in the form of look and see, with very few options for the player to affect the presentation. The second set of tutorials, the interactive ones, will give the player much more control and the ability to explore by manipulating units and making decisions.

Here are the design specifications for the first 2 tutorials:

Tutorial #1 Countries

Countries are described in the first tutorial with the distinction between major powers, minor countries, territories, and regional areas within countries explained and demonstrated. For example, the USSR is a major power, Rumania is a minor country, and Bessarabia is a regional area within Rumania. Hawaii is a territory held by the USA at the start of the war. Within each country the objective hexes can be identified (e.g., London) and then expanded to include those not within a major power’s country proper (e.g., Gibraltar).

Tutorial #2 Map

For the map, the following items need to be displayed on screen and explained:
∙ terrain in a hex
∙ terrain in a hexside: river, canal, straits, and all sea, alpine, and lake hexsides
∙ coastal hexes versus invasion hexes
∙ sea areas
∙ rail lines
∙ cities and ports (can be iced in and/or damaged)
∙ factories and resources - both oil and regular (can be damaged or destroyed)

For #1, the countries tutorial, I envision a screen presentation that has maps on the left and text on the right. The map will be roughly square, so the column of text will be narrow. The opening view will be of southern England, including London. The text would describe the victory hexes present: London and Birmingham.

The second map would show all of Great Britain and remark on Ireland being an independent country. From there we go to France and the Lowlands which gives the opportunity to describe how the Rhineland is a distinct area and so is Vichy France. The former is only for historical interest while the later plays an important part in most of the scenarios. Victory cities are most often capitals (e.g., Paris, Amsterdam), but not always (e.g., Antwerp).

I see this tutorial going to each major power in the game and discussing the victory cities the major power controls at the start of the Global War scenario. There will be screen shots of Berlin, Washington, Tokyo, Chungking, Delhi, Rome, Canberra, Cape Town, etc.. Accompanying each map will be a paragraph (or two) of text. Additional special hot spots to cover are Rumania, Finland, and Poland because of the border claims that are possible there.

In summary, tutorial #1 has a very modest goal, which is to give the players some familiarity with the major powers, objective hexes, and minor countries and territories that were important during WW II.

The second tutorial goes into terrain with a vengeance. I want to start with no units visible at all and gradually start adding them to explain the effects that terrain has on movement and combat. The sea areas need to be explained in detail for the way they affect play in WIF is unique.

In order to keep the player reading ahead, I want to introduce elements (like the units) without explaining them. Instead, I’ll state that all the different unit types are discussed in tutorials 3, 4, and 5. The first scenario does this too, because the player will be seeing all the terrain and map icons and wondering what they all mean. There will be a note in tutorial #1 that says the terrain is covered in scenario #2. My idea is to keep the player reading the tutorials, by intentionally leaving some of his questions to be answered in future tutorials.

During these first 2 tutorials the player is primarily passive. However, I believe that if we choose the screen shots well and keep the text fairly brief, we can make them interesting to read, informative, and rather quick to go through. If we also avoid belaboring the obvious, we will have satisfied the 4 goals I set at the beginning of this post.

Comments, criticisms, suggestions?

_____________________________

Steve

Perfection is an elusive goal.

(in reply to Mziln)
Post #: 63
RE: MWiF Tutorial - 5/4/2006 11:25:32 PM   
Froonp


Posts: 7995
Joined: 10/21/2003
From: Marseilles, France
Status: offline
About Tutorial 1 (Countries).
It should also show how you learn to which country a given hex belongs, by looking at the task bar of the game.

Maybe too this tutorial (or the Tutorial 2 about the map) should show how the player moves around on the map. The autoscroll zone, the scroll bars, the keyboard keys, the menu item that allow to jump directly to a given city, and the saved map views.

(in reply to Shannon V. OKeets)
Post #: 64
RE: MWiF Tutorial - 5/5/2006 2:39:01 AM   
morkin

 

Posts: 8
Joined: 1/12/2006
Status: offline
Here is my experience with Hearts of Iron 2.

Game itself is very complex. I picked a small country to play, just to figure out how does land units "move". You may advice a begginer to try playing Russia or China as first, leaving all other major powers to AI.

