Alright, so here's the little tutorial I (LordDz for those who can't read my name), The butterylobster and Kamber. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bpCuGued2X4 Special thanks JPL server for their support. And lobster, if you see this: the reason I uploaded it is cuz I've got to reinstall my computer. More parts will soon be released in better quality, Stay Tuned ..
For 3 min you didn't really explain much. Theres like 30seconds-1 min of actual real information. If you wanna do machinama do machinama if you want to do a tutorial keep it clean informative and precise.
This might actually be helpful. Dz's previous videos raced through some of the issues, but this video starts at zero and progresses slowly enough so that a newb should be able to follow. And IMO the machinima acting doesn't distract, but it does add atmosphere. Very cool.
emp_recruit is right about one thing, though, the first camera screens are too long, I wanted to cut in after 26 seconds. The first 26 seconds is just spectator, something everyone can do. And emp_recruit, the target audience of this video is for people who are too lazy to read the manual. If I make it as boring as the manual, I'm guessing they're not going to bother watching THIS, either. I'd much rather someone read the instructions, that would save us all lots of trouble and I wouldn't have to deal with this crap. But they aren't, so thus we made this. And part of me probably wants to say the same thing you might say: If they're not gonna read the manual, fuck em. Well, I'm torn on that issue, but ultimately I want as many players as possible. So if this is what it takes, this is what I'll do. so in other words: what he said. And as for explaining much, this is supposed to be a quickstart guide. This is the same information in the empires manual, and deals with the same issues i see on a fairly regular basis: Namely, emp_recruits asking how to spawn/change spawns/etc. This explains how to go from no experience to right into the game. working on the next one now, a brief overview of classes. The goal is no more then two minutes, cut right into the instructions, make it mildly interesting enough to keep people watching, and keep things super simple, so that someone just jumping into empires for the first time can understand it. That was all a bit defensive... sorry I take it the overall complaint was: too much fluff, not enough information. That's a valid concern, and I want to try and tighten up the next video. But as for the overall machinima and the pace of the information presented, I stand by my work. Primarily because these are the newbiest of newbs that we're shooting for. You, me, and everyone else on the forums can breeze through this stuff in literally SECONDS. But these people can't. But thanks for everyone's prompt response, and I would actually appreciate more feedback, especially if it helps improve this stuff, like what emp_recruit said. I want to make a product good enough for the empires home page that will actually HELP people get the hang of this game. Ambitious? Maybe, but I love empires.
i liked it :D but u should cover the issue with joining a squad - or it that planned for the second video?
The next one should be vehicles.. because.. Paper tanks are not fun! or Squads.. Or Comming.. i would Assume Commanding would be the last thing to show but meh. Might be funnier if you make the first person guy more... clueless. And lastly. I think it would have been great if at the end of "I think you have what it takes" to see the guy running from a tank screaming his head off... Anywhooo, Was actually pretty good and stuff I wished I knew right when I started. I read the manual but sometimes you need to really see things done to understand them.
i'm thinking: Classes #2, squads #3, Buildings #4 (should be real quick, like 1 minute, tops... maybe combine it with squads), vehicles #5, and idk what to do for commanding... i hate commanding and i rarely do it and i dont want to make a bad video. the problem is that there's SO MUCH info, these have to be concise as well as entertaining, and we really shouldn't have more than 6.... same reason as manual.
