Tried my hand at a basic player's guide.

[Pete Mack]

I wrote it to help absolute newbies break the bad habit of scumming dl's 1-3. It doesn't consider gameplay past dl 20. It gives a rundown of the basic survival strategies for a fighter class, and a discussion of a reasonably conservative start that reduces the usual frustrations of early play.

Comments are very welcome.
http://rephial.org/wiki/PlayersGuide

EDIT:
I vaguely recall something like this by Eddie, but I can't find it.

[d_m]

Pete,

This guide seems like a good start. Some things I might add:

1. Testing new scroll/potion flavors on a down staircase.
2. An actual description of throwing oil for damage, since a lot of people might not know about (v) to throw.
3. I might encourage people to bring more than 2 phase door scrolls, to make it easier to get to dlevel 10 or deeper without running out. I often try to get at least 6.
4. You might want to mention ID-by-use since it makes finding good weapons in the dungeon a lot easier.

Also there's a typo where "uou" is used instead of "you"

[Pete Mack]

Originally Posted by d_m

Pete,

This guide seems like a good start. Some things I might add:

1. Testing new scroll/potion flavors on a down staircase.
2. An actual description of throwing oil for damage, since a lot of people might not know about (v) to throw.
3. I might encourage people to bring more than 2 phase door scrolls, to make it easier to get to dlevel 10 or deeper without running out. I often try to get at least 6.
4. You might want to mention ID-by-use since it makes finding good weapons in the dungeon a lot easier.

I'm thinking about this kind of thing, but I was trying to keep it as general as possible, to avoid information overload. I think tips like this need to be in a different chapter. (And in fact they are already in the user's guide

Good point about about the oil, however.
Fixed

Also there's a typo where "uou" is used instead of "you"

Fixed

PS: what's the origin of throwing weapons? In many variants, 'THROWING' and 'WELL_BALANCED' do double and quadruple damage. Was this ever true in V?

[Derakon]

I think balanced throwing weapons first showed up in either O or S. Don't quote me on that though. To my knowledge throwing weapons have never been in Vanilla.

[Pete Mack]

d_m, thanks for the feedback.

I added some additional discussion of missile weapons and flasks of oil, as suggested. It goes well with the emphasis on player power rather than details about how to ID stuff on the floor.

[Magnate]

Originally Posted by Pete Mack

I wrote it to help absolute newbies break the bad habit of scumming dl's 1-3. It doesn't consider gameplay past dl 20. It gives a rundown of the basic survival strategies for a fighter class, and a discussion of a reasonably conservative start that reduces the usual frustrations of early play.

Comments are very welcome.
http://rephial.org/wiki/PlayersGuide

EDIT:
I vaguely recall something like this by Eddie, but I can't find it.

IMO it's a shame that you created something totally separate from http://rephial.org/wiki/UserManual, instead of adding to or editing it to achieve the same result. IMO the existence of two separate items (albeit with slightly different but overlapping aims) will do more harm than good.

[Pete Mack]

Originally Posted by Magnate

IMO it's a shame that you created something totally separate from http://rephial.org/wiki/UserManual, instead of adding to or editing it to achieve the same result. IMO the existence of two separate items (albeit with slightly different but overlapping aims) will do more harm than good.

I thought the aims were different enough to separate the two. I'll be happy to move it, if you point me at where it fits in the other document. (I didn't see a convenient place.)

[fizzix]

It seems like your guide is aimed at the player that has played a couple of times but doesn't get past dlevel 5-10 very often. However, I think it skips the most important question. "How do I avoid xxx monster?" I.E. you say to avoid water hounds, but how do you do that? Answering that question will certainly add longevity to @'s life.


I am working on a much more detailed description of how to play for an absolute newbie. Once the new release version is finalized and I can include whatever updates it has, I'll post it here.

[Pete Mack]

Originally Posted by fizzix

It seems like your guide is aimed at the player that has played a couple of times but doesn't get past dlevel 5-10 very often.

This is my definition of a newbie... Reaching level 5 or 10 is easy on an occaisional basis is easy. Reaching stat gain with reasonable reliability should be the first goal for a newbie.


However, I think it skips the most important question. "How do I avoid xxx monster?" I.E. you say to avoid water hounds, but how do you do that? Answering that question will certainly add longevity to @'s life.

That's tactics. And if you actively think about avoiding them, you will. (Teleportaion, closing doors in hallways so they fall behind, running for the stairs, etc.) So long as you are not trying to fight them, you will do well enough.

Also, I don't think there's any one recipe for a newbie. Too many details loses the reader in the weeds.
an outline of bullet points is probably enough.

I am working on a much more detailed description of how to play for an absolute newbie. Once the new release version is finalized and I can include whatever updates it has, I'll post it here.

I suspect most of the basic gameplay is already fixed in the next release. I'm not sold on what I've seen of 3.1.2 anyway--I suspect that standard artifacts have become simply too powerful. (Dal-i-Thalion with +5 speed added, and still most of the same late-game resists as Soulkeeper??)

[Nick]

I like it. Good job.