Something I found usefull lately are hints which are displayed at the beginnig of the game. Hints may be switched on and off whenever they are displayed with a simple tick box. There are also PREV and NEXT button. Hints should be simple, one or two sentences: "Attacking over river hexside halves attacker", "Escort your convoys with land based aircraft whenever possible", etc.

I found HOI2 user manual quite useless. It provided information that could be figured out by simply playing it for couple of hours. On the other hand, it manual doesnt explain in detail what are the unit costs, lists of units, technology costs...

Fill the manual with various tables, like resources and factories. Make that table copy/paste-able into spreadsheet or text format for further analysis.

Tutorial should not focus on "country, major power, teritory". It is too much detail that is not significant for player. Most difficult part for explanation is supply and face down concept. Face-down will be more difficult to explain since on screen it will be just a small darkened rectangle. Clicking on the "show supply" menu bar shoud change colour of hexes that are in supply to somewhat lighter.

Regarding objectives, capitals, oil resources... I think they are almost self explanatory and they do not deserve more then a few sentences in manual. If I remember corectly, moving mouse over a hex shoud make an indication that hex is an objective.

I have no time to read all posts about HMI (human machine interface), but since I am involved in creating requirements air traffic controller HMIs i can give few ideas. People appreciate tooltips, when they place mouse over an object, and after 2 seconds of not moving, tooltip appears on the screen next to an object giving more details about the object. For example mouse-over Rommel counter shoud say: Rommel, HQ-ARM, combat factor, movement points total, movement points left, face up or face down status, supply status, reorg points, offensive, whatever can be derived for that counter, perhaps including its historic description, real picture or something else). As a bonus, hexes where that unit can move shoud change colour to somewhat lighter or darker. This mode shoud be optional, and can be called as tutorial mode (on/off). This shoud not be hard to implement.

If there is a hex under cursor, in tutorial mode tooltip should give weather, invadable or not, paradrop possible or not, blitzkrieg possible or not, ownership, supply status for owning player and other properties a hex has.

Zeljko

(in reply to Shannon V. OKeets)
Post #: 65
RE: MWiF Tutorial - 5/5/2006 2:44:26 AM   
Shannon V. OKeets

 

Posts: 22095
Joined: 5/19/2005
From: Honolulu, Hawaii
Status: offline
Thanks.

_____________________________

Steve

Perfection is an elusive goal.

(in reply to morkin)
Post #: 66
RE: MWiF Tutorial - 5/5/2006 5:05:49 AM   
Zorachus99


Posts: 1066
Joined: 9/15/2000
From: Palo Alto, CA
Status: offline
I have to ask:

Is there going to be a weather toggle which displays weather by shifting the color of land/sea hexes?

It is very intuitive to look at the map and see

clear - no change
rain - shift all hex colors toward orange
storm - shift all hex colors toward brown
snow - shift toward white
blizzard - shift toward purple

(or some mix thereof)

I'm not sure how you are rendering hexes, but weather effects are by far the most important elements on deciding what type of impulse you choose. I change 'tactical' objectives frequently based on weather, and 'strategic' objectives only rarely by weather. 'Strategic' planning changes are rare, and are almost solely based on sudden balance of power changes in a theatre of combat. I hope the AI can distinguish this kind of idea. In fact it would be great if the weather hex overlay would just enable at the beginning of a phasing players impulse. Consider it a gigantic reminder that you don't want to move to a storm zone with your fleet of CV's, making their planes useless by accident. Definitely would want to turn it off at times.

No I don't wage war like Adolf changing strategic plans with the seasons, my strategic plan is usually in place within a few game turns, if not already decided before the first unit in the game moves. Occasionally I change strategy at the beginning of a game if the opponent shows his intentions early by doing something wildly a-historical



_____________________________

Most men can survive adversity, the true test of a man's character is power. -Abraham Lincoln

(in reply to Shannon V. OKeets)
Post #: 67
RE: MWiF Tutorial - 5/5/2006 6:39:05 AM   
Shannon V. OKeets

 

Posts: 22095
Joined: 5/19/2005
From: Honolulu, Hawaii
Status: offline
Weather is actually one of the easiest things to do. It will be a transparent overlay that will go over the terrain but under the units.

