What things should go into a 'BTW Quickstart Guide'?

[Six]

With all the recent changes, I feel it would be very handy to make a short(ish) text based 'quickstart guide' for Better Than Wolves. The game plays much different to vanilla now, so I'm thinking it would need to cover things like only sprinting and jumping when necessary, the fact that wheat seeds don't drop from grass, etc. Just enough to get you through the first few in game weeks to the point you can get yourself established, then point them in the direction they need to go from there for tech progress.

So what are some of the key points it should cover?

[jecowa]

* Health regeneration requires only 5.5 shanks now, but health regen is slower.
* Describe how fat is gained and lost and the benefits of keeping Steve a bit fat.
* Suggest that players keep their fat under 6 rolls.
* Steve moves slower, does less damage, and breaks blocks slower the hungrier he gets / the fatter he gets / the more injured he gets.
* Suggest methods players can use to farm without buckets (such as building the farm over an ocean or river).
* Tell players how to get hemp, that it requires direct sunlight or BTW lamps, and that it is very important for building their first windmill for automating handcrank operations and progressing through the mod's content.
* Talk about hard-core spawning and the extra dangers of death.
* Tell them that beds cannot be used to set spawn.

List the early-game food options not available in vanilla:
* brown mushrooms
* bucket of milk
* mushroom omelet
* scrambled milk
* pumpkin seeds
* cream of mushroom soup
* ham and eggs
* fish chowder
* fried eggs

[Magnavode]

Maybe a list of food items stating at what tech level they are available, how much hunger they replenish etc.

[ThePowerofTower]

Definitely go over the changes to farming, especially the importance of early hemp farming, how to balance plot usage, etc.

[EtherealWrath]

You should probably touch on HC movement, packed dirt and cobblestone are two very good friends early on in game.

[FaceFoiled]

I was wondering if people were still interested in this, in collecting/updating some information on this. I could personally use it :D, as it's been quite some time since I really got into it. But mainly, I think it's great to have as a server host to quickly steer new BTW players in the right direction. A helping hand without spoilers so to say.

I think I might try and write something up, an introduction to BTW of sorts. There are lots of video's out there doing similar things, but BTW has advanced and upped itself over and over again. I'm quite passionate about BTW again since the latest few HC additions, need to convert people! :P

[JiiKoo]

Short list of what I'd include:
*The changes of all the hardcore modes, with emphasis on armour, beds, buckets, hunger and movement, since those are the ones that really affect your progress early game. The rest should be mentioned, too, though.
*Finding villages is essential since wheat is only available from there.
*Iron is harder to get now.

All the rest is kinda fluff, or is included in the first one. Some examples I might mention:

*The new food recipes and changes to existing ones, especially those meant for early game. Also you can eat mushrooms and pumpkin seeds.
*Leather armor is a good thing.
*In the early game days are for travelling, nights are for cooking, crafting and digging.
+If you are confident in your ability to avoid damage, feel free to travel at night, as well. Or if you're on a boat.
*Boats are your friends.
*Don't sprint and/or jump if you don't have a surplus of food. It's inefficient.
+Dirt slabs are quite handy.
*If you do have a surplus of food it might be a good idea to go caving for a little bit. Iron is kinda good.
*Your main task is to find a village, though. Don't get attached to any location until you've found wheat and seeds.
*Keep moving and don't waste time.

There might be some other things worth mentioning, as well, but these are what I'd consider the really important ones.

[FaceFoiled]

Nice! I'll have to look up some things to make sure I get the right information detailed, but I have some pretty cool ideas. :D It'll be an introduction video of the hardcore modes basically, without any spoilers. But a few subtle hints for new players.

I was thinking of starting the video of with some BTW stuff in the background (small village, windmill/waterwheel/aquaduct). Maybe a graveyard with player heads, stuff like that. Introducing myself/mod, whilst walking to the village and meanwhile taking heavy armor off (gimp mask!)//walking towards a compact-dirt road. Through that, indicating the armor weight and road movement. Maybe dumping some excess materials in a water stream, watching it drift off and finishing the video whilst eating myself to death on cake (unable to jump out of a tnt trap or something).

