User Name
Password

Go Back   Planetarion Forums > Planetarion Related Forums > Planetarion Suggestions

Reply
Thread Tools Display Modes
Unread 21 Sep 2013, 00:54   #1
Kaiba
Valle is my hero
 
Kaiba's Avatar
 
Join Date: Mar 2010
Posts: 2,581
Kaiba has much to be proud ofKaiba has much to be proud ofKaiba has much to be proud ofKaiba has much to be proud ofKaiba has much to be proud ofKaiba has much to be proud ofKaiba has much to be proud ofKaiba has much to be proud ofKaiba has much to be proud of
Tutorial for new players

Currently when you signup for PA after entering your personal details you are asked to select a race and off you go. For a new player this is a big choice and there is no guidance on what to do. You then have a Quest section on the overview but maybe you will never see it, you actually have to 'turn it on' to use and then it doesnt guide you and instead makes you do a few mundane tasks which dont actually explain the purpose of the game.

So in this lengthly post i will propose the following tutorial to be considered to help new players.

First Page:-

All the current email/password and jazz, no need to change this it does what it needs to.

Second Page:-

Hail Exalted Emporer! Welcome to Planetarion, the universe welcomes your civilisations decision to join the fight for domination of all!!

There are just a last few things that need to be clarified before you are allowed to wage war (crossing the T's and dotting the I's)

Emporer Name: <Enter Here>

Planet Name: <Enter Here>

Planet Race: <Drop Down Menu with 6 current options>

(if a race is selected then a proper description of each races ancestory, nature, special power (EMP/Cloak/Steal) and actual appearance should appear below. This should be minimum of 10 lines and go into reasonable detail*)

*Maybe hyperlinks of certain battles or episode in a races past could be clicked and a new tab could explain what happened in more depth to add some depth to the races interaction ie. The Battle of Skullhagon between Cathaar and Terran and what happened bla bla (historical events could be written and proposed by playerbase and intrgrated by PA Team to enrich the universes history


Page 3:-

The startup bonus page.

A pop up with a gift from the PA Team of resources and research/construction points to help your planet start to grow into an intergalatic powerhouse, spend it wisely!! Click to accept the handout.

The list of researches and constructions as normal with the same description from expanding (though the expanding button should be bigger/bolder/better placed) Above the list in bold should be a link to suggested to startup strategies which have been offered by the playerbase (we need to get people giving back to the community and so many people have great setups and so on. Pa Team can maybe organse them into difficulty levels to help new players.

*Maybe force new players to build 1 factory from the lowest class from their chosen race and to start the first hull research would be a step to getting people of to the right start.

Player assigns all startup points and then clicks continue.

Page 4:- Research page. Player picks and queues a research. Clicks continue.

Page 5:- Construction page. Player picks and queues a construction. Clicks continue.*

Both research and constructions have been explained in the start up page and the 'startup guides' should still accessible on both the main Research and Construction Pages.

Page 6:- Mining Page. A small explaination of what asteroids are used for. Explain that although the main object of the game is to capture ateroids from each other without a starting set of asteroids you could not produce income for ships and construction to go and take what others have. Recommend that striking a balance between using your gift from PA Team for asteriods and ships is key in having a successful start in your planets life.

From memory initing 300 roids total uses about 60% of your startup bonus which would work out about right.

Player iniates asteroids and clicks continue.

Page 7:- Population Page. Government and Population on one page, the tab thing is confusing and is part of the reason why new players dont set a government.

Pop up box saying 'Welcome your Excellence it is now time to show us your political might. Read through the descriptions and decide which government best describes how your planet is ruled!' (Hang your mouse over Government names for detailed descriptions)

Close pop up box.


Basic 2 line description of Government and pros and cons like now on main page. Hanging mouse over the Government name can go into far more detail about what each pro and con will do to your planet and how it affects things.


Player picks Government. Clicks continue.


Page 8:- Fleets Page. As you have forced the player to build 1 factory from his lowest roiding class and research his lowest roiding class hulls he is now able to build ships from the off (this is something that puts people off from experience currently, the fact you cannot start production right away if you didnt assign bonuses correctly, which n00bs dont know how to do when starting) Hovering over each ships name should give a brief description of that ship. Something generic is fine, but possibly each roiding class could have a 'flagship' and supporting ships (based on stats) which would push the player to build the stronger ship in that class. Also force the player to build some astropods (ie. cant process order unless 300 Minataurs are in production. This will stop n00b prodding too)


Player selects and purchases ships. Clicks continue.

