New Locked Discord Channel Named "#setup-guide"

yoarastrophe

Title: New Locked Discord Channel Named "#setup-guide"

Description:
The vast majority of queries from newcomers to the server seem to involve the same two questions, both involving game setup: finding a download link for the game, and getting stuck at the Gepard logo on their first time booting the game. There's also a third closely related implied question here that doesn't get asked directly, because people don't know they should be asking: how to setup the game for the first time.

I thought it might be helpful to add an easily accessible and highly visible locked channel named "#setup-guide" (or "#getting-started", or something similar) on the Discord server, containing simple and clean instructions explaining only the very very basics of how to make the game run. Alternatively, these instructions could be merged with #faq, but frankly I don't think people would find them there of their own accord, because no one uses search and people's eyes tend to glaze over with that much text.

I've written a mockup of what this channel/post/section could look like; feel free to use as much or as little of this as you like.

Setup Guide

Where do I download the game?

Send "/download" (without the quotes) into any channel on the MuhRO Discord server. A bot will automatically forward you a message with several options for a download link.

Note that this will only work after you have verified your account ("/verify").

How do I setup the game?

Note that you HAVE to do this or your game will not boot.

1. Extract MuhRO.zip. Any folder is OK, so long as it is NOT a default Windows subfolder such as Program Files. For example, C:/Games is okay.

2. Run Muh_Patcher.exe, and click on Game Setup on the left sidebar of the launcher. From the Graphics tab, choose your preferred resolution and click Apply, then OK.

3. You should now be able to start the game through the launcher.

Help, I'm stuck on the Gepard anti-cheat logo, but there's no error!

[[[I would maybe put a screencap of the Gepard logo here, because it is eye-catching and will quickly direct people with this specific problem here.]]]

Try these solutions one by one:

- Make sure you have gone through the setup as instructed (see above).

- Try running Muh_Patcher.exe as administrator.

- Check under Game Setup and make sure your Graphics API is set to DirectX 9.

- Try a different resolution or turning off fullscreen mode under the Graphics tab in Game Setup.

- Try rebooting your computer.

- Try whitelisting the MuhRO.zip folder in your antivirus software (Windows Defender, Bitdefender, etc) and redo the setup process.

- If you are a returning player and have not been playing the game for several months, you likely need to redownload the game and redo the setup process.

I have a different problem / I still can't boot the game...

A more extensive troubleshooting article can be found on the MuhRO Wiki at https://wiki.muhro.eu/Troubleshooting. Help from both GMs and other players can be found through #support.

Note that you are likely not the first person to have your specific problem, so please try using the search function first to see if a solution already exists.

Why is this a good idea?
Doing this would likely reduce the overall time it takes newcomers to get to playing, and leave GMs more time to focus on other tasks (or just chilling). It might even reduce repetitive messages on #global, and/or redirect the relevant questions to #support.

What risks or downsides does it have?
I reckon the worst possible outcome is that people just won't independently read the setup guide. Forwarding the guide to them should still be faster than having to walk each individual through all these steps while hoping it doesn't get buried in other chatter.

Additional Info:
Can't think of anything.

Obetovan

there is something of the sort on the wiki ( https://wiki.muhro.eu/Troubleshooting ), but there seems to be nothing bad in having the same in discord, especially since downloads moved there.
side note: some of wiki pages on the technical side of wiki seem to be a lil outdated.

yoarastrophe

Obetovan I'm aware of that wiki page's existence; I even linked to it in my post. The problem is it's long, disorganized, technical, hard to find, and titled in such a way that people looking for a setup guide would not think to look at it. It also doesn't cover everything my outlined draft does. The point of what I'm suggesting would be specifically something clear, compact, easy to find, and newcomer-friendly, to address the repeating setup questions popping up in #global. Ideally also written with smoothness of machine translation in mind, for folks who are less fluent in English.