Tutorials That Don't Talk Down To You - Context Sensitive Design - Extra Credits

[@extrahistory]

As designers, while we do actually still have to go over every detail and mechanic that might seem painfully obvious to more experienced players, we can go about tutorials in a much more creative and helpful way. What other examples of context sensitive design have you seen in tutorials?

[@LordBloodySoul]

So if I make an RPG, would it be better to let characters explain certain stuff in an immersive way or just dump a tutorial book in it? Which would fit better? :o

[@barrybend7189]

Megaman classic,X, Zero 1 and ZX.

[@SheezyBites]

@@LordBloodySoul Show it. If you have the opportunity to have another character explain it to you you should have the opportunity to make them go into the menu and do it themselves, showing the player the steps along the way.

[@pennyfarting]

The best way to integrate tutorials in my opinion is to give them context in the story. The opening of Sly 2 is a great example, Bentley is giving instructions to Sly on how to do really basic stuff that, in-universe, Sly should already know how to do, but it's played off as a character beat, where Sly reminds Bentley that he's already a pro at this, and cockily reassures him that he shouldn't be so nervous. The tutorial is being used to establish a rapport between the characters and the starting points of their respective arcs (Sly starts the game overconfident and gets knocked down a peg later in the story, while Bentley begins nervous and afraid and gains confidence as the game progresses), and it's executed in such a smooth, subtle way.

[@Scarrien]

Octodad mostly does a good job since it needs to teach you it's controls almost from scratch and it only tells you how to do something the first time you need to. One problem with the game's tutorial though is that the first time you walk you need to pick up one leg, WAIT, then pick up the other before you can actually walk around (even if you've gone into the settings and turned off the tutorial prompts, and if the game knows it's a repeat playthrough).

[@daveshn]

"Do you need to know how to catch Pokemon?" "I already have 4!" "Yup, you need to learn."

[@kepler6873]

Well there’s one spot for it! Maybe catching one Pokémon was a fluke but if the player has 3 or 4 skip the sequence, and if they were lowering the health then skip saying lower the health. At that point you can just have a character mention status effects also affecting chance in one line of text since it would be impossible to test for that this early in the game, and let the player loose.

[@boltstrike2787]

Game Freak basically wrote the book on how not to handle tutorials. Doesn't help that they think their audience doesn't even know how to breathe without being shown how.

[@empty-voiid]

"I was catching Pokémons 10 years before you even existed, you damn NPC!"

[@JonathanMandrake]

@@empty-voiid "If you poison and paralyze a pokemon,..." Yeah, sure, thats possible, thanks, Dr. Oak

[@raphaelamorimbomfim1618]

In Sword and Shield if you already have caught a pokemon the tutorial will be skipped

[@nathanbowdish6306]

Hearthstone has a "Return of the Hero" if you haven't played the game in some time. I find this brilliant because it... 1) gets returning players back on their feet 2) gives returning players a positive experience (you aren't crushed by other players. You beat AI and get rewarded card packs) 3) gives designers a controlled experience for returning players (PvP is locked during the mission, designers can re-teach whatever they like). It's also possible to skip, but you won't get the classic card packs. Interestingly enough, the value of a classic card pack decreases for veteran players, but is incredibly valuable for new players. So, if you're a returning new player, you're more likely to need a refresher and you'll enjoy the rewards more. If you're a returning veteran, you're more likely to return with a bit more experience. The refresher course + card packs aren't as useful/valuable to you, so you may want to skip it.

[@Hakaisou]

I wish League had something like this. I recently started playing it again thanks to the K/DA stuff, but I'm entirely lost on the new map mechanics, and I never really learned how to choose what items to buy. Now that I think about it, I don't think the game ever really does a good job of teaching you what items are good for what situations. Even watching pro play doesn't help, as they usually only: 1.) With items, say that X item was acquired, and that's good. 2.) Say that a character was picked, but not show what they look like 90% of the time 3.) Say that a player did something good, but do a poor job of showing who that person is unless they do a replay. Hmmm... Hey, Extra Credits team. Maybe an idea for a follow up episode?

[@GamerFromJump]

Two series I wish would do that are _Pokemon_ and _Mega Man Battle Network_ , both of which still run you through the tutorial on their most basic mechanics, whether it’s your first and 5th game in the series.

