// Gray Tempo

CH 06

All checklists

Every checklist from the course, gathered here in one place. This page is formatted so that printing it produces black text on white paper with empty boxes beside each line, without the colours, the navigation or the footer links.

LOG 06-1 // 00:40

How to use these

The checklists are deliberately boring. Each one is a list of things to do or find out, in the order the course covers them, and each is short enough to finish in a sitting. They are not a test, there is no pass mark, and nothing is recorded anywhere — this page has no memory, so a box you tick on screen will be empty again when you come back.

That is a design decision rather than a limitation. The site collects nothing about you, stores nothing in your browser, and asks nothing of you, so the most useful way to work through a checklist is on paper. Use the print button under each list, or print the whole page at once and keep the sheets with the notes you made in Step 2 about your computer.

Work through them in order if you are starting from nothing. Checklist 0 comes before everything else and takes about fifteen minutes; it is the one that prevents the most wasted effort. Checklists 1 to 5 belong to the five steps, and each assumes you have done the one before it — Checklist 3, for instance, assumes you already know from Checklist 2 that the game will run on your machine, which is why it does not ask again.

If you are not starting from nothing, treat them as a reference instead. Someone who already has a computer sorted and an account made can skip straight to Checklist 4 and 5, which are about suitability, spending and the first few sessions, and which stay useful long after the setup questions are settled.

A line you cannot complete is still a result. If a vendor's site does not publish its system requirements, or a title does not appear on the classification register, that absence is information about the decision you are making. Write it down beside the line rather than skipping past it, and decide whether it changes anything.

Each checklist links back to the step that explains it, so if a line does not make sense on its own, the explanation is one click away. Nothing here needs to be done in one evening.

LOG 06-2 // 01:05

Checklist 0 — Before you start

Fifteen minutes // see the course overview
  • Write down, on paper, what operating system your computer runs and which version it is.
  • Write down how much free space is on the drive where programs are installed.
  • Decide which email address you will use for game accounts, and make sure you can actually open it.
  • Decide, in Australian dollars, the maximum you are prepared to spend in the first three months. Writing zero is a valid answer.
  • Check who else uses this computer, and whether any of them is under 18.
  • Agree with yourself on a finish time for the first session before you begin it.

LOG 06-3 // 01:20

Checklist 1 — Understanding what you are looking at

From Step 1
  1. Pick one game you are curious about and open its official site.
  2. Write down which of the three business models it appears to use.
  3. Find, on that site, whether the game is single-player, multiplayer or both.
  4. Find the list of operating systems it supports, and confirm yours is on it.
  5. Find whether it is installed through a platform, a launcher, or both.
  6. Find the publisher's privacy notice and read the section about what is collected at sign-up.
  7. If the site mentions in-game purchases, write down what kinds of items are sold.
  8. If you cannot find any of the above on the official site, write down which one is missing and treat that gap as information.

LOG 06-4 // 01:38

Checklist 2 — Checking your machine

From Step 2
  1. Open the system information panel on your computer.
  2. Write down the operating system name and full version.
  3. Write down the processor model exactly as shown.
  4. Write down the installed memory in gigabytes.
  5. Write down the graphics hardware name.
  6. Write down the free space, in gigabytes, on the drive where programs are installed.
  7. Open the vendor's own page for the game you are considering and find its requirements list.
  8. Compare each line against your note and mark it as above, at, or below the minimum.
  9. Check your internet plan's data allowance against the stated download size.
  10. Decide what you will do if the result is "below", before you start downloading anything.

LOG 06-5 // 01:56

Checklist 3 — Making the account

From Step 3
  1. Decide which email address this account will use, and confirm you can open that mailbox now.
  2. Choose a long, unique password and record it somewhere you can retrieve it.
  3. Choose a display name that is not your real name and not your email address.
  4. Reach the publisher's site by typing the address or using a saved link.
  5. Read the sign-up form and note any field that is outside the normal list.
  6. Leave marketing consent boxes unticked unless you actively want those emails.
  7. Open the privacy notice and read what is collected and who it is shared with.
  8. Submit the form, then confirm from the email that arrives.
  9. If no email arrives, work through the eight numbered actions in Step 3 before contacting support.
  10. Once signed in, find the account security settings and turn on multi-factor authentication if it is offered.
  11. Write down, with your other notes, which email address and display name you used.

LOG 06-6 // 02:14

Checklist 4 — Suitability and spending

From Step 4
  1. Search the Australian Classification Board's register for the exact title.
  2. Read the classification and, more importantly, the consumer advice beside it.
  3. Note whether in-game purchases are mentioned.
  4. If anyone under 18 uses the computer, decide the suitability question out loud before installing.
  5. Open the game's shop and identify which purchase structures it uses.
  6. Write down your three-month spending limit in Australian dollars.
  7. Decide whether a payment card will be stored anywhere, and act on that decision.
  8. Turn on purchase confirmation or spending limits wherever the platform offers them.
  9. Read the platform's published refund conditions once, before buying anything.
  10. Keep every purchase confirmation email in one folder.
  11. Diarise a three-month review against the number you wrote down.

LOG 06-7 // 02:32

Checklist 5 — First sessions and after

From Step 5
  1. Start the download at a time when a long wait does not matter.
  2. Complete the tutorial or practice area before your first real match.
  3. Find the quality preset and note which level you are on.
  4. Find the display mode setting.
  5. Check whether your microphone is live and whether voice chat is on by default.
  6. Set mouse sensitivity to something comfortable and leave it alone for a week.
  7. Find out whether the game shows your latency, and where.
  8. Find out whether you can choose a server region, and choose the nearest.
  9. Locate the mute, block and report controls before you need them.
  10. Write down the finish time for your first session before you start it.
  11. Three months in, check your actual spending against the number from Step 4.
  12. Recheck free disk space after the first few large updates.