There are only 5 weather states in WIF:

clear - no overlay
rain - black diagonal lines, but not too many
storm - black diagonal line, noticeably more than for rain
snow - white rain
blizzard - white storm

Using colors instead adds a whole raft of problems, including choosing good ones for color blind players.

_____________________________

Steve

Perfection is an elusive goal.

(in reply to Zorachus99)
Post #: 68
RE: MWiF Tutorial - 5/6/2006 3:41:57 AM   
Zorachus99


Posts: 1066
Joined: 9/15/2000
From: Palo Alto, CA
Status: offline
Can I see screenshots of those? Idea seems much easier to implent. Pity the colorblind, i have a buddy who has difficulty with almost any 4-6 player boardgame. Some games seem perfectly designed to confused the colorblind :)

_____________________________

Most men can survive adversity, the true test of a man's character is power. -Abraham Lincoln

(in reply to Shannon V. OKeets)
Post #: 69
RE: MWiF Tutorial - 5/6/2006 4:40:08 AM   
Shannon V. OKeets

 

Posts: 22095
Joined: 5/19/2005
From: Honolulu, Hawaii
Status: offline

quote:

ORIGINAL: Zorachus99

Can I see screenshots of those? Idea seems much easier to implent. Pity the colorblind, i have a buddy who has difficulty with almost any 4-6 player boardgame. Some games seem perfectly designed to confused the colorblind :)


They haven't been done yet. I only have them envisioned.

At the present I have the graphics artist working on transferring the high resolution air and naval unit images from the WIF FE counter sheets to bitmaps.

_____________________________

Steve

Perfection is an elusive goal.

(in reply to Zorachus99)
Post #: 70
RE: MWiF Tutorial - 5/6/2006 11:58:06 AM   
Skeleton


Posts: 560
Joined: 3/14/2006
Status: offline
New to this particular forum, but I have been popping in for the last 8 months or so to check on the progress. Steve, your participation and prompt responses to questions is first rate. My two cents, and I know this is not Matrix policy, but please, if you want this game to appeal to more than just the hardcore WiF crowd or the avid wargamer, please, I beg you, have them include a real, physical, printed manuel. Could you tell me if this is your intention? Keep up the good work and I can't wait for autumn and this games release.

(in reply to Shannon V. OKeets)
Post #: 71
RE: MWiF Tutorial - 5/6/2006 12:40:02 PM   
Shannon V. OKeets

 

Posts: 22095
Joined: 5/19/2005
From: Honolulu, Hawaii
Status: offline
quote:

ORIGINAL: Marcus the leper
New to this particular forum, but I have been popping in for the last 8 months or so to check on the progress. Steve, your participation and prompt responses to questions is first rate. My two cents, and I know this is not Matrix policy, but please, if you want this game to appeal to more than just the hardcore WiF crowd or the avid wargamer, please, I beg you, have them include a real, physical, printed manuel. Could you tell me if this is your intention? Keep up the good work and I can't wait for autumn and this games release.


Thanks.

I do not know about 'printed', but I will make sure there is a good player's manual (in PDF format, which is printable).

WIF is both a complex and unconventional war game. Its many add-ons and evolution over the last 20 years (yes, it has been that long) also adds to the uncertainty as to what can be done & what should be done. A need for rules clarifications are commonplace among very experienced WIF players. And woe betide newcomers to the game.

I see a four pronged attack (double envelopment?) on the problem: the players' manual, the help system, the tutorials, and the player interface. For each of them I have ambitious goals. Indeed, my goal for each is for it to be better than any that have been done before. This is not only because I am obsessive about things being done right, but also to address the concern you raised: to make the game enjoyable for players other than "the hardcore WIF crowd and avid wargamers". MWIF will need a powerful support system for new players to get them up that steep learning curve. This is partially why I have been doing design work on them (off and on) since September.

_____________________________

Steve

Perfection is an elusive goal.

(in reply to Skeleton)
Post #: 72
RE: MWiF Tutorial - 5/6/2006 5:15:44 PM   
Skeleton


Posts: 560
Joined: 3/14/2006
Status: offline
Thank you so much for your quick and thoughtful response. Your effort to make the game accessible to all wargamers hopefully will be rewarded. Keep up the good work and I for one, as a non playing WiF gamer can't wait for this game to come out.

