Right handed but I do the same. I invariably re-map keys to conform to my set-up. I guess this is why I don’t get invited to LAN parties!!
i use the arrow, function, right edge ctrl area, and numpad keys. they are bigger or have a more distinct position. i do have to twist my keyboard though as i am not a lefty. so every game i pretty much have to remap.
the six keys above the arrow keys are great for lean, reload, use, etc.
the offcenter w in wasd movement and the similarity of all the nearby make it so i dislike using those keys.
Most games I can think of off the top of my head do have optional tutorial. Test Drive: Eve of Destruction and Kohan 2 both had optional tutorials, if I remember right.
Do most other games not have optional tutorials?
I think most tutorials are optional but there are exceptions. Thief 3 and Rome Total War both had mandatory tutorials, which seems silly to me.
Yeah, tutorials in strategy games are mostly optional but every FPS I can remember had a mandatory tutorial, typically as a part of the first mission.
This conversation sounds strangely familiar… Anyhow, one of the big problems with trying to standardize controls is that different games have different functionality. Some games have separate crouch and prone keys while others have stance-up/down, some support leaning while others don’t, some default to “run” while others default to “walk,” etc.
- Alan
Black and White is the most notorious example I can think of. That was a game that begged to be started over numerous times, yet being forced to plod through its tutorial was just another reason, among many, for players not to.
I’m with Kitsune on the “integrated tutorial” approach in general. It’s a much better way to go. Scrapland uses this approach, and even though you know you’re being pushed through a tutorial, since it’s integrated into the game and introduces you to key characters and whatnot, it’s not that annoying. But B&W’s was an integrated tutorial, too, and it totally sucked. So I don’t know the answer…maybe it’s “have an integrated tutorial but make it not suck.” :) Port Royale 2 does a good job of this. All of its non-sandbox scenarios are essentially tutorial scenarios, but they’re fun and challenging in and of themselves. They’re not just canned walkthroughs. They’re actual games.
On the main complaint, yeah, it bugs me when games don’t all use my favorite setup, from Thief 2. But not all games can use that setup. In some games jumping, for instance, is of minimal value (or no value at all), while activating things is high on the list. It makes little sense to play such a game with the spacebar devoted to jumping. I’ve tried to do it, but I usually end up surrendering and going with something close to what the developers favored. Then there are games like Full Spectrum Warrior that look like more or less standard tactical shooters on the outside, but that are designed so differently that this complaint doesn’t even make any sense when applied to them. If someone ignored the tutorial/manual and tried to jump into that game using their preconceived notions of what the interface should be, he’d be lost. This isn’t because there’s something wrong with FSW’s interface. On the contrary, Pandemic should win some kind of award for design brilliance. If they’d have gone with the standard WASD kind of control scheme, the game would have been a complete disaster.
Half Life’s tutorial (the hazard room) was separate. Although I suppose you could call the first chapter a tutorial of sorts, in that you are given a chance to familiarize yourself with the controls & don’t have to deal with any combat. In that case it was certainly well integrated into the story however.
I don’t have anything to contribute, but I’d like brag that my custom config shapped with Return to Castle Wolfenstein on the disk. All I had to do was pull down the console and type “exec thrrrpptt.cfg” (or whatever; I forget) and I was ready to go. :)
It’s really ridiculous in Pacific Assault, I think… in FPS games, frankly, the tutorial should be at the very beginning and you should be able to skip the whole thing regardless. in MOHPA, the tutorial is in a flashback sequence after the landing sequence at Tarawa.
Yes, you get to learn how to shoot your gun and jump up and down after you man the amtrac’s machinegun, get blown off the boat, make your way ashore, and probably shoot some Japanese when you get under the pier.
— Alan
I think tutorials like in San Andreas (and the rest of the GTA games) are the way to go – make them interesting enough that you don’t have to think of them as specific tutorials.
Personally I admit a strange satisfaction in completing tutorials, even optional ones in games I almost certainly don’t need the tutorial on. Part of having mild OCD or something. :)
Likewise. I use ASRF. It made sense to me at the time, and then I got used to it…
Likewise. I use ASRF. It made sense to me at the time, and then I got used to it…[/quote]
But…but…how?!~?
little finger on A
‘ring’ finger on S
middle finger switches between R and F .
Shit knows how you do other stuff though.
Also - unskippable (sp?) tutorials = bad.
People that revamp their keys from the get-go drive me nuts. It’s because of my long history with Tribes, too, I know. While there are certain tweaks that can arguably improve the setup, people that switch everything over to a default setup everytime are usually missing out on a lot of thoughtly design that was built into the game.
To each their own; it just bugs me. Why not try it out their way first, then switch it up if it doesn’t work?
Likewise. I use ASRF. It made sense to me at the time, and then I got used to it…[/quote]
But…but…how?!~?[/quote]
nutsak almost had it, but it’s the index finger on R and F.
A - left
S - right
r - forward
f - back
And then D is whatever the most used/important secondary action is for the game (reload, zoom, whatever), E is use, q/w lean, and so on. I find it very usable and it keeps my hand in the right place on the home row, but I wouldn’t necessarily recommend it to others.
That key scheme ain’t right! :shock: