tutorial / user guide ?

[petera1289]

have played the demo for an hour ... what an unnecessarily nasty learning curve !

absolutely no built in help or hints for learning to play straight after loading, fortunately I found the options menu so I could work out the keys (after about 10 minutes) and start doing something

since I have wasted all my food just getting to "T2" equipment I will have to restart to see if I can actually achieve something

I really hope this game doesnt die because too many people judge it by the demo and have the same experience I have had

[Coops]

Over a million downloads and overwhelmingly positive reviews. I would not worry about the success of the game.

[petera1289]

is there an actual tutorial of any kind?

[EleventhStar]

Originally posted by petera1289:

is there an actual tutorial of any kind?

you get some hints and helpful messages when you build a communications terminal.

if it took you 10 minutes to open the menu i assume you are new to gaming in general? you might be better off just googling commonly used keys in games in that case, a very large percentage of games will assume you know the basics like wasd/escape/spacebar/mouse to look/etc.

[Phoenix Cat]

Originally posted by petera1289:

is there an actual tutorial of any kind?

It goes thru the basics when you first land. Thats all you need to know to play the game. It's pretty simple really. Build, explore, make stuff, follow the storyline.

[Spocks Toupee]

Originally posted by petera1289:

is there an actual tutorial of any kind?

Just how much hand holding do you need/want?

The to-do list that shows at the beginning specifically tells you what items to build is what moves you forwards. Make everything on that checklist, the build menu shows you what items are need to create the items etc.
It clearly tells you to build a base, wind turbines, etc...it can't be any clearer than that unless you want a

1. Walk (by holding down the S key) up to the mineral you want to mine, and hold the left mouse button, now walk to another material, and hold the left mouse button, now hold down the S key to walk forward.

Etc..

[nagball]

I usually look on YouTube when I get a new game as the videos often are quite helpful to new players. A lot of games these days seem to have little in the way of tutorials.

[dixiechow]

I am playing the demo. I found that watching certain YouTube videos is very helpful. I usually check all the videos until I find one that does not assume you already know everything about the game. Pick one that simply starts at the beginning assuming you know nothing! :) Good luck.

[Padgey]

The tutorial shows you have to get oxygen and some of the early tools and tells you to build a habitat and then set up some screens, honestly it’s not too bad and unless you play on perma death mode even when you die there isn’t really a consequence to that, you could always team up with someone in co op so you have two people to figure out what to do

[petera1289]

Originally posted by brnphoenix75:

Originally posted by petera1289:

is there an actual tutorial of any kind?

It goes thru the basics when you first land. Thats all you need to know to play the game. It's pretty simple really. Build, explore, make stuff, follow the storyline.

nope ... was faced with open door so i scrolled the mouse around and noticed it changed so i could click on message and craft ... but not the open door or around it which is why I thought I had lost a about a quarter of my oxygen by that pont
seeing the task list I clicked on craft again ... doesn't work because obviously I hadnt gone out collecting yet

[petera1289]

Originally posted by Spocks Toupee:

Originally posted by petera1289:

is there an actual tutorial of any kind?

Just how much hand holding do you need/want?

it can't be any clearer than that unless you want a

1. Walk (by holding down the S key) up to the mineral you want to mine, and hold the left mouse button, now walk to another material, and hold the left mouse button, now hold down the S key to walk forward.

Etc..

part of the problem was me assuming this was a terraforming game not "crafter" but considering the posts above about having to watch youtube to learn the game, how about ... midway between the two extremes ?

add "go outside and collect some minerals"
then tell me to craft stuff

and a few helpful hints at the start like
when I am (3 steps from the door but at a bad angle and) oxygen critical the first time flash "press [tab] to open inventory and use your oxygen recharge" on screen instead of me dying

maybe add in a visual clue occasionally
the first few times I try to craft eg flashing red border on the minerals I am missing and a green border on the ones I have ESPECIALLY when I need 2 but only have 1 of the mineral ... I didnt notice the slight color changes until the 3rd time i went to the crafter station

and please don't put false visual clues in !!!
eg with the screens ... the holes in the habitat walls look like they could line up but no I just have to find the right angle on the wall from close enough

[gamergrandpa]

Originally posted by petera1289:

Originally posted by Spocks Toupee:

Just how much hand holding do you need/want?

it can't be any clearer than that unless you want a

1. Walk (by holding down the S key) up to the mineral you want to mine, and hold the left mouse button, now walk to another material, and hold the left mouse button, now hold down the S key to walk forward.

