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How to unpair an Apple Watch
If you upgrade to a new Apple Watch — or sell, trade or give away your current model for any other reason — you’ll want to unpair and factory reset the old one before handing it over. Here’s how to unpair your Apple Watch to prepare it for a fresh start with a new owner.
Unity is offering premium game development tutorials for free
Unity, arguably the biggest game engine in the world, is giving away hundreds of hours of premium game developing tutorials for free because of the coronavirus. For three months until June 20th, aspiring game makers will be able to get their hands on courses on everything from coding to design, and get access to Unity's daily interactive live lessons, Create with Code.
YouTube uses AR to let you try on makeup during tutorials
There's no question YouTube's beauty bloggers have some of the largest followings, and the platform has become an important place for even the biggest makeup brands to debut their products. Now, Google's AR Beauty Try-On feature will let YouTube users virtually try on makeup while watching tutorials and reviews.
Google's how-to videos explain Assistant's accessibility features
As part of Global Accessibility Awareness Day, Google revealed a series of video tutorials meant to help people with disabilities set up and use their Assistant-enabled smart devices. The videos are available in a YouTube playlist, and so far they cover topics like how to control your smart home with Google Assistant and how to set up a Google Home using a screen reader. You'll also find videos on understanding Google Home's audio accessibility features and more.
'Fortnite' players are having too much fun with Playground mode
Fortnite's Playground mode might have been designed as a testing ground for newcomers, but that hasn't stopped players with irrepressible creative streaks from constructing things that are a little more niche. From Nintendo 64 monoliths and Mario Kart racing tracks to giant galleons, 8-bit Links and a gorgeous Loot Lake re-imagining, there's a plethora of inspiring content to behold.
‘Fortnite’ Playground mode can’t come fast enough
When Epic Games announced that Fortnite was getting a sandbox for novice players to feel their way into the game, I was overjoyed. Playground is a dummy version of the map where four players can just noodle around for an hour at a time. Resource limits are relaxed, too, so you can just learn how the game plays, test strategies and get some all-important practice.
Apple's in-store workshops offer art and photography tips
If you're looking to get some photography tips for that shiny new iPhone you got for Christmas, Apple is offering just that. The company will host mobile photography and art workshops at its retail locations next month. For iPhone photographers, the workshop will focus on techniques and accessories for improving the overall quality of images, including tips for long exposure and time lapse. If you're more of the artsy type, another tutoring session will show you how to use the iPad as a tool for sketching, drawing and painting.
The Repopulation is focusing on feature completion
In what its devs are calling a "very busy month," The Repopulation pushed out three major patches in September, not to mention another one this past week. Above and Beyond says is all being done to fill out the game: "We've been pushing hard to get our experimental tweaks and additions out of the way now as we push towards feature completion." In addition to pages and pages of patch notes, The Repopulation made significant changes to Medics, added a Points of Ingrigue extension to its enemy camp system, and completely overhauled the tutorial. The sandbox title promises that another round of testers will be invited into the game in the middle of October.
Darkfall Unholy Wars unveils custom role tutorial
The introduction of custom roles to Darkfall Unholy Wars is going to mean a major shakeup to the way that skills work overall. It's getting patched in today, and if you're not ready for the change yet, you're in luck; a tutorial video has just been released and is embedded just past the cut. If you want to be a master of magic with a two-handed weapon and leather armor? You can make that happen now. As previously revealed, players will be able to select eight role skills, one ultimate skill, and 16 total skills fr their custom arrangement. You can also choose your attribute boosts as well as the requirements of gear -- if you'd like heavy armor to be gated by your Dexterity instead of your Strength, that's a thing you can do. While the tutorial won't explain to you how to make a good built, it will give you the tools to make one properly.
Elder Scrolls Online invites you to learn how to group
Trying to make sense of Elder Scrolls Online's grouping tools? Need a hand in hooking up with other players to plunder dungeons? ZeniMax has you covered. The studio posted a new video today that takes you through ESO's group mechanics and grouping tools, step by step. It also contains helpful tidbits such as the fact that groups get 10% extra XP. You can check out the seven-minute grouping tutorial video after the break.
The Daily Grind: Do you skip tutorials?
