FFR Special Mix v2 ideas

[DossarLX ODI]

As some of you might have seen, I said that I'm in the process of creating another .swf level of an FFR tutorial like the original FFR Special Mix (skip to 27 seconds in).

The same song will be used: So Hard by Antinomie

This is what I have so far to put into the level (The numbers are just the keyframe positions, divide by 30 to get the time value in seconds):

First part
- Welcome to Flash Flash Revolution, also abbreviated as FFR! (57)
- FFR is a rhythm based game that uses 4 keys. The four arrows that don't move are called the receptors. (232)
- These stationary arrows represent the left, down, up, and right keys on your keyboard. (461)
- When the moving arrow matches up with the receptors, you press the corresponding key. (633)
- If you don't hit an arrow, you get a miss. Pressing a key when there is no arrow results in a boo. (748)
- Both misses and boos take away from your life meter, which can be found on the top of the screen. (863)
- You will see a readout of your accuracy in the middle of the screen: Perfect, Good, Average, Miss, or Boo. (1034)
- Eight notes are about to come up. Follow the beat, and remember to hit them when they match the receptors! (1208)

Second part
- (1842)

Reason I'm posting this is to get input on what you guys think should be included in the tutorial that would be useful to new players. I could try coming up with things myself, but that would mean that you guys would have other information that isn't in here that could also be useful.

So yeah, shoot any suggestions you have. We have a four minute song here, but we want to make this tutorial short and concise. There also needs to be a reasonable amount of time to have steps in the file so it's not just a big lecture.

[Izzy]

Re: FFR Special Mix v2 ideas

You could mention why notes are colored red, blue and yellow.

[DossarLX ODI]

Re: FFR Special Mix v2 ideas

I'm thinking about how I could get them to the Official FFR Picture Dictionary to explain the color values rather than take up more time in the tutorial. Any ideas?

[igotrhythm]

Re: FFR Special Mix v2 ideas

^ This. I used to think that they were worth more points because of how hard I found the first triplet in Boss Machine. XD

[Coolboyrulez0]

Re: FFR Special Mix v2 ideas

Definitely mention jumps, hands and quads so that there is no confusion, or any other concerns about these. Also explain certain patterns.

@Dossar: Not everyone is going to know where to find or look at this Picture Dictionary.
Perhaps a link in the song to where the information can be find if you wish to not explain it in "song format.

[DossarLX ODI]

Re: FFR Special Mix v2 ideas

@CBR and Izzy: The forums would be a good place for them to go to for explaining those things, rather than have a big lecture on it -- but this is where I'm stuck. At the least, I could mention that this tutorial only has quarter notes/red notes.

[justin_ator]

Re: FFR Special Mix v2 ideas

Yeah, just say something like "The notes in this song are all 4ths, identified by Red arrows. You'll encounter other colors as well for different notes."


edit:


As far as directing them to the forums for the picture dictionary, basically your only option is to have a text link displayed that they can go to. Maybe make a tinyurl link that is memorable? Something like tinyurlwhatevergoeshere.lol/ffrguide and have it link to the Picture Dictionary. nobody is going to remember a link that is a forum address, and clicking something in an swf aside from the receptors isn't doable unless I'm mistaken.

[Xx{Midnight}xX]

Re: FFR Special Mix v2 ideas

Things that need to be covered:

The frames of the judgements
Popular Patterns
Difficulties


After covering that: Where to begin in the actual game?

[bmah]

Re: FFR Special Mix v2 ideas

Yeah, just say something like "The notes in this song are all 4ths, identified by Red arrows. You'll encounter other colors as well for different notes."

And even then, you're assuming the player knows a bit of music terminology. Many people won't know what a "4th" is. Because this would probably take more explanation than is convenient in the tutorial song, I do agree that the player should be directed somewhere else where the concepts can be explained further in-depth.

[foxfire667]

Re: FFR Special Mix v2 ideas

I'm thinking about how I could get them to the Official FFR Picture Dictionary to explain the color values rather than take up more time in the tutorial. Any ideas?

Well, you could always just flat out mention to visit the FFR picture dictionary as the tutorial file is coming to a close. Considering that this type of chart would have to be made clearly visible to new players as soon as they open the engine to get the best effect, it could just be referenced / linked at the end. Maybe some sort of window could pop up for new players welcoming them to FFR, and take them to the tutorial level (obviously you can't just decide to do this, but I'm throwing it out there in case an admin sees the thread).

Maybe slightly go over one hand vs spread and speed-mods (since they are good things to know early on).

[justin_ator]

Re: FFR Special Mix v2 ideas

Yeah, explaining how the settings work would be helpful too, but it's kinda more in depth requiring than the tutorial might allow... An explanation of key mapping and the importance of speed mods is a pretty big deal.

Overall if nothing new is being added to the engine I really do think your best option for directing users to the picture dictionary would be something along the lines of a tinyurl that is easy to remember so they can just type it in to learn about more of the stuff.

On a slightly off-topic note, is the Picture Dictionary linked to by the FFR FAQ? If not that should be fixed. How up-to-date is the FAQ anyway?

edit: @bmah
I see your point. Perhaps just state that the notes are colored according to their location and spacing in musical terms

[qqwref]

Re: FFR Special Mix v2 ideas

Edited the first part for clarity. It would be awesome if the stuff in [] was customized to reflect the scroll style.

First part
- Welcome to Flash Flash Revolution, also abbreviated as FFR! (57)
- FFR is a rhythm based game that uses 4 keys. [Above] this text you can see four stationary arrows, called receptors. (232)
- Arrows will appear on the [bottom] of the screen and scroll towards the receptors. (461)
- When the moving arrow matches up with the receptors, hit it by pressing the corresponding key. You can use the arrow keys, or customize it and use any four keys you want. (633)
- When you hit an arrow, you will see a readout of the accuracy. You'll get a Perfect if you hit the note at the right time, and a Good or Average if you are a bit off. (748)
- If you don't hit a note, you'll get a Miss. This will take away from your life meter at the top of the screen, and also break your combo! (863)
- If you press a key and there isn't an arrow there, you'll get a Boo. This will take away from your life meter, but won't break your combo. (1034)
- Eight notes are about to come up. Try to follow the beat, and remember to hit the arrows when they cross the receptors! (1208)

[Coolboyrulez0]

Re: FFR Special Mix v2 ideas

Also, in addition to placing this somewhere in the song select genre I think we should force first time players (some check system must exist) to play this level before they can delve into playing what they wish.

[Coolboyrulez0]

Re: FFR Special Mix v2 ideas

Nooooooo, what if somebody's at a school computer and only has 5 minutes to play and then they're forced to play the tutorial?



Also, I'd rather this be vocally narrated in addition to just the text.

Also also pick a better song than that one, lmao.

This wouldn't be the case since they could still log in under their account, and the check system would know that they have completed the tutorial.
[make it an account bound check rather than cookie-based or even give them a token / reward for completion of the tutorial <---
"You've completed the tutorial here are "x" credits or here is "y" song! -- new players will love rewards right off the bat, trust me.]

Also this tutorial would not apply to guests since your concern but only for first-time playing registered users.

Does that sound good? Feel free to voice your opinion and raise concerns, of course.

[justin_ator]

Re: FFR Special Mix v2 ideas

There are definite ups and downs to doing a vocal track as well..

Maybe not make it mandatory for non-logged in users and new players, but at least make it VERY easy to get to? like, add another button next to quality/songlist/etc that is Tutorial or something? lol


@ CBR,

While I see the pros of not doing mandatory tutorial for non-logged in users, most people play games on the site before making an account. It'd be beneficial (imo) if non-logged in users had to do (or could do) the tutorial as well.