[@tmdiz4579]

Hearthstone has one of the worst new player experiences of online card games lol.

[@nathanbowdish6306]

I wonder if making the quest available, but not mandatory would be better (like other quests)? If a player doesn't want to play against the cpu and they're forced to give up a reward, it does create a sense of loss. I'd love to know if their retention increased or decreased as a result of this... although I'm sure we'll be able to figure it out by how/if Blizzard maintains the feature.

[@Adam-cq2yo]

@@tmdiz4579 I actually found Hearthstone more fun as a new player. It felt new and fresh. Then I played it for a month or so and got bored. Every game felt the same. There was no variety.

[@RealmsCrossMyths]

In Kirby Star Allies, the tutorial pop ups happens every time. But instead of stopping the game and saying "hey. you, even if you've played this game, or this level, many times, we're not going to let you continue until you do exactly what we say." it just has signs pop up in the background that says "oh, press this to make kirby do a thing." Since these signs are purely background scenery, the player can ignore them and just keep going. However, the signs are so large with brightly coloured art, and pop up from below the ground in such a way that new players (assuming they have at least somewhat good eyesight, which one honestly needs to make out the smaller enemies and obstacles) will see the signs and be able to understand what to do. Oh, did I mention there's no actual text on the signs, aside from button letters? The sign is just an image of Kirby doing an action, and the button inputs that make him do that action.

[@DonWippo1]

This was done quite often way before star allies. I remember it in Klonoa Games back in the day. While this solution is ok and works great in 2D Games it always felt lazy and immersion breaking. There is no reason for this sign to exist in the game World after all. In 3D Games however you might overlook the sign and still get stuck, thus audio seemed like a good choice. But hearing dialouge like " Hit the jump button to jump" is the worst immersion wise.

[@ninnikins4768]

Kirby game with the beanstalk did that

[@SheezyBites]

An idea I toyed with in an early RPG project was optional tutorials. The tutorial would always flash up to say it's there, and then go to the side of the screen; you could press select to read any tutorial you wanted (written as if delivered by a party member) but if you completed the tutorial's task without looking at the tutorial you would get a small xp bonus (more than an enemy, less than an encounter). Obviously this is something that wouldn't work in an action game, but the small group I tested it with responded pretty well to it. Even when they died from Poison because it worked completely differently than they were used to (it was basically the Doom status in Final Fantasy, which makes a lot more sense for poison to be honest) they mostly just took a moment of surprise and pressed select to figure out why they just died and then laughed it off. I later changed the poison tutorial so every single character would bring up a tutorial the moment you first got afflicted by it just to let it sink in that it's important, but still had one guy ignore it to both of our amusement. Sadly I never finished that game. I don't know if that'd be indicative of a general audience, or how you could adapt this for other genres, but if you're making a game and struggling with tutorials please feel free to consider the option.

[@RockingStar1011]

That actually sounds like a very neat idea for RPG tutorials. In fact, some of the memorable tutorials I've seen have a similarish concept to this.

[@fernandobanda5734]

This is a pretty interesting idea to be honest. You do run into players who will never voluntarily choose a tutorial but if they're doing fine, it isn't as intrusive for them.

[@shadowpod13]

Sounds like a neat game. Hope you keep the "doom poison" thing for a later game that you make. As well as the great tutorial.

[@SheezyBites]

@@shadowpod13 It really wasn't a neat game, but it was an important learning experience for school age me; it was my first vertical slice, and gave me a lot of information about how people play. Don't worry though, my current obsession is finding alternatives to health bars so insta-death poison is definitely here to stay... as is insta-death anything under the right circumstances.

[@kendallonian9753]

Just one tidbit: rewarding players for finishing a tutorial without looking at it is that same thing as punishing players for having to look at the tutorial while finishing it. that particular part may not be good. other than that, sounds awesome.

[@Achillez098]

Just play Dark Souls Tutorial: *Teaches you controls* Game: "Done? Good, here's a boss"

[@robonerd125]

to be fair, it's a VERY slow moving boss, with like, four dfferent kinds of attack. no AoEs, no DoTs, no insta kill moves (i don't even think he can one shot if you're naked) he's a huge target, and has very low health, especially if you hit him with a plunge. Gods help him if you chose deprived, that club hits him like a freight train.