Gamasutra recently ran a developer op-ed on getting players to read in-game text. It was focused more on character dialogue than on tutorials, but it got me thinking about the seemingly hopeless task of designing a tutorial for the millions of players who probably ignore tutorials. Veteran MMO players may have even more incentive to skip tutorials than most, as the genre's presentation and mechanics haven't changed much at all over the past decade or more. So, how about it, Massively readers? Do you skip MMO tutorials? If not, what's the last good one you learned from? Every morning, the Massively bloggers probe the minds of their readers with deep, thought-provoking questions about that most serious of topics: massively online gaming. We crave your opinions, so grab your caffeinated beverage of choice and chime in on today's Daily Grind!
The Game Archaeologist: The silent world of Tibia
If I were to tell you that there's a Western MMO out there that's as old as Ultima Online and yet still has a half-million players, would you believe me? Heck, I wouldn't believe me even if I came back from the future of having written this article to talk to the past version of me who had yet to start it! But that's Tibia for you: a weird underdog of an MMO that's cruised underneath most players' radars for over a decade and a half. From its origins as a student project, Tibia jumped in the unexplored waters of the early MMO era and dog paddled for all its worth. This 17-year-old title remains one of the very few active MMOs from the '90s and one of only a handful that stubbornly stuck to a 2-D graphics format even as 3-D swept the gaming genre. And trust me, those aren't even the most interesting facts about it!
Xsyon adds over 200 tutorial panels
Let it not be said that Xsyon is trying to discourage new players from learning how to play this sandbox. On the contrary, today's patch primarily focuses on including a detailed tutorial that includes "over 200 panels of instructions." The new tutorial serves to guide players through various in-game mechanics, such as building fires, foraging, and crafting. New players to the game now begin with several tools and items to aid in their survival. From the get-go, a player should be able to craft a set of grass armor and all of the basic tools. Because nothing says "survival" like pasting lawn clippings onto your torso! Other improvements with today's patch include interface refinements, tweaks to campfires (which also look better), and adjustments to energy, hunger, and thirst mechanics.
Wurm Online talks new ship model and revamped tutorial
The latest dev blog from the Wurm Online team shows off some features we can expect to see in the near future, including an improved model for the Knarr ship, improved foliage, and a revamped tutorial. New Wurmians can now enjoy a more modern tutorial zone with more accessible signage. Anyone who chooses to skip the tutorial will still have the help info stored in the Book of Wisdom for later reference. And interestingly enough, the new wagons introduced with a recent update can now pass through one-tile spaces. So they don't need to be stuck in your house any longer.
Choose My Adventure: Through the starting gates of EverQuest
And we're off! The gates of EverQuest have opened, and thanks to the advice of my very own pit crew (that means you!), I am planted firmly in my saddle as ready to take on this wild Choose My Adventure ride. So let's get this show started, shall we? Figuring out where in EQ I was going to go was pretty cut and dried; Firiona Vie was the server winner by a landslide. Either you know me well enough and placed me accordingly, or you're just saying that's an awesome place to be. Of course, it could be both, which is a double bonus. The racial fight was more of a nail-biter. Tier"Dal, Iksar, and Froglok battled it out, but in the end, good won. Well, actually let's not be too hasty tossing that "good" label around: As for classes, only two choices were running pretty much neck in neck, and both were decidedly evil! Ultimately the caster lost and tin can won. So instead of summoning and commanding my own hordes of undead (for which I thank you profusely), I dub myself Sir MJ, the Shadowknight. As much as I have rarely played plate or tank classes, I do appreciate this; necromancy is definitely not a favorite pastime of mine. Add in your final decision to start me off in my racial lands and we are all set to go.
Perpetuum plans for improved new player experience
One of the great sorrows of any sandbox game is that a player is dropped in with the option to do anything... and very little concept of how to do those things or what should be done first. Perpetuum is making plans specifically to address that by giving players a crash course in everything that can be done, courtesy of a new virtual training island sealed away from the rest of the game world. Rather than permit players to select factions at character creation, the new experience will drop players into a simulation that allows nothing from the main game in or out. While in this tutorial area, players will have access to everything possible at maximum levels while being instructed in how to take part in several game systems. Using one of the four exit teleporters allows players to select a faction and start playing the core game, retaining no advancements but getting a real-time sense for how the game works. Testing is slated to begin this month for players who want to experience the game through a slightly gentler ramp-up.