(in reply to Shannon V. OKeets)
Post #: 73
RE: MWiF Tutorial - 9/16/2006 2:28:40 AM   
Shannon V. OKeets

 

Posts: 22095
Joined: 5/19/2005
From: Honolulu, Hawaii
Status: offline
Here is my first pass at a tutorial page. The 10 Introductory tutorials are simple look and read presentations, so I am doing them first. Once I get the hang of how to do them, I'll look into how to code the 9 Interactive tutorials.

I intend to change the title in the upper left corner to read: Tutorial #0, page 1 of 4. Each of the tutorials will have a different country color for the background - what you see here is Germany's background.

In the upper right corner are navigation buttons for paging through the current tutorial or going to the next/previous tutorial. Home takes you to the opening screen which has a full list of the tutorials. It also has links to Start New Game and Restore Saved Game.

The text box at top center is static for each tutorial - it gives an overview of the tutorial. The text box to the right describes the picture (usually a screen shot) to the left, and is different for each page of a tutorial.

So that is the design: (1) Title, (2) Overview text, (3) Navigation buttons, (4) Picture, and (5) Text for picture




Attachment (1)

_____________________________

Steve

Perfection is an elusive goal.

(in reply to Skeleton)
Post #: 74
RE: MWiF Tutorial - 9/16/2006 4:44:33 AM   
wfzimmerman


Posts: 660
Joined: 10/22/2003
Status: offline
quote:

ORIGINAL: Shannon V. OKeets

Here is my first pass at a tutorial page. The 10 Introductory tutorials are simple look and read presentations, so I am doing them first. Once I get the hang of how to do them, I'll look into how to code the 9 Interactive tutorials.

I intend to change the title in the upper left corner to read: Tutorial #0, page 1 of 4. Each of the tutorials will have a different country color for the background - what you see here is Germany's background.

In the upper right corner are navigation buttons for paging through the current tutorial or going to the next/previous tutorial. Home takes you to the opening screen which has a full list of the tutorials. It also has links to Start New Game and Restore Saved Game.

The text box at top center is static for each tutorial - it gives an overview of the tutorial. The text box to the right describes the picture (usually a screen shot) to the left, and is different for each page of a tutorial.

So that is the design: (1) Title, (2) Overview text, (3) Navigation buttons, (4) Picture, and (5) Text for picture




Paragraphing is important for readability especially in this sort of crowded page.


_____________________________


(in reply to Shannon V. OKeets)
Post #: 75
RE: MWiF Tutorial - 9/16/2006 6:07:03 AM   
Shannon V. OKeets

 

Posts: 22095
Joined: 5/19/2005
From: Honolulu, Hawaii
Status: offline
quote:

ORIGINAL: wfzimmerman

quote:

ORIGINAL: Shannon V. OKeets

Here is my first pass at a tutorial page. The 10 Introductory tutorials are simple look and read presentations, so I am doing them first. Once I get the hang of how to do them, I'll look into how to code the 9 Interactive tutorials.

I intend to change the title in the upper left corner to read: Tutorial #0, page 1 of 4. Each of the tutorials will have a different country color for the background - what you see here is Germany's background.

In the upper right corner are navigation buttons for paging through the current tutorial or going to the next/previous tutorial. Home takes you to the opening screen which has a full list of the tutorials. It also has links to Start New Game and Restore Saved Game.

The text box at top center is static for each tutorial - it gives an overview of the tutorial. The text box to the right describes the picture (usually a screen shot) to the left, and is different for each page of a tutorial.

So that is the design: (1) Title, (2) Overview text, (3) Navigation buttons, (4) Picture, and (5) Text for picture




Paragraphing is important for readability especially in this sort of crowded page.


There are trade offs here. Size of font, spacing for paragraphs, amount of information per page. The layout is for 1024 by 768 which is the basic size I need to support. So, what gives if I add paragraphing?

_____________________________

Steve

Perfection is an elusive goal.

