Best Idea: Add Tutorial Maps for Ghosts

[Oldman Robustin]

After a discussion about game balance someone mentioned to me that one of the worst things about team antags is how badly things go when someone is clueless. We've all been there. My experience is that this game is just flat out better with competent players on both sides of a conflict. It's amazing to watch a veteran nukeop go toe-to-toe with a battle-hardened captain. Likewise, it's frustrating and even depressing watching a battle between a cult and security defined not by each side's successes but by security implanting and releasing the cultists while the cultists are trying to talisman the chaplain and convert the detective.

So it seems like a win-win if we can provide tutorials for ghosts to pass the time while they're dead. The easy part is coming up with the concepts. The hard part is coding the shit. Every mode, security, setting up the engine, and even basics like "hacking" should have a tutorial covering the basic fundamentals but it will require some code magic to make it a smooth, effective experience.

These tutorials would be hands-on. They would be segmented by individual goals that advance knowledge of a specific concept. For example the first phase of a cult tutorial would be using a tome and paper bin to create a stun talisman, you would not be able to leave that "area" until you had stunned an NPC guarding a doorway. In the next area you would have to make a teleport rune to get a key and then teleport back to open the next door. In the next area you might have to sacrifice someone and turn them into a construct. It could move on to advanced tactics that reinforce smart gameplay, like binding a victim and removing their headset before the stun ends. Failure would reset the area for another attempt, success would let them proceed.

It's not hard to imagine how this experience would look for other modes. Nukeops would be able to practice everything from reloading weaponry, to setting the nuke, to detonating the implant. Clock cult would learn to stand silently next to a box in maint for 30 minutes (haha, just kidding?). Security would learn how some of their weapons are affected by EMP's, how long certain stuns last, how flashes function, etc. It seems like a really excellent way to train and retain new players who want to get involved in team roles without fucking over the team they're on. It seems like everyone wins, ghosts have something to do, we get higher quality rounds, new players don't feel so alienated, etc.

I would even go as far as to suggest that new players be required to complete the tutorials before certain roles would unlock for them. Existing players would have all the tutorials flagged as "complete" but any new ckeys would be made aware of the tutorial tab and be advised that they are not eligible for many antagonist roles until they complete them.

[D&B]

Usually when people wanna learn something they host a one man server and practice there.

Personally fucking up and learning is the best part of the game.

I might be going into anecdotal experience with this, but it really is the best. Learning how to heal yourself or finally figuring how something works is what hooks people in. Confining people to tutorial island would kinda weaken that magical first experience I bet a lot of players went through

[Reece]

Usually when people wanna learn something they host a one man server and practice there.

Personally fucking up and learning is the best part of the game.

I might be going into anecdotal experience with this, but it really is the best. Learning how to heal yourself or finally figuring how something works is what hooks people in. Confining people to tutorial island would kinda weaken that magical first experience I bet a lot of players went through

Indeed. It seems genuinely a bit mean to rob that experience from people.

[Remie Richards]

when coiax wanted to add spawning at centcom, and having to wait for the shuttle, one of the ideas that spiralled out of that was an assault/obstacle course on centcom that taught you some of the game's mechanics.

I'd vote for that.

[Armhulen]

I really want a spawn at centcom, obstacles or not. And I don't care if I have to wait 40 minutes to be seen for 30 seconds before the round restarts, I WANT IT

[Deitus]

when coiax wanted to add spawning at centcom, and having to wait for the shuttle, one of the ideas that spiralled out of that was an assault/obstacle course on centcom that taught you some of the game's mechanics.

I'd vote for that.

this is actually a ten outta ten idea that will unfortunately never be implemented

[Armhulen]

when coiax wanted to add spawning at centcom, and having to wait for the shuttle, one of the ideas that spiralled out of that was an assault/obstacle course on centcom that taught you some of the game's mechanics.

I'd vote for that.

this is actually a ten outta ten idea that will unfortunately never be implemented

This is more than correct, now that I remember what you're actually talking about.

[Oldman Robustin]

Usually when people wanna learn something they host a one man server and practice there.

Personally fucking up and learning is the best part of the game.

I might be going into anecdotal experience with this, but it really is the best. Learning how to heal yourself or finally figuring how something works is what hooks people in. Confining people to tutorial island would kinda weaken that magical first experience I bet a lot of players went through

If you think "hosting a local server" is how people "usually" git gud, I've gotta say you're really out of touch.

There will still be plenty of room for people to fuck up, the tutorials are designed to lay out the fundamentals not illustrate every single use for every single item you could conceivably come across.

A low stakes environment where you can experiment with various antags would be a cheap substitute, certainly better than what we have, but I think something that actually directs the players to understand key mechanics would be ideal.

The problem is that team modes often feature shared resources, or at the very least have some level of co-dependency, and so new players will only punish themselves and their team if they try to experiment during the round itself. Buying shit items as a Nukeop, wasting components as a cuckcultist, drawing runes in middle of maint halls, all great ways to piss off everyone on your team.

[kevinz000]

If you map it I can probably code it.
I'm just not gonna map cause I suck at that lol.

[Screemonster]

If you think "hosting a local server" is how people "usually" git gud, I've gotta say you're really out of touch.

given the difficulty people some people have with simply getting a local server running without someone handholding them through it the first time (and having been the guy to do the handholding) I'm gonna guess that it ain't all that usual

[cocothegogo]

good idea, too bad nobody will implement this

[onleavedontatme]

People complain incessantly about their team mates in DotA 2, a game managed by a decades old game development company with hundreds of millions of dollars at their disposal, psychologists, on staff, and millions of players to sort and pool.

If Valve can't manage matchmaking that satisfies people with all their resources, what makes you think we're ever going to be able to fairly sort our tiny playerbase (with 30-60 people online) into balanced, asymmetric teams when those players have anywhere from 0 rounds to 10k rounds in experience? To top of it off, none of those players are allowed to communicate via voice.

You can map tutorials, you can write guides, but you will never ever be satisfied with your team mates, nor come anywhere close to enforcing competency.

Incompetency is just part of SS13. If you want a decent team, go play an esport with some friends.

[PKPenguin321]

who else remembers the 50 idea threads for Valhalla ghost area where they could just fight forever

[onleavedontatme]

who else remembers when I added CTF and people played it for two rounds then stopped going there because it turns out whining is actually more fun than playing TDM in BYOND

[Saegrimr]

CTF is too complicated and too large.
I think people were honestly just expecting an auto-spawner in the thunderdome that resets the area after someone dies.

As for tutorial maps for ghosts, isn't this exactly what those lavaland roles are currently?