This game really needs an introduction on how to play. Like how to attack, build units. There are no instructions on how to play at all, just a little blurb before each game saying ‘oh howdy, are you ready’?

I was playing with a friend the other day and I had to explain how to play the entire game. The controls for this game are not necessarily intuitive. So please add some instructions, a tutorial on how to attack, build, strategies. Like short basic games that show you how to do one thing at a time, and then takes you to another game to show you how to do something else. You can even use your handy dandy replay feature to show the examples.

I just think this is the biggest thing hurting the growth of this game. Not everyone likes to figure out games by playing them. (and there is no training round, so every game counts against you)

I agree that documentation is far from being ideal and we are working towards improving this - as well as many other things. Till then you might find some answers here: http://weewar.com/help 

woah, this link needs to be way more visible. I didn't even know this page was here. I just always tried the blog or wiki for help. I can at least send this link to people i'm playing who i've invited. But the visual que is still needed.

I think this game really needs tutorials. 

Well, more [good] docs always helps any project, but at 7500+ players, I suspect they don't need more growth yet [during this beta stage].

How's this: 

"Build Unit" Mini Tutorial 

If anyone thinks this could be useful for new players or whatever, I can make more for all the basic actions in the game, and then perhaps move on to more advanced things if there is demand.

wow. now that is fantastic! I am concerned though that with the still very much changing Weewar this might generate a lot of effort everytime something changes substantially (not that I hope things will be thrown in the air frequently) 

If however your are interested to go ahead with this it could become a fantastic external resource we would possibly endorse just like we did the wiki and tangler.

Okay, I'll go ahead with the rest of the basic game operations, then make a site to organize them.  Or perhaps I will just make a fresh wiki page to act as an index for them.  Thanks for the positive feedback, plasticshore. 

It actually doesn't take a tremendous amount of effort to make short ones like that, so don't worry about the dynamic nature of weewar's development, I'll try to keep up. 

Okay, I've created another, and I've made a tutorial index page on the wiki.

Some notes on unit abilities would be good as well, especially as there are more and more varied types of unit available

I introduced a friend recently and  had the same experience as jernigani - "you probably want to send some infantry to capture that base ... no, that is sand, the grey thing" and how to move units, how to create units, how to attack (although they worked that out while I was typing the answer)

The learning curve isn't steep, and it can be picked up just by playing a match, but more obvious help/instruction would make it even less of a curve. Maybe a quick click-through tutorial on registration?

Super-King: Do you think the tutorials I made meet the need?

Hadn't actually looked at them, onesec...

several thousand secs later I return to the computer and watch the tutorials...

they're great, exactly what's needed. Now we just need to make them so prominent that is nigh impossible to sign up without being aware of them

I will add them to the blog soon. I will also add a prominent link at the top of the help section to get it seeded

Nice.  In that case, I should fill out the rest, like Capture Base...

I wasn't sure whether to proceed, because there hadn't been much feedback besides plasticshore...

plasticshore: We don't have to host them on my site.  I can hand over the SWF files to whomever (such as yourself) and you can host them wherever you like.  So that people don't see a weirdo URL like http://purepistos.net/weewar/build-unit.htm but rather http://weewar.info/tutorials/build-unit.htm .

I am perfectly fine for you to host them for now (if your are). That will allow you to easily change them and have general control over them.

Alrighty then...

yeah i've watched some of your tutorials... i think they nice!! and they are cute as weewar generally is. hehehe! i would have liked a LOT to see them when i first discovered weewar.

Great.   I'm glad they can make some sort of contribution to the community.

I like this tutorial. Is there a place where I can get more information on how combat results are determined? For an intermediate user who knows about how to play the game, its nice to start figuring out how to play the game well. Here is an example: I know terrain has an affect on the combat results. However, if I am an attacker, which terrain matters? Is it the terrain I am attacking into, the terrain I am attacking from, or a combination of both? Another related one is with regards to this quote from the wiki:

    Grouping units helps to strengthen attacks and defense, whereas solitary units are more vulnerable.

So the question is, how do I quantify this benefit of grouping units? How big a benefit is this? Do your units just need to be within firing range of the oponent to get this benefit, or must they all participate in the attack that round?

Some elaboration in this area (eventually) wil help intermediate level players to really start to understand the game. I am noticing that a friend of mine is starting to get frustrated with the game because he doesn't understand the way the combat is determined.

You can allways ask those questions here in tangler. I'm sure someone will eventually help people out. And in time maybe tutorials and wiki can grow to help intermediate players too.

1. The unit attacking receives the effect from the terrain where it's attacking from, the unit from where the attack is made.
2. I'm not really sure about this one. I'm not really sure if that benefit it's only a myth or if it is connected to the fact that if you attack a unit from different sides, each new attack wins an extra attack bonus, of how much? i don't know... but with experience you start to get it. In defense that helps too, because if you deny your enemy the opportunity to attack from different sides (by having a friendly unit by your side) you are getting, somehow, an indirect defense bonus. 

xiken: Yes, I'm not really sure either that merely having other units surrounding your target unit actually DOES anything.  I don't remember seeing any significant bonus, if one exists.

 drchunk: I've raised this issue in another thread.  I'm sure everyone would love to see the algorithms and formulae posted.  That would only help strategy, IMO -- it wouldn't hinder the game.  It would reward people for studying the game in depth, so that they can know with 100% certainty (or near 100%) exactly what sort of outcomes they can expect from very specific tactical maneouvers, even with random factors counted in.

Imagine a pen-and-paper strategy game.  The rules HAVE to be described in the manuals, so that the human beings can calculate them.  In Weewar, I feel rather deprived of this.