Tutorial- Important?

[svidangel]

As the game has recently been released on steam, and... having drunkenly perused the forums a lot this week/end I'm guessing that one of the less important for the "game" but more important for the game's success will be a tutorial for the easy/normal modes. It probably would have been great to have a simple one in place before dropping this on steam, but I really think that it might be worth taking some time off of the balancing and development to put a little something together for the first timers.

And trust me, I'd rather the game just be done, but I really think this would help perception of the game. Maybe we could have a forum mod put together a stickied thread with a lot of helpful startup tips for each phase of the game and a link to that added to the launch screen.

Discuss?

[smoitessier]

I think that would be great, as an idea for a tutorial, something simple perhaps like inside a shooting range / obstacle course with some straw men targets (that aren't animated) that shoot paint balls . You would learn to use cover, about shooting with snipers, setting off explosives, med kit perhaps?

The shooting range could be inside a hangar perhaps?

[thothkins]

was there not a thread that was looking for input into an updated tutorial? that could be dusted out, format agreed, and spread across a few folks for an update.

[svidangel]

Anything fixed and official-ish would be better than nothing, which is what we have now! The more attention the idea gets, the more likely it will happen. Le meh. Maybe I'll throw together a collection of suggestions if I ever finish a game.

[Gauddlike]

I knocked up a basic ground combat tutorial last version.

It was surprisingly easy.

Knock up a few text boxes, give them a spectre and use them as props and you can overlay text onto the battlefield.

I made a hay bale into a target and added a different text box to the damaged version so when you shot it a new bit of information/direction would pop up.

http://imgur.com/16pxyLr

My next step was going to be creating a new set of enemies.

A target dummy would represent a live enemy (i.e. wouldn't need to use ground target to attack it).

If I made one for each bit of information I wanted to give out then I could attach a text box to each.

I also figured that I could use a different corpse for each one with another text box added so the information would change when you killed them.

You could then run the tutorial mission using the quickbattle mode.

Then I deleted the test level when I switched over to steam.

Remember to always back up your work...

Apart from the amount of work it takes to make the text boxes (few minutes each) the only major downside would be scaling.

As you have to add them as images you would be unable to scale font sizes for higher resolutions which might leave them unreadable.

[Lightzy]

A tutorial is extremely important. There are many fine details in the game that aren't properly explained (like the heavy weapons penalty, etc).

I think the tutorial has to be the iceland incident. Make it a scenario.

In fact, the game needs to include lots of 'special mission' scenarios to be exciting. the stock missions are nice, but scenarios would be a whole new level of game

[thothkins]

IS losing your entire squad in the tutorial going to be demoralising for new players?

Still, it would be a nice link to having count down to alien reactor missions added as a DLC later on

[svidangel]

TBQH I like the idea of the iceland incident being the training mission. I do not think it should need to be the entire thing though. Just the outside part trying to get to the breach in the ship. Fight a few Sebillians, learn about heavy weapons and moving, reloading, throwing grenades (over things, even... maybe... sorta), reserving TUs, reaction fire based on weapon type, etc.

[thothkins]

We're also treading on Crimson Dagger territory as well. I know of one sniper that may not take too kindly to that.

What about there being a first Light Scout Mission that is the mission where the Xenonauts actually take down the craft that returns them to the spotlight.

Screen showing the Light Scout and explaining how it has evaded local forces.

Possibly the interception screen with nice explanations, but if not (after all what happens should you fail that one) then straight to your first combat, where handy explanatory tool tips appear for your first mission.

Again, it should be pretty easy, showing how things work more than risking getting everyone killed (possibly only a couple of aliens)

At the end there are automatic research type screens explaining the impact downing that ship has made and the funding now allocated to the reactivated Xenonaut programme.

You would also gain a little auto-research telling you about the background to Xenonauts and the alien invasion research would then start as normal.

I alwasy thought that the first Light Scout shot down was the mission mentioned in the opening text

[Lightzy]

Though it would be very effective and simple, I think it would be boring and bland to have a regular scout mission with tooltips as a tutorial..

It's much much better to make the game more epic.. more of a story, more of a saga. To give it some soul, which right now it doesn't have.

Doing the iceland incident as tutorial would do just that.. and then in the end there's going to be a big explosion and everything dies. yeah, so you lose the tutorial squad, so what? it's part of the story that gives it even more of a draw, and establishing the most exact atmosphere for the game.

And then you can explain with a text screen (or a set of text/picture 'presentation' style cutscene) how over the years since, the xenonauts project was mostly abandoned... and now you're basically nearly bankrupt, lacking for resources, having only the remnants of the more established xenonaut initiative of years past.. .etc...

Bring a bit of soul and backstory into the game. Right now it's all game and no soul

Edited June 10, 2013 by Lightzy

[blubberdiblub]

The Iceland Incident, the way I understand it, seems significantly different to the ingame setting to me.

Note that it might require substantial work creating different units (graphics), weapons or whatever.

For one, it happened more than 20 years ago, so the soldiers wouldn't look the same and they might use older types of weapons or ones that perform slightly worse.

Also, the supposed power core explosion was so extremely devastating, that it eradicated all troops in a certain radius of the ship. I don't think you have some explosion like that in the game, which leads me to think that it might have been a very different ship than those occurring ingame.

The aliens might have been a different species than those you encounter, too. The story is quite vague about that.

Last but not least, it's not really clear what the link between the Iceland Incident and the current invasion is. How direct or indirect is it? Would the invasion have happened earlier without the craft being shot down? Would it have happened later? What conclusions did the invading force draw from their vessel not returning? That's all a mystery, and there's no proof that one is linked to the other at all, apart from having made the Xenonauts organization possible at all.

