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Author Topic: Creating a Tutorial  (Read 14592 times)

Offline Hythlodaeus

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Creating a Tutorial
« on: January 20, 2012, 07:16:34 pm »
While X-COM has a fairly sizeable fan community that still manages to keep growing after all these years, I still find that most beginners seem to run into trouble with getting started with the two original games. Everytime I introduce the game to a friend, I often get bombarded with questions on how to do this or that. It is true the game's learning curve is not necessarily the steepest there is, but I also don't think it to be exactly comfortable for new players to figure it out without fully reading the game manual (which is rarely available) or asking someone for help. So I propose that we, as a community, reach out to all new players out there, and create a simplified X-COM in-game tutorial to be incorporated as part of OpenXcom.

My idea is to create a 3 part tutorial covering the following game events:

Tutorial 1
  • Basic Geoscape and base management controls
  • Basic research
  • Simulation of a UFO interception

Tutorial 2
  • Battlescape tutorial

Tutorial 3
  • Advanced base management
  • Advanced research tree
  • Troop management and stats
  • "End of the Month" screen and foreign relations
   
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Offline SupSuper

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Re: Creating a Tutorial
« Reply #1 on: January 21, 2012, 07:36:46 pm »
I always thought that X-Com is actually a fairly simple game, most stuff doesn't matter and you don't use a lot of features at once. It just gets complex once you actually start getting deep into it strategizing and figuring out all the best/worst stuff and etc.

The main problems is on a first play, players have no clue where to start, and asking us veterans will just get them a barrage of excessive info telling them exactly what to do and not do (eg. Ufopaedia.org), and sucking all the fun out of it.

On that regard, I think the manual was great. It had tutorials for the key elements of the game to get players interested, making sure everything had a logic following and solid foundation before going deeper, but of course nobody's gonna look at it anymore. :P So here's what I'd suggest:

Tutorial 1: Shooting down your first UFO (Geoscape)
- 50% of the game is waiting for UFOs to shoot down and raid, so a good starting point.
- Don't get into all the boring micromanagement stuff yet, get them into the action and fun stuff.
- Key elements: time controls, interceptions, crafts, countries.

Tutorial 2: Killing those alien bastards (Battlescape)
- 50% of the game is killing aliens! Get them into the action and used to the bullshit.
- Follows up from getting your first crashed/landed UFO.
- Key elements: turn-based, equipment, actions, camera control, mission win/loss.

Tutorial 3: Base management
- Follows up from the first mission, they'll want to know how to prepare for the next one.
- Hopefully you got them hooked now! So they'll learn even the boring management stuff.
- Key elements: equip craft, purchase/sell, facilities, research/manufacture.

Tutorial 4: The end-game?
- Where to now? Scoring, funding, goals.
- Maybe get deeper into stuff like country coverage, base building, soldier stats, etc.
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Offline Chiko

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Re: Creating a Tutorial
« Reply #2 on: January 22, 2012, 06:51:10 am »
Lol... I didn't even know there was a manual. Some kind of Basic and Advanced Tutorials would be useful.

Learning all on your own can be difficult. Like for instance, I had no idea you can use more than 1 interceptor against an UFO at the same time. Just learned that like 2 years ago. :o
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Offline hsbckb

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Re: Creating a Tutorial
« Reply #3 on: January 22, 2012, 10:01:17 am »
Quote from: Chiko on January 22, 2012, 06:51:10 am
Lol... I didn't even know there was a manual. Some kind of Basic and Advanced Tutorials would be useful.

Learning all on your own can be difficult. Like for instance, I had no idea you can use more than 1 interceptor against an UFO at the same time. Just learned that like 2 years ago. :o

Here is the link for downloading the manual of Xcom 1:
https://db.tt/5Fqat7Tg

This manual  can be a good reference material when we start creating the in-game tutorial.


I like Supsuper's suggestion because this will keep the new player's interest before going to boring (may be) parts.
« Last Edit: January 23, 2012, 08:31:19 am by hsbckb »
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Offline Daiky

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Re: Creating a Tutorial
« Reply #4 on: January 22, 2012, 12:19:41 pm »
Yeah, the tutorials in the manual are very good, they really get you started with the game. Too bad not many UFO players (especially new ones, that downloaded the steam version) do know the existense of that manual and it's very detailed tutorials. Or they do, but it's known that people don't read manuals of games anymore... So it's very interesting to bring those tutorials in the game itself.

Probably the simpelest way is to have a bunch of popups like the mock-up I made (see image), that are triggered by certain events. This one is triggered by a interceptor that was chasing a UFO, but the UFO landed.
« Last Edit: January 22, 2012, 12:21:52 pm by Daiky »
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Offline luke83

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Re: Creating a Tutorial
« Reply #5 on: January 22, 2012, 12:29:20 pm »
Looks good to me :)
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Offline hsbckb

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Re: Creating a Tutorial
« Reply #6 on: January 22, 2012, 01:08:32 pm »
agree.

I suggest to add some daily tips or "Do you know?" pop up message in the main menu :)
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Offline Daiky

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Re: Creating a Tutorial
« Reply #7 on: January 22, 2012, 01:44:06 pm »
I was more thinking about: everytime something happens for the first time or the user goes into a certain screen for the first time a popup gives some explanation what the use is supposed to do or can do here.

- First time you get a popup UFO detected, tell the user to click intercept or click a base, select a Interceptor (not a skyranger :p) to intercept the UFO.
- First time you go shot down a UFO, tell the user he can send a skyranger to the place. Or he can go into Bases->Equip Craft first, to equip the skyranger with additional stuff.
- etc...
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Offline DiceMaster

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Re: Creating a Tutorial
« Reply #8 on: January 22, 2012, 01:58:41 pm »
Quote from: hsbckb on January 22, 2012, 01:08:32 pm
I suggest to add some daily tips or "Do you know?" pop up message in the main menu :)
Personally I hate "Do you know" tips. Why? Because tips must fit situation. Daiky made a good example how tips should look like. But filling menu with random tips is pointless.
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Offline hsbckb

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Re: Creating a Tutorial
« Reply #9 on: January 22, 2012, 02:12:30 pm »
Quote from: Daiky on January 22, 2012, 01:44:06 pm
I was more thinking about: everytime something happens for the first time or the user goes into a certain screen for the first time a popup gives some explanation what the use is supposed to do or can do here.

- First time you get a popup UFO detected, tell the user to click intercept or click a base, select a Interceptor (not a skyranger :p) to intercept the UFO.
- First time you go shot down a UFO, tell the user he can send a skyranger to the place. Or he can go into Bases->Equip Craft first, to equip the skyranger with additional stuff.
- etc...

This is easy to implement. ;)
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Offline SupSuper

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Re: Creating a Tutorial
« Reply #10 on: January 22, 2012, 06:24:03 pm »
Leaked screenshot of next version of OpenXcom. :P

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Offline Chiko

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Re: Creating a Tutorial
« Reply #11 on: January 22, 2012, 07:31:36 pm »
I lol'd. xD

I always hated that helping... Word-Thing.
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Offline luke83

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Re: Creating a Tutorial
« Reply #12 on: January 23, 2012, 07:38:21 am »
BURN IT , BURN THAT STUPID PAPER-CLIP!
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Offline hsbckb

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Re: Creating a Tutorial
« Reply #13 on: January 23, 2012, 07:47:59 am »
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Offline luke83

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Re: Creating a Tutorial
« Reply #14 on: January 23, 2012, 07:54:22 am »
Today one of my mates is trying X-com for the first time, He already called me asking what to do so i think we DO need a tutorial after all ;)
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