(in reply to wfzimmerman)
Post #: 76
RE: MWiF Tutorial - 9/16/2006 11:38:44 AM   
Neilster


Posts: 2890
Joined: 10/27/2003
From: Hobart, Tasmania, Australia
Status: offline
This looks good. It might look a little better to put a small gap between the text box and the "Last Page" and "Home" buttons and perhaps align the tops of the text box and the picture.

Paragraphing would be advantageous if it can be accomodated.

Cheers, Neilster

(in reply to wfzimmerman)
Post #: 77
RE: MWiF Tutorial - 9/16/2006 1:25:48 PM   
Shannon V. OKeets

 

Posts: 22095
Joined: 5/19/2005
From: Honolulu, Hawaii
Status: offline
quote:

ORIGINAL: Neilster

This looks good. It might look a little better to put a small gap between the text box and the "Last Page" and "Home" buttons and perhaps align the tops of the text box and the picture.

Paragraphing would be advantageous if it can be accomodated.

Cheers, Neilster


The space for the picture is 650 by 650 - which aligns with the top of the text box. I had purposely moved the map down in the frame. it's easy enough to move it to the top.

I agree about the rest.

If I go down 1 more font size (from 10 to 9), I'll be able to place "white space" around the text (e.g., paragraphs). That's pretty small though.

I always seem to have a lot I want to say. I guess I will just have to choose the important things and cut out any non-essential tidbits.

_____________________________

Steve

Perfection is an elusive goal.

(in reply to Neilster)
Post #: 78
RE: MWiF Tutorial - 9/17/2006 12:08:36 AM   
wworld7


Posts: 1727
Joined: 2/25/2003
From: The Nutmeg State
Status: offline

quote:

ORIGINAL: Shannon V. OKeets

If I go down 1 more font size (from 10 to 9), I'll be able to place "white space" around the text (e.g., paragraphs). That's pretty small though.



Please don't go lower than font size 10. It is harder for those of us whose eyesight isn't what it used to be (probably from reading too many documents in font size 8).

Flipper

(in reply to Shannon V. OKeets)
Post #: 79
RE: MWiF Tutorial - 9/17/2006 2:59:51 AM   
wfzimmerman


Posts: 660
Joined: 10/22/2003
Status: offline
quote:

ORIGINAL: flipperwasirish


quote:

ORIGINAL: Shannon V. OKeets

If I go down 1 more font size (from 10 to 9), I'll be able to place "white space" around the text (e.g., paragraphs). That's pretty small though.



Please don't go lower than font size 10. It is harder for those of us whose eyesight isn't what it used to be (probably from reading too many documents in font size 8).

Flipper


Steve, can't you use tabs or spaces for paragraphing? no need to adjust font size.

_____________________________


(in reply to wworld7)
Post #: 80
RE: MWiF Tutorial - 9/17/2006 3:28:33 AM   
Shannon V. OKeets

 

Posts: 22095
Joined: 5/19/2005
From: Honolulu, Hawaii
Status: offline
quote:

ORIGINAL: wfzimmerman
quote:

ORIGINAL: flipperwasirish
quote:

ORIGINAL: Shannon V. OKeets
If I go down 1 more font size (from 10 to 9), I'll be able to place "white space" around the text (e.g., paragraphs). That's pretty small though.

Please don't go lower than font size 10. It is harder for those of us whose eyesight isn't what it used to be (probably from reading too many documents in font size 8).
Flipper

Steve, can't you use tabs or spaces for paragraphing? no need to adjust font size.


Well, I have reached the following conclusions:
1 - Stay with font size 10
2 - Stay with Verdana font (because it is more legible than, say, Arial on a computer)
3 - Stay with 1024 by 768 pixels for the screen size
4 - Stay with 650 by 650 for the picture portion of the screen
5 - Maybe add another text panel at the bottom when the picture doesn't need the entire 650 by 650 allocated to it and more text description is needed

I like a blank line between paragraphs which has the bad effect of consuming a lot of space. Tabbed indentations for paragraphs is an option but it has to be enough to be visible as an indentation (e.g., 2 spaces wouldn't work) so that loses some space - but less than devoting a whole line to the paragraph.

I might use bullets in lieu of paragraphs. They would take less room than indentation and they are sort of appropriate, given that the text will almost always be making a series of points about the picture.