All that might set the Iceland Incident too far apart from the game as to make a tutorial setting of that event feasible.

But yeah, that's just how I see it. I'm not saying that I don't like your suggestion, I do, but I'm looking at it from a practical and consistency angle.

[Lightzy]

Well you already have soldier civilians, all the alien enemies, the weapons are the same as the starting xenonaut weapons as well, and you just need to make an ice map with a crashed ship in it and that's it pretty much.

What conclusions etc were drawn is not an issue, it is all vague on purpose. The idea is to bring the player into the world, into the story, making the whole experience afterwards more involved.

Instead of just dropping the player into nothingness and making a base, the player will now really feel like the leader of an organization that has dropped into disrepair, and the only hope of humanity against vastly superior forces.

The only problem is that a tutorial is scripted and I'm not sure how much scripting can be done in this game

Edited June 11, 2013 by Lightzy

[Gauddlike]

I agree that it would be interesting as per the original suggestion a year or two back but I still feel that an unwinnable mission would put off some potential players.

The initial intercept of the modern invasion also makes sense.

You have just taken on and downed an alien vessel that had eluded conventional air forces and used that opportunity to announce your presence to the world governments and gently remind them of their treaty obligations to your organisation.

It would be equally atmospheric and set the scene nicely for the 'modern' Xenonauts without giving the player a situation that gets their whole force killed no matter how well they do.

[svidangel]

At the moment though I'd settle for a few popups the first time you go in the base/on a mission. Just to ease the new players in.

Or maybe a forum sticky with a redirect from the Launcher.

[Lightzy]

At the moment I'd also agree with svid I suppose

Gauddlike, it's a personal preference thing then. Personally I don't think it'll be a problem that your guys all get killed at the end of the tutorial.

This happens after all in the much more 'new, AAA title, mass appeal' EA X-com tutorial. All your team dies except for one survivor

[smoitessier]

I still think it's best to keep it simple, if you start making a big scenario with battles and having some text boxes appearing over a mission, it will just shine at the detriment of the rest of the game which will be lacking something. imo.

I would set the setting in a military base, i.e. like this excellent one made by Flashman, ok minus the carrier, that has a practice range, with Gauddlike's hay bail targets, or even go lowbrow low budget and have it in a series of connected hangars the ones at the base only with the contents rearranged for a proper tutorial, with targets made out of dumpsters or something with bulls-eyes on them.

[Gauddlike]

That was kind of my thinking.

I had in mind the low budget training option as Xenonauts at that time would have been very low budget.

[Lightzy]

I dig you that it fits as tutorial, but good lord how .... mediocre.

the players whole perception of the game is then decided by that, like a whole conversations tone is decided by the first few words.

Please have some ... ahh never mind. I suppose I like this game and the setting too much to agree to making it as cheap as possible when it could have story elements (which are already masterfully envisioned and written) integrated into the game for all to enjoy

Edited June 12, 2013 by Lightzy

[Aaron]

I don't know if Chris still has plans for a full tutorial level; I think it would be a very good idea to do, but we'll have to see.

I will at least be putting a "help" overlay into the GC missions; simply when you click a "?" on the UI it will show a transparent overlay with explanations of the UI, and any other vital functions. The Geoscape is going to have explanatory tooltips on all screens, but they are waiting for the new UI.

[Gauddlike]

I dig you that it fits as tutorial, but good lord how .... mediocre.

the players whole perception of the game is then decided by that, like a whole conversations tone is decided by the first few words.

Please have some ... ahh never mind. I suppose I like this game and the setting too much to agree to making it as cheap as possible when it could have story elements (which are already masterfully envisioned and written) integrated into the game for all to enjoy

The tools aren't really there to allow me to do anything else so the limit of what I could get away with was pretty much what I did.

There is no scripting, no way to overlay text boxes other than using the props/sprites, or have tutorial specific audio (outside of linking death sounds or item use sounds) that I know of.

I also have no time or inclination to try adding much in the way of new content to support a tutorial.

As for any official tutorial that would be a different matter.

They may be able to script behaviours and game actions to make a tutorial with a storyline.

I still don't see the Iceland Incident being a good option for a tutorial.

That story is already written and documented in Crimson Dagger.

Aiming for the first interception the modern Xenonauts make fits with the game better as it isn't 30 years before the rest of the game.

The story of how Xenonauts began can then be brought up to date with information on why they are not well funded or well known rather than forcing the new player to retread old ground.

You also give the players some interest in the game by actually allowing them to survive the tutorial if they play well enough.

The opportunity is already there to integrate this kind of tutorial in with the first couple of missions that the game spawns without you needing to shoot the enemy down if you wanted to use it.

A 'play tutorial' checkbox on game start would decide if a normal mission or the tutorial mission was generated as your first ground combat.

[Lightzy]

Gauddlike, I know, whatever works for the game will work, I just really want to find a way to integrate a story into it.

Especially since these things were already written and so masterfully well done and interesting. Honestly I don't think I would have cared to check out the game if I haven't read it. Weird I know.

I was just playing EAs X-Com and I'm blown away by how great the plot is

[Gauddlike]

I agree on that much, the story is the most neglected part of any game.

Probably one reason games don't get taken very seriously by non gamers.

[thothkins]

Possibly another reason EU1994 did well, in that it combined already existing story elements (in the main) that had already been reviewed and questioned for a few decades before they got near the game.

[Gauddlike]

Still not got around to trying that one yet.

If anyone sees it on 75% discount on steam let me know