UPDATE 14/05/2018: I haven't been active in over a year, so a lot of the stuff related to tutorials/etc has probably changed by now. I'm sure it's still useful in some capacity as the general "steps" are the same. Just keep in mind that it's probably outdated in some areas and I don't have the time to change anything.
The Big Daddy of Tutorials for Epic Noobs
Helpful Thread Index
If you're just here for the index, that's totally fine, here you go:
For Leechers
Rules, FAQ, & Newcomer Introductions
Setup & Scripting Tutorials
- How to install/setup Simba for RS3
- SRL Official RuneScape Botting Settings
- SRL/Simba Standards (with examples)
- THE Beginner's Simba Tutorial
- Simplistic Beginners Guide To RS3 Scripting
- All-In-One RS3 and SRL6 Scripting Tutorial!
- Forum: RS3 Intermediate Scripting Tutorials
Script Forums
Scriptwriters Help Forums
SRL Member Rank
For everything else, read on!
1. Introduction & Aim
So, you want to stop being a leeching noob and start contributing to the community, but have no idea what you should really do to get started? Fear not, you've come to the right place!
This thread originally started as a joke, but will slowly be turned into a guide that -- along with existing as a helpful thread index for newcomers -- encourages...
- leechers to contribute as newcomers
- newcomers to become new scriptwriters
- new scriptwriters to learn by reading tutorials and asking questions
... with the ultimate goal of helping those willing to learn to become active, contributing members of the community.
2. Leeching vs. Contributing
Before we begin, I think it's important that you understand what exactly the difference is between leeching and contributing. Despite being written in 2006, this post by the leader of SRL, @WT-Fakawi, summarises very well just what leeching is, and just what this community is all about. As you can see (because you clicked on that link and read it -- if you didn't... bah! ), a leech is a person that takes from the community and gives nothing in return. While leeching is tolerated (everything would be private otherwise, not just the goodies in the higher boards ), it's not encouraged, and you will get very little if any support from the community if you don't intend to give anything back.
I think that it's also important to note, however, that giving back or "contributing" doesn't mean that you have to learn how to script! On the contrary, there's two ways that you can contribute to the community.
The first, and most obvious method, is to learn how to script in order to release your own scripts for others in the community to use. This is fairly straight forward, and it's also going to get you access to higher boards if you successfully apply for the SRL Member rank.
The second, and less obvious method of contributing, is engaging in community discussion with quality posts, testing other's scripts, and providing them with constructive bug reports and feedback. You don't need to understand how a script works to report a bug, and you certainly don't need to understand how a script works in order to suggest improvements, features, or different methods of solving a problem.
This tutorial will mostly deal with the first method of contributing, but the next section is relevant to both kinds of contributor.
3. Forum Contribution
Honestly, this section is fairly short. Why? Because I believe that forum contribution is actually incredibly easy to do right, and only requires three things:
- That you abide by the rules
- That you don't post anything that doesn't positively affect a thread (continue discussion, give feedback, etc)
- That you think before you post
... and that's pretty much it!
4. First Steps
Now that everything else is out of the way, let's get onto the fun stuff: learning how to write our own scripts!
1. Read this: How to install/setup Simba for RS3
2. Then this: THE Beginner's Simba Tutorial
3. Followed by this: Simplistic Beginners Guide To RS3 Scripting
4. And if you're really getting the hang of it, this: All-In-One RS3 and SRL6 Scripting Tutorial!
5. Then post your first script here for feedback: Forum: First Scripts
Have you followed the 5 steps above? Did you learn much? Great! By now you should have the hang of scripting, and maybe even able to help others with any basic problems that they have!
If you followed the first few steps above, but couldn't manage to get your first script together to ask for feedback, don't give up just yet! Post in this section of the forum with a detailed explanation of your problem(s) and the question(s) that you need answered, along with any relevant code in [simba] tags. Remember to remove any identifiable information (username/password) from your code before you post!
5. The Next Step
Congratulations, you've learned how to write a basic script, and you're keen to keep on going... that's... well... THAT'S AWESOME!
Now that you've learned how to write a basic script, it's time to move onto some more advanced stuff. Unfortunately, there's a lack of intermediate and advanced tutorials on this forum, but the ones that are available are nonetheless very helpful and do a great job at explaining some more advanced concepts. If you didn't do so in the section above, go back and read the tutorial in step 4 before continuing.
The next steps are actually quite simple, but from here it's all about how much time and effort you're willing to put into advancing your skills. If you intend to apply for SRL membership eventually, then you need to understand how to use TPAs (TPointArrays) to find objects, common but mandatory failsafes, variable scope (global vs local), arrays, case statements, and randomisation of click locations, wait times, etc. You will also want to know how to use the SRL Player Form, and to make sure that you have a solid grasp of code standards. These are all things that you will need to take the time to learn for yourself, and there is no single tutorial that will teach you absolutely everything (though @The Mayor's AIO tutorial does a pretty damn good job of getting you started).
But, since this thread started off as a smartass list of forum threads, here's a bunch more steps to push you in the right direction:
1. Read all of these: Forum: RS3 Intermediate Scripting Tutorials
2. Release your script(s) here: Forum: Runescape 3 Scripts
And/or here (you should have access at this point): Forum: Jr. Member RS3 Scripts
3. While asking for help with any problems you have here: Forum: RS3 Help
And/or here (again, you should have access): Forum: Jr. Member General Help and Discussion
6. Conclusion
Congratulations, you're now a valued, knowledgeable, contributing member of the community!
If not, then you haven't followed a single step in this guide and I don't even know what you're doing. You should probably stop doing that and do something else instead... maybe knitting, knitting is a pre-requisite for all of the ranks above SRL Member anyway, so it can't hurt to learn how to knit sooner rather than later. A whole buttload of guides to knitting can be found here.