[@kendallonian9753]

@@robonerd125 wow. In dark souls the measure of a boss's difficulty is HOW effectively he can one-shot you? with four different forms of attack? that IS a hardcore game.

[@fy8798]

@@kendallonian9753 It's not a hardcore game, even I can get through it with only a few deaths. And he can't oneshot you.

[@cheesychipmunk8382]

@@kendallonian9753 as someone who's played every souls game to the end, I can tell you the difficulty is *massively* overblown. It's a game that expects you to learn and play smart, and if you do that you'll rarely even struggle

[@rorogogos]

@@cheesychipmunk8382 Yea, kinda like sekiro

[@Strawberry92fs]

but..the A button is jump in super Mario bros.

[@pierrestempin100]

yep, B is for run.

[@dogman15]

And fireballs.

[@danielyahalom3961]

no u

[@pmangano]

In the mario all stars version its b

[@TonyTheTGR]

He's new. It's been "B" since SNES, give or take the weird 64/GC controllers...

[@lonk2902]

That Grinch Leak joke was a masterpiece.

[@JohnDCrafton]

I pressed B and Phillip still killed Mario. Apparently B doesn't make Mario jump.

[@SharpDesign]

Curse you, Phillip the Goomba!

[@Lady_in_Yearning]

Yeah, the PC port of this episode is terrible. You're better off using the controller.

[@theaddictofgaming9174]

You need the SNES version.

[@spaceonisorceress4406]

I think he's using a modded version. Look at those textures; it's almost like they're hand-drawn...

[@danilooliveira6580]

there is no B in my controller, what now ?

[@ColoniaContraAtaca]

If the Red Dead Redemption 2 stop telling me what buttons I have to press to do anything, I think I cannot play it anymore... it's so complicated hehe Great video guys :D

[@Liliana_the_ghost_cat]

Hey Sr.Sr.Wilson what doing here?🙂

[@matheuszanfolin3282]

Excuse my necropost, but definitely glad to see you here, Wilson!

[@Liliana_the_ghost_cat]

@@matheuszanfolin3282 what's a necropost?

[@swampymender4400]

@@Liliana_the_ghost_cat This

[@NoNameAtAll2]

The problem I can see with this is with people that enjoy not using something Like "whole game without using granades" playstyle might get annoyed with pop ups "press granade button!!!"

[@binarycat1237]

This is what settings are for.

[@aqueous_xd]

Settings would probably not help, unless there was a long list of tutorial settings you could turn on or off. Which would be tedious

[@Late0NightPC]

One idea would be to make the inital "press X to do thing" happen in a safe location, where you can chuck a grenade at a wall and forget it even happened because it didnt effect anything. THough that does make the promps unable to appear again if they go that route, or for legit achivements that require never using a thing

[@zacm.2342]

Well you can make it so it only pops up the once or maybe twice to begin with. That's probably what they're meaning too, just show it once then leave it be.

[@Syogren]

Maybe they could see whether or not you're struggling without using grenades. Like if they can tell you're progressing with no problem, then there's no need to teach you how to use them, because clearly they're doing just fine without them. Meanwhile if you're not getting past this area where the game might prefer you use grenades but other options are available, the game might suggest using a grenade.

[@landon.packrat3281]

I love the tutorial from Armello. The game is a digital board game and does not have a traditional campaign or story-mode. So they created a mini-campaign called the Introduction. The introduction both acts as a tutorial while also being an entertaining story.

[@VermilionRen]

I always liked the first level of Kirby's Return to Dreamland style of having those cute signs that show the controls. I believe they kept that style in Star Allies too.

[@Chivi-chivik]

All main games since KRtDL (That is, Triple Deluxe, Planet Robobot and Star Allies) have those signs. In Star Allies they can be disabled if you want, btw.

[@VermilionRen]

@@Chivi-chivik Oh, awesome!

[@DonWippo1]

While this solution is ok and works great in 2D Games it always felt lazy and immersion breaking. There is no reason for this sign to exist in the game World after all. In 3D Games however you might overlook the sign and still get stuck, thus audio seemed like a good choice. But hearing dialouge like " Hit the jump button to jump" is the worst immersion wise.

