Spring RTS Engine

I made some video's in which i explain some basic spring controls. It is nothing fancy, just me talking while demonstrating the features. (no flashy animations like in s $$$ rts-title)

As a new player you might find it useful to watch one since most mods don't explain what they can do.

the subjects discussed so far are:

- custom formation
- building placement
- unit groupings
- map markers

(more to come)

If there is something i forgot, please leave comment here or on the video, so i can add it or make a new video later.

(Please note that English isn't my native language and i am already trying to improve on talking coherently. )

Nice effort but they seem quite long compared to the amount of content, will an average newbie care to sit through all this to learn these relatively simple things?

yes, you might be right there. I just wanted it to be clear so i kept repeating myself. Anyway, i'll keep that in mind for future videos.

good effort but I think a video on such basic things like building stuff should be 1 minute max. Maybe write down what you want to say so that you do not have to think about that and avoid repeating.

ok after rewatching them a couple of times, i decided i'm going to redo them all later this week. They are indeed to long.

good idea, and godo topics.
my advice.. if possible, try to only do what you want to show.
you do a lot of clicking, mostly unselecting, reselecting (and moing the camera), that is not required and may confuse noobs.
it kind of makes me nervous just watching you :D
might be impossble though, as you are too muhc used to it.
even with that, it is good to have these. thanks!

Looks good :) Video tutorials are imo best way to teach newbies.

Btw do you know about ctrl+shift+f10 built in video recording?
You can try using that - it records video at full FPS always (game will slow down during recording).
To use it run windowed and with HW cursor off.

Also for clarity it could be cut into short pieces just showing important stuff together with text labels like:

"press number to recall group" - while video shows it in action

etc

And if you write down the stuff anyway, in order to record it better, maybe make that into a written tutorial as well, with minimum extra effort. I prefer written to video by far (faster, skipping to a certain part is easier, can listen to music, etc), so I'd think somebody else prefers that too.


Also in groupings part you could mention ctrl-x (selects all ungrouped units of the type you have selected).

We (Zero-K devs) have been discussing ways to teach new players and videos are quite effective and cheap to produce (compared to a full tutorial's worth of coding). It's great that you have decided to make some videos and we'll support you if you need any help because teaching players has become a high priority.

I know a few extra things about some of those topics and as you're remaking the videos I'll give you some extra things you could include.

Custom Formations
The precision movement feature of custom formations wasn't included.

Right click and drag with a single unit selected and it will follow the line your cursor follows. It's useful for cloaked infiltration, keeping spiders walking on cliff faces and sneaking through gaps in base defences with scouts. If you have a group of units selected hold Alt and right click to make many units follow a line.

There is a bit of awkwardness in the line follow controls in that to append a line to follow after the first one you have to hold 2 keys; Alt and Shift.

This command also works for Fight. It technically works for Patrol and Jump (it gives the commands correctly) but is extremely useless. Also useless for aircraft.

While covering movement you could cover some things built into spring, and anyway, from the point of view of the end user custom formations is built in.

If you hold Alt and right click the units will form a rectangle formation on arrival. If you hold Ctrl the units will keep their current relative formation and most importantly move at the speed of the slowest member of the group. Ctrl works for patrol and fight but Alt only works for move.

If you hold Shift for normal Ctrl or Alt move instead of basing the command off unit position the command is based off the position of their last waypoint.

Ctrl and Alt can be held down to use the rather useless custom formations line move while keeping relative positions. I only use this if someone is hiding a cloaked unit at the end of the game. Get a lot of cheap units and tell them to line move to the top of the map, then hold Ctrl+Shift+Alt and drag down the middle of the map to make them sweep the entire map without bunching up.

Just a note for attack line command. Wolverine is awesome when used this way as you can place large evenly spread minefields.

Building Placement
I only know a bit more about this subject. Basically you can use Ctrl while building as well. Hold Shift+Ctrl and you'll get a line of buildings that snap to a cardinal direction. Hold Shift+Ctrl+Alt and you'll get a hollow rectangle. Of course both these commands obey spacing.

Also in groupings part you could mention ctrl-x (selects all ungrouped units of the type you have selected).

This may be a bit confusing as your selectkeys depend on how you install spring so will not be the same default for all players.

How general are you planning on making the videos? Some Zero-K specific stuff (eg terraform) would be really appreciated.

I approve of these videos =) Thanks for making them!

@google frog

Indeed, i forgot a couple of things about custom formations, movement and building placement. I'll add those, especially the "move at same speed" should be mentioned.

My idea was to make general spring video's, but i don't mind making some 0K related video's. Problem is that i have little experience with 0K, (just picked it up and do not even know all the units yet :S )


In a next video i can explain the terraform and how some weapons do reform the terrain.
Other mods, like XTA, also make use of terraforming weapons. That will go well with some info about slope maps/F2 Kbots/vehicles etc.

Will try the spring recorder someday, this was done with fraps.

@johannes
making a written document is also a lot of work (if you want to do it properly) For now ill stick with video, voice, annotations and a video description.



I do have a video (two actually) on camera control, but it isn't coherent enough for new players. What do you think is worth mentioning in a camera vid?

So far, the topics i could come up with were
- camera modes (TA-overhead/FPS/TotalWar etc) and how to switch between modes. This is the second most annoying "noobtrap" i think.
- How to disable the camera's + widgets you don't want to use
- Camera movement in full screen and windowed mode (move, rotate, the speed modifiers shift/ctrl)
- zooming
- Using TAB for the camera
- Using the minimap and camera
- Unit groups and camera
- F3 and map events
- unit icon distance

as mentioned, lenght :' also, zk got few really nice models, why u record everything from such distance ? u could show everything u need to show zoomed in. dot making windfarm is not interesting rly

anyway, cool stuff

excellent videos, and good narration..

Wasnt there the shif+w wait comand for simultanious attacks ?
w unholds it then?

Very very good idea, just keep it simple as poss

You could also download some software that shows what keystrokes/mouseclicks are being pressed so that the user can see instantly what you're doing. And I agree with the others. If I was a noob I would prefer to experiment myself with things like that than sit through a 10min vid. Being short and precise is the key.

Good effort nonetheless :)

Oh.. Explain that metal makers should be placed on metal spots. Metal makers floating around is sth you still see every now and then

Pithikos wrote:metal makers should be placed on metal spots.

but imo the problem is that metalspots do not scream "harvest me, i am valuable!" like starcraft's shiny minerals or goldmines in age of empires. They are just a texture of slightly different looking dirt on the ground. Not even animated like the oil pits in kknd. No video is needed to explain those.
Such thing is maybe better explained by adding something to the game, ie geo highlight widget in KP or mex-snap widget.

Or someone go make a map with non-blocking features on metalspots!

knorke wrote: Or someone go make a map with non-blocking features on metalspots!

forb and I did that, people hated that it blocked f4 view. we said fuck it.

Well I don't think the spots have to scream all the time. One solution is to make them "scream" only when a metal extractor is selected from the construction menu. Then you could have all sorts of thingies happening like glowing, etc..

Maybe also a little notifying message whenever a metal extractor is put outside a spot could be used saying for example "Metal extractor will not output metal if not placed on a metal spot". The experienced players will never see that popup message so only newbies will see it and thus no annoyance