So… today for me has been pretty much all about the documentation. I wanted to go ahead and get this done so that Erik could start using it in his emails to press.
I had something similar for AI War that was hugely useful for explaining to new players (and to press) just what it was that made AI War unique. It wasn’t a substitute for a tutorial, but it was infinitely better than coming to the game blind and not knowing if it was just a cheap Sins of a Solar Empire clone or what.
At any rate, now we have this Fast Facts crash course wiki page for AVWW, and I heartily recommend it even to players who are mildly familiar with the game. It has some tips in there that you might be surprised by, and especially if you’re coming back after a long absence you might be surprised by quite a bit more.
Everything else stems from that one wiki article, and you can get more detailed information on specific sub-topics if you so desire. If you know the game well, please take a look at the fast facts and let me know if anything seems off or seems missing. Or if you don’t know the game well, I’d love to know if it’s losing you anywhere in there.
But how on earth did constructing that one small page take me all day? Well, as part of making that page, I also had to add or majorly update the following pages:
Added: What Genre Is This, Anyway?
Added: Everything You Wanted To Know About Missions, But Were Afraid To Ask
Added: How Do I Know If I’m Prepared For An Expedition?
Added all but the destroyed rooms bit: Why Being A “Completionist” Is Both Futile And Boring Here
More minor; Added the hierarchy section, and the section about graphs vs maps (Josh had already done the rest): What are all these maps for?
Added: Permadeath: It Means Give Your Health Bar The Respect It Deserves
More minor; Completely Rewrote: Pausing The Game
Added: What Is The General Game Flow?
So, yeah. That’s been my day, but I think it’s been a day well spent. That’s pretty much our reference manual right there, and if there are gaps we now have time to fix it. Plus, people can now come into the wiki and read in good depth about what makes this game unique, as well as how things are supposed to work. Hopefully this should cut down on some confusion from people who read old interviews, too.
Tomorrow, I’m back on the coding warpath for the new mission types and things of that nature!