[@MamaBedlamVO]

This actually gave me tons of ideas for designing my first game! I had no clue how to handle actually proper teching, and that adaptive tutorial idea is wonderful! Even using an in-software calendar sounds wonderful.

[@bigballsmcgee8681]

I always thought that the metal gear solid series did a good job of teaching the player to play the game. They have so many strategies and tricks that if the games had a “tutorial level” it would be too long and complicated. When they weave it into the exposition of the story it makes the player focus on both mechanics and story. My favourite moment is in msg3 when naked snake casually mentions that “eating glowing mushrooms might recharge your batteries” t para-medic, it works both as a throwaway joke AND works if you test it out... Also it’s pretty funny...

[@joshuamitchell9164]

I know it’s late but For Honor does an amazing job with their tutorial I think it labels the skill you will learn and you can choose to go back and learn more skills.

[@TheCreepypro]

great video a really important topic that needs attention I'll never forget how In the firts God of War I literally couldn't solve a puzzle at the end of the game because I forgot how to push crates long distance by holding the button cause they taught me that at the beginning of the game and in between there were no puzzles that required that

[@KaliTakumi]

I'm actually glad that Knack did this for their tutorial level. I never knew it gave you hints until I watched a friend play the game and not know what they were doing

[@borg286]

You forgot about monitoring to see where people get stuck, and how effective they are

[@Nintendotron64]

The most straightforward way I see a lot of games do it is literally just asking you if you need a tutorial.

[@Alexcmlindquist]

I know players who find it humiliating when they play poorly enough to trigger contextual tutorials. This exacerbates their frustration and makes them play worse, causing a downward spiral of negative experience. Careful with this suggestion, it's not as universal as this video makes it appear.

[@fernandobanda5734]

The recent Mario platformers had this problem. Die enough times and you got an invincibility powerup, or a video of Luigi beating the level, or even the level beating itself. Of course you could always choose, but the mere trigger of that was seen as shameful by some.

[@firstnamelastname7442]

That's a very good point. I'd definitely feel that way. Maybe the best way is just to be able to switch tutorial/help on or off by clicking the GUI. That way you never lose the access to it, it might glow as you start the game to bring your attention to it instantly, and you don't have to watch it all the time. I'm all for making things customizeable.

[@gavin7683]

or if they just don't like the grenades or they are underpowered or need to be conserved they will get annoyed when the game keeps telling them how to use grenades.

[@takatamiyagawa5688]

Sounds like they're not supposed to detect "poor play" though. They're supposed to detect when the player doesn't know something basic that they need to know, like how to jump, or push a block.

[@Alexcmlindquist]

How would you go about teaching a computer the difference between a player who didn't press the right button in time and a player who doesn't know what button to push? Answer: You can't.

[@oboretaiwritingch.2077]

But what about games that lock certain mechanics behind progress? Like certain actions or skills that can't be used until you either sufficiently leveled up or pass a certain stage in the plot? It would be required to at least have a tutorial popping up to say "you can do this now!", which still could annoy many players such as in the case of Persona games and Pokemon SM, but there just aren't any other alternatives. You can't just have those mechanics be usable from the very beginning because either it wouldn't make sense from the plot perspective(not having access to a certain person or item, not having learned that skill yet, etc), or it would render the early game challenges moot(allowing you to use end-game level skills to wipe the early enemies).

[@freezinater]

I think you're right. A simple message saying that you are now able to do X because you reached a story milestone or new level isn't as obnoxious as completely stopping the flow of a game to completely explain a mechanic. Maybe a little toaster notification like Minecraft Java Edition's for example could say "Hey, you've got this skill now." For those who may not know what I mean, essentially in Minecraft, whenever you complete an achievement/advancement, a notification pops up in the top-right corner informing you that you did it and it automatically goes away after a few seconds. During this time, you're still free to do whatever. Nothing stops you and the flow of the game continues as normal.

[@PedroMelloA]

Just put the character in a situation where the only way to leave is to use the new mechanic. Done.

