For the last couple of years thanks to my ill health I've been watching a lot of gameplay videos. Now that I'm back to playing normally I've noticed the "pros" are so good and know so much I keep thinking what a slouch I am. I've gone back to the manuals and read them cover to cover..............twice. The extra information they know are not there.
Where in the hell do those guys find that information. I lookup the games and try to find where this information is but no luck. A couple that I watch a lot is Civ6 with PotatoeMcwhiskey and both new Xc0ms with PeteComplete. These guys are pros on those games.
There are other channels I watch for those and other games but none have the knowledge those guys do.
I have over 1000 hours in Civ 6 and over 400 hours each of the two Xcom games. I feel like a sluggard.
It generally depends on the game. YouTube is one source of info, and it is a great place to see what you read about put into practice. A second place is Steam guides (shift-tab while playing a Steam game, then click on the Guides button.) Next, look at the subreddit for the game, especially guide threads and FAQs. Third, a lot of the nitty-gritty info is in online wikis. The last place is the game's official forums, if they have them. Oh, and Discord.
Again, which is best depends on the game. I've been playing Dark Souls lately. The #1 sources are two wikis. For Borderlands, it's usually YouTube. For Vermintide 2, it's Steam guides. Just look around.
Be cautious of searching for guides outside of that, because about 90% of what you see at the top of a search is some combination of AI guides, copy-pastes of outdated Steam guides that the site stole, or copy-pastes of the manual with no useful information.
Manuals these days are rarely more than a you'd get in the tutorial, if that.
They are often compiled from hundreds of hours playing, from beta to actual game release.
As an example, I've played over 1000 hours of Cold Waters, a "modern" submarine combat sim inspired by the old MicroProse Red Storm Rising game (which is an adaptation of one section of the Tom Clancy novel). From playing a lot, I've realized the AI behaves a certain way, and that behavior can be exploited. And this information is NOT included in a pretty comprehensive manual that is available for download with the game.
Which makes sense: a manual is just enough to get you "into" the game. The mastery comes from playing the game.
My game FAQs | Playing: She Will Punish Them, Sunrider: Mask of Arcadius, The Outer Worlds
Dont think iv read a manual since the 90s. back when I started PC gaming in 94 Id not touch a game until Id read the manual from front to back, smelling it and then reading all the other items in the box. i was addicted. And i played one game at a time until i finished it. Looking back thats silly. But them were the days.
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I am Dyslexic of Borg, prepare to have your ass laminated.
I guess Ray Butts has ate his last pancake. http://steamcommunity.com/id/daehawk
"Has high IQ. Refuses to apply it"
When in doubt, skewer it out...I don't know.
dbt1949 wrote: Sat Feb 15, 2025 8:29 pm
I've gone back to the manuals and read them cover to cover..............twice. The extra information they know are not there.
Where in the hell do those guys find that information. I lookup the games and try to find where this information is but no luck. A
I never did respond to that part of your question. The answer, often as not, is data mining. That is, they tear apart the game files and look at the raw data. Some even use utilities that track what the data is doing (ie - if you increase your production of Resource A, what changes in everything else?) After all, these pros often do this for a living as well as a hobby - a decent YouTube following can be a good income.
I rely heavily on online guides and videos. I generally will progress until I'm stuck or need help on a puzzle. Side note: I posted a Solasta 1 puzzle solution on my channel which has garnered over 43k views!
I just don't have the time or patience to figure out everything on my own.
As for where streamers and pros get their "secret" information, it's often just that they've gone into the data files (the ones open to modders, anyway) and noticed things there.
Holman wrote: Wed Mar 05, 2025 6:29 pm
As for where streamers and pros get their "secret" information, it's often just that they've gone into the data files (the ones open to modders, anyway) and noticed things there.
Oh, they don't stop there. There are entire communities devoted to cracking into the non-open files.
Oh, the story about how they dug into one guy's Diablo IV video proving he used a hack because the dungeon he showed could NOT have been generated naturally was a great tale of forensic analysis and reverse engineering.
I remember reading that. It was an interesting read, and shows how dedicated and knowledgeable people can be if they have a 'chosen' game.
It's like theorycrafting (the knowledge behind min-max builds.) Some people get as much enjoyment from the hunt, research, and theories as they do from playing. Different minds have different drives.
Blackhawk wrote: Thu Mar 06, 2025 12:16 am
I remember reading that. It was an interesting read, and shows how dedicated and knowledgeable people can be if they have a 'chosen' game.
It's like theorycrafting (the knowledge behind min-max builds.) Some people get as much enjoyment from the hunt, research, and theories as they do from playing. Different minds have different drives.
I prefer to let them do the digging while I just reap the benefits.
Game manuals and profesional players
