Slitherine

I would suggest we get RBS to do a YouTube video on the intricacies of the game system but (a) he is a very busy man (and you guys keep his todo list nearly as long as mine!), and (b) the max YouTube limit is 11 hours...

But, in seriousness, any ideas on how to better guide new players will be very useful. Not everything will be practical, but we want to try and make it simpler for new players to enjoy the game.

Cheers

Pip

pipfromslitherine wrote:But, in seriousness, any ideas on how to better guide new players will be very useful. Not everything will be practical, but we want to try and make it simpler for new players to enjoy the game.

I feel the tutorials start too deep. They work fine for veterans of other wargames (though the amount of popups can get annoying at times), but I think the 1st Tutorial will overwhelm most newbies.

An initial introduction to what units are, basic movement, shooting and combat, with only a couple units involved, on a clear, open map would do wonders to ease inexperienced players into the core mechanics. Then you could resume with the current 1st tutorial to give better context to the basics and introduce control of larger forces as well as more advanced mechanics.

Cumandante wrote:

pipfromslitherine wrote:But, in seriousness, any ideas on how to better guide new players will be very useful. Not everything will be practical, but we want to try and make it simpler for new players to enjoy the game.

I feel the tutorials start too deep. They work fine for veterans of other wargames (though the amount of popups can get annoying at times), but I think the 1st Tutorial will overwhelm most newbies.

An initial introduction to what units are, basic movement, shooting and combat, with only a couple units involved, on a clear, open map would do wonders to ease inexperienced players into the core mechanics. Then you could resume with the current 1st tutorial to give better context to the basics and introduce control of larger forces as well as more advanced mechanics.

Thanks - that is a good idea. Perhaps we can have a 'super super tutorial' for beginners. I would probably fail it...

Cheers

Pip

[quote="Cablenexus"]I learned most by diving directly in MP skirmish battles. Your opponents are strong and you can learn from their moves.

I learned more in one MP battle then in a thousand tutorials.[/quote]

+1 to that. That's the method I've used with all Slitherine games.

I suspect if you play on difficulty setting 1 or 2 you can get the gist of the game without losing constantly, but you'll also be learning somewhat incorrectly, because your armies will be stronger than otherwise. On setting 1 medium javelinmen can break Roman infantry, something that's nearly suicide in a multiplayer game.