Free for All: Revisiting EVE Online's newbie tutorial
I might leave the EVE Online number-crunching and analyzing to Massively's Brendan Drain, but my personal history with the game is long, however, and I have proudly reactivated my 2004 account (complete with a 10 million skill point character) once a year to see how things are going. I generally spend several hours playing and getting used to the changes but end up playing other games for columns like Rise and Shiny. This time around, I thought I would try something different. I was spurred into action by the recent Steam sales, one of them offering an EVE Online Starter Pack for something like two bucks. (Now it's almost $5.00) It comes with 30 days of time, some special newbie goodies, and a booster to help skills grow faster. Sure, I could have reactivated my old account for $15.00 (and probably will after this is over), but I wondered how making a new character now would compare to what it was like all those years ago. It turns out that it's still pretty darn cool.
Captain's Log: Star Trek Online's new Starfleet tutorial
Star Trek Online recently revealed a freshly revamped tutorial for players who create new Starfleet characters. This week I had the opportunity to check the new material out for myself, so I rolled a new toon and experienced what it is like to have greatness thrust upon me! What? You don't believe me? It's true! My character went from academy graduate to captain of a Starfleet vessel in a matter of minutes! Oh wait, I guess that's not so surprising; even Captain James T. Kirk did it in an alternate universe. The fact of the matter is there's no easy way, story-wise, to get a new player's character into the command chair in a completely convincing manner. I'll be explaining how it all happens, so if you want to remain surprised about anything in the new Star Trek Online Starfleet tutorial, avert your eyes for the remaining portion of this away mission. But do me a favor and scroll down anyway, look at the pictures, and pretend to read it. It'll make me feel better. The rest of you are with me. Engage.
Video Tip: Creating a bootable Mavericks USB installer
Having a bootable USB flash drive of your operating system is a very useful tool to have around for diagnostics, maintenance or fresh clean installs of your OS. In the past few versions of OS X, if you wanted to create a bootable USB stick, you had to do a little bit of Erica Sadun-style nerd wizardry or download a third-party tool like Lion Disk Maker to create one. Luckily with Mavericks, Apple has included a tool to allow us to create a bootable USB flash drive with a few simple terminal commands. This video will show you how to do it, so go grab an 8 GB or larger USB stick and follow along. Difficulty: Easy What you need: Terminal (in the Utilities folder or press cmd+shift+u from the Finder) USB flash drive of 8 GB or larger capacity The Install OS X Mavericks App from the Mac App Store About 20 ~ 30 mins (don't remove the flash drive until you see "Done" in the terminal) The Command: sudo /Applications/Install\ OS\ X\ Mavericks.app/Contents/Resources/createinstallmedia --volume /Volumes/Untitled --applicationpath /Applications/Install\ OS\ X\ Mavericks.app --nointeraction Note: Remember to replace 'Untitled' with your flash drives name. Most freshly formatted flash dives are named 'Untitled' unless you change it as I did. That's it! Update: Lion Disk Maker released DiskMaker X 3.0.1 and it supports Mavericks
WildStar implores Dominion citizens to go space-west in a new arkship
Do you feel the lure of the frontier? WildStar's Dominion certainly hopes you do. But as a citizen of the most powerful organization in the known galaxy, you won't be heading out into the frontier with nothing more than a spacesuit and a poorly written star chart. No, you'll be cruising to Nexus in the finest vessel ever built by the Dominion shipyards, the arkship Destiny! Assuming you pass the tests to be sent out there in the first place. The Dominion can't just send the rabble, after all. The latest installment of WildStar Wednesday details the luxurious amenities in all their glory, ranging from VIP lounges and ample recreational space to training simulations and a fully functional church. Those selected for the journey will be given every opportunity to excel once they touch down on the planet's surface, with experienced travelers given the option of bypassing most of the tutorial experience for a trip straight to Nexus. Take a look at the full rundown to get a better idea of how the Dominion travels in style, which will likely be contrasted by the Exiles arriving in a spacesuit with a poorly written star chart.