Topic: Tutorials

[KDR_11k]

We all know 'em, the tutorials modern games have. Often mandatory and teaching you the most inane things, basically a retread of the manual. I hate those, they tell you which button is where but afterwards you still can't really play the game, especially for more complex multiplayer games like fighters or RTSes.

The current tutorials are almost a waste of time. I'm not saying they should be removed but I'm saying:

Make tutorials REALLY teach the game!

Knowing controls and some basics isn't knowing the game. Knowing how to order a unit around is not knowing what to do with it. Tutorials must be expanded. They should not just teach how to play but how to play well. In a fighting game a tutorial should teach you how to use a character well, what combos are useful, when to use which special, etc. Things you'd usually look up online. Similarily, in an RTS it should teach you about every unit, how it works in a strategy and what it's really good for, how it should be used in play. In a game with roles in a team it should teach you what your role does, how to do it well, who you need to work with and when you need to leave the job to someone else.

Basically I want tutorials to teach advanced tactics and behaviours. I want someone who finished the tutorial to be able to join a multiplayer game and know what he has to do, even if he can't execute all the details perfectly yet. Lately I've been playing World in Conflict, that game's tutorial should have been teaching support players that they're needed on the field as antiair instead of having some arty in the back and bombarding crap.

[IceCold]

I guess this is the niche that game guides have found.

[Ceric]

I have mixed feelings about tutorials.  There are some game that they just clutter, like Odin Sphere, and really should just tell you to read the manual.  Others there really essential because the concept is weird and needs to be seen in action.  I do think if you opt to do all the tutorials you should have a fairly good grasp of how to play the game and what to do in a given circumstance.

[Kairon]

Are you sure? Shouldn't SOME discovery be left to the actual player as to the rules of the game world? That's part of the fun. Tutorials teach you how to walk: then you step into the real world and you have to decide where to go. I don't want a tutorial to take away all the mystery of discovering the game for me.

[bustin98]

I think that's what the first level of most games are. Even though they may not come right out and say so. I'd rather see a game recognize you're having trouble doing something and flash a hint than run through a training course. Though one game made that a little interesting: the original Tomb Raider. You could run through and get a good grasp of the controls.

But, I agree with RTSs and complex games. Ghost Recon II is one game I have that has a required training level, but there's no challenge and retreads the manual. Controls need to be second nature and comfortable, and training levels should focus on making that happen.

[ThePerm]

zelda tutorials are pretty good, idk about other games

[KDR_11k]

The first level often gives players access to only a small amount of the things he'll have throughout the game. As for the "discovery" thing, it's good for a singleplayer game but in multiplayer I don't want a teammate who's still figuring out what does what.