A new cheatsheet & tutorial in the works

by Digital Spaghetti on 01/22/2007 17:42, 10 messages, last message: 01/23/2007 19:02, 2722 views, last view: 04/23/2024 20:12

Hi folks, I'd like to introduce myself - I'm Tane and I've recently discovered Sauerbraten. I come from an independent game development background and have had an idea on the backburner for a while now - but couldn't find an engine to suit it - but now I have.

One thing I am disappointed with is the lack of any real documentation. To that end, I have decided to document my project as I proceed and hope to provide something back. I'm working on a tutorial starting from the ground up, and based on working in Windows.

To start off, check out my (very basic) cheatsheet: http://digitalspaghetti.me.uk/files/Sauerbraten_Cheatsheet.pdf

This is just my initial version, and will grow over time. Please feel free to contact me if you think it needs anything! And I'll be releasing details on my project at a later date.

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#1: ..

by Drakas on 01/22/2007 18:24

Excellent!

You though definately need much more detail - such as that I (not a newb) had to figure out what "P, H, V" meant at all!"
You need a key and a more readable layout.

The documentation is there, and it is in as much detail as I would see, and it is real.

But cheatsheets help get newbs into the game much faster.

Nice stuff, looking for improvements, thanks!

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#2: Re: ..

by Digital Spaghetti on 01/22/2007 18:31, refers to #1

I agree, the documentation *is* there, it's just IMHO not well organised, and ot easily accessible to newbies. Like yourself, it took me a little while to figure things out and I'm sure I'll still come across things in the weeks and months to come.

But I think that Sauer is one of the better engines I've come across over the years, especially because of the editor and I'd like to see it grow beyond what it's at, at the moment - I think solid documentation is one of the key ways this can be done.

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#3: Re: ..

by kurtis84 on 01/23/2007 00:30, refers to #2

I once spoke of revising the docs in the packages, but if you really watch and read them...these guys are missing almost NOTHING already. IMHO, anything beyond the docs, should be "just use the damn engine and learn".

Before you know it, we'll be trying to write tutorials on which fingers should be used on certain keys for certain editing options.

Lets give the current "docs" updaters some credit, and stop spoon-feeding idiots that are too lazy to just TRY stuff once in a while ;)

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#4: Re: ..

by Aardappel_ on 01/23/2007 01:20, refers to #3

I agree, kurt, the issue seems to often be that the current docs seem to be not structure to exactly give a newb what he wants to know without having to read a lot of stuff. But frankly, everyone has a different question, and its all in there.

This is also what the wiki is for, i.e. the official docs are a "reference" that say everything exactly once, precisely, and in topical order, whereas the wiki can be more redundant, having seperate articles on how to get started with specific wishes, giving people the minimal amount to read. The reference will also never include things that are just "general computing skills" which are assumed prior knowledge, whereas the wiki can go into detail on how to create a texture, and set up your firewall.

Though if I were to spend hours/days/months making maps with sauer, I'd see no problem taking 15 minutes to just read the docs back to front, seeing as how much more power that gives you.

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#5: Re: ..

by Digital Spaghetti on 01/23/2007 12:49, refers to #3

I don't want you to think I'm having a go at the document writers, they have done a great job so far - all I am aiming to do is provide more "accessible" documents that complement what's already there. Anyone with half a brain can work out how to use the engine with a little time and effort.

My main aim is more to do something along the lines of "here is how to develop a game from start to finish..." - as well as level design, I'm also going down the route of developing my own game using the source code.

Along with these I'm also working on handy things for everyone such as the cheatsheet.

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#6: Updated cheat sheet

by Digital Spaghetti on 01/23/2007 17:29

Version 1.0 of the cheat sheet is now available.

http://digitalspaghetti.me.uk/files/Sauerbraten_Cheatsheet_1_0.pdf

This PDF contains only the editing cheat sheets. I'm still learning how to create these sheets effectively to fit on 1 page per section (heightmaps, entities, etc), so the text is a little small on this page - but it's a start :)

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#7: Re: Updated cheat sheet

by MeatROme on 01/23/2007 17:47, refers to #6

Please don't tell people to edit their config.cfg ... the filename might be a little misleading ... this is an auto-saved file and sometimes requires being removed out of sight - reading the first lines of config.cfg tells you this already - welcome to Sauerbraten-RTFM :)

Edit autoexec.cfg for your personal setup!

Also - edittex is not bound to +/-1 ... you can do +242 or -404 if you like too ;)

That's the biggest problem of your goal - a page will never be enough to describe all the intricacies of what's possible with CubeScript :-P

But GL and HF!

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#8: Re: Updated cheat sheet

by Pxtl on 01/23/2007 17:55, refers to #7

Imho, that's a bit of a bug - I mean, users automatically think "edit the config" when they want to tweak things. Probably the best approach would be to add a link in the windows installer to "%windows%\notepad.exe %programdir%\autoexec.cfg" or whatever the appropriate syntax is for the windows and the nullsoft installer.

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#9: Notepad Considered Harmful

by MeatROme on 01/23/2007 18:21, refers to #8

Don't use notepad!
Use write.exe (called Wordpad) - it handles linebreaks better!

ActionCube even changed the filename to "saved.cfg" to avoid confusion - smart move!

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#10: ..

by Digital Spaghetti on 01/23/2007 19:02

Thanks for the feedback guys. I'll certainly update the config details. Also in regards to the colour, I'll probably change that as well, but I was trying to keep the style the same as the site here.

I agree there is a lot on Cube, but the aim of the cheatsheet is not to cover everything that's in the docs - it's to give a basic list of commands that are most useful, and to keep it simple for new users (but also handy for more experienced developers).

It will probably run into a few pages though - that's why I started with editing. I'd like to to combine editing/heightmap commands in one, and have another one for entities and scripting, I'll just have to see how it develops over time :)

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