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Choose My Adventure: Earning my Firefall rocket boots
The votes are in. The people have spoken. Now, it's time to play. Last week's Choose My Adventure column, the first one centered on Firefall, presented a couple of choices related to the very basics of creating our character and giving him or her reason to fight. Voters enthusiastically chose a beaten-down man with one hope for redemption -- and unwittingly fulfilled my personal fantasy to create a game hero based on Nicolas Cage's character in Con Air. Voters also chose from among Firefall's five battleframes, with the jack-of-all-trades Assault frame beating out the smash-it-in-the-face Dreadnaught frame by just 26 votes. So, to recap: We have created a character who's an ex-con with no reason to live, handed him an assault rifle, and dropped him into a violent world where pretty much anything goes. This is getting good.
Choose My Adventure: Framing my first foray in Darkfall
Break time's over! Now it's time to roll up our sleeves and get back to work building our latest Choose My Adventure. The first order of business is to establish the framework for the rest of our Darkfall Unholy Wars (mis)adventures. Of course, we can't just build willy-nilly; we need to follow a plan. And as with any major construction project, we couldn't really move forward until said plan was OKed by the planning commission. So while we waited for the foundation to set, we sought approval for which type of structure to base our continuing adventures on. And as is wont to happen with committees, there was trouble coming to a consensus; even though the proposed models were all pretty similar, disagreement arose as to which to pick. However, after some debate (one proposal won by only one vote!), we finally got the go ahead: The final word was to build a Mahirim Deadeye. I'm on it, boss!%Gallery-187735%
The Daily Grind: What things should MMOs explain to new players?
Games do not like to explain the concept of roles to players. This is not to say that they don't expect players to take those roles, most frequently the standard trinity setup; rather, those roles are never explained in depth. There's no tutorial in Star Wars: The Old Republic explaining what a tank is or how you will want to play one. In a game like Guild Wars 2, which has a radically different role structure from every other game, you'd expect more explanation, but it offers even less. This is a smaller part of a larger problem: Many MMOs are built with the assumption that the players are familiar with certain core conventions. So you get tutorials on movement but not on roles or character builds or group behavior or anything that you might need if you've never played an MMO before in your life. What do you think MMOs in general should explain to new players? What areas are lacking in resources for anyone getting into a game cold? 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!
Setting up Mountain Lion: 12 geek setup tips
After I recently wrote about how I often set up new Macs from scratch rather than taking advantage of migration, many people asked me to share my action logs. While I can't do that specifically because (1) my logs are extremely long and cryptic and (2) they contain tons of personal activation keys and serial numbers, I decided to share a few setup tips to help stem the tide of emails. What follows is a dozen setup tasks that I picked out from my normal techniques, which I thought might be useful to others. Here are some of the things I do to my new systems, to make them shinier and happier and ready to use. 1. Copying my Solid Black desktop pattern I don't know why Apple doesn't provide a ready-built black swatch, so I just add my own. I grab the version from my old system and install it into /Library/Desktop Pictures/Solid Colors/Solid Black.png. So why do I do this? Simple. Because I hate QuickTime's full screen playback. By adding a black-colored background, I can play QuickTime movies on my secondary monitor using Command-3 ("Fit to Screen"), with a black background that doesn't distract me. I have a little AppleScript to help. tell application "System Events" set d to last item in desktops -- Standard Swatch Paths set whitepath to "/Library/Desktop Pictures/Solid Colors/Solid White.png" set blackpath to "/Library/Desktop Pictures/Solid Colors/Solid Black.png" -- Toggle if ((picture of d as string) = ("Esopus Spitzenburg:Library:Desktop Pictures:Solid Colors:Solid White.png" as string)) then set picture of d to POSIX file blackpath else set picture of d to POSIX file whitepath end if end tell 2. Disable Window Zooms I don't know which Apple Engineer came up with the idea that OS X should include a window zooming effect but I bear nothing but animosity for this person. Fortunately there is a solution. defaults write NSGlobalDomain NSAutomaticWindowAnimationsEnabled -bool NO Death to zooming windows! 