What is a newbie? How do I play? What's with IRC? How do I make a tribe? Questions What is a newbie?
A newbie, is the rather derogatory term given to the new players of the game. They are people who aren't very good, don't know much or are otherwise ignorant to the game. This guide caters to those people.
How do I play?
To actually join a game, open up tribes, obviously. Now, click "play game" then, create your player, enter all the fields you want, but NOT the "custom scripts" field, anything you put there, tribes will try to execute. Once you have your player set up, click next. If this is the first time playing, you'll probably want to follow the link to the training missions. Or, you'll click "join game" and go to a list of servers. Now, this is a list of all the servers that are up right now. A server is a place to play the game, that someone has hosted for you. Let Tribes refresh all the servers, and then click on the heading depending on what you want to sort by, ping, favorites, etc. Select the server you like, and click "join game" boom, your in.
Servers come in several different flavors. Base is the way the game comes, and the way you'll probably want to play. MODs are modifications of the game that will give you new weapons, new armors, new abilities etc. I'd recommend getting used to the base game type, and then moving on if you want to, the game can get sort of difficult if you learn to play one of the mods before a real game. The most common modification, or MOD is called Renegades, you could try that out for fun. If you want to sort by server type, simply click on the button above that column...
Ping is a VERY important factor in the game. A ping of below 200 is considered "green". The best connection is a green, followed by yellow, then red. Ping is actually the amount of time it takes for information to pass from your computer to the server. Thus, the lower it is, the better. You should probably play on the server that you have the best ping that fits your liking.
Scripts and MODs are an interesting way to spice up the game. Scripts are things that edit client side. So, you can see them, but the other people can't. MODs edit the entire server, this happens to everyone. Scripts are very cool, they can add a graphical HUD or Heads Up Display to the screen, or make you jump like a mad man when you hold down the space bar. I recommend checking out our Scripts page to see which ones you'd like. MODs are fun to, though some may be regarded as "cheap". They generally change weapons and turrets and such in the server, allowing you to maybe have a laser turret, or a deployable rocket turret. There are a lot of different types of MOD, no two types are the same. Check out as many as you can to find what you'd like, more on our MODs page.
What's with IRC?
IRC, or Internet Relay Chat, is the way tribes and tribes people communicate. Its VERY important to know it, learn it and have fun with it. You can get mIRC a very popular IRC client that offers some various new functions, or just stick with Tribes IRC.
Acronyms are tough to get used to, so I've made myself a little list here *grin*
brb = Be Right Back
afk = Away From Keyboard
r33t/l33t = Elite
bbiab = Be Back In a Bit
stfu = shut the f*ck up
bbl = Be Back Later
a/s/l = age/sex/location (no one uses this)
rgr = roger
[FTM] 5150| *aa. = these are tribe tags, not acronyms, ignore them for now
lol = Lots of Laughs/Laughs out loud
ROFL = Rolling on floor laughing
ROFLMAO = Rolling on floor laughing my ass off
FYI = For your information
btw = By the way
fymf = f*ck you mother f*cker
f00 = fool
w00t = a cheer
op = operator
ghey = if you cant figure this out, you suck
TTYL = talk to you later
Many people also use the acronyms from tribes, like vge for duh. But I'm not going to list the entire tribes voice menu for you, just play the game :)
Channels are different sections of IRC. type "/join #channelname" to join one. Most tribes have a channel, and there are many web-site based, or general chat channels. #Tribes is the main channel, and is the default for joining. there are also many commands available to customize your channel, to see them, type "/msg chanserv help" Chanserv (the keeper of all channels) will play a list of things to you in your status window. those are the commands. Nickserv is another channel helper you can use, using it and chanserv you can get people automatic operator-ship in a channel, along with several other things
To make your own channel, type "/msg chanserv register #yourchannel description" to set things up, you'll want to type "/msg chanserv help" its the best way to get stuff going for ya.
How do I make a tribe?
