Tutorial Suggestions

[xInVicTuSx]

Hey guys, I wouldn't mind making some tutorials for new players and players who wish to learn more mech tactics.
Seeing players charge with Owens prime and shoot at stuff below minimum range of course makes me sad,
but at least I can hope to help the players who sit the start of the round in a LRM Cougar and constantly shoot at my Osiris never to hit it once when they could be helping their team. (These are actually ok players who do talk during the game and want to learn, the other day I convinced a guy to start shooting at our Pumas and Ullers and stop shooting at my Osiris, he starting getting kills afterward, he was using LRMs.) 

But I need to know what would be most helpful, there are lots of options.
Unfortunately a guided ingame tutorial is not an option for me, but it wouldn't be much help anyways when it comes to reallife battle tactics because you cannot simulate those with scripts.
Also, I wouldn't mind training people in game myself but I've never been a good in game teacher as I find it hard to demonstrate stuff.
So here are some options:

Text with charts and graphs, basically a sports playbook approach. (easiest)
Text with still screenshots showing the action being done correctly and incorrectly.
A video of tactical maneuvers caught in real action with pauses and explanations.
A video of tactical maneuvers in a controlled laboratory setting. (hardest)

So what mix of these do you think would be best?

Also I would rather construct it like a FAQ, with the most requested tutorials worked on first, rather than an overarching bootcamp. With that said don't be afraid to ask very specific questions, in fact the more specific the better, such as
(How do I know when to retreat from battle and spread the damage over my mech to survive the retreat?)
But general questions like,
(How do you use the RAC/5s on the Bushwacker A?)
Are acceptable as well.
Questions like, How do you brawl good? Are too general to answer. Try something like, How do you brawl good in a Thanatos Prime? Or How do you brawl good in light mechs? Stuff like that. 

Please note that I would teach you the way I do things, so I will use default MWLL controls and I will only teach mechs, not BA(lololol aimgood) probably not tanks at first, not AntiAircraft(lololol leadshots) and I cannot fly, but tactics and general maneuvers for each mech and its corresponding variants. And if you have 15 FPS I can't help you, I play at more or less constant +30Fps so assume most shots actually connecting and a smooth enough ride to actually pilot your mech.
Map based tactics questions I can take if they are specific enough, I'm not answering "How do good on marshes?" though.

And keep it to individual skills please, lololol teamwork, doesn't help anyone much if they don't know how to do good on their own.

[Virt]

Sounds good.  Can I suggest you add it to the Wiki, where more n00bs people will see it?

[~SJ~ Wolf]

Think you can sum it all up to fit on a sign in the spawn room? Most noobs join the game, then ask questions. Rarely do they come here or to the wiki first, other than for install steps and related issues.

[Sesambrot]

Nice idea!
If you want I could help you with screenshots, and in game vids.

However, Korjax already made a "how to play MWLL Beta" video...
It's not up to date but it covers the basics of controlling and gameplay.
In fact I think that one should be linked at a place where it jumps right into the face of anybody who's about to download the mod, I think that would help a lot!

Also, in order to get some questions for something like a Gameplay FAQ you have in mind, you'd have to ask all the Mechwarriors out there on the servers, or write down the questions all those newbies ask in game.
Most ppl in the forum are the guys who already know how to play the game, so I doubt there will be many who have questions left, or are active enough to notice a Tutorial like this, maybe if it had a new forum section, but not as a subforum.

Again it would be necessary to place it somewhere, anyone who is interested in the mod can't help to stumble across it, or it will get just as lost as Korjax tutorial vids...


However, if you plan to do it, I'd gladly help you.

[(TLL)Siilk]

Also, I wouldn't mind training people in game myself but I've never been a good in game teacher as I find it hard to demonstrate stuff.
So here are some options:

Text with charts and graphs, basically a sports playbook approach. (easiest)
Text with still screenshots showing the action being done correctly and incorrectly.
A video of tactical maneuvers caught in real action with pauses and explanations.
A video of tactical maneuvers in a controlled laboratory setting. (hardest)

So what mix of these do you think would be best?

 A mix of text with screenshots and a couple of short videos for some parts, where still images wouldn't be enough is the best format for such tutorial.

However, Korjax already made a "how to play MWLL Beta" video...
It's not up to date but it covers the basics of controlling and gameplay.

 Basic controls, yes, but not the combat tactic guide. Things, like why you shouldn't brawl with LRM Owens or how to act if playing against a team with LT are not covered by this video, you mention.

[Sesambrot]

Well at the end of video one he engages an awesome with an Owens prime, closes in below 300m and explains why the lrms miss...
I think it's obvious, just as obvious as what should be done against artillery; keep moving, and sneak up on the LT to destroy it.
the problem with that is most newbies don't know how to use radarmodes effectively, which is described in that video...
btw here's the URL to part one: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xBqvcVvYgZY

tactics like brawling, sniping, poptrating etc are self-explanatory, and as soon as you know how the weapons work, it's more than obvious which mech to use for what.
first time I played, I also tried to brawl with lrms, but it happened exactly once, and then never again...

even though the vid is not up to date, I think if every newbie had watched it while downloading the mod, there wouldn't be much of a need for further tutorials...

[lexwolf]

+1
will help/work at the projekt
if it will start

[Leeko]

There's already a pretty comprehensive beginner's guide on the wiki, but if you'd like to pursue this route and you're serious about it I'd like to see videos with narration+subtitles.