3. Update my Hosts I think it was either TJ Luoma or Rich Gaywood who first introduced me to somebodywhocares.org and its custom hosts file. In the words of the providers, "This is an easy and effective way to protect you from many types of spyware, reduces bandwidth use, blocks certain pop-up traps, prevents user tracking by way of 'web bugs' embedded in spam, # provides partial protection to IE from certain web-based exploits and blocks most advertising you would otherwise be subjected to on the Internet." I regularly download updates to /etc/hosts/hosts.withlove, then install it into place. Note that this requires administrator privileges. % sudo cp hosts hosts.original % sudo cp hosts.withlove hosts Once installed, you'll find that your surfing experience improves, your breath becomes more lovely, and the world transforms into a gentle place full of unicorns and love. 4. Establish my Terminal Preferences There is no shell but tsch, and .cshrc is its master. I always set up my system to use /bin/tcsh. Plus, Ryan Paul got me set up with a rocking Ubuntu Mono 13pt font for all my fixed width needs like...nethack and fortune, must-have basics. One's command line quirks are highly personal. Obviously, mine indicate that I'm stuck roughly in 1992. 5. Set up QuickTime Pro Remember QuickTime Pro? I still use it. I bought my license ages ago, and will keep dragging around the app and the registration information for as long as I can. QuickTime 7, the app behind QuickTime Pro, still offers some of the best and most effective video editing tools out there. I make installing QT7/Pro a part of my normal Mac install routine. QuickTime Pro lets me add, separate, or delete tracks, build overlays, trim media, and do ever so much more than iMovie. Sure it's ugly, creaky, and seriously odd, but it's a great tool and one I don't want to lose. [Ed.: Some of us still record our podcasts with it.] 6. Install Perian If you love being able to watch AVI movies from inside QuickTime, Perian is the answer. We own several cameras that record in AVI format and without Perian, we woudn't be able to do that. Sure, the utility may not be supported any more but it still works and is dear to my heart. This is also when I generally install the latest version of Handbrake and libdvdcss. 7. Add Dropbox Who doesn't love Dropbox? That doesn't mean you can't tweak your system. After installing the latest build, make sure to hop into Network > Bandwidth and set Don't Limit for uploads. It's nice to have your shared files finish uploading before the next century. 8. Install Vuescan Remember Vuescan? It's another old app that keeps working and working. I bought my license way back when dinosaurs roamed the earth and it still allows me to keep using my archaic flatbed scanner (perfect for school forms) using my 2012 Mac mini running Mountain Lion. Well worth the license fee, it's a great solution for connecting your OS X system to old hardware. 9. Set up Github, etc. I always like getting my dev tools in order, and establishing my keys at Github is one of those essential steps. It's also a good time to install command-line git, update my Xcode find options (via the little magnifying glass in the search fields), disable build notifications (whether Xcode succeeded building or not, I don't want to see them pop up in notification center. I'm sitting RIGHT HERE compiling.), and link to the simulator from my home folder: lns ~/Library/Application\ Support/iPhone\ Simulator sim 10. Copy over my provisions and certificates As an iOS dev, an hour without working provisions is an hour without sunshine. Export from the old system as a password-protected package using organizer (Command-Shift-2 > Devices), and move them to the new system. Easiest way to get up and running with development on your new machine. 11. Tweak Mail There's a lot of stuff that Mail does that I hate. Plus, I'm still getting over the fact that I can no longer use Eudora 6 after 10.6, so every mail task I have to do takes approximately 3x as long or worse. Regardless, now that I live in a Mail world, I disable all sounds (including new mail), enable BCC, and make sure to bring ~/Library/Mail and ~/Library/Mail Downloads along for the joyous ride. If anyone has created Rosetta for Mountain Lion, please let me know. 12. Set up TextEdit In my life, there's no room for fussy rich text. First step out of the box is to switch TextEdit to plain text mode across the board. Then, I hop into System Preferences > iCloud > Documents & Data and get my machine the heck out of using cloud data. This has three effects: 1. It speeds up TextEdit. 2. It stabilizes TextEdit from all those unexplained crashes, and 3. Keeps my data safe. Apple still has a lot of work to do when it comes to net services. I trust iCloud just about as far as, well, not far at all. -- So there you have it, a dozen ways I tweak my new systems. Are there several dozen more? Certainly. I doubt, however, you want to see my logs about: "Call Adobe. Yell at Adobe. Plead with Adobe. Beg Adobe so I can keep using Acrobat and Photoshop." Do I have a dozen more to share? Yes, but only if you find this kind of list useful. Happy new systems, everyone.
