Campaign Intro Design

[nickcombs]

This isn't a new player's perspective. I may add to this if/when I get the chance to gather that kind of input. However I tried to approach the campaign intro as a new player. I also have some experience with ux & app dev, and have some suggestions I hope will be helpful.

1. Start the player on a blank canvas and introduce game features and assets one at a time. The initial view is going to be jarring, even without placeholder art.

2. Don't use game objects that won't be available in the main game. This will confuse people who learn the bespoke tutorial objects and then have to relearn for the actual objects. So no scrap piles, loaders, or unique power whatsits.

3. All objectives requirements should be ordered and listed top-to-bottom. Each requirement should have a question mark icon to display additional help & tips on hover so that players have a clear path for investigation if they become stuck on one. Don't force the help or tips on them by displaying those separately below.

4. All tutorial messages should come from Compilatron and not some disembodied narrator. Put another way, don't put messages like these up in the top left corner. They should be front and center. I'd propose having Compilatron follow the player closely and indicate he can be clicked to show the current message at any time. The point of all this is to make sure the messages don't get lost in the gui elements while giving the helper character more opportunities to shine.

5. Compilatron should have personality. New players will focus on that. I recommend looking to RPGs where characters are often demonstrating personality through unique grammar, portraits, and sound effects. Speaking of grammar, make sure someone with a firm grasp of the language proofreads each message. Typos can take the player out of the experience like nothing else.

6. When the mission wants to build something for the player, it should instead place ghosts that the player can build at their leisure. Let them dictate the pace, and avoid destroying something the player built before at all cost.

7. Keep all requirements quick and easy. The tutorial asks too much grunt work of the new player for the 2nd location. They will get bogged down and discouraged. Give them as much free stuff as is necessary to avoid this if you can't simplify the requirements. Players need only to demonstrate understanding and recall, not dedication.

8. The alt view should be turned on by default, especially for this audience.

9. Include more cool game elements quickly if the player is ready. A boring tutorial is one that harms the game more than it helps. Personally, I didn't want to explore more of the map at the end because it took a while doing the same really basic tasks to get there. I noticed a car out there. That should be introduced as a way to escape the first site and a more entertaining trip to the water source. Underground belts and splitters should be introduced, not only because they offer lots of interesting options, but also because they make building that 2nd factory easier.

10. When gui windows & elements are being explained, the message should always point to what it's talking about on the screen. Most people are visual and this will help connect the concepts taught to the actual controls they can use. If there aren't any visual controls (like for some hotkey features), then perhaps there should be. Be sure to require the player to interact with the new feature before introducing the next one. Don't bombard them with a bunch of info all at once when they open the inventory, for example.

-----------------

Okay enough suggestions. Let's look at what is done right!

1. Revealing small parts of the map was a great choice. As is sprinkling minor points of interest around it for the more exploratory players.

2. Limiting the crafting options

3. The wording of the instructions is on-the-whole very clear and concise.

4. The first area is fairly well paced, and the biters are well introduced in a manageable way for the player and as a transition to the 2nd area.

5. Allowing the player more freedom for factory layout in the 2nd area is a good call. I also like that we aren't just given a large flat zone for this.

6. Giving the player the option of a challenge at the end is a good way to engage players who are looking for that asap.

----------------

Thanks for the hard work, guys. I appreciate it a lot. Let me know if anything needs to be clarified or expanded upon.

Nick

[Sad_Brother]

Agree to most of it but:
Point 7. Player should understand, want he result as fast as possible or just wait for result. He should be able to use quick draft or become more productive with more efforts. He should understand the price of time. From the other side, Compilatron could be impatient and disturb the Player to build faster, faster, faster. So if Player follow it's vote, the defence would be easier.

[abregado]

Thanks for taking the time for detailed feedback. While i agree with a lot of your points, there are other constraints and requirements which get in the way of a lot of these suggestions. Ill address then below, both as an answer and to help me rationalize my prior observations. I mean, i should be able to give a reason for each thing, right?

1. Start the player on a blank canvas and introduce game features and assets one at a time. The initial view is going to be jarring, even without placeholder art.

As this is the first scenario that we expect new players to see, it also much convey some of the ambience and art style of the game. Otherwise we would have been better off having a "virtual lab space" to do the tutorial in. That was deemed terrible from a marketing perspective, as this will also be the games free demo.

2. Don't use game objects that won't be available in the main game. This will confuse people who learn the bespoke tutorial objects and then have to relearn for the actual objects. So no scrap piles, loaders, or unique power whatsits.

