[X3:R] Video guides by rabiddeity

rabiddeity · Post by **rabiddeity** » Sat, 23. Feb 08, 01:49

{NB: This thread/guide relates to X3-Reunion - Rapier, Feb 09}

Inspired by this thread, I figured X3 could do with a set of video tutorials geared toward new players, because some people are still being introduced to the series. So here you go. If I'll release them over the next several weeks as I finish them. You need the xvid codec (or a compatible MPEG-4 codec) to play them.

I. The Interface (4:49, 24.3 MB, text)
II. Basic Flight (9:30, 28.3 MB, text)
III. Ships and Ship Types (11:40, 43.7 MB, text)
IV. Combat (speech completed, not yet done)
V. Controlling Ships Using the Command Menu (script written, not yet done)
VI. Trading (not started yet)
VII. Stations and Complexes (script written, not yet done)

If you have any comments for improving the videos, please post them here and I'll see what I can do. If you want to translate them into another language, please PM me and I'll provide you with details.

Thanks, Egosoft, for making such an awesome game and supporting it even after 3 years.

exogenesis · Post by **exogenesis** » Sat, 23. Feb 08, 03:33

Very good idea, possibly something ES should supply as standard.

This looks like an awful lot of work, especially considering the first
video covers 'just' the menu-interface basics.

Video quality is good, especially with the zoom in parts.

Keep up the good work, I'm sure many new players could benefit from this

Dom Devore · Post by **Dom Devore** » Sat, 23. Feb 08, 08:17

Great idea! Wish I had something like this a week ago.

ShoC · Post by **ShoC** » Sat, 23. Feb 08, 11:37

Fantastic,
will help my mate get into the game. without asking me for help (something he dont want for some reason)

you never know this might get a stickie status.
Bloomin should do.

EDIT: you certainly got the voice for the tutorial

Coffee-Man · Post by **Coffee-Man** » Sat, 23. Feb 08, 11:52

Simply great!

Wish I had something like that at my very beginning.
Really a good voice and a clear pronunciation, even me, the stupid german, understand everything

.

johnnywas · Post by **johnnywas** » Sat, 23. Feb 08, 13:52

Great stuff

I once asked whether there was a video tutorial on dog fighting skills, like strafing and barrel rolls perhaps you can cover that in your series - but the ideas you have already look really helpful.

J

SymTec ltd. · Post by **SymTec ltd.** » Sat, 23. Feb 08, 14:13

my compliments, great work.

Is that you who speaks?

Post by **Xenon_Slayer** » Sat, 23. Feb 08, 14:14

That is really nice. Unfortunatly the num-Enter main menu was forgotten, I find that one the most useful.

Ralon · Post by **Ralon** » Sat, 23. Feb 08, 14:37

Good Idea, my friend is going to buy X3 soon (after much nagging and praisal from me

) so these will be usefull for him to start off

rabiddeity · Post by **rabiddeity** » Sat, 23. Feb 08, 15:21

Thanks for all the positive feedback! The next video should be out in about a week.

@SymTec ltd. Yep, that's me speaking. I wrote out a script, tried to read from it as clearly as I could, and then increased the speed by 10% using Audacity. Thanks to the magic of computers, I can talk as slowly as I want!

@johnnywas Strafing and barrel rolls will definitely be covered in the Combat section. The combat stuff assumes the player already knows how to manually target ships and fly their ship around, so I figure it's better to cover basic targeting and navigation before that.

@exogenesis Yes, it's a lot of work, but it's also a very complex game with lots of material to cover, even in the basics. All the more reason to have tutorials, right? I'm trying to keep each video segment under 10 minutes, but we'll see how that goes. Just taking a look at the guides sticky, it's a HUGE list.

jannix · Post by **jannix** » Sat, 23. Feb 08, 19:06

This video is awesome! Great job, rabiddeity.