Etc..

part of the problem was me assuming this was a terraforming game not "crafter" but considering the posts above about having to watch youtube to learn the game, how about ... midway between the two extremes ?

add "go outside and collect some minerals"
then tell me to craft stuff

and a few helpful hints at the start like
when I am (3 steps from the door but at a bad angle and) oxygen critical the first time flash "press [tab] to open inventory and use your oxygen recharge" on screen instead of me dying

maybe add in a visual clue occasionally
the first few times I try to craft eg flashing red border on the minerals I am missing and a green border on the ones I have ESPECIALLY when I need 2 but only have 1 of the mineral ... I didnt notice the slight color changes until the 3rd time i went to the crafter station

and please don't put false visual clues in !!!
eg with the screens ... the holes in the habitat walls look like they could line up but no I just have to find the right angle on the wall from close enough

All of these "hints" that you would like to see are generally taken as already known since they are common in almost all survival/crafting games. Most of the gamers who play these types of games would find that much hand holding aggravating. Watching YouTube videos may be your best option.

[Wiawyr]

Originally posted by petera1289:

Originally posted by Spocks Toupee:

Just how much hand holding do you need/want?

it can't be any clearer than that unless you want a

1. Walk (by holding down the S key) up to the mineral you want to mine, and hold the left mouse button, now walk to another material, and hold the left mouse button, now hold down the S key to walk forward.

Etc..

part of the problem was me assuming this was a terraforming game not "crafter" but considering the posts above about having to watch youtube to learn the game, how about ... midway between the two extremes ?

"Crafter" was literally in the name, so that's entirely on you. How exactly did you think you would terraform a planet by yourself, without crafting and building things? The pictures on the store page show a lot of buildings in various places.

Originally posted by petera1289:

add "go outside and collect some minerals"
then tell me to craft stuff

This can't be real. You wanted a tutorial for exiting your escape pod through the open door? You're pulling our collective leg.

Originally posted by petera1289:

and a few helpful hints at the start like
when I am (3 steps from the door but at a bad angle and) oxygen critical the first time flash "press [tab] to open inventory and use your oxygen recharge" on screen instead of me dying

You already have an on-screen display of your remaining oxygen. The game alerts you when it is low, and then again when it is critically low. If you mouse-over the oxygen capsule in your inventory, it tells you what it does and how to use it.

You're saying you couldn't connect "my oxygen is low", "I have an oxygen capsule in my inventory", and "the oxygen capsule in my inventory will restore my oxygen" and arrive at the decision that you should use the oxygen capsule in your inventory? Death is well deserved at that point.

Fortunately for you, death is entirely consequence free to boot unless you've changed the difficulty levels. If you were "3 steps from the door", take 3 steps outside after you respawn and you can pick up your inventory. You'll even respawn with more health and/or water if you die from hunger or thirst. You said you'd wasted all your food getting to "T2", but that's not going to end the game or prevent you from still playing on that save.

Honestly it sounds like you don't want to learn or discover anything by playing the game and want someone to tell you every single step to follow as Spocks Toupee suggested.

[Ferox_Stormdragon]

Are you telling me you didn't see the tutorial hints on the top-left hand side of the screen?, they couldn't be any clearer.

i found the game very easy to follow, but then again i had previously played subnautica and below zero which uses similar mechanics.

[DocBravo]

There are those "To do" things listed on the UL of the screen. That should get anyone started.
Youtube has a lot of basic guides to the game.

[Owl1234]

Originally posted by petera1289:

have played the demo for an hour ... what an unnecessarily nasty learning curve !

absolutely no built in help or hints for learning to play straight after loading, fortunately I found the options menu so I could work out the keys (after about 10 minutes) and start doing something

since I have wasted all my food just getting to "T2" equipment I will have to restart to see if I can actually achieve something

I really hope this game doesnt die because too many people judge it by the demo and have the same experience I have had

There is a great user guide from Oswuld. Highly recommend to go through the basics sections. Helps one to get started: https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3237612056