I am trying to avoid using more robust character renderings, like bold and underline, since they would likely overwhelm the small space available for text.

These are still early days for designing this and I appreciate all the comments/feedback. I'll try to do a couple more pages so we have nmore than 1 example to look at while figuring out what works best.

_____________________________

Steve

Perfection is an elusive goal.

(in reply to wfzimmerman)
Post #: 81
RE: MWiF Tutorial - 9/18/2006 3:44:21 AM   
Shannon V. OKeets

 

Posts: 22095
Joined: 5/19/2005
From: Honolulu, Hawaii
Status: offline
So here is another page of the tutorial (it is actually page 3). I think I will have to break down and start numbering the tutorials at 1 instead of 0 (and the programmer/mathematician in me shouts "Why?"). The paragraphing helps, and the simple blank line looks best. I'll just have to keep the text pithy. If I get a chance I'll post a couple more of these today.




Attachment (1)

_____________________________

Steve

Perfection is an elusive goal.

(in reply to Shannon V. OKeets)
Post #: 82
RE: MWiF Tutorial - 9/18/2006 4:04:08 AM   
Missouri_Rebel


Posts: 3065
Joined: 6/19/2006
From: Southern Missouri
Status: offline
One of the things that is a turn-off for me in a tutorial is when it shows you how to do things but doesn't tell you why you do it. Merely displaying the functions without detailing the reasons leave me guessing the flow of the game. i.e. War in the Pacific.

Hope that makes sense.

Mo Reb


_____________________________

**Those who rob Peter to pay Paul can always count on the support of Paul
**A government big enough to give you everything you want is a government big enough to take from you everything you have-Gerald Ford

(in reply to SamuraiProgrmmr)
Post #: 83
RE: MWiF Tutorial - 9/18/2006 4:24:00 AM   
Neilster


Posts: 2890
Joined: 10/27/2003
From: Hobart, Tasmania, Australia
Status: offline
And there I was thinking Germany invaded the Soviet Union on June 22nd 1941.

Cheers, Neilster

(in reply to Missouri_Rebel)
Post #: 84
RE: MWiF Tutorial - 9/18/2006 4:29:08 AM   
Shannon V. OKeets

 

Posts: 22095
Joined: 5/19/2005
From: Honolulu, Hawaii
Status: offline
quote:

ORIGINAL: Missouri_Rebel
One of the things that is a turn-off for me in a tutorial is when it shows you how to do things but doesn't tell you why you do it. Merely displaying the functions without detailing the reasons leave me guessing the flow of the game. i.e. War in the Pacific.

Hope that makes sense.

Mo Reb

Yes. I have a long list of Do's and Don'ts for the tutorials that was developed for me by the forum members earlier this year.

Here's another draft page for the 1st tutorial.




Attachment (1)

< Message edited by Shannon V. OKeets -- 9/18/2006 4:31:00 AM >


_____________________________

Steve

Perfection is an elusive goal.

(in reply to Missouri_Rebel)
Post #: 85
RE: MWiF Tutorial - 9/18/2006 4:54:54 AM   
Missouri_Rebel


Posts: 3065
Joined: 6/19/2006
From: Southern Missouri
Status: offline
I'm sorry if this sounds silly but here it goes. Mr. Okeets you really have a good handle on the wants and needs of computer gaming and I sure wish you a great deal of success in not only this project but in future ones too. There has not been one single aspect that has been discouraging as a prospective customer. That screen has a plethora of information. Man I am starting to sound like a Fanboy  and that has never been the case before. Keep it up.


Mo Reb




_____________________________

**Those who rob Peter to pay Paul can always count on the support of Paul
**A government big enough to give you everything you want is a government big enough to take from you everything you have-Gerald Ford

(in reply to Shannon V. OKeets)
Post #: 86
RE: MWiF Tutorial - 9/18/2006 3:59:29 PM   
wfzimmerman


Posts: 660
Joined: 10/22/2003
Status: offline
quote:

ORIGINAL: Shannon V. OKeets

quote:

ORIGINAL: Missouri_Rebel
One of the things that is a turn-off for me in a tutorial is when it shows you how to do things but doesn't tell you why you do it. Merely displaying the functions without detailing the reasons leave me guessing the flow of the game. i.e. War in the Pacific.