I'm envisioning an ongoing series of short "how-to" videos about tactics, eventually ranging from the general - basics like maneuvering, weapon use, etc - to the specific - such as the use of individual chassis/variants to their best potential. Preferably staged, or as you put it "in a controlled laboratory setting," where we'd have a couple actors (pilots) demonstrating tactics or whatever, with the pilots as well as a spectator recording, and coordination using ventrilo or teamspeak or something. We'd have to update it as necessary when patches come out though, and for the sake of organization it should all be under its own youtube account. And then we could put links on the homepage and/or wiki.

In case it hasn't become obvious, I'd love to help. I'll record as a spectator, participate as a pilot, read lines to narrate the videos, do editing, whatever you need. I really like this idea. Sign me up.

Hell, Invictus, if you're not up to the workload of a project of the size I'm foreseeing I'll take the helm.

[Askis]

A set of commentated Beginner's Vids would be nice, but since there might be some changes when the next version is done, someone might have to redo them afterwards...
The Basics Guide on the Wiki is great for  but could be a bit more in depth about some things.

I've been thinking about creating a sort of PDF manual for a while now, which would be easier to edit when new stuff is added or old stuff changed,  but the more I thought about it, the more I realized that it'd take more time than I have to spare right now.
Partly because I would have wanted to include a small weapons table with notes about some of the quirks of some weapons (LRM min-range and faster lock-on time when crouched for example).

[xInVicTuSx]

LIVE AGAIN.

Well its come to my attention that this is becoming a demanded commodity so I will take another look at it.

How about something like this:

Welcome to Mechwarrior: Explain basic battletech concepts like mech weights and general balancing rules, speed\weight\heat and such, anyone who knows anything about battletech or mechwarrior could probably skip this but you never know.

Bootcamp: basic controls for BA and Mechs, learn ALL the controls for movement and firing first for BA, then for Mech.

Cadet training: Learning the basic tactics, Sniping, Supporting, Brawling, Scouting and classifying the basic mechs used for each.

Combined Arms: There are more than just enemy mechs as I'm sure you know by now; includes tank piloting and basic anti BA and anti Air methods.

Officer training:

Part 1: Supporting, learn to Missile boat, add weight to an assault from behind and turtle correctly(not probing too far and being caught alone), all the relevant assets are covered.

Part 2: Scouting, learn to Narc, tag, C3, manage radar and learn the grid system, most of the course will involve the Raven.

Part 3: Sniping, learn to gain ground without brawling, poptart, and target specific components and manage heat while stationary.

Part 4: Brawling, learn to charge headfirst or engage enemy brawlers toe to toe, advanced radar management and JJ/MASC use and when to know when to charge and when to retreat and how to retreat.

Graduation: Now that you can take care of yourself, a few tips on how to help your team.

Each would be a video voiced by someone, probably me to speed up the process (maybe I should start practicing my Mechwarrior 3 briefing officer voice ), of in game clips stopped frequently with explanations and visual highlights and arrows. Thus the first part of the video would be me alone in a server talking about it in theory, then cut together clips of my actual gameplay in real situations with the clips being lifted for relevant instruction.

All I would need are two things and I could be off to the races, a script or story board if you'd like which i can easily write myself if I know what i should be teaching and how much time I have allotted, and a video capturing device or software that doesn't utterly rape my Frames per second and hard drive space, it would be easiest if I could just capture my actual gameplay and edit it from there.

As to that my specs are:
Intel Q9450 OC'd to 3 GHZ
x2 SLI Nvidia 9600 GTs 512 MB memory
64bit Windows Vista Ultimate
x8GB 1066 DDR2 G.skill Ram running at its factory speed.
640GB 750 RPM HDD

Any ideas on how I can capture my gameplay without compromising my ability to play at the same time?

[(TLL) Heretic]

Why not just write up a "MWLL for Dummies" Guide and add it to the Wiki?

If folks find it useful I'm sure the Devs would sticky it here for new folks.

[xInVicTuSx]

I could do that as well, but most stuff you need to see, not just read about to understand, its like reading how and when to pass or go for a basket in basketball or how to correctly run a route in football.

But if you guys think it would be just as effective it would be a hell of a lot less work. 

[Leeko]

There's already a guide on the wiki, and I do think that instructional videos would be better. I'll help in whatever way I can.

[-SM-SUCKER]

You do know that most players never touch the forum or the wiki, right? At least not those who leave again.
Make the tutorial vids available in game.
I have no clue if the devs can manipulate the menu, but another option would be a bright text in the spawn areas, similar to the help boards already in place. But if you "use" the tutorial text board, you start a tutorial level.
CryEngine should be capable of running a simple console command when someone does something in game.

[(TLL)Siilk]

You do know that most players never touch the forum or the wiki, right? At least not those who leave again.
Make the tutorial vids available in game.
I have no clue if the devs can manipulate the menu, but another option would be a bright text in the spawn areas, similar to the help boards already in place. But if you "use" the tutorial text board, you start a tutorial level.
CryEngine should be capable of running a simple console command when someone does something in game.

You do know that most players never touch any tutorials at all?

 

Any ideas on how I can capture my gameplay without compromising my ability to play at the same time?

 Fraps?