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Discussions on Tutorials

  • Puddor
  • 01/26/2014 07:42 AM
  • 2309 views
Before getting to the crux of this blog:
I have been working, just not updating. And I've been playing a lot of games for inspiration and research in the meantime. So I'm not on hiatus, I'm just not around here all that much.

Onward!

There are a couple of things that are considered consistently problematic across the board with Final Fantasy VIII, and one of them is how it handles Tutorials. They're long, cumbersome, and tend to be a little inconcise. Because Junction is fairly complicated to pick up in the beginning and learning its nuances can take a lot of time, this makes the learning curb steep (and is a large reason why people drop the game quite quickly.)
Now, I've never quite understood why they're so long myself, because Junction is simpler than what they make it out to be, really. It could've been left in the players hands a lot more.

I've just recently started 13-2, and despite it being a sequel it still covers the basic mechanics (and I've noticed a small number of people interested in this game actually haven't played Final Fantasy VIII, which is curious but not something I'm going to touch on here). I like 13 and 13-2's style of tutorials, which are informative, easy to skip, and concise. If they are skipped they can be re-accessed through the Datalog, and since SLH has retained the Information menu section I can do the same thing.

My reason for creating this blog is thus; what do you, as a player, feel would need to be covered in tutorial sections? What would you prefer be in-depth, and what would you prefer to be glossed over/read up on later? Should I include a basic battle overview (given this game has a different system to FF8) or allow the player to make their own way? Do you feel like Tutorials are a waste of time or necessary? Would you rather controls be covered in a manual or a document or within the game itself? How much prior reading do you do before playing a game you've downloaded, whether that be here on via formats like Steam or the PSN?
Discuss away!

Posts

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LockeZ
I'd really like to get rid of LockeZ. His play style is way too unpredictable. He's always like this too. If he ran a country, he'd just kill and imprison people at random until crime stopped.
5958
Personally, at least for a digital download of a game, I would definitely prefer not to have a manual that covers anything other than basic controls.

I know you're not using a lot of the same gameplay systems as FF8, like Draw and Junction. So although a lot of people have played FF8, I'm guessing there's actually not a lot of tutorial overlap. So I don't think you have to worry about how much people remember. The only stuff in the demo, at least, that overlaps FF8 is stuff that also overlaps hundreds of other RPGs.

I think it's fine if you start covering things that are just basic aspects of RPGs like status effects, equipping abilities, and elemental attacks, but I'd limit them to a single message box. Anyone who knows how to play a video game should be able to understand a single-textbox tutorial like "The Protect ability causes a status effect to one character which improves their defense. It will wear off after a few rounds. You can see icons beside a character's name representing status effects that are affecting them."

Though the more you can lead the player into learning on their own, or at least show them instead of telling them, the better. It would make sense, for example, instead of having a tutorial for your system of clearing a zone for bonus rewards, if very early in the game there were a zone where you were absolutely guaranteed to get in enough battles to reach the "completion bonus" for clearing a zone. If you just show "Random Battles Won: 12/12! Zone Cleared! Reward: X-Potion!" the player wouldn't need any more explanation than that about how the rewards work. And if the player had to walk back out of the zone after beating the boss, instead of being teleported out, they'd see on their own that there are no more random battles once a zone is cleared. (Just don't make the walk very long. But make it long enough that it's clear the player definitely should have gotten in a couple random battles.)
first i want to say, i have been watching for updates from you for a long time. really really excited for you to release more, demo was awesome!

now, i also agree, the ff8 tutorials were annoying. the way they had some things, like teaching you how to run with the x-atm on the other hand were great. going towards that idea in my opinion would be much better.

to use LockerZ example, instead of having a full explanation, maybe fighting against a physical enemy, a character could say 'his physical attacks are too strong! maybe casting protect on myself will help' could be the way to go.

i personally do almost no (if any) prior reading for games. i expect that from most people that play a lot. and i would expect that the people wanting to play your game are already familiar with final fantasy style, and wont plan on reading anything before hand either. whether that means tutorials in game, or tutorials not needed, i couldnt guess

hope i have been some help. cant wait to see more from you! thank you for all your work
LockeZ
I'd really like to get rid of LockeZ. His play style is way too unpredictable. He's always like this too. If he ran a country, he'd just kill and imprison people at random until crime stopped.
5958
author=Azrazal
to use LockerZ example, instead of having a full explanation, maybe fighting against a physical enemy, a character could say 'his physical attacks are too strong! maybe casting protect on myself will help' could be the way to go.

this feels like kindergarten, there are subtler ways to do this

I mean Protect already has a description of what it does when you move the cursor over it, how much more do you really need
as a random example, but the idea of incorporating the things people need to know into the game, rather than just going over to a tutorial that people dont really take anything in from.

but yes, if that example is anywhere, i will be somewhat embarassed for the people that need it...
I really have no real problems about tutorials as long as they are skippable. I don’t want to constantly watch a cutscene about how to use basic stuff that I already know of and most people know of like how to use an item, and what not. Besides, what if the player has already played the game, beats it, and wants to go back and play it again? Seeing all those tutorials again will only piss them off. That’s why I like how Final Fantasy VI had a library where you could visit it at your own expanse, and the only time that they manually showed you a tutorial is usually if you acquired a new character, like Gau, and they had to explain how their certain skillsets work. Sure, it’s unnecessary, but it’s short and quick to the point. I feel like a lot of games nowadays either make things way too complicated or treat you like a mindless idiot who doesn’t know his left hand from his left foot.

Besides, was Junctioning REALLY that hard??? More often or not, most players are going to just fiddle around with it in the menu system and figure it out on their own…if they’re smart enough.
what do you, as a player, feel would need to be covered in tutorial sections?
Anything you think your target audience might not be familiar with, or systems you consider unique to your game. If you’re making your game for people who’ve played RPGs before, especially turn-based ones, you don’t really need to go in-depth about the super basic, general gameplay elements in tutorials.

What would you prefer be in-depth, and what would you prefer to be glossed over/read up on later?
Building off of previous answer, I personally like a game that lets me figure out the nuances of gameplay myself. Learning the nitty-gritty details of any gameplay system should be a process that stretches far beyond the “tutorial phase” or beginning of a game! Just when players are comfortable with how the basics work, throw a curveball or twist to the system. Keeps things interesting throughout the game.

Should I include a basic battle overview (given this game has a different system to FF8) or allow the player to make their own way? Do you feel like Tutorials are a waste of time or necessary?
Ah geeze I separated these out all nice and pretty and now my answers are just running all together… Well, I continue to be all for letting the player learn and figure out details themselves, but you should at least give them the basic information they need to get started! I don’t think tutorials are a waste of time, but definitely have them be skippable, and as brief as you can. I still prefer when the “learning” aspect of gameplay mechanics is something that continues throughout the game.

Would you rather controls be covered in a manual or a document or within the game itself?
Eh, I’m very unopinionated about this. If games have an options menu of some kind, always a convenient place to put basic information about the controls, I suppose.

How much prior reading do you do before playing a game you've downloaded, whether that be here on via formats like Steam or the PSN?

I read as much as I’m interested in, when it comes to narrative aspects of something, but I always make sure to read basic instructions about controls or gameplay systems, that way I know how to play the game.
When comes totroutal introduces each mechanic when need be but player easy into next one, let feel natrual to the story, it would be weird for squall to learn basic of combat all over again.
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