1 reply to this topic

[Toong]

Hokay! So, I've run through the tutorial, and for some blasted reason I felt like giving my opinion on it. I apologize in advance if this is the wrong forum to do so.

So for the most part, I think it's pretty good. The on-screen cues are nice, the waypoints are nice, overall, it's nice. However, while testing it out I came across a few things that I think could be changed to make it better. If it's not in the list, I think it's fine:

-The tutorial, while good, is really hidden away at the moment. I'm not really concerned about this, because I know that nothing can really be done about this until UI 2.0 when the new user experience can be directed more easily.

-Although one of the popups mentions the difference between gas pedal controls (holding W to move forward) and throttle controls (holding W to go faster), I really felt it wasn't stated explicitly enough. I think a lot of new users will completely miss this tidbit of information, and potentially go a long time before stumbling upon it by chance. Since a lot of people might prefer throttle control, I see this as a potential problem.

-The Armlock option is in the same boat as the gas pedal controls. I don't think it's stated explicitly enough that arms can be unlocked.

-The popups are nice and informative, but they are far too easy to dismiss accidentally. On three occasions while playing the tutorial, I accidentally dismissed a popup I wasn't expecting by trying to throttle up. Either add a small (perhaps one second? Half second?) delay where you can't dismiss the popup, or assign it to a key you'd have a hard time accidentally pressing, like Enter.

-During the section where you're following the waypoints, one of the waypoints are kind of hidden away behind a rock formation, and there's no real indication on the hud where the next one is. I was able to find it alright, but thousands of people will ultimately be using this tutorial. Some of them will manage to turn themselves around and get super frustrated. I think the waypoint should either be moved into a more obvious location, or an extra (and obvious!) HUD element should be added to always show where the next waypoint is.

-This last one is also a low priority one, but the tutorial could really use a voice! Someone on the radio talking you through the tutorial would both add immersion and polish, and add an extra layer of foolproofing to make absolutely sure people are getting it.

That's pretty much it. For the most part, the tutorial works pretty well. Considering how many people already figure the game out without tutorials, I'm sure their addition will only serve the game's newcomers even more.

[Denolven]

Ho there, another one who cares

I'd like to add a few things and remind you about some design basics (if a community manager reads this, please consider forwarding it to your designers):

• nobody likes reading. I know voice stuff is expensive, so until then, keeping it short is a must (which you have done mostly)
  
• I think the arm lock and throttle thing should be in an advanced movement tutorial. Because no newbie cares about those things, especially not as the very first information you throw at them. Heck, they don't even know what the words mean yet. It's not only confusing, it'a also adding more useless text (at that point in player experience). In that advanced tutorial, make the player shoot up/down from a high ground position to show what the benefit is.
  
• that one waypoint behind the rock - don't do that . With no visual clue what to do next, there will be only unneccessary frustration. I see that you want to give them a first challenge, but I strongly suggest that you give them a little hint that they might want to check the cockpit view . That also serves as a reinforcement of what they just learned, and a sneak peek for command stuff.
  
• add as many shematic pictures to eyplain stuff as you can. It's waaaayyyy better than text. Example: arm lock - use those angle range pictures you did for the mechlab (see announcement UI2.0)).
  
• if you can technically do it, try to avoid the complete locking of the game. It's frustrating when you are doing something, and from the middle of nowhere time freezes and an annoying fat box thing is thrown into your face. Instead, let the last action fade out (or don't stop the player at all, because he really wants to do stuff!) and offer the information in a box of appropriate size, maybe in the lower half of the screen below the crosshairs (don't block the most important focus point), or at one of the sides.
  
• and a more technical thing: while in 3rd person view, let us use the free look button to look at our stompy robot from all sides - because stompy robots are only half the fun if you can't look at them . This would also fit well into the basic movement tutorial

For a basic tutorial, stick to the basic things. People want to walk around, look around and shoot stuff. Nobody wants boring technical details like arm locking. That's for later when you know how to walk and shoot .

You are on a good path. Especially that ckecklist thing on the right side and the smoke signals I like very much. Keep up the good work

Edited by Denolven, 09 September 2013 - 07:58 AM.