BlackBerry 10 L-series tutorial videos surface online, give a literal peek at the future (video)
Those of us who've used a BlackBerry PlayBook will be familiar with the inevitable first-boot tutorials showing how to navigate the swipe-driven interface before we're let loose. Thanks to a series of demonstration videos leaked by BlackBerryItalia, it's apparent that we won't escape that educational process on BlackBerry 10 devices, either. The four clips show the basics of what we know the gesture experience will be like on full-touch L-series phones, including the signature BlackBerry Peek to check notifications and the unified inbox. Anyone looking for a direct clue as to what production BlackBerry 10 hardware will entail might be frustrated, mind you -- the rendered phone appears to be a placeholder rather than the L-series or a Dev Alpha B, and the device name is censored in an attempt to protect the source. That said, the clips provide a very straightforward explanation of the new interface concept and give us one more indication that RIM is closer to launch.
Rocksmith's Bass Expansion comes to PC on October 16
Ubisoft has announced that the Bass Expansion for its educational guitar game, Rocksmith, is arriving on the PC on October 16. The DLC pack, which includes bass tracks and teaching functions for either a standard 6-string guitar or a 4-string bass guitar, hit Xbox 360 and PS3 earlier this August.In addition to content for the game's current songs, the Bass Expansion allows you to access bass information for any DLC songs in the future, so it's quite an investment. The Bass Expansion will be available for $29.99, the same initial price as the console versions. One important bass-playing thing it won't teach you is how to look cooler than the lead guitarist while you play. Better get started working on that right now.
Adafruit builds Raspberry Pi-powered light painting rig, takes trippy photos
Taking long exposure photographs at night and painting within them using an iPad may be old hat, but building your own light painting rig? That could earn you some serious geek cred, and according to Adafruit, it isn't even all that hard. In a new walkthrough, the team fashioned such a contraption using a Raspberry Pi, a python script with under 60 lines of code, some open source software and a handful of electronic components. Not satisfied with the typical light wand, they decided to spice things up with a circular fixture built from PVC pipes and a hula hoop to hold the ribbon of LEDs. After being attached to a bike and paraded around at night, it created the 3D effect in the masterpiece above. If you're itching to make your own works of art, check out Adafruit's tutorial at the source link below.
EVE Online walks us through the remaking of a tutorial
With EVE Online's inbound Inferno 1.2 patch comes a completely overhauled tutorial experience for the game. CCP Games was concerned by how many potential players failed to make it through the existing tutorial, and CCP Greyscale wrote a lengthy post detailing how a studio goes about retuning the beginner experience to retain customers. This process is detailed in five steps. The first was to gather metrics and analyze them to see where problem areas lay. From there the team broke apart the current tutorial, reorganized it, and formed task forces to deal with each section. After making the changes, the team turned the new tutorial over to outside testers for evaluation and feedback. Finally, the improved tutorial will be implemented to (hopefully) greater effect. CCP also listed many of the changes coming with this new tutorial. These changes include removing the voiceovers and adding right-click context menus, better visuals, highlighting text, and easier navigation between the tutorial steps.
The Daily Grind: Should games offer a midpoint between pre-made builds and completely free builds?
There are a lot of different ways you can put together a character in certain games. The Secret World offers players a huge number of different options by virtue of its skill wheel, RIFT gives players several souls to choose between, and Champions Online lets you cherry-pick from a huge pool of powers. Most of these games also offer you some pre-made builds to give you a sense of how the game is supposed to work, something to start you down the path of making your own build. Unfortunately, as soon as you decide to step off the pre-made train, these games throw up their hands and declare that you're entirely on your own. There are no suggestions based on what you've picked thus far, it's either fully pre-made or fully freeform. Should these games offer something in the middle so that you can have some extra guidance if you want it? Or should they let you live or die by your decisions if you decide you want to go off the rails anyway? 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!