Something funny/weird like that, without any actual information/details, yet with all the information that you could need to get started. My apologies for the rant, just wanted to get the idea written down so I wouldn't forget when I got home :D (still at work). If you have any suggestions, please do let me know. =)

[SterlingRed]

I'd advise some caution with how this information is presented. If I'm reading the intent correctly this is so serve as sort of an early game change log to provide new players with what's different from vanilla to get started right? If so, avoid anything related to 'how to'. Explain what has changed, but leave the player to discover how to or what to do with that information. For example discuss hunger and damage effects but leave the player to separate out daytime and nighttime activities on their own. Or discuss wheat changes and village changes, but let the player have to work out how and when is a good time to go hunt down wheat. In my opinion much of the fun in btw is in discovering and figuring out how to do something. Try to leave that for the player to experience, even the ones who would rather spoil their own fun. They'll come around :-)

[Bevanz]

Yeah, I definitely don't think it should start out advising how to play the game when it comes to finding a village, etc. It is very feasible to play the game with HCH without ever touching a village.

EDIT: To clarify, to advance in the tech tree it becomes necessary later on, but not at the beginning, and finding a village doesn't need to trump building a permanant base.

[FaceFoiled]

I was actually not planning on discussing or explaining anything. :D Just a sort of "introduction video" to the mod. Like the plain basics spoken out loud. Whilst walking towards a "showcase village" and doing things to hint towards changes (like switching from grass to a compact dirt road) The very basics, like..

Welcome to BTW - the mod that uses the Minecraft platform to provide you with a game worth investing time on. You will be able to use mechanical power run by windmills and waterwheels, to power contraptions and enhance builds that would otherwise be empty shells. Buildings and contraptions that will make you proud to have worked on them. Oh, and sorry for ruining "vanilla" minecraft, as playing without BTW afterwards is just not feasible anymore.

I really don't want to make a "how to" video or introduction. Part of the charm is to figure things out yourself, or receive help from players/friends in the game directly. That rewards you with so much than a twat with a funny accent (me) informing you of stuff. :P

[JiiKoo]

Stuff and things

Oh yes, I definitely agree. I don't think people who'd really want to play BTW would really like handholding, anyways. I admit I did mention the day/night thing in my "fluff list". I guess I was more focusing on the "get through the first few weeks to the point of getting established" part... Just giving the info and maybe a few playful hints and tips at the end should probably be enough.

Yeah, I definitely don't think it should start out advising how to play the game when it comes to finding a village, etc. It is very feasible to play the game with HCH without ever touching a village.

Hm, I disagree. I mean, yes, it is very feasible to survive without ever finding a village, surviving with just pumpkins, chicken, mushrooms and fish, maybe watermelons. However, advancing through the tech tree might get a bit difficult if you don't have a breeding population of cows for leather and dog food. You could of course hunt wild cows for your needs, but I'm not sure if that would really be enough, or that efficient. Then again, I haven't tried it so maybe it's a trivial task in the right environment for all I know. If you have experience playing the game and advancing through the ages without touching villages, I think that could be quite useful information for a "quickstart guide", hm? ;)

Edit:

EDIT: To clarify, to advance in the tech tree it becomes necessary later on, but not at the beginning, and finding a village doesn't need to trump building a permanant base.

Oh, of course not. If you are able to get a sustainable food source before finding a village, of course you can build a permanent base. It just might happen that the closest village is beyond an ocean biome and two hours of sailing and getting back might be an issue. Me playing on hardcore probably colours my opinions a bit. But yeah, of course you can build a base if you want. I just don't see any real reason to do so before finding a village. I guess it's a matter of preference.

[Bevanz]

Yeah, I edited my post to clarify on that, my point was more about not needing villages for food right away. In my latest game we went out looking for villages around the same time we used to in my pre-HCH game. Playing the game from a static base at or near spawn is still feasible, the whole "nomad lifestyle" thing isn't a necessity if you farm pumpkins and go on hunting parties while doing normal exploring/resource gathering. And that's why a "quick start guide" shouldn't advise on how to play the game, just tell the basics on what is different between vMC and BTW.

[The Lord of Brick]

The fact that your more likely to get a diamond chestplate before an iron one due to the changes in HCI