Hope that makes sense.

Mo Reb

Yes. I have a long list of Do's and Don'ts for the tutorials that was developed for me by the forum members earlier this year.

Here's another draft page for the 1st tutorial.





Good. Works for me.

Only issue I see is that you don't have a full response to the issue? fact? that you can tell them to start with Barb and Guad as much as you want, but most people aren't going to play them more than 1x before plunging into Global War. The tutorial learning strategy needs to acknowledge that reality somehow.

< Message edited by wfzimmerman -- 9/18/2006 4:02:26 PM >


_____________________________


(in reply to Shannon V. OKeets)
Post #: 87
RE: MWiF Tutorial - 9/18/2006 7:47:57 PM   
Shannon V. OKeets

 

Posts: 22095
Joined: 5/19/2005
From: Honolulu, Hawaii
Status: offline
Ok, I'll try to butress mt argument that they should play Barbaossa and Guadalcanal numerous times, before taking on Global War. My basic point will be that Global War takes a lot of time and effort and that if you do not know what you are doing, it will mostly be wasted time. I think the concept of strategic plans built on operational lpans, built on tactical expertise should be in there somewhere too.

_____________________________

Steve

Perfection is an elusive goal.

(in reply to wfzimmerman)
Post #: 88
RE: MWiF Tutorial - 9/18/2006 8:01:01 PM   
wfzimmerman


Posts: 660
Joined: 10/22/2003
Status: offline
quote:

ORIGINAL: Shannon V. OKeets

Ok, I'll try to butress mt argument that they should play Barbaossa and Guadalcanal numerous times, before taking on Global War. My basic point will be that Global War takes a lot of time and effort and that if you do not know what you are doing, it will mostly be wasted time. I think the concept of strategic plans built on operational lpans, built on tactical expertise should be in there somewhere too.


Not quite my point. I emphasize that no matter what you write, people will quickly plunge into Global War. Better to accept that and focus your energy on setting their expectations, i.e.

1) you will probably lose badly
2) the game may seem very ahistorical
3) you may actually be steepening your learning curve

WHen I learn WW2 games, I usually just keep playing until I can achieve basic goals, like take Poland, knock out France in '40, etc.




_____________________________


(in reply to Shannon V. OKeets)
Post #: 89
RE: MWiF Tutorial - 9/18/2006 8:38:54 PM   
Shannon V. OKeets

 

Posts: 22095
Joined: 5/19/2005
From: Honolulu, Hawaii
Status: offline
quote:

ORIGINAL: wfzimmerman
quote:

ORIGINAL: Shannon V. OKeets
Ok, I'll try to butress mt argument that they should play Barbaossa and Guadalcanal numerous times, before taking on Global War. My basic point will be that Global War takes a lot of time and effort and that if you do not know what you are doing, it will mostly be wasted time. I think the concept of strategic plans built on operational lpans, built on tactical expertise should be in there somewhere too.


Not quite my point. I emphasize that no matter what you write, people will quickly plunge into Global War. Better to accept that and focus your energy on setting their expectations, i.e.

1) you will probably lose badly
2) the game may seem very ahistorical
3) you may actually be steepening your learning curve

WHen I learn WW2 games, I usually just keep playing until I can achieve basic goals, like take Poland, knock out France in '40, etc.

OK.

_____________________________

Steve

Perfection is an elusive goal.

(in reply to wfzimmerman)
Post #: 90
Page:   <<   < prev  1 2 [3] 4 5   next >   >>
All Forums >> [New Releases from Matrix Games] >> World in Flames >> RE: MWiF Tutorial Page: <<   < prev  1 2 [3] 4 5   next >   >>
Jump to:





New Messages No New Messages
Hot Topic w/ New Messages Hot Topic w/o New Messages
Locked w/ New Messages Locked w/o New Messages
 Post New Thread
 Reply to Message
 Post New Poll
 Submit Vote
 Delete My Own Post
 Delete My Own Thread
 Rate Posts


Forum Software © ASPPlayground.NET Advanced Edition 2.4.5 ANSI

1.078