[@mcdrums87]

You’re describing Super Metroid. Most items are locked behind “one-way” obstacles that become two-way with the item. The morph ball is the obvious one. Samus can jump over the top to drop into the room, but the exit* is a ball-sized hole. The Hi Jump boots are in a pit. The exit from the first Super Missile upgrade is a green door. Basically, the solution for items like this is to build the tutorial into an obstacle, so players immediately get a chance to use the new item. *btw, Samus doesn’t *need* the morph ball to get out. Advanced movement techniques can also work.

[@johncao6516]

@@PedroMelloA Ori did a great job of just that. There's explaining sure, but the only way to progress is to use the new mechanics so they're sure you know how it works before you go any further. Plus some old areas are accessible after certain skills which encourages the use of the newly acquired skills.

[@emdivine]

I can offer several approaches to this problem. Let's use an example: 40% through the game's story, you get the ability to double jump. Option 1: double jump is granted by an item, which has a description. Said description could be very overt, essentially being a tutorial that's been put into the player's inventory (or a special 'artifacts' screen), and can be referenced at any time. Or it could be vague and just hint at what to do, or just say "allows you to double jump". Option 2: make it so that double jump is required to get out of the room where you get it. If double jumping (or executing whatever your mechanic is) isn't some weird arcane ritual then the player, having already gotten decently far in your game, should be inclined enough to experiment and find out soon enough what they just got. Option 3: just tell them. Flash a text box somewhere conspicuous on screen saying "DOUBLE JUMP GET!" or somesuch. Without necessarily stopping the player to say it: the game can keep going behind said text box. It could be in the middle of the screen, in the corner, see-through or opaque. Option 4: unlock a previously hidden entry in the "how to play" or "tutorial" menu, which shows how to double jump. With or without telling the player, your choice. Perhaps stick a "NEW!" text on the button in their menu that leads to said tutorial section. Or prompt them to push a button if they want to see the help screen for this new thing, but leave it up to the player to push it only if they want to. Option 5: if your story can allow it, actually DO let your player have double jump (or, again, whatever your mechanic of choice is) at the beginning of the game. However, a story event makes them lose most of their super awesome abilities right after the intro level is done. Also, these options are not mutually exclusive. You can do several of these all at once. And of course, things like option 3 (text in your face) could be made context sensitive. If you combine it with option 2, players might never see that text box if they jump up to the door and get out of the room within a relatively short amount of time. I'm sure I've also missed several more solutions, but these are examples that can help you teach the player as they go, but later on in the game.

[@Pile_of_carbon]

Many episodes on game design have helped me become a better teacher. Designing fun and engaging courses with a reasonable learning curve has more or less _everything_ in common with designing a good game.

[@Africa4444]

That tutorial example was nailed in Little Nightmares for me. Can't make a jump, get killed by something, hey press this button to sprint, or this button to throw. Felt awesome to try solving a puzzle and then just realizing a particular key mechanic was missing felt really good.

[@gdesign95]

my favorite example of a non-intrusive tutorial is the majority of the first Portal game. it never feels like it is interrupting you and in many ways it doesn't even feel like a tutorial until after you pass the tutorial and enter the true test of your abilities. honestly the only negative I really give to Portal's tutorial is the fact that it is basically ~70% of the game's story.

[@hagamablabla]

Rimworld is an amazing example of how to do tutorials. It does the analysis to make sure a player doesn't already know a feature, then has a notification on the top right that provides more info. Simple, non-intrusive, and respects the player.

[@patsg1146]

I love your idea of a game checking to see how long you haven't played it! I remember in Rise of the Tomb Raider, when you get prompts showing you how to make basic actions (like walls of texts) right at the end of the game. I guess the designers took into account casual players who play the game back after a while, but when I am blasting through the game in a week or 2, it feels like babysitting! The game woud have felt much better in that regards if it checked first!

[@TheRealPunkachu]

I think what I like is to pop up a text box without pausing the game. That way the player can keep playing without having to slow down, but if they get stuck they'll naturally read it to see if it can help.

[@zacharyrhodge]

2:03 Love the way the older man is drawn in the old art style. Nice touch.

[@pablozky21]

"To the grinch" Best thing I've seen all week!

[@kendallonian9753]

Something as simple as a floating Z button in the lego games or a 'pick up (A)' in BotW when you're near an object you can interact with goes a LOOONG way for smoothing out the learning curve and helping you to remember how to do stuff.