Its quite simple! make them all themed, Commanding could be a horror movie! Of course yu would probably want to split it between three sections. Buildings, Research, and Communication. These arn't really BASIC tutorials but for a player that wants to know whats going on it could help. "EMPIRES TUTORIALS: THE RISE OF THE COMMANDER! Or by chance if people say you should comm anyway even after you tell them you can't and then they all find you and beat you u... I am getting ahead of myself!" in like that crazy zombie movie like Stubbs the zombie. "It was the darkest of days, the command vehicle was empty, and only one could fit upon its mighty throne! If you have the power, ability, tactical thinking and mental stamina it takes... YOU COULD BE CHOSEN TO BE THE NEXT COMMANDER!!!" *scary music goes here along with the lightning sound* End Intro *work in progress* *jump to picture of the CV for BE* "What happens as a commander you ask!? YOU'RE DOOM! MWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA... or victory YOU DECIDE!" *Zooms to a picture of a reginary and swirls around it* "THE REFINERY! It collects resources used for... THINGS!!! *Insert lightning sound here*" "Ahem... but really it makes your vehicles, buildings and all sorts of little doo dads in the research area.. EVIL DOO DADS!!! *lightning sound*" *zoom to a picture of a barracks* "The Barracks Will make your soldiers LIVE ONCE MORE!!!! it's truely magical!" *Jumps over to Vehicle Factory* "The Vehicle Factory can produce vehicles of DESTRUCTION!!!!!!!!! Or if you're team hasn't watched the vehicle tutorial... jeeps *honking sound* *Guy going WEEEEEEeeeeeee in the background* *By this time you can imagine that it may be going a little longer than anticipated so you can shorten the next few portions* *point out the ML and MG turret, and Radar in one quick scene* "The Missile Launcher turret will protect you from MASSIVE IRON CONTRAPTIONS OF STEEL AND IRON AND DEMONI... err... tanks and the like. The Machine gun turret will protect you from the ravenous rabbits that roam the area!" *guy whispering "You mean enemy soldiers"* "Oh.. that too" *Noob Commander voice* "Whats that thing do?" *zooms in on radar* "Errr.. I don't really know.. guess I will have to find out and tell you.. LATER!!! *lightning sound*" "h whats this?" *zooms in on Comm vehicle with a small group of NF Grendiers behind it* *Comm Vehicle gets blown to hell* A fun idea might be to have someone driving a jeep around and acting as the narrator =D. And it could all be guided through the Comm window or Spectator mode. And I suddenly realized why I should never pursue a career in writing *hangs head in shame and hits submit anyway*
we have to keep things concise. The plotline is secondary--but probably important to keep things interesting. And I don't want to make it sound TOO goofy. Because concise is key, we could do the building video in an infantry video, and not have to repeat it for commander. Stuff like that. But yeah, i think it is important to have SOME sort of 'zing,' to keep things moving.
Lol I was actually bored =D Ya I know, Problem is keeping it entertaining while breaking the funny parts for "push Z or R twice to do a Barrel Roll!"
I really liked it Didn't really need the flyover at the start, and could perhaps have mentioned to pick a Squad and skill before you spawn so newbs get in the habit of doing it, even if this is the only video they watch.
the flyover needs cut, I totally agree with you, there, I think Lord DZ is reformatting or something. I decided not to do squads because this is the most basic of basics.... also cause we were (and still are) getting the hang of making them informative but not horribly cheesy... yeah... maybe it's pretty cheesy.... thoughts?
u would probably want to combine classes with squads - that way u can adress the leader auras and skills with the class. explaining the squad system (on a basic level) wont take long. im not sure if u should cover commanding in a video tutorial at all. it has way more aspects than the rest. you would have to cover each map in specific, as the strategies are realy map dependend. u would have to explain where good building spots are and why. but maybe give a quick general gameplay overview at the end of the tutorials. something like how important resources are, what the not vehicle related reseraches do, how to put engineer turrets, ammo crates and the surveillance equipment to good use, that u dont have to abandon a tank just because its damaged and so on ... ... and that the best way to learn commanding simply is to watch what other successfull commanders do. then explain how to setup a game to get used to the research tree: - start private game with increased res flow and decreased research time - drive over to the enemies starting base - drop 10 turrets - switch side - nadespam their turrets - take repair upgrade - build radar - research (- drive arround the map and see what buildings fit where, tho u better learn this from others aswell) while doing this they would learn to use the commander interface too ... ok maybe explain how to give mass targets, how u restrict vehicles for research and that u can build tanks for ur team (if they dont know, or ur rax just blow up and u need to build an apc) and that u can rotate buildings by holding ur mousebutton pressed. meh ok, i got to admit, commanding should be covered. :D
I liked the video. What you should change a bit is the end when the apc drives over the guy. It goes too quick, new players won't notice what's happening. Either remove it or let the player see the apc coming.
I did have it cut! It was 10 seconds longer before.. Guess it wasn't enough . The reformating is having problems..
This is awesome. Do you have a high quality version? I'd like it if these could be shown from the Empires menu screen.
