Tutorials - Tell me about yours

[Milennin]

Tutorials, one of the most disliked aspects in games that do include them as mandatory content, and oftentimes the subject of ridicule for games that handle them poorly. With most people being aware of the negative stigma that tutorials generally hold, we still know that they're in most cases, a necessary evil. Now, I'd like to know about the tutorials you've created for your own games.

Here are some standard questions to start you off:
-Did you go for a mandatory or optional tutorial with your game, and what made you make this decision?
-If you had to tell people the single best or coolest thing about your tutorial, what would it be?
-What do you think is the worst aspect of your tutorial?
-Have you ever played your own tutorial, trying to see it through the eyes of a new player, and what did you think of it?
-Have you had other people play through your tutorial, and what were their reactions?

 

[Poryg]

Optional, short and to the point as well as help button being always there when the player needs it.

 

[Kes]

Short and to the point. Tutorial 'scrolls' added automatically to the player's Key Items so that they are always available if the player needs to check anything.
Best bit? Possibly the fact that they are real conversations which also reveal something of the characters' personalities. For example
[About escaping]
Dathan: I bet heroes never use escape.
Eldan: The only heroes who never use escape are dead ones.

The point being that tutorials should never, imo, only be about teaching the mechanics. They should also be telling the player about the characters, their attitudes, and their relationships. This also reduces the chances that the player finds them boring.

 

[Canini]

Very good thread discussion! I tried to answer your questions to the best of my abilities. It bears to mention that my game is an action rpg.

Did you go for a mandatory or optional tutorial with your game, and what made you make this decision?

Optional, I hate mandatory tutorials myself. As the player prepares for their journey they come across a training camp, where they can train. Even if the player somehow miss it they eventually have to go there since one of the main characters is there. When recruited you are given an additional chance to train, and saying no has no consequences.

-If you had to tell people the single best or coolest thing about your tutorial, what would it be?

It is completely intagrated into the game world, taking the form of an obstacle course. As you get equipment it is automatically equipped and demonstrated for you, the normal interface showing what happens so no character breaking immersion telling you to press the A button.

-What do you think is the worst aspect of your tutorial?

It is unfortunately a bit unclear at times. The player may leave the course at any point thinking it is done, or not get the point of a certain part of the course.

-Have you ever played your own tutorial, trying to see it through the eyes of a new player, and what did you think of it?

I tried to. As a "new" player I like that the tutorial was optional. I was transported to the first part of the course next to a chest containing a sword, teaching me swordplay. I don´t know what tyo do now, though. Is the tutorial over? Should I head for the next part of the course myself or is there another scripted event?

-Have you had other people play through your tutorial, and what were their reactions?

Not yet. A demo is released at the start of next month though. I hope to make the tutorial better after people have given me their thoughts on it.

 

[msazako]

I integrate them as a part of the story, so it would be a lot more immersive. It informs the player of mechanics, as well as give them a bit of lore without stopping their progress. Players shouldn't be treated like babies that need to be spoonfed. That's reserved for more complicated mechanics that need more demonstration. In fact, I'm a huge fan of the Isolation Principle when it comes into game design.

 

[captainette777]

1.This might be really cheeky or cruel, since my tutorial can easily be both mandatory and optional.

It's short, around 2 mins long, and the player starts off on a basic-looking map that goes in a straight line, and an NPC is simply standing off to the side waiting for the player to talk to them if they want to. The map is separated into individual pieces by these one tile-wide gaps, and you travel to each one by a teleporter. It's made to look like the player should probably talk to the NPC before they leave to the next section, and one particular area that teaches you how to fight has you fight a bat in order for the game to transfer you to the next part...

Here's the funny thing though--Near the end, there's one last gap separating the player and the exit with no door, and they learn from the last NPC that they actually have the ability to jump over one tile-wide gaps, without needing to use a door. So...it's optional, just if only you've played the game before/ or knew about the jump mechanic. I made it that way for playtesting purposes, and the fact that there's a character select in the beginning that has slightly different stories...so if someone made a second file. they could easily skip the tutorial by hopping over the gaps and hitting the exit door.

2. Its short. I tried really hard not to sound pretentious or condescending, and I tried to make the dialogue super casual and not divulge everything onto you immediately?

3.I feel like it's not clear enough. Or that I have to highlight a lot of keywords so people just don't instinctively skim over it. I also aimed it more or less at people who are new to JRPGs/PC games, so a more experienced player might think it's pandering/treating them like a baby.

4. I had a moot "Huh." reaction. That was short. Am I ready...? At all? What the heck just happened there?

5.Not yet! And I'm terrified of what my friends would say about it, I just sent a demo to them earlier!

 

[bgillisp]

I made them optional, and included a scroll you can read later if you skip it and change your mind, or if you just forget. Also I made them into little discussions with the characters as well.

And, I even put a little comment if you choose to skip it. For example, if you skip the battle tutorial:

Alex: "Just point your weapon thataway. You'll figure it out soon enough."

 

[Soryuju]

So this isn't my own tutorial, but the Bravely Default series had a great tutorial concept which is quite different from most of the others described so far, so I wanted to bring it up.

Bravely's tutorial was made into a sequence of optional mini-quests. After the introductory battle, you would be introduced to a menu which listed a handful of "quests." These quests described how to use different exploration/combat mechanics, and all of the quests were automatically active (you didn't need to manually accept each one). The first time you executed the mechanic described in the tutorial quest, you would get a notification and receive a basic consumable item as a reward when you returned to the tutorial quest menu. Completing tutorial quests would then unlock more quests with more rewards, and the game would indicate on the main menu whenever new quests were available.

This system allows players who already know the game mechanics to ignore most of the tutorial material while regularly receiving free items when they inadvertently complete the tutorial quests. The low price of buying these consumables from shops also minimized penalty for skipping individual quests.

On the other hand, it gave less experienced players the chance to learn the mechanics at their own pace while keeping them engaged with regular rewards, and it describes each mechanic precisely without holding the player's hand in each situation. The "tutorial" phase of the game doesn't drag because it happens in the background without slowing down combat/exploration, and the player can start/stop pursuing the quests at any point they like. Furthermore, the quick accumulation of items early on helps players to feel like doing the quests is serving some meaningful purpose on their adventure besides just teaching them about the cogs of system.

Bravely would still occasionally use full tutorials for more in-depth game mechanics, but the tutorial quest system kept these explanations quick and focused. The less-important secondary aspects of each mechanic could be trimmed from the mandatory explanations and relegated to tutorial quests for players to digest on their own time.

Overall, Bravely's system was elegant and carefully calibrated to be friendly to RPG newbies and veterans alike. I'm sure there are still a few people who dislike it, but the system went over very well with the game's general fan base. It's somewhat rare for game tutorials to draw any significant praise from players, so I think that's already proof of the system's success.