I realize these special objects are compromises, but the certainly add more than they take. During focus testing it was shown that new players don't yet understand what is (and what is not) a "true vanilla" object. Being able to show, for example, power being used, before needing a steam setup, is critical.

3. All objectives requirements should be ordered and listed top-to-bottom. Each requirement should have a question mark icon to display additional help & tips on hover so that players have a clear path for investigation if they become stuck on one. Don't force the help or tips on them by displaying those separately below.

I like the hoverable idea. I quasi-tested it during focus testing by having a Hints button, that by default had the hints hidden. Players did not engage with it, even when they needed help. Regarding the lists, we also observed better reading and comprehention habits from focus testers when they lists were "upside down".

4. All tutorial messages should come from Compilatron and not some disembodied narrator. Put another way, don't put messages like these up in the top left corner. They should be front and center. I'd propose having Compilatron follow the player closely and indicate he can be clicked to show the current message at any time. The point of all this is to make sure the messages don't get lost in the gui elements while giving the helper character more opportunities to shine.

Almost all tutorial messages DO come from Compilatron (except the Steam engine setup hints). This was because the player needs to be able to see what to try next at the same time as Compilatron helps them with something. Otherwise, when Compilatron is telling you how to unblock your miner, you cant see what the next objective is. Im also not a fan of having a "Robot sidekick" who is actually your boss... although secretly Compilatron is the villian of the story.

5. Compilatron should have personality. New players will focus on that. I recommend looking to RPGs where characters are often demonstrating personality through unique grammar, portraits, and sound effects. Speaking of grammar, make sure someone with a firm grasp of the language proofreads each message. Typos can take the player out of the experience like nothing else.

We have to go easy on this. As a company focused on making a systems driven game, there is nobody here who should be put in charge of writing a character story. There will be some minor character development as we move towards 1.0.

6. When the mission wants to build something for the player, it should instead place ghosts that the player can build at their leisure. Let them dictate the pace, and avoid destroying something the player built before at all cost.

I tried this in an earlier version with focus testers. The concept of a "Ghost structure" bamboozled pretty much every tester we had. Ghosts also have a different set of interaction possibilities, so players did not learn to build structures, instead how to interact with Ghosts. Solving this meant making Ghosts in the tutorial behavior so differently to in freeplay that I was worried we are teaching the wrong thing (for little gain).

7. Keep all requirements quick and easy. The tutorial asks too much grunt work of the new player for the 2nd location. They will get bogged down and discouraged. Give them as much free stuff as is necessary to avoid this if you can't simplify the requirements. Players need only to demonstrate understanding and recall, not dedication.

The tutorial is over by the time the player reaches the second area and builds the Steam power. This section needs a bit more work, and some more indication that the player is just in the sandbox now.

8. The alt view should be turned on by default, especially for this audience.

This was an art constraint. The first thing the player sees should not be Alt mode icons on top of the specially crafted, time intensive to make, Introduction art. I think we have the player turn it on as soon as it is useful (with the first Assembling machine).

9. Include more cool game elements quickly if the player is ready. A boring tutorial is one that harms the game more than it helps. Personally, I didn't want to explore more of the map at the end because it took a while doing the same really basic tasks to get there. I noticed a car out there. That should be introduced as a way to escape the first site and a more entertaining trip to the water source. Underground belts and splitters should be introduced, not only because they offer lots of interesting options, but also because they make building that 2nd factory easier.

Agree, that cool stuff early is cool, but we already had to remove a lot of things I would consider more useful. Moving more things earlier just means pushing everything later. There is a saying "If everything is highest priority, then nothing is".

10. When gui windows & elements are being explained, the message should always point to what it's talking about on the screen. Most people are visual and this will help connect the concepts taught to the actual controls they can use. If there aren't any visual controls (like for some hotkey features), then perhaps there should be. Be sure to require the player to interact with the new feature before introducing the next one. Don't bombard them with a bunch of info all at once when they open the inventory, for example.

Yeah, this system is the pits and it is ancient (and broken). There is a whole new system hopefully coming with the gui-rewrite, more akin to what you mentioned earlier about a "help icon".

3. The wording of the instructions is on-the-whole very clear and concise.

Thanks, Ive been putting a lot of effort into the language to try and keep it consistent. My hope is that it feel good enough in the Introduction that we can spread it to the main game.

Again, thanks for the feedback. I hope my replies don't sound too defensive and narky. That is not the case and I totally appreciate you spending your time on helping the development.