New Player Guide
jadelink
Join Date: 2004-06-10 Member: 29214Members
Join Date: 2004-06-10 Member: 29214Members
I wrote this after playing for a month. It contains information that is absent or hard to find/work out from the manual.
I think the manual ought to be written in two parts, one for combat and one for NS, as its hard to keep the two seperated in your mind when you read the current manual. (i found the 2.0 manual more helpful in that respect.)
This was reasonably well recieved in the AUSNS forums, so im posting it here. Feedback is most welcome, as im sure this guide needs improving.
The links to the 'everying you need to know' and "unofficial faqs", seem to be not working. So appologies if I am posting a duplicate of someone elses work.
I am aware that much better glossaries exist, I have kept this one here simply so that a new player can use it to understand the manual without refering elsewhere.
It would be nice to have feedback both from new players, who can tell me if the guide was useful to them, and from veterans, who can point out my errors and ommisions.
Thanks,
Jadelink
________________________________________
Natural Selection Beginners Guide V1.1
(this guide is for NS beta 3.04b)
or
"All the things I (and my teammates) wish I knew at the start of my first month of playing and not at the end. "
Jadelink
_____________________________________________________
- Read the manual before playing, it will save a lot of frustration for yourself, and others.
- Be clear about the distinction between Natural Selection (maps that start in NS) and Combat (Maps that start in CO, they are totally different games.) This Guide is for NS proper. (Maps that start with NS.)
- This is a team game, it needs people to work together in order to win. At the start you will have no idea how to work together, even if you are familiar with other mods that need teamwork (like DoD or Wolfenstein ET).
Marines
*******
- Play the Marines for the first few games, its more familiar to those who are used to half life or 99% of half life mods. Plus you get a commander to help you to be useful to the team.
- Do NOT get in the command chair. If told to get out of the com chair, then do so. If you want to see what the view looks like, go to an empty server and play with the CC there.
- Obey the commanders orders, even if they seem stupid. Sometimes they are stupid, but there is no way you can tell this until you have played the game many times.
- Understand that many good orders are suicidal, don't worry, you respawn quickly.
- Put the word (newbie) or (new) some equivalent after your name. This way people know you're new, and wont think you're being obnoxious when you make honest mistakes. It also lets wise commanders give you orders that you can actually understand. If you don't know what the commander means by "Stop humping, phase to cargo and build the TF", then you want the commander to know this, so he can give orders that you understand.
- If you think a commander has forgotten about you, ask for orders, _ONCE_ only. (use the Z key) Do not constantly request orders. (To imagine how annoying this is to a commander, replace the word "Commander" with "Mommy/Daddy" and the request for orders with "are we there yet".) If there is an unbuilt building near you, then go and build it (unless told otherwise).
- Treat a building being dropped in front of you as an order to build that building right away, unless told otherwise.
- Don't ask for guns/armor/jet packs. These cost lots of resources, and need to be researched first. The commander will issue them when they are needed and available. (To imagine how annoying this is to a commander, replace the word "Commander" with "Mommy/Daddy" and imagine you're a parent in a Toyshop.)
-If you pick up a pack of mines. Then you are expected to place them as ordered. If you have no orders, place them around IPs, Phase gates and the CC.
-If you pick up a welder then use it to weld your fellow marines armor. Don't worry, this wont hurt them. (you can see their armor % by looking at them.) If you have a welder and no orders, use the welder to repair any buildings in your vicinity, (Just stand next to them and use welder.), and weld any 'weld points' (these look like funny gold disks). Weld points usually close vents.
-Running off on your own to fight (ramboing) is seldom a good idea, even for a veteran. Its never a good idea if you can't find your way around perfectly without looking at the map.
DEFAULT BEHAVIOR
*****************
- IF you have no orders after asking for them, and no clue as to what you should be doing, then find another marine (who doesn't have newbie in their name), follow them, and do what they do. Learn from this.
*****************
-Ammo comes from armories, press E to get ammo.
-Constant armory use (a.k.a. "humping") is not a good thing to do. Dying with a load of ammo wastes a lot of time. Time is a very precious commodity. If it's really needed your commander can give you ammo in the field.
-Medpacks also come from armories, press E to get medpacks. Sadly the Armory dispenses Medpacks when it feels like it, so it may take several trys to get one. (According to sources, the Armoury was made by a poker machine contractor who used old parts, its the only explanation for this feature.)