Take your time with your new ones, I am sure if they are as high a quality as this one, it will be a very valuable tool to newcomers.

Its interesting that I've gotten so used to direct shortcuts that I don't remember ever using the click-menus that you demonstrated or the Enter and Escape stuff.

Just goes to show that you really can play this game in very different ways!

Carl Sumner · Post by **Carl Sumner** » Sun, 24. Feb 08, 02:16

Excellent!!!

More, Please!

Steve Zodiac · Post by **Steve Zodiac** » Sun, 24. Feb 08, 15:42

Bad link for me!

rabiddeity · Post by **rabiddeity** » Wed, 5. Mar 08, 13:29

The Basic Flight tutorial has been posted. Sorry for the delay, this one was longer and took a bit more time than I expected. This tutorial covers flight, navigation, and basic autopilot controls.

Again, if anyone wants to translate please let me know.

Kilmatead · Post by **Kilmatead** » Wed, 5. Mar 08, 20:45

...and the amazing quality continues! This stuff should be required viewing... even those who have been playing for awhile can appreciate the work and effort on display here.

Simply brilliant.

Carl Sumner · Post by **Carl Sumner** » Wed, 5. Mar 08, 22:27

This is great!

Good job.

fiksal · Post by **fiksal** » Wed, 5. Mar 08, 23:00

rabiddeity wrote:Thanks for all the positive feedback! The next video should be out in about a week.

very nice!
seems like it should be a part of the official guide

I am curios what are you going to cover for basic combat? Will you concentrate on Buster or will you cover some of the larger ships as well (M6, capital class)?

plus a few gotcha's like:
- pressing "i" on the Shipyard's trading menu
- a few tips for station construction. The easiest of each I think is the grid method: where stations are just places in a grid.
- hitting "k" key on the sector map when you got an Adv Satellite in the sector
- etc

rabiddeity wrote: @SymTec ltd. Yep, that's me speaking. I wrote out a script, tried to read from it as clearly as I could, and then increased the speed by 10% using Audacity. Thanks to the magic of computers, I can talk as slowly as I want!

I wonder if that 10% speed increase that makes it sound a bit robotic... or perhaps your superior ability to speak clearly

rabiddeity · Post by **rabiddeity** » Thu, 6. Mar 08, 10:10

The combat tutorial as written is an intro to shield and weapon types, equipping weapons through the HUD, weapon groups, targeting, strafing/dogfighting, and how to assign orders to turrets. It also briefly goes over the effects of hull damage on top speed, and also capturing mechanics. It is intended to be as broad as possible, not specific to any one ship. The tutorial is intended to be as general as possible, but for simplicity's sake the starting Buster will probably be used. Fighting with an M6 specifically is really outside the scope of the tutorial vids, as they're mostly intended for people just starting out. The goal is that people who have maybe played a space sim or flight sim before can break the intimidating learning curve of X3 in 45 minutes to an hour.

Thanks for the extra tips for station placement, I'll write those into the script. I'm actually quite new at placing stations and I should mess around with complexes a bit more before finishing the text for that...

Yeah, the voice does sound a bit robotic toward the end... maybe I'm actually Xenon and don't know it?

fiksal · Post by **fiksal** » Thu, 6. Mar 08, 18:16

rabiddeity wrote:The tutorial is intended to be as general as possible, but for simplicity's sake the starting Buster will probably be used.

That's good too. One can write books on combat mechanics in X3, so it's good to keep the tutorial focused.

rabiddeity wrote: Yeah, the voice does sound a bit robotic toward the end... maybe I'm actually Xenon and don't know it?

well that's easy, if you require hard drives to store memories - you are xenon

KFJ · Post by **KFJ** » Thu, 6. Mar 08, 19:20

Should help some blind kittens to open their eyes. *Twitch*

Even i still suck at this game...

egosoft.com

egosoft.com

[X3:R] Video guides by rabiddeity

[X3:R] Video guides by rabiddeity