iPad app teaches Photoshop CS6 in an engaging manner
I've been debating jumping to Photoshop CS6 for awhile. I've had every version of PS since version 1 way back in the distant past and have really looking for someone to show me what the differences between CS5 and CS6 were in an easily understandable way. To help solve my dilemma, I grabbed a copy of Learn Photoshop CS6 Quickstart edition for the iPad. It's a US $5.00 video tutorial with about 2 hours of videos covering Camera Raw, the new Content Aware tools, HDR, black and white conversions, and the new blur and lighting filters. French landscape photographer Serge Ramelli is an engaging teacher, and I find I learn more from a video that reading a book. Ramelli keeps it simple, although sometimes he assumes a bit more knowledge than a new user might have. In addition to the videos, you can download the files used in the tutorials and try the techniques yourself. I learned quite a bit in a short time, and the app answered my questions about whether or not I should upgrade (I should). While my new iPad screen has the very sharp Retina display, I found that I really wanted a larger presentation. Apple AirPlay to the rescue! The videos look great on my 46" LCD screen via the Apple TV. Ramelli has other video tutorials, including learning HDR, Photoshop CS5, and basic landscape photography. There are also some free previews available to download and sample. I've looked at some of these videos, and they are consistently high value in terms of content but they don't get too technical. It's pretty easy to walk away with new techniques you might have never discovered. All these Ramelli tutorials are universal apps, but I think the iPhone screen is just too small for worthwhile viewing. The CS6 Quickstart is a 333 MB download and requires iOS3 or greater. %Gallery-159437%
Samsung launches customer service app on Android as proof that it Cares
Worried that Samsung is too busy selling millions of devices to care about you, the individual consumer? Fear not, for the company has released an app to prove its unconditional dedication to your happiness, and it's appropriately called Samsung Cares. The program serves as a hub for online support, offering how-to videos, troubleshooting guides, FAQs and service ticket tracking. Oh, and for those who don't own a Samsung device but still want the sweet reassurance of the company's interest in your well-being (or perhaps you just use other products made by Sammy), the free app can be downloaded on any phone or tablet running Android 2.1 or higher. Head to the source to grab a copy for yourself.
The Daily Grind: How would you improve tutorials?
Yesterday on Massively Speaking we had a lively discussion about what we dislike in MMO tutorials (the popups, oh the popups!) and how we'd improve them. But we are just a few humble souls slaving over old-fashioned typewriters, while you are a legion of computer-savvy geeks who have timed the wild, wild web. So how would you improve tutorials? Keep in mind that MMO tutorials can and should be aimed at two different demographics: those who have never played online RPGs before and those who are experienced genre vets who are giving this game a go. Introducing a newcomer to the genre in such a way that he or she is not scared off is trickier than you might suspect, especially in the era of Angry Birds accessibility. What could be done to ease new players into the games? How could tutorials better transmit the information that you truly need and skip the stuff that you don't? Let's brainstorm today! No idea is too silly, except for the sixth, 20th, and 41st comments. Those are just wack. 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 Repopulation gets a graphical upgrade
The Repopulation is getting a graphics makeover according to the latest developer update. Above & Beyond Technologies has updated its website with a look at what happened during the month of November, and at the top of the list is a "major revamp to the character models" as well as new building and environment models. Other milestones include the implementation of the game's weather system (including rain, snow, dust storms, sand storms, and meteor showers) and various combat and crafting abilities. Work also continues on the game's "awakening" sequence and starter/tutorial areas, with the goal being a more polished newbie experience than that of your typical non-linear title. The Repopulation is a three-faction sci-fi sandbox with toggle-enabled action combat and a substantial crafting system. The game is scheduled to begin beta testing in 2012.
The Firing Line: Getting into Global Agenda
OK, so you've heard about this whole Global Agenda thing, and you've talked yourself into giving it a shot. It's completely free-to-play from start to finish these days, and the Unreal graphics, sci-fi setting, and strange mixture of hyper-competitive PvP and ultra-accessible PvE have always held a certain appeal. You're not sure, but you think it's kind of an MMO, given that it has persistent territory control, lots of quests, and plenty of progression-based gameplay. Maybe you're a pro skillz baller, or maybe the extent of your shooter knowledge is which end of the gun gets pointed at the bad guys. Either way, you'll likely have a good time in Hi-Rez's spy-fi action title, and you'll have an even better time if you understand a few key points about the game prior to diving in.
The Perfect Ten: First impression turn-offs
A year ago our very own Shawn "The Mittani" Schuster wrote a memorable Soapbox column around the idea that MMOs had an hour to grab his attention or else he was out the door. No, don't go read it now. You're reading this! Stay! Good reader. I concur with his point that while MMOs may ask us to experience them for the long haul, first impressions still count. And if those impressions aren't favorable right out the gate, it's not likely that we will be around for hour two, no matter how good it is. I know what you're thinking right now: "What is this itching, burning sensation between my toes?" It's Athlete's Foot, and you need to get on that ASAP. You're also thinking, "But Justin, whose opinions I respect, admire, and use to teach my children, what drives you away from MMOs when you give them a try?" Again, it's an itching, burning sensation between my toes. No, not really. It's more complicated than that -- so complicated, in fact, that it requires a 10-point presentation on what turns me off when an MMO is making a first impression. Imagine that!
