What about the complete noobs?

[Kwil]

For the Noobs out there, like me , it would be helpful if a lot of the very basics were explained. I've never been terribly interested in Unreal Tournament online, since my few experiences with it seemed mostly to consist of watching folks expand their profanity while I respawned. So I have little to no idea of the intricacies of it. I imagine I may not be the only one.

TUT I am interested in, because from what little I've seen, it does seem to be a better set of players, and has the potential to be a seriously interesting game.

The TUT site, however, is absolutely sparse on information, and there's no FAQ that comes with the game.

So my questions:

What the heck is the supply chest and how does it work? I played one game where I apparantly had it - I had no idea I had it, nor did I have any idea where I was in the map. People started looking for it, but I was well and truly lost, with no idea of how to speak either.
How do "loadouts" work, how do I get one, and how are they different from just purchasing supplies individually?
What are the specifics of a whistler? I've seen them be two colors, red and green, but have no idea which one means a thief is nearby.
What is this stuff about moving AI guards? How does a person do that?
How does a person: Talk? Vote? Whisper? Initiate a vote?

What brightness should my screen be set at to effectively play? TDP had that little guide in the rules that told you "Go into the shadows room on training and set your brightness so that you can just barely make out the bricks in the darkest parts of the room." Should we do similar for TUT or should we just crank the brightness and gamma all the way if we're to have a hope in heck?
What settings should my sound be at as well? Should I kill the music unless I'm spectating?

Basically, I'd like to have some way of learning the very basics of what I need to know to effectively join in.

Also, my main interaction with TUT to this point has been spectating as a rat. I note that there's one map, (the one with the docks, I believe) where if you fall in the wrong place, a wicked current takes you and whisks you away to the edge of the world where you're stuck for the rest of game, looking at the town in the distance. Just a reminder to the mappers that not everything on the level is as big or strong as a thief or a guard.

Kwil

[SNAFU]

This community is a bit more mature than the general UT audience at at large, so feel free to post any questions on the forum, and ask questions in-game.

Unfortunately, the Thievery site is, indeed, lacking a good FAQ on how to actually play the game. Hopefully, we'll remedy this in the near future.

As for your questions...

The supply chest is an item that is given to a single guard. This item is meant to be dropped, preferably in a well-defended place, so it isn't destroyed by thieves. Using the chest while it's in the environment refills your standard bolts and flares, up to 10 bolts or 3 flares. As a responsible guard, you should tell your teammates where you place the chest.

Loadouts are presets of equipment you buy. In other words, you can save your favorite equipment configuration, so you can just click on the loadout, and automatically buy the stuff you have saved in that loadout slot. Great time saver if you don't want to buy the same equipment individually over and over again. To save the equipment you have, "right click". To buy that loadout, "left click".

Whistlers are items you can buy, and place near doors and such. When a thief gets too close to the whistler, it makes a shrill whistle to alert you and any other guard who hears it, that a thief is near it. In some maps, there are "set" whistlers which act more like camaras. These ususally trigger alarms when they "see" a thief. Green means they don't see anything, and red means they saw a thief. If you see a red whistler, be careful; it means a thief is nearby.

Guards that are AI-controlled can be given orders by human guards. Just go up to one, frob him ("right click" by default), and choose an order from the list that appears.

I can't remember if these are default keys, but my talk key is "t" and my whisper key is "u". To vote when someone calls one, hold the "v" key and select "vote" in the menu that appears. Then yes or no, whichever you wish. To intiate a vote, you'll have to ask someone in-game; it's a bit harder to describe here.

Unlike in thief, your monitor's gamma setting doesn't have as much impact on game-play; basically, a thief will either be invisible or not. This may change with the upcoming version, but go ahead and set it to whatever level is comfortable to you. You will not be accused of cheating or anything like that for modifying your gamma.

The same goes for sound: pick whatever is comfortable for you. I recommend that you get headphones and/or turn off any background noise, so you can hear better.

If you need any more help, feel free to ask people in-game; the majority are very mature and friendly. If any of them give you grief, tell them that SNAFU will personally eat them for it.

Welcome to the community, Kwil.

[Scrawprin]

Hello, Kwil

I'm still learning to, but for reasons that you mentioned, I found this to be overall a good community. Keep the questions coming... the rest of these guys are pretty smart.

See you online!

[DhaThief]

The default whisper key is "Y".
You can also press "M" for a MAP but only in some of the level.
You could play Thief / Thief 2 demo's for some training on how to play, thiefs..stay in shadows / be quiet.... as a guard stay out of shadows.

The is a guide on the TUT site to get you started : http://www.thieveryut.com/Guide/index.htm

[The Dragon]

Glad to have you, Kwil! We can always use a new player!

Once you try out solo mode to get the hand of the game and the basics of thieving, I suggest you guard a bunch first. It's a great way to learn the maps, and you'll start to understand the different entry points to objectives. You should also spectate a lot, to learn both great thief and guard tactics.

See you in-game!

[Carpe Noctum]

Another undocumented wonder:

When spectating, press and hold V. Then a menu that appears that allows you to view with a freely-flying camera you steer.

(You can also get to follow-camera from that menu, but that also happens when you alternate-click as a rat.)