A beginner's mod for Quake.

How many games have you played where there is a "tutorial" pre-game, showing you things like how to jump, fire, etc. I've seen this in many games, and after I got through with the tutorial, I left with the feeling that I have gained absolutely nothing from it. Why? Because the game is so easy, so linear, that the tutorial is completely unnecessary.

Then there's Quake. Where after 10 long years of playing the same maps, TB3 , aerowalk , etc, there are still new things discovered. Take last year, when BogoJoker discovered the teleport "bug", where you can shoot an instant before entering a teleport and maintain the speed after you teleport. Or take for instance the elevator bug, introduced by BogoJoker again, where you can throw pineapples through walls.

Are rookies expected to know all this? If anything, I think Quake is the one game that really does need a beginner's mod. We need an offline tutorial for rookies to learn how to trimp, speed jump, tele-rj, and soft-land. Not only could this offline database be helpful for rookies, but it will also help offload how much training a rookie needs. Be honest, would you rather teach a rookie some more advanced gameplay features, or how to bunnyhop?

What I propose is adding an option menu to ezQuake , something along the lines of "Quake Tutorial". When users click this, they go to a map with several teleporters, reading all the different techniques that he can learn (soft-land, trimp, bunnyhop, tele-rj, speed jump, etc). When he enters one teleporter, the game shows a brief demo of someone completing a jump on the map. I should state here that there is a new feature, recently added to ezQuake which allows users to see what buttons are being pressed while watching a demo. This will certainly help in this case. After the demo is over, the rookie joins the map and it is now his turn to perform the trick. There are thorough explanations written out in the map, as well. Yes, this idea requires both a new mod and several (or maybe one large) map. But isn't it worth the time?

This beginner's mod will hopefully give players a crash-course on Quake physics, and hopefully better prepare him for the unavoidable beatings he will experience his first 1-2 months of online play.

Thoughts, comments, and ideas are very welcomed.