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Shannon V. OKeets -> RE: What kind of manual(s) should we ask for? (12/16/2007 9:51:15 PM)
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quote:
ORIGINAL: SamuraiProgrammer
quote:
ORIGINAL: Shannon V. OKeets
I also expect that learning MWIF will be a lot easier than learning the board game by reading through RAW. Perhaps even an order of magnitude easier?
There are several things that I think will make MWiF easier to learn than the boardgame.
I am one of those struggling players of EiA that have never played the game before and am truly overwhelmed. There are several things that I find myself wishing I had. I don't especially feel that all of these are feasable or have not be addressed already, but here they are.
- The manual needs an overview section geared towards players new to the game. This section would give the user an idea of what steps it takes to play a turn, what objectives they should have, and some indications of what sections of the rules are most important for a new player. Most of the time, the rules are laid out in the order of play. This is as it should be because the manual will serve as a reference much longer than it will serve as an introduction. The overview will help mitigate the problem that a reference is usually ineffective as an introduction.
- Tutorials. These will help introduce the interface better than the written word can ever do. Also, they can give the green recruit an idea of what he/she can do while he is learning what he/she should do.
- Many times, a manual only tells the player how to do something. Expanding the manual so that it also tells the player why something needs to be done, when is a good time to do it, and how to do it well will be a great thing. For example, just before describing how to accomplish a breakthrough attack with the software, explain how a breakthrough attack is where the armor units break through a hole in the line and exploit their speed to capture as much territory as possible while helping surround the enemy that is fighting on the front lines. Just after describing how to accomplish a breakthrough attack with the software, describe how to recognize when it is a good time to attempt it and when it is a poor choice. Some manuals put this information into shaded boxes to segregate it from the regular rules.
- Most importantly for a game of this size, I think there needs to be some published information that give a new player some fairly detailed instructions of what they need to do for the first couple of turns in the campaign game for each of the major powers. This will help players 'jump in the deep end of the pool' and survive. I have always tried to read the manual casually before starting the game. Then, after playing my first game, go back and reread part (or all) of the manual. Repeat as needed. Giving them some hints as to what a grand strategy might be will help them learn by doing.
I hope this is helpful and am interested in any others opinions. Remember, though, I am not saying that all of these are feasable. Just that they would be helpful for the new player.
Good advice.[&o]
After reading your first point I think I will add a fourth subsection to How To Play. The first 3 describe the tutorials, and the new section would be titled "Important Decisions". It would highlight the places in the sequence of play where what the player decides should be based on an overall plan. As part of that would be reasons for choosing A versus B or C. I would want this to be short, preferably covering only the bare minimum of major decision points. Otherwise it might become too bulky, thereby defeating one of its purposes: providing a quick start for the new player.
Tutorials will be an important part of MWIF.
For your third point, I think I will bury that in the help sections for each form/phase/subphase. I already envision these containing sections on: (1) Purpose, (2) Screen Display, and (3) Use. The new fourth section will be Considerations. Again I do not want these to be treatises on the subjects, just some helpful suggestions.
Satisfying your fourth point will require little to no effort by me. I intend to simply provide the very long writeups WIF FE has for each major power for each scenario. They are somewhat dated and the WIF gurus argue about the accuracy of the content, but all-in-all they are an excellent introduction for the newcomer on how to plan and play each major power.
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