Page 9:- Alliance Page. A proper description in a pop up box about how important alliance and community play is within PA. Make sure to stress that although it is not essential to have an alliance to play the game that it will enhance your gameplay experience to have one.

**Alliances of over 10 members have the option to click a checkbox that shows them as accepting new signups on Alliance page. If your alliance does not want to do this then dont click the box. 10 slots are designated to the alliance for new players only. These players do not count to score for the round but their fleets are able to be used as normal without penalty (This would be a good incentive for bigger alliances to recruit n00bs)**

The alliances that are accepting n00bs appear in a drop-box which the player can pick from. If a player applies to one of these alliance and has a pending application then the com unit which should be next to the 'Join alliance' box should add the public channel of that alliance to the autojoins. Maybe relabel the box 'Speak to them now to complete your application' would push the player to try iRC and talk to the community from the off.

A 3rd box to click should be below these which says ' I already know the alliance i want to join!' And clicking this open up the full list of alliances and the player can apply to any (as it is now)


Player applies to alliance and clicks continue.


Page 9:- Galaxy Page. Pop up box saying 'Welcome your Highness. We have are currently consulting the StarMaps and we should have your position in your galaxy charted by the 12th tick of this stellar year. Please feel free to check back after then to see where you are using the Galaxy Tab on the left hand menu.'


Setup part of tutorial ends.


As constructions/researches complete within the first 48 hrs when a player logs in or the game ticks if he is logged in a pop up box (like current announcements) should appear on the screen telling him that this has happened with a link to the relevant page to start a new research/construction. With a warning that these notification will cease after tick 48!


At tick 12 (or first page load after tick 12/or login) a pop up tell the player that his position has been charted and that he will find his Galaxy partners within the Galaxy Tab. Really upon entering the Galaxy page the Message From Commanders should be displayed here at the top for ease of access and information (it could be unexpandable if wanted but it should be expanded as default). Also a prominent link to the Galaxy Forums and the option to Vote for Galatic Commander should be here.


At tick 24 a pop up box prompts the player to use the Galaxy/Universe tab to find his first victim and unleash his wrath! It should tell him to go to the Fleets page after to set his attack on his chosen victim and that once the fleet has launched he can check its progress from the Overview or the Fleet page. Personally i think all planet in PA should start with 1 amp now and P, L and U scan. These are not affected by distorters. The player should be told he can use each scan to check the progress of his attack en-route and devise what his enemy is plotting as countermeasures. Tell the player that if he goes to the Waves page then he can perform these scans and that a description of each scans use will be provide alongside the scan.

If a players ships get back and can launch again before tick 48 then another pop up box should inform him of this and prompt him to seek revenge or carry on conquering the universe.

At tick 48 the final pop up will inform them that after this settling period they are now on there own to wreak havoc on all and sunder and wish them best in their endevours.


Hopefully by now the planet should have started research and constructions/ have roids/ ships /be roiding /have an alliance or be in the process of getting one/ have used scans / experienced irc.

These are the basics to play PA.

If this was implemented then you could overhaul the quest system away from n00bs and into a proper achievement and rewards section for every player offering power ups and so on for those that achieve them.... but that is for another post soon!!!



***THIS IS A TUTORIAL FOR NEW PLAYERS ONLY. IT SHOULD NOT BE AVAILABLE TO PLANETS WHO HAVE ALREADY PLAYED ONE ROUND AND SHOULD ALSO BE SKIPPABLE IF WANTED (THO STRONGLY RECOMMENDED THAT IT SHOULD BE FOLLOWED FOR EASE OF INTERGRATION INTO THE GAME****

Last edited by Kaiba; 21 Sep 2013 at 01:02.
Kaiba is offline   Reply With Quote
Unread 21 Sep 2013, 20:49   #2
Baddars
FAnG Battle Commander
 
Join Date: Feb 2004
Location: UK
Posts: 95
Baddars is just really niceBaddars is just really niceBaddars is just really niceBaddars is just really nice
Re: Tutorial for new players

although i think this is a brilliant idea mate, the 10 slots for alliances could be exploited through email signs ups etc to create support planets.

apart from that, brilliant post mate...

baddars likes this!
__________________
Baddars
===================================================
"life isnt certain, except for those paths that we lay before our feet. Take time on this road, dont falter, you never know whether this path will be the last one you walk."
===================================================
Baddars is offline   Reply With Quote
Reply


Thread Tools
Display Modes

Forum Jump


All times are GMT +1. The time now is 00:16.


Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.1
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.
Copyright ©2002 - 2018