-Ammo and Medpacks from armories are free. The commander can also drop Ammo and Medpacks, but this costs resources. Marines respawn at no cost. Therefore don't ask for Ammo and Medpacks until you understand exactly why, and when, a Commander would spend resources like that. Normally the
Commander will provide them when needed, faster than a new player can ask.
-Medpacks heal 50 health. Don't pick them up when you have 95 health. (If you have 70 health or less, a skulk can kill you in one bite, definitely pick them up if your health is this low.)
-Don't stand there on that IP when you respawn. If you stand on an IP while another player is spawning, it will kill you.
-To use a phase gate stand on it and press E. It will teleport you to the next phase gate in line.
-If you stand on a Phase Gate while another player is Phasing in, it will kill you. Phase then quickly jump off.
-If there are many Phase Gates it can get confusing. Remember, they transport you to the 'next phase gate in the list', it isn't random.
-If you are told to go to a particular place, think if its easier to phase there. Marines are slow.
Playing Aliens
********************
This is harder, there is no commander to give you orders, but your team will throw a fit if you do various things.
-All your team members get resources from restowers, and from killing marines. Don't treat your personal resources as something to be spent for your own enjoyment, but rather as community property that you ought to use in the best interests of the hive.
-Until you really know what you're doing; (after many games of being owned as an alien) the best thing is to run to a resource node, morph into a gorge; (use the menu at the right mouse button); and build a res tower (menu). Then press 'e' while facing the res tower to build it, just like a marine building. You may now go and build other restowers, or Offensive chambers. Or attack and die
as a gorge, or morph back to a skulk...and attack and die as a skulk...but at least no one will accuse you of being a 'res ****'.
-If you're going to build a chamber (DC, MC, SC) of a type that hasn't been built yet, ask your team if they want to do this first. Only one type of chamber is allowed per hive, so if you build one, make sure you build the sort that your teammates want.
-When you hear "hive is under attack", unless you're a gorge going to build a new hive, go and defend the hive if you're able to get there.
-As a skulk, you can learn skulking by following another skulk. Watch what it does. Same applies to other lifeforms.
-When defending a hive, apart from killing marines you want to kill (a) their phase gate, when this shuts down, the marines have to 'run', slowly, from respawn to your base. ( siege turrets, they don't aim at you, they aim at your buildings but you can get hit with the splash damage. Destroy them, or the TF that supports them (they stop firing as soon as no TF is present, as do the little gun turrets.).
-Gorges are useful in hive defence, and large coordinated attacks. Healing spray heals teammates, heals buildings very fast, and hurts marines. Keep towards the rear, dont expose yourself to much fire, and heal a lot of stuff. If there are no DCs, dropping one can be a good idea.
-Skulks move best by bunnyhopping. Crouch stops skulks from wall walking. It also enables them to bunnyhop, otherwise thier feet stick to the floor. (wish i knew this for my first week of playing alien games).
-While Combat (Maps that start with co_ ) is not as interesting a game, its a lot better to try to be a fade there a couple of times, before being one in Natural Selection. A new fade is going to die pathetically a number of times while learning the subtle art of fading. Do this in combat maps, where it won't annoy your teammates by wasting resources.
For both teams
**************
- Get a custom minimap-pack that includes placenames, and has the vents in red. Its great not having to ask for a waypoint because you haven't a clue where 'cargo' is. Having a custom mappack avoids dialogues like this:
Comm: "ok, everyone go to cargo NOW"
Jadelink (newbie): "sir, can i have a waypoint"
-the frustrated com provides one
(20 seconds later)
Comm: "Jadelink, stop ramboing and get to double you clueless newbie."
Jadelink (newbie): : "sorry, not ramboing, im lost again." (this after mistaking several vents near
the ceiling for viable travel routes due to vagueness of the minimap.)
-There are a number of truly obnoxious players out there. The number seems greater than it is, mostly because of their loudness. Ignore them. Anyone who tells you to press F4, pretending that it does something other than take you to the readyroom should be ignored.
-Don't despair and be the first to F4 because you think the team is loosing. Games do sudden turnarounds for reasons that are often not clear to a beginner, and your team won't like it if your running away causes a default loss. (if one team has 3 more players than the other, the larger team wins by default.)
-Mikes are useful. Use yours VERY sparingly, people listen for approaching enemies in NS a LOT more than in other mods, and they can't hear over chatter.
