Where is the beta tutorial/rules/instructions?

[maxm222]

I have the March 25 closed beta V3.2 hotfix build (Kickstarter contributor) and see no tutorial or any other practical guidance except for the "Alien Invasion-Phase One" briefing screen, and the minimalist list of key bindings etc. in the start-up box.  I did a google search of Xenonauts 2 and could only find one of those soundless demonstration Youtube videos, plus the combat demo from last year.

If the game goes into early access in three or four months, when will the Goldhawk devs test any kind of tutorial?  Ideally something that is completely integrated into actually playing the beginning of the game plus some text for those few who like to read, but at least something that a number of playtesters who have not previously played Xenonauts have said is an effective/quick way to learn the basic play mechanics?  I can't tell you how many games I've given up on when I can't figure out how to do something--and moved on to some game that may not look as cool, but at least I can understand what I'm supposed to be doing.

The dev writing the latest update worried that a bad first impression on Steam early access would be a significant problem, and I totally agree.  All the more reason why the tutorial or instructions have to nail it in this area.  Good, unobtrusive tutorials take a lot of effort and testing to write..so when will the early access tutorial/instructions be tested in the closed beta or with playtesters?

Edited April 4, 2019 by maxm222

[wulf 21]

There may not be an interactive tutorial that explains things while playing - but there are at least in the Ground missions some written instructions that explain some basic mechanics (press ESC and choose Tutorial button).

These key bindings in the startup box are pretty much not relevant as it seems - the game can be entirely controlled by mouse without any keys (I guess these key bindings are some generic ones from Unity that were never replaced). There are some useful keyboard shortcuts however - not sure if the full tutoral instructions contain a full list however as Ive only read the "changes since Xenonauts 1" part.

On Geoscape there are a lot of things self-explanatory I think - for example the game is built in a way that you have already a research ongoing right from the start and you cant produce anything in engineering. So you are not required to look at any of these other screens in the beginning and can just let time run forward and see what happens - messages do automatically pop up as soon as you actually can do something on the other screens (for example new researches, things to build) and offer you to go to the other screen directly. When an UFO appears on radar the game automatically suggests that you should launch a fighter etc...

[maxm222]

Sergeant, thanks for the information.  Just by way of background, I've played computer games for decades including the original X-com and all the recent ones.  I'm not a rocket scientist, but I think that most of the game is not intuitive--intuitive meaning that with only the information (text, graphics, etc.) in front of you, most people unfamiliar with the specific game would see what to do.  Most of the controls do not even have labels that appear when you mouse-over them that tell what the button or bar is supposed to do.  

If one has to experiment by clicking on different on-screen buttons without knowing what they do, or try a right mouse click, then a left click, then the mouse wheel etc., etc., that's not intuitive.  I'm also developing a game, and have seen how players new to the game miss details that I think are absolutely obvious.  Unfortunately, no one can tell what is intuitive for someone else, you have to rely on playtesters.

Thanks for the info concerning the missions game, that's useful.  But I've played hundreds of hours of turn-based games like X-com, and did not understand some of the basic control indicators like overwatch, e.g., does a lighted icon mean something is turned on, or off?  Why do only some icons light and not others?  How does one save civilians?  When you throw a grenade over too high an obstacle, surprise!--it bounces back and detonates next to you, something so dumb that I would expect to at least be warned by the game that one of my troops can actually do something that stupid.

I could take screen shots and write comments on them (which I've done when I've been a playtester), but the closed beta in its current state is so far away from providing adequate information that I'm just going to hope that the devs will not release anything like the current build to early access. 

[Chris]

You're right that there's plenty of stuff in the game that's not adequately explained, but we've got limited resources at the moment we're prioritising having the core systems functional. As you say, writing good tutorials takes a lot of time and effort and right now I'd rather spend that time making sure that stuff like the research tree / ground combat saving / air combat is in the game because they provide more overall value to the game.

That said, some of the stuff you bring up is higher priority and we may be looking at in the short term - e.g. yes, I agree buttons clearly should have tooltips that explain what they do, and I'm also aware that the stats on weapons etc can't be viewed anywhere yet - but overall making sure there's actually a game to play is more important than trying to explain it to new players. It's not an ideal situation and of course it'll cause some people unfamiliar with Xenonauts 1 to bounce off the game because they don't understand it, but it seems a better scenario than having a well-explained game that nobody can play.

If you want to flag a few areas that you think are the worst offenders then by all means do so, particularly if you've got any easy-to-implement solutions you think we could do to make things better for the player. Accessability isn't our priority right now, but if we think an accessability task gives a sufficiently good return on the time spent on it then we'll happily consider it.

[maxm222]

Okay, thanks for the feedback, will see what I can do.