2019-07-01_PC_Gamer

Xalavier
NelsoNJr
I’mafull-time
gamewriterand
narrativedesigner,
withcreditsinside
andoutofgaming.

L

ucaRedwoodmakespuzzlegames.Quite

goodones,ifthereceptionofYouMust

BuildaBoatand10,000,000areanythingto

goby.Hisnewgame,Photographs,isa

narrativepuzzleadventurethatuses

adaptivetutorials.Nothingisrevealedaboutwhat

you’resupposedtodoorhowyou’resupposedtodoit

unlessyoutriggerinvisible

codethatrevealsaspecific

bitofinformation.The

vastmajorityof

instructiondoesn’tuse

textforasimplereason,

“Somepeoplewillread

yourtext,”Redwoodsays,

“butmostwon’t.”

It’sacommonpieceofknowledgeindevelopmentcircles

thatnomatterhowimportantitis,manyplayerswill

avoidormisspiecesofyourtutorial.Theyclearlyneedto

knowhowtoplaythegame–howdoyoumovepasttheir

naturalreluctancewithasmuchsuccessaspossible?

“Alotofdesignerstalkabouthowcertaintypesof

tutorialsdon’trespecttheplayer’sintelligence,butIthink

thesedesignersworkongamesthatcanaffordtoleavea

lotofplayersbehind,”saysBobbyLockhart,who

specialisesineducationalgamesandistheleaddeveloper

ofindiegameCodemancer.“Asadesigneroflearning

gamesIdon’treallyhavethatluxury,

soItrytoincludeasmanywaysof

teachingasisfeasible.”Lockhart

identifiedasequencenecessaryto

bringplayersthroughalearning

processsuccessfully:teachingthem

whythey’redoingthings,whatthey’ll

bedoing,andhowtodothem.“It’s

verytemptingtointroducethese

thingsintheoppositeorder,since

playersoftenseemtojustwantto

diveit,”Lockhartsays.“Sometimes

youcangetawaywiththat,especially

ifthegamehasbeenheavily

marketed,isasequel,orjustexists

withinawell-worngenre,wherethe

‘why’andthe‘what’areknown

beforetheplayersitsdowntoplay.”

Thismakestheworkof

Zachtronicsallthemoreimpressive.

Zachtronicsisthestudiobehindlogicgamesincluding

OpusMagnumandExapunks.Consideringthecomplexity

anduniqueinteractionsystemsinthesegames,itseems

likeitwouldbeeasytoloseplayersonthefirstlevel.“Our

firstcommercialgamewasSpaceChem,whichincludeda

‘tutorial’thattooktheformoftextandpicturespresented

beforepuzzles,”saysZachtronicsfounderZachBarth.

“Itwasnotverygood,”hecontinued.“Thetakeaway

foruswasthat,ratherthantryingtodesigntutorials,we

shouldbedesigning‘experimentationzones’where

playerscanfigureoutmechanicsthroughtrial-and-error

inascaffoldedfashion,

ratherthanhavingto

trial-and-erroreverythingat

once.Sometimeswestill

includetextual

explanations,whichare

alwaysdisappointingly

ineffective.Andsometimes

weuseexamples,

particularlyinourpuzzlegames,whereIliketoputa

solvedpuzzleon-screennexttoanunsolvedpuzzle.”

Trial-and-error

Developersrequirethistrial-and-errorasmuchasplayers

do.Amongtheelementsofagamethatrequireextensive

iterationleadinguptorelease,tutorialsrankamongthe

mosttime-intensive–particularlywhenthey’rewoven

intothefabricoftheexperienceitself.“Assoonasthe

gamehasmechanics,westartbuildingtutorials!”says

Octodad:DadliestCatchcreativedirectorKevinZuhn.

“WehaveUIpop-upstotellplayersthecontrolinput

• holdleftmousetoraiseyourleftleg–andtheirgoal


• walkacrosstheroom.That’sthemostbrute-force
  method.Therestweteachthroughthelevel’sdesign.”
  Playerbehaviourandassumptionsplayamajorrolein
  thisiteration.StreamersreadeverysectionoftheSunless
  Skies’EarlyAccesstutorialasifitwasanessentialpartof
  theexperience,makingthefirst 30 minutesoffootagea
  slogforviewersandthedistraught,watchingdevelopers.
  Thefinalversionsawheavychangesthatbentittowardsa
  “concise,story-drivenintroductoryexperience,”according
  tonarrativedirectorChrisGardiner.
  ChrisWilson,designdirectorof2DstealthgameSiege
  andtheSandfox,foundplayersatgamesconferences
  wouldtrytoplaytheirgamelikeanactionplatformer
  basedonitsappearanceandbecomefrustrated.“We
  placedenemiesthatwouldkilltheplayeralmostinstantly
  iftheyjusttriedtorunthrough.Afterthatinitial
  encounter,we’reactuallymuchmoreforgiving.Oncetheir
  expectationshadbeenbrutallyrecalibrated,theexisting
  tutorialsdidtheirjob.”
  Tutorialsaremorethantextandinstruction.They’re
  anentirewayofthinkingbuiltaroundtheplayer’s
  introductiontothecriticalpiecesofagame.Maybeyou’ll
  rememberthatnexttimeyouskipone.Youmonster.

Developersrequirethis

trial-anD-errorasmuchas

playersDo

Teaching MoMenTs

How developers build the tutorials you skip. By Xalavier Nelson Jr

Inside Dev

MAkinggAMESiSHArd