Pokey Dravon
OSG Planetary Operations
9207
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Posted - 2017.05.04 07:31:00 -
[1] - Quote
PvE is pretty critical for training. You need to be able to guarantee a certain experience and that is impossible with PvP, even if you put them against other newbies. And like others have said, it doesn't even need to be something complicated, it just needs to be engaging but also easy to follow.
The last thing people want to do when they start up a new game is sit and read through a bunch of tutorials. Learning is best through experience, not through exposition. My favorites are the ones that immediately drop you into the action and quickly teach you the fundimentals of moving and shooting, and then as you move through the tutorial it introduces more complicated elements in an order that makes sense without overloading the player.
More involved stuff like fitting should also be introduced in a fairly granular manner. Luckily it sounds like most suits will be pre-fit with modules that can be swapped out. This will be great because it removes that first initial step of "WTF do I do with all these modules things?!" and instead lets the player experiment with changing things, rather than trying to start from scratch.
When they do start teaching fitting, keep it simple. Keep the player in a play space so s/he can move around while the computer shows them what is going on in the fitting screen. This allows the player to see changes in real time and get a better understanding of the results of the fitting change.
Something like:
Modules fit into slots and increase various aspects of your dropsuit such as HP, Speed, and Damage output. Every dropsuit has fitting resource limits, also known as CPU and PG. Each module you place in your dropsuit will consume some of this limit, and the fit will become invalid if either of these limits are exceeded.
Take a look at this Armor Plate Module. It increases your armor HP at the cost of some speed. Notice how your armor HP in the lower right has increased, but you're now moving a little slower.
*Do some damage to the player*
Looks like you took some damage. Armor HP will passively regenerate over time, but if you place an armor repair module on your dropsuit, that rate will increase. Because armor is constantly regenerating, it tends to be more effective when taking lower amounts of damage frequently, but struggles to regenerate all of its HP quickly.
Now let's move onto shields. Like armor, shields will passively recharge over time, but at a much higher rate. However, shields often have overall lower HP than armor and will only start recharging after a short delay after taking damage.
*Do some damage to the player*
Notice how the shields do not start regenerating right away, however once the regeneration starts, they quickly reach maximum HP. Much like an Armor Plate, a Shield Extender increases your maximum shield HP, but this time at the cost of increasing the delay before your shield start to recharge. Modules like Shield Regulators can decrease this delay, and Shield Rechargers can increase the recharge rate.
EVE: Phoenix - 'Rise Again' Trailer
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