-If you have actually bothered to read this, then most likely you're the sort of person that players will want on their team, and that good veterans will be happy to teach. A new player that's willing to learn and follow orders is normally a bigger asset to a team than a selfish veteran who won't co-operate with his team.
-Its a whole new experience working as a team, and its actually a lot of fun. Enjoy the game .
Jadelink
_________________________________________________________________
GLOSSARY
_________
CC = Com Chair
DC = Defensive Chamber
GL = Grenade Launchers
Gren/s. = Grenades
HA = Heavy Armor
HMG = Heavy Machine
Humping/Humpage = Using the armory to get ammo/medpacks, especially when done to excess.
IP = Infantry Portal (the thing marines spawn in)
JP = Jetpack
LMG = Light Machine Gun
Love Shack = A set of DCs built in a vent or really hard to find place, that is built so that when the last hive dies and all aliens begin taking constant damage, annoying aliens can hide there while the marines play hide and seek before destroying the last player. This pointlessly prolongs a game where the aliens have no chance of winning, and is dissaproved of by most players and servers.
MC = Movement Chamber
OC = Offensive Chamber
Phase =
(noun): Phase Gate, a teleport station. "Build that phase"
(verb) to use a phase gate to teleport. (stand on it and press 'e')
"Phase to cargo, NOW!"
Ramboing = Running around on your own like a reckless idiot, ignoring orders and the rest of the team. A way to get killed. Unless you're new, in which case its a very fast way to get killed uselessly.
Res. = Resources and/or resource towers
Res **** = An alien who selfishly hoards and uses resouce points, rather than spending them in a way that benefits the team.
RT = Resource Tower
RTFM = Read That Fine Manual
SC = Sensory Chamber
SG = Shotgun
Stacking = Forming teams in a way that leads to one side to have either (1) the largest numerical advantage the server will allow, or (2) the vast majority of the experienced players (skillstacking).
Telefragged = Killed by standing on an IP/Phasegate when someone else spawned/phased in.
TF = Turret Factory
____________________________________________________________________
I think the manual ought to be written in two parts, one for combat and one for NS, as its hard to keep the two seperated in your mind when you read the current manual. (i found the 2.0 manual more helpful in that respect.)
This was reasonably well recieved in the AUSNS forums, so im posting it here. Feedback is most welcome, as im sure this guide needs improving.
The links to the 'everying you need to know' and "unofficial faqs", seem to be not working. So appologies if I am posting a duplicate of someone elses work.
I am aware that much better glossaries exist, I have kept this one here simply so that a new player can use it to understand the manual without refering elsewhere.
It would be nice to have feedback both from new players, who can tell me if the guide was useful to them, and from veterans, who can point out my errors and ommisions.
Thanks,
Jadelink
________________________________________
Natural Selection Beginners Guide V1.1
(this guide is for NS beta 3.04b)
or
"All the things I (and my teammates) wish I knew at the start of my first month of playing and not at the end. "
Jadelink
_____________________________________________________
- Read the manual before playing, it will save a lot of frustration for yourself, and others.
- Be clear about the distinction between Natural Selection (maps that start in NS) and Combat (Maps that start in CO, they are totally different games.) This Guide is for NS proper. (Maps that start with NS.)
- This is a team game, it needs people to work together in order to win. At the start you will have no idea how to work together, even if you are familiar with other mods that need teamwork (like DoD or Wolfenstein ET).
Marines
*******
- Play the Marines for the first few games, its more familiar to those who are used to half life or 99% of half life mods. Plus you get a commander to help you to be useful to the team.
- Do NOT get in the command chair. If told to get out of the com chair, then do so. If you want to see what the view looks like, go to an empty server and play with the CC there.
- Obey the commanders orders, even if they seem stupid. Sometimes they are stupid, but there is no way you can tell this until you have played the game many times.
- Understand that many good orders are suicidal, don't worry, you respawn quickly.
- Put the word (newbie) or (new) some equivalent after your name. This way people know you're new, and wont think you're being obnoxious when you make honest mistakes. It also lets wise commanders give you orders that you can actually understand. If you don't know what the commander means by "Stop humping, phase to cargo and build the TF", then you want the commander to know this, so he can give orders that you understand.
- If you think a commander has forgotten about you, ask for orders, _ONCE_ only. (use the Z key) Do not constantly request orders. (To imagine how annoying this is to a commander, replace the word "Commander" with "Mommy/Daddy" and the request for orders with "are we there yet".) If there is an unbuilt building near you, then go and build it (unless told otherwise).
- Treat a building being dropped in front of you as an order to build that building right away, unless told otherwise.
- Don't ask for guns/armor/jet packs. These cost lots of resources, and need to be researched first. The commander will issue them when they are needed and available. (To imagine how annoying this is to a commander, replace the word "Commander" with "Mommy/Daddy" and imagine you're a parent in a Toyshop.)
-If you pick up a pack of mines. Then you are expected to place them as ordered. If you have no orders, place them around IPs, Phase gates and the CC.
-If you pick up a welder then use it to weld your fellow marines armor. Don't worry, this wont hurt them. (you can see their armor % by looking at them.) If you have a welder and no orders, use the welder to repair any buildings in your vicinity, (Just stand next to them and use welder.), and weld any 'weld points' (these look like funny gold disks). Weld points usually close vents.
-Running off on your own to fight (ramboing) is seldom a good idea, even for a veteran. Its never a good idea if you can't find your way around perfectly without looking at the map.
DEFAULT BEHAVIOR
*****************
- IF you have no orders after asking for them, and no clue as to what you should be doing, then find another marine (who doesn't have newbie in their name), follow them, and do what they do. Learn from this.
*****************
-Ammo comes from armories, press E to get ammo.
-Constant armory use (a.k.a. "humping") is not a good thing to do. Dying with a load of ammo wastes a lot of time. Time is a very precious commodity. If it's really needed your commander can give you ammo in the field.
-Medpacks also come from armories, press E to get medpacks. Sadly the Armory dispenses Medpacks when it feels like it, so it may take several trys to get one. (According to sources, the Armoury was made by a poker machine contractor who used old parts, its the only explanation for this feature.)
-Ammo and Medpacks from armories are free. The commander can also drop Ammo and Medpacks, but this costs resources. Marines respawn at no cost. Therefore don't ask for Ammo and Medpacks until you understand exactly why, and when, a Commander would spend resources like that. Normally the
Commander will provide them when needed, faster than a new player can ask.
-Medpacks heal 50 health. Don't pick them up when you have 95 health. (If you have 70 health or less, a skulk can kill you in one bite, definitely pick them up if your health is this low.)
-Don't stand there on that IP when you respawn. If you stand on an IP while another player is spawning, it will kill you.
-To use a phase gate stand on it and press E. It will teleport you to the next phase gate in line.
-If you stand on a Phase Gate while another player is Phasing in, it will kill you. Phase then quickly jump off.
-If there are many Phase Gates it can get confusing. Remember, they transport you to the 'next phase gate in the list', it isn't random.
-If you are told to go to a particular place, think if its easier to phase there. Marines are slow.
Playing Aliens
********************
This is harder, there is no commander to give you orders, but your team will throw a fit if you do various things.
-All your team members get resources from restowers, and from killing marines. Don't treat your personal resources as something to be spent for your own enjoyment, but rather as community property that you ought to use in the best interests of the hive.
-Until you really know what you're doing; (after many games of being owned as an alien) the best thing is to run to a resource node, morph into a gorge; (use the menu at the right mouse button); and build a res tower (menu). Then press 'e' while facing the res tower to build it, just like a marine building. You may now go and build other restowers, or Offensive chambers. Or attack and die
as a gorge, or morph back to a skulk...and attack and die as a skulk...but at least no one will accuse you of being a 'res ****'.
-If you're going to build a chamber (DC, MC, SC) of a type that hasn't been built yet, ask your team if they want to do this first. Only one type of chamber is allowed per hive, so if you build one, make sure you build the sort that your teammates want.
-When you hear "hive is under attack", unless you're a gorge going to build a new hive, go and defend the hive if you're able to get there.
-As a skulk, you can learn skulking by following another skulk. Watch what it does. Same applies to other lifeforms.
-When defending a hive, apart from killing marines you want to kill (a) their phase gate, when this shuts down, the marines have to 'run', slowly, from respawn to your base. ( siege turrets, they don't aim at you, they aim at your buildings but you can get hit with the splash damage. Destroy them, or the TF that supports them (they stop firing as soon as no TF is present, as do the little gun turrets.).
-Gorges are useful in hive defence, and large coordinated attacks. Healing spray heals teammates, heals buildings very fast, and hurts marines. Keep towards the rear, dont expose yourself to much fire, and heal a lot of stuff. If there are no DCs, dropping one can be a good idea.
-Skulks move best by bunnyhopping. Crouch stops skulks from wall walking. It also enables them to bunnyhop, otherwise thier feet stick to the floor. (wish i knew this for my first week of playing alien games).
-While Combat (Maps that start with co_ ) is not as interesting a game, its a lot better to try to be a fade there a couple of times, before being one in Natural Selection. A new fade is going to die pathetically a number of times while learning the subtle art of fading. Do this in combat maps, where it won't annoy your teammates by wasting resources.
For both teams
**************
- Get a custom minimap-pack that includes placenames, and has the vents in red. Its great not having to ask for a waypoint because you haven't a clue where 'cargo' is. Having a custom mappack avoids dialogues like this:
Comm: "ok, everyone go to cargo NOW"
Jadelink (newbie): "sir, can i have a waypoint"
-the frustrated com provides one
(20 seconds later)
Comm: "Jadelink, stop ramboing and get to double you clueless newbie."
Jadelink (newbie): : "sorry, not ramboing, im lost again." (this after mistaking several vents near
the ceiling for viable travel routes due to vagueness of the minimap.)
-There are a number of truly obnoxious players out there. The number seems greater than it is, mostly because of their loudness. Ignore them. Anyone who tells you to press F4, pretending that it does something other than take you to the readyroom should be ignored.
-Don't despair and be the first to F4 because you think the team is loosing. Games do sudden turnarounds for reasons that are often not clear to a beginner, and your team won't like it if your running away causes a default loss. (if one team has 3 more players than the other, the larger team wins by default.)
-Mikes are useful. Use yours VERY sparingly, people listen for approaching enemies in NS a LOT more than in other mods, and they can't hear over chatter.
-If you have actually bothered to read this, then most likely you're the sort of person that players will want on their team, and that good veterans will be happy to teach. A new player that's willing to learn and follow orders is normally a bigger asset to a team than a selfish veteran who won't co-operate with his team.
-Its a whole new experience working as a team, and its actually a lot of fun. Enjoy the game .
Jadelink
_________________________________________________________________
GLOSSARY
_________
CC = Com Chair
DC = Defensive Chamber
GL = Grenade Launchers
Gren/s. = Grenades
HA = Heavy Armor
HMG = Heavy Machine
Humping/Humpage = Using the armory to get ammo/medpacks, especially when done to excess.
IP = Infantry Portal (the thing marines spawn in)
JP = Jetpack
LMG = Light Machine Gun
Love Shack = A set of DCs built in a vent or really hard to find place, that is built so that when the last hive dies and all aliens begin taking constant damage, annoying aliens can hide there while the marines play hide and seek before destroying the last player. This pointlessly prolongs a game where the aliens have no chance of winning, and is dissaproved of by most players and servers.
MC = Movement Chamber
OC = Offensive Chamber
Phase =
(noun): Phase Gate, a teleport station. "Build that phase"
(verb) to use a phase gate to teleport. (stand on it and press 'e')
"Phase to cargo, NOW!"
Ramboing = Running around on your own like a reckless idiot, ignoring orders and the rest of the team. A way to get killed. Unless you're new, in which case its a very fast way to get killed uselessly.
Res. = Resources and/or resource towers
Res **** = An alien who selfishly hoards and uses resouce points, rather than spending them in a way that benefits the team.
RT = Resource Tower
RTFM = Read That Fine Manual
SC = Sensory Chamber
SG = Shotgun
Stacking = Forming teams in a way that leads to one side to have either (1) the largest numerical advantage the server will allow, or (2) the vast majority of the experienced players (skillstacking).
Telefragged = Killed by standing on an IP/Phasegate when someone else spawned/phased in.
TF = Turret Factory
____________________________________________________________________
Comments
just one thing off the top of my head, the part about following aliens around to learn what they do..
DONT stand behind an onos.. for the love of god, dont block his way out of a room. so many times ive seen a single skulk block an onos from escaping and the onos get pwned..
-Aes-
With regards to medpacs/ammo, call for it whenever you need it. I absolutely hate it when I'm giving some marines meds in a battle and they whip out their knife and die. If you don't have ammo, ask for it. Alert comms will answer ammo/med calls quickly. Ammo packs cost 1 res, and if it means you kill 1 more alien, its well worth it.
If you approach someone building or killing a structure in hostile territory, they will probably assume that you will cover them. You may want to kindly explain that you are new and ask that they cover instead of you.