WARNING! making a tribe involves a LOT of work, a LOT of dedication and a LOT of skill. If you dont have these, you have no place creating, or trying to create a tribe, dont complain to me, or anyone else, go learn.
Well, when you pass that, the first thing you need to do, is pick a name and (maybe) a co-leader. Things to remember when picking a name. You want something cool, maybe mistical, not something you can't live up to, like KOU (killers of you), people will just try screw with you. At the same time, not something wimpy, LWNC (losers with no cause). You dont want anything evil, JK (jewish killers). beyond that, your set. See, you can't try scare people, you can't try lullify people, you can't piss people off, then your good. As far as the co-leader goes, many tribes are decided when the co-leader is chosen. The idea of a co-leader is to help you out, not to take over, or become totalitarian. You and him must agree on rules and ideas before you start the next phase, getting members.
Getting members is somewhat easy. The best way, is to recruit your friends, people you know and know you can work with. Beyond that, there are two ways you can do this. The first way, is to go to #tribes-recruiting (NOT #Tribes!!!) and recruit people there, these are people whose tribes probably disbanded, or they quit, and are looking for another one. Since you might get scum who have no idea what they're doing here, I recommend not doing it this way. The second way, which I recommend, is having you and your co-leader go play a game, have some fun, determine strategies, and when you find someone good, with a good attitude, and good skill, recruit them. Dont just pick up anyone, make sure they have the qualities you want, and recruit from there. You'll also want one of your members to be fluent in HTML, for the next phase.
Getting a site is a very important thing to do. It turns into a hub for communication, when you post your matches and ideas there, and a place for new members to go to for your rules and policies. The page should look good, so look at a preview of this members abilities in HTML. You may recruit someone just because they have abilities with HTML. Just make sure your site stays up-to-date, and used.
Getting a server is much harder than getting a site. Generally for practices, you can take over a public server, and usually with matches. But, its inevitable that you will have to get your own, for better or worse. Setting it up is a bit tricky, I'd recommend going here to learn more about how to set up a server. Your server should be someone who has access to a GOOD connection, T1 or better, cable is ok, but turns really laggy after just a few people get on. Try to keep it legal to guys.. :)
Having an IRC channel is a necessity, if you havent already, head up to the IRC section of this page to read more about it. This should be a place for your clan/tribe to chat and hang out with eachother, as well as to organize scrims and practices from. You should also have a private chat room, thats passworded, for only your tribe to hang out in. *note: always set MLOCK on to keep a private channel passworded. The commands you'll need are as follows:
/msg chanserv register #yourchannel description - Registers the channel
/msg chanserv access #yourchannel add nick level - Add someone to your autoop list at a certain level, to see more about levels, /msg chanserv help access levels
/msg chanserv set #yourchannel mlock +mods - set the mods you want on, if you want password, add "k" to your mods, and put a password at the end
Thats basically what you'll need.. for now. Keep in mind, the topic of your IRC channel is also a great place to advertise for matches, recruiting status, and so on.
OGL, Teamplay, Practices etc. Are incredibly important. OGL and Teamplay are the basic league/ladders. A ladder is just your basic move up, move down win etc. type deal. A league is a strategy league, with planets and ships for the taking. Teamplay does not have a league, but the OGL does. Sign up for one or both leagues, to participate competetively in Tribes. There are several different versions to choose from, but just go to the sites to find out more, it is fairly self explanatory for both... OGL - TeamPlay ... Practices are the staple and backbone of your tribe, you BETTER find a day when most or all of your tribe can be there, and turn it into the practice day. Keep yourself practiced and you'll stay good. Scrimmages are like matches, but they dont count for anything, they're a good idea, but a practice is usually the way to go if you get enough people. WARNING! Do not join OGL/Teamplay before your tribe gets good enough. TOO many tribes have gotten themselves in serious trouble because they joined too early, dont let yours be another, get good before you join anything.
Questions