Single Player Playing Guide

I know I have only just posed this idea but I’ve had an after thought. It would be cool to create very simple maps that allow the player to practise certain types of tactics and skills. The quality of the architecure wouldn’t need to be great, just good enough to look fine. It would be the gameplay that would be important.

Well, I’m certainly no expert. I consider myself a hero if I complete a game on the medium difficulty setting. I see myself more as an editor, trying to bring together snippets of advice and creating an easy-to-read guide.

I wouldn’t be too hard on yourself, you probably have a few tricks that you use to get out of difficult situations.

All I need now is for readers to share those tricks.

I’ll proabably post the idea on a couple of SP forums and see what response I get.

planetphillip Said:

What if a game tutorial could combine real time playing with talking points like in HL2-E1?

I’m not sure exactly how this would work. Wouldn’t that spoil the fun? I think this would need to be viewed at the end of a game to perhaps help you beat the hardest level.

planetphillip Said:

One tip that comes to mind for pretty much any game is using a combination of 2 or more weapons to defeat an enemy.

That’s an interest point. I’ve neve considered that before. Are you saying that you have more success if you use two weapons that one? If that’s the case, why is that?

planetphillip Said:

It would have to be game specific in parts tho no?

I will probably have an appendix for game specific details.

planetphillip Said:

the job here is to convey the sheer silly enjoyment you can get out of FPS!

That’s not what I had in mind and I hope that if and when you read the draft you will see what I’m trying to achieve.

However, yours is an excellent idea and could certainly lighten the tone. Might even make for a seperate idea.

Highly unlikely I’d be able to get Mr Concerned to create stuff for me, unless he visits here and wants to help out?

planetphillip Said:

You need to correct the spelling of “i.e.” (id est - that is) on various pages. It should be “i.e.” , not “IE” or “I.E.” (Internet Explorer)

Okay, I will correct those mistakes.

planetphillip Said:

Still think the whole tone of the thing should be a lot sillier

I would prefer that the guide is “lighter” rather than ” sillier”, although I take your point.

planetphillip Said:

but the worst thing that can happen to you sans guide is that you die in a particularly embarrassing n00b way. When you get stuck in a particular game, it’s usually very game-specific and a walkthrough or a forum are your best hopes of finding a solution.

I disagree. I think the worst thing that can happen to new players is to get completely stuck in common situations. Being pinned down or not being able to avoid being hit are perfect examples.

planetphillip Said:

Just a quick site design suggestion (as I like the new buttons a lot): you should move the dynamic content in the sidebar more up the page (below the poll). That way it becomes easier to see how dynamic this site is becoming at a single glance (the poll really helps there!).

Personally I dislike the buttons, but I recognize that they are helpful for readers. You have probably noticed that I have moved them more into the header area. This hopefully makes the sidebar cleaner.

planetphillip Said:

You might also consider a “10 latest” comments box in the sidebar, akin to your forum feed.

I used to have this feature but my stats showed that nobody clicked-through the links. Although it would have the other benefit of showing the dynamic content concept.

planetphillip Said:

Or you could place some of the static content (Files, Resources, Projects etc) in a header bar, as you had in that nifty-looking blue thing that got scrapped…

Probably the next version of PP. I’m worried I’m spending too much time working on the presentation and not enough time on the content!

BTW, nice change to the username!