EVE Evolved: The new player experience, part 2
Two weeks ago, I began an experiment to look into EVE Online's new player experience from the perspective of someone who has never played the game before. I convinced my friend Kajatta to try the game for the first time, with his only prior knowledge being the same stories, videos and screenshots that anyone will have seen before signing up to give the game a shot. In the first part of this investigation into the new player experience, Kajatta delivered a harsh first impression of the user interface and character creation. A common story I've heard when I'm talking to current EVE players is that many didn't really get into the game the first time they played. As happened to Kajatta, some found adapting to the UI and control scheme a jarring experience and were put off as a result. It was usually the second time they played EVE that seemed to make the game stick, whether that was restarting a new character immediately or giving the game a second try up to a year later. Could it be that EVE is most likely to appeal to new players the second time they play it? To put this theory to the test, this week Kajatta took a fresh second stab at EVE Online and played through all the career agent content. But has his first attempt provide the equipment necessary to scale EVE's famous learning cliff, or did the UI and control scheme prove as impenetrable a barrier as ever? In this week's EVE Evolved, Kajatta delivers his verdict on whether EVE is better the second time around and delves into the Cash Flow For Capsuleers combat missions.
The Repopulation update talks tutorials, testing
Development on The Repopulation is moving right along, and Above & Beyond Technologies has updated fans with a lengthy October recap. The lion's share of the work during the past month went towards preparing the sci-fi sandbox for testing, and the news blurb mentions a new tutorial system that focuses on repeatable training scenarios. While many sandbox MMOs have simply thrown players into the middle of the action and expected them to figure out complex systems as they go, The Repopulation looks to be placing a premium on educating new users before turning them loose. Also on the testing front, the devs are targeting "early 2012" for beta, and the exact date will depend on how quickly the team can develop content and stockpile enough of it "to keep players busy during the initial months." Finally, there are quite a few patch-note-style updates in this month's recap, and you can find the full post on the official Repopulation website.
A Mild-Mannered Reporter: Begin again again
If you like playing a few hundred different characters, City of Heroes definitely supports your terminal fear of the endgame. Unfortunately for me and my dreams of seeing that endgame with any reliability, I do indeed like playing dozens upon dozens of characters, meaning that my character select screen is an array of dozens of characters in carefully crafted outfits, many of which characters are not yet eligible for capes. It's one of those habits that I would dearly like to break, and so I'd eschewed making a new character despite the promise of a new starter experience for heroes and villains alike. Unfortunately, I am also a recidivist. When I talked about the latest update, more than a few commenters called me out, rightly, on the fact that I hadn't really played through much of the new content that the issue had to offer. So I decided that now was the time. I was going to make myself two new characters -- one hero, one villain -- and I was going to see what the new experience was like. And I was going to do so while smoking because it seemed somehow appropriate.
Redsn0w 0.9.8b7 gets tutorial for jailbreaking iOS 5 beta 6, iOS 4.3.5 and 4.2.10
Just like the Sn0wbreeze project, redsn0w recently added support for a tethered jailbreak of iOS 5 beta 6. While support for the iPad 2 still isn't in the mix, the latest version -- 0.9.8b7 -- adds additional support for Apple's latest beta on the original iPad, and the folks at Smash iPhone have provided a tutorial for those who move to the beat of a different drum. While redsn0w supports a tether-free solution for iOS 4.3.3, if you want to partake in Cupertino's freshest fruits, you'll be required to connect your phone or tablet to your computer whenever you power up the device. Also, while download links for iOS 4.3.5 and 4.2.10 are in the tutorial, if you're not a developer, it'll be on you to scrounge up the latest beta. Best of luck with the foray.
Picaroon polishing beta 'questorials'
Picaroon's beta phase is sailing merrily along, and Nice Technology is talking up a few of the MMORTS's features in a new press release. The newbie experience is fresh on the minds of beta testers and developers, and Nice producer Toby Simpson says that the company has come up with "questorials" that are organized into mission groups to effectively communicate the game's basics while avoiding the dreaded need for players to spend time reading a manual. "We know that documentation is the very last thing that anyone reads," Simpson explains, noting that Nice has recently added PvE pirate battle questorials to introduce the game's combat. Picaroon's beta is also gearing up to release new content in the form of a new building called the Technology Centre. In a nutshell, the Centre offers new strategies for defending islands (courtesy of an orbital laser cannon satellite) as well as a new game mode called persistent Picaroon. Head to the official website for more details.
