Tips and Tricks

The original Tomb Raider and Thief games.

They had great introductory walkthrough levels demonstrating all the skills you needed.

 

-ls/cm

how do i find it

The original Tomb Raider and Thief games.

They had great introductory walkthrough levels demonstrating all the skills you needed.

You are right, Crap.  I remember playing the first Tomb Raider and watching Laura walk around, run, jump and shoot the vicious wild dogs at the beginning. 

I think this is what is needed for newbies to SL.  An on-screen here is how you do basic things walk through similar to what Tomb Raider had. 

Tim

P.S.  Is it really a good thing to have "Crap" as your first name? 

Really awesome stuff, Torley!!

I agree, the "Learn the Basics" button should probably be at the very top. It's much more intuitive that way.

As for tutorials, it's funny.. he points made above are what i had been dreaming up for an Orientation idea. I never fleshed it out, but it's basically a course (kind of like the original) that teaches you things as you do them. Simple stuff; introduction to Sidebar, walk down a twisty path, jump over this log, fly up this cliff, say hi to this... parrot ( ), with extensions off the Basics "winners circle" to teach the basics of Building, Scripting, etc. (kind of like the newer HUDded version), and so on.

Anyway, really nice work on making a compact Intro series!

Until after now...

Torley, I've always wondered why a tutorial (for example THAT VIDEO) does not NECESSARILY appear to any new resident during the registration process. It is possible to "purposely delay" the passage from one page to another in the registration form. And while waiting for the new page appears, LL can show in each page a "chapter" of the tutorial. That is used in many sites.

 

I know I use a veeery bad English, sorry.. But I hope you (Torley and others) understand me LOL

@Crap I didn't play the first of either of those, but now am curious to check 'em out!

On a related design note, I read Gamasutra obsessively.

@Cybin Thanks! Of course, part of the problem is since Second Life doesn't do "sharding/instancing", this has led to orientation crowding in the past. And single-player games don't need to worry about that at all. And the Viewer would need better hooks to "read" what your avatar is actually doing. Nonetheless, they're inspiring ideas — if we can come up with more scalable ways, like integrating the web better with 3D.

I've missed "Until after now..."!

@Irene Why? No particular reason against that. But, I think it's tricky if you're watching a video of what you need to do inworld... yet you're on a webpage. There's a conceptual disconnect, but the gap is getting smaller. As I've advocated for why so many Residents have found my video tutorials useful AFTER being inworld for awhile, more should get a lovely first impression upfront, too. Suggestions like yours DO help.

@Cybin Thanks! Of course, part of the problem is since Second Life doesn't do "sharding/instancing", this has led to orientation crowding in the past. And single-player games don't need to worry about that at all. And the Viewer would need better hooks to "read" what your avatar is actually doing. Nonetheless, they're inspiring ideas — if we can come up with more scalable ways, like integrating the web better with 3D.

I've missed "Until after now..."!

@Irene Why? No particular reason against that. But, I think it's tricky if you're watching a video of what you need to do inworld... yet you're on a webpage. There's a conceptual disconnect, but the gap is getting smaller. As I've advocated for why so many Residents have found my video tutorials useful AFTER being inworld for awhile, more should get a lovely first impression upfront, too. Suggestions like yours DO help.

 

You know, these two ideas, and your comments on them, had me thinking of another possible avenue. Instead of having tutorials in-between registration setup, have them available to click through to at the end of the Registration process. Then my idea comes in at that point, as an option.

You can either skip tutorial info altogether, or you can watch Torley Tutorials and/or you can use an interactive web-based tutorial. The interactive tutorial, i'm thinking, could be like a Flash (or whatever) game type thing. An explanation that the tutorial is meant to familiarize new Residents with the basic controls of SL. Move a generic avatar around in a generic setting (not actually SL, just a mock-up), with descriptions of those basic controls.
It could be made to look like the world of SL and like a default avatar so that it relates better once they're in-world (maybe a reminder at the start/end of the video on how to log in to SL proper).

The whole scaling issue you mentioned is why i never really pursued it while i was still there, but i kind of like the mini-game web-tutorial thingy. It may not be in-world, but on the other hand... for new Residents, it could help if they knew the basics before even going in-world (with mention of the Learn The Basics tab that is in the side bar).

Until after now...

This helped but I'm already an experienced gamer and I wanted to join and get going quickly, too quick.  I purchased linden dollars and went on a shopping spree without understanding how to accept the items when they came in.  When they did come in, I was trying to do other things and I missed every single inventory item I purchased.  Thank God I was limited to 10 per purchase otherwise it coud have been ugly.  So my desire would be an accelerated intro.  I don't want to look like a newb.  I want to get my home, character, and wardrobe sorted fast.  It's been over a week now and I'm frustrated with how slow I am and how much time it is taking.  Why can't I purchase a newb package (house, furniture, wardrobe) to start.  This would immediately give the basic second life essentials.  You could have video tutorials attached to these packages as well.  I played alot of PS home but it's not for me anymore.  I do, however, like the way that PS Home is so intuitive and easy to use.  I want to give second life a chance but its so darn frustrating as a beginner.  Why not have a virtual welcome wagon or city tour guides that show you around.  I would gladly pay some linden dollars for a friend to come with me and walk me around the virtual world.