GameSalad Tutorial Vids, Text or Pics ?

Vmlweb

Hey,

I am setting up a GS Tutorial site with iDeveloperz and we were wondering what you guys prefer for tutorials.
Video, Text or Pics
Vote for the one you would prefer

Thanks,
Vmlweb

iDeveloperz

And me.

Sylon

Obviously Video would be the most preferred option, but that isn't necessarily the easiest.

It really depends on what you guys feel would be better for you.

spaceneedle

Unless its overly complicated, picture is preferred. I dislike videos only because they have introductions, are slow, have audio, and are not easily viewable in all situations. A series of pictures highlighting the steps required is fine.

Stan

I agree with spaceneedle,video tutorials are cool but slow takes longer to follow them. I like written tutorials with pictures.

iDeveloperz

Thank you for your suggestions.

Cap

Well, I learned most out of TShirtBooth's video tutorials, that's why I voted for "video".
By the way: here are some tips for tutorials:

a, difference between Rotate, Rotate to angle, Rotate to position
b, Show Load Attribute and Save Attribute
c, Explain the Particles behaviour
d, how to optimize the game (how many timers, constrain attributes allowed for a smooth frame rate, etc.)

pandamatrix7

If you decide to go with the video route, make sure that the recorded video quality is clear enough so behavior inputs and button clicks are clear and visible to see. That way the tutorial instructions will be a bit easier to follow along. Otherwise, pictured tutorials may be the way to go.

spaceneedle

I think you could probably make a whole series of videos just on particle effects Its probably the most dial and nob happy of any action.

cptongsg

tutorial vids is the easiest way to learn, I wish there will be more of this. Pic tutorial make me sleep ZzzZZZ....z I love vid from Tshirtbooth & also weswog. simple to understand. Thks if you are going to add more to the library!

IntelligentDesigner

Videos gloss over the details and are tedious to watch to get to the desired point. Why watch 20 minutes of video to get the same information you'd read in 30 seconds?

Pictures say more than 1,000 words, but without test to frame the issue, you might not know what you're looking at. Text is the easiest and best way to learn.

The absolute best documentation would be electronically delivered in pdf format and include pictures, embedded video and cut and paste text for code applets.

JMO

snortch

The delivery mechanism isn't really the right place to start with answering this question. Video, Text, Text with pictures - all of these things can be used effectively. The real trick to making a good tutorial is to make one that requires the person trying to learn GS to do more than just passively watch the video or read the steps and copy them. What works better is to challenge us by covering some behavior or attribute and then show a simple (or gradually more complex) example of something that uses the stuff that was just reviewed. Then ask, "can you build this?". The key to this technique is that there has to be a solution that the we can choose to look at when we've determine that all efforts have been exhausted or when we think we've found the solution.

So, I guess the point is that you could really use any of the delivery mechanisms you mentioned to accomplish a really great GS tut that people like me can actually learn something from.