Step 4 of 5
Step 4 — Your first session and the settings worth changing
Installing, which is the least interesting part
A game client installs the way other desktop software installs: you obtain the installer from the vendor's own site or from the platform the vendor names, you run it, and it writes files to the drive you chose in Step 2. The only decisions are where to put it and when to let it run, and you made both in Step 2.
Two general points. Obtain software from the vendor or the vendor's named platform, not from a mirror site that happens to rank well; this is standard advice for any download and is covered in the general guidance at cyber.gov.au. And expect the first run to download more: most clients update themselves before they let you in, which is normal and is part of the data budget you set.
On Linux, installation sometimes involves a compatibility layer, depending on the title and the distribution. What a particular game supports is the vendor's statement to make, and this course does not guess at it.
A timeline for the first hour
The common mistake is to start playing immediately and spend the first hour fighting the settings. Spending ten minutes first makes the other fifty better. This ordering applies to the category generally; menu names differ from game to game.
| Minutes | What you are doing |
|---|---|
| 0–5 | Log in, let any update finish, and look at the main menu without clicking Play. |
| 5–10 | Open settings. Set graphics, audio and chat before anything else. |
| 10–20 | Do the tutorial or training mode if there is one, which is where the controls are explained in context. |
| 20–40 | Play the first proper matches or missions. Expect to be poor at it; everyone is. |
| 40–50 | Go back into settings and change the two or three things that annoyed you. |
| 50–60 | Stop, and note whether you want a second session. That note is the only review that matters. |
The last row is deliberate. A first session is a test of whether you enjoy the thing, and the answer is allowed to be no. Uninstalling after an hour costs nothing and is a legitimate outcome of this course.
Graphics settings, in the order that helps most
If Step 2 put your machine between the minimum and recommended columns, this section is where that gets resolved. Most games expose the same handful of controls, usually behind a single quality preset.
- Start one preset below where you think you should be. It is easier to raise settings on a game that runs well than to diagnose one that stutters.
- Match the resolution to your monitor, and if performance is poor, try a resolution scale setting before dropping the resolution itself — the text stays sharper that way.
- Turn shadows down first. Shadow quality is usually one of the most expensive settings and one of the least noticeable in motion.
- Then effects and post-processing. Motion blur in particular is worth turning off early; some people find it uncomfortable and nobody needs it.
- Leave anti-aliasing until last. It smooths edges and costs relatively little on most hardware.
- Consider a frame rate limit. A steady lower frame rate feels better than an unsteady higher one, and the machine runs cooler and quieter.
Change one thing at a time. Changing five settings and then declaring the game broken is how an afternoon disappears.
Audio and comfort
Set the master volume before the first match rather than during it. If the game separates music, effects and voice, turning music down and voice up is the setting most people arrive at eventually.
Two comfort settings are worth finding early because they are easy to miss: field of view, if it is adjustable, which some people need wider to feel comfortable; and any option to reduce camera shake or motion effects. Both are listed under accessibility or gameplay as often as under graphics.
Physical comfort belongs here too and is not a joke. A chair at the right height, the screen at arm's length, and a break every hour will do more for a long session than any graphics preset.
Controls, and the one thing to change early
Default controls in this category are usually sensible, and relearning them is part of learning the game. The one setting worth attention on the first day is mouse sensitivity: too high and nothing is precise, too low and you run out of desk. Adjust it in small amounts, in the tutorial, before deciding anything else about how the game feels.
If you use an accessibility device, or need to remap keys for comfort, the keybinding screen is the place and it is better done before the habits form. Many games also allow a controller as an alternative to keyboard and mouse; whether a particular game does is the vendor's statement to make.
Chat and who can contact you
An online game is a public space with other people in it, and most have a text or voice chat and a way for strangers to send invitations or messages. The settings controlling that are usually under social, privacy or communication, and they are worth setting before your first match rather than after an unpleasant one.
- Find the mute control for voice chat and know the key for it before you need it.
- Set who can send you messages or friend requests — often there is an option for nobody, or for friends only.
- Find the block and report functions and read what each one does. Blocking is immediate and personal; reporting goes to the company.
- Decide what your display name says about you. It is public, it is often permanent, and it should not be your full name or anything that identifies where you live or work.
Australia's online safety regulator, the eSafety Commissioner, publishes guidance on gaming, on chat and on what to do about online abuse at esafety.gov.au, including the circumstances in which a complaint can be made to the Commissioner. If a young person will use the account, read that guidance alongside Step 5.
In a game where other players have spent years learning, the first week is an exercise in losing. That is a feature of the category rather than a sign of anything. If it stops being fun before it starts being fun, the correct response is to stop; nothing in this course suggests otherwise.
When something does not work
The ordinary first checks, in order, are: restart the client; restart the computer; confirm your graphics driver is current from the manufacturer's own site; confirm there is still free space on the drive; and check whether the game's own status or support page reports a problem, since a server-side issue is not yours to fix.
If a support contact is needed, the vendor's own support channel is the only one worth using. Third-party "support" numbers and chat windows found through a search are a known pattern described at scamwatch.gov.au, and no game company needs remote access to your computer to fix a game.
The worked example household
In the hypothetical share house, the download runs overnight and the first session happens the next evening. Ten minutes go on settings: one preset below the default, shadows down, motion blur off, frame rate limited, music down, incoming messages set to friends only, display name chosen so that it says nothing about the house or the job.
The tutorial takes fifteen minutes and makes the controls make sense. The first matches go badly and are still enjoyable. At the end of the hour the note reads: a second session, on the weekend, with no money spent. That is a complete result for Step 4. The household is a hypothetical example written to illustrate the step.
- Obtain the client from the vendor or the platform the vendor names, and expect it to update on first run.
- Spend the first ten minutes in the settings, not in a match.
- Start one quality preset low, drop shadows first, and change one thing at a time.
- Set chat, messages, blocking and your display name before the first match.
- "I do not want a second session" is a valid result and costs nothing.
Checklist 4 — First session
Printed boxes only; nothing here is stored. Also on the All checklists page.
- Obtain the installer from the vendor's own site or the platform the vendor names.
- Install to the drive you checked in Step 2, and let the first update finish.
- Open settings before clicking Play.
- Set the quality preset one below your expectation and match the resolution to your monitor.
- Turn shadows down and motion blur off; consider a frame rate limit.
- Set master volume, and music lower than voice if they are separate.
- Choose a display name that identifies nothing about you.
- Set who can message or add you, and locate the mute, block and report controls.
- Do the tutorial before the first real match, adjusting mouse sensitivity while you are there.
- At the end of the hour, write one line on whether you want a second session.