[@benhbr]

Folks, I absolutely love your videos on game design! They are a gold mine for teachers. Why did nobody tell us about these deep principles in teacher training?

[@tbthegr81]

That last thing ya said, about when ya come back to a game rly makes sense. I started up The Witcher 3 for the first time in 15 months and there was a lot of basic stuff I had totally forgotten about...

[@Christiangamer22]

When Sakurai was holding up the Piranha Plant with a note that said "To: The Grinch" I died. That's pretty next level guys. Also RIP Isaac and Shadow.

[@cozy_is_punk]

Ronnie of DNSQ made a video covering how Super Metroid handles this idea a few years ago. He goes into great detail about how those devs teach the player key mechanics of the game without being obvious or overbearing about it. There aren't any text bubbles or clear signposting - instead, the level design is the teaching mechanism, much like Super Mario's World 1-1. I found it absolutely fascinating and your video reminded of it! I love discovering the ways developers have quietly taught me mechanics, even if I felt like I was so clever for figuring it out.

[@bigspider3795]

One of my favorite tutorials in all of gaming is the Escapists 2 tutorial. It tells the story of Robinson, and how he escaped Precinct 17, but also gives the player the vital information they must know and is repeatable. The Escapists one, while less engaging, is the same.

[@jesternario]

One of the best tutorials I ever saw was in Super Metroid. The first section of the game teaches you to move and shoot, how to aim, and what happens with low health, all without a single word prompt or wall of text. Later on, they use subtle and overt visuals to put things in your mind so that you can figure out where to go without being reminded. In fact, the only tutorials in the entire game that are actually spelled out are when you pick up a new weapon.

[@trupotato]

Ahhh, that power glove is so cool! I just can't find one for less than _[insert amount I can afford to pay here],_ which makes me sad, because I collect that sort of thing.

[@Dude_Abides]

Have you seen the power glove lamp?

[@trupotato]

Yeah. It's pretty neat.

[@maureen6239]

눈_눈 (your profile picture)

[@sanfransiscon]

I'm glad you mentioned tutorials being repeatable. Sometimes players accidentally do something without knowing or understanding it.

[@brianfong5711]

Kudos to that ending with the lesson on contextual tutorials. So meta!

[@Boltizar49]

“Mega Man! Mega Man! Be careful, those platforms fall when you-“ Shut up, I don’t need you!

[@manzana9072]

That was slightly obvious. I mean, anyone who thinks about " tutorials" long enough should come up with this. Reading the first three comments literally gave me more ideas for creative, usefull and on-demand tutorials than the whole video. Not counting the Extra Credits comment, of course. Although, to be fair, the video was only six minutes, but thats still five more minutes than one should need to explain such a simple concept. I was happy to see a new game design episode come up, to learn some obscure way to make better games. Some technique no one seems to know, but that for some well-explained reason, works. But I guess the well is running a little dry, lately.

[@dapperpenguinstudios809]

Heya! Just wanted to thank you for your content. Been following it for years and years, but this one video made me think more than the others. Thanks to it, been redesigning the tutorial system in our game. Fortunately, the game is out on Early Access, so I've had the opportunity to spend months studying the players. Now I have enough info in doing a real context sensitive tutorial, ditching the old one. So for that, thanks for giving the food for thought into improving our game. Take care and keep making awesome content! - Alex

[@Sylfa]

That reminds me of this player I ran into during early WoW days. They had accidentally hit the walk/run toggle right at the start of the game, and were still walking approaching level 20 or so. When told how to switch it they were ecstatic of how much faster they could move around... Another case, saw a youtuber play Little Nightmares and the context popup about what to do in the first room didn't popup (think it only popped up if you stood still in the dark or maybe it popped up but they missed it) and they spent a good 5 mins walking around the first room failing to progress. Funny thing was that they were complaining about too much hand holding in games just before that.

[@AlexKnauth]

I feel like this concept would be helpful for many things, not just games. Like Emacs for example. Something like "hey, I noticed you keep taking time using arrow keys to move one-character-at-a-time through a whole sentence, did you know that you can jump a sentence at-a-time using meta-A and meta-E?" A lot of computer-programming related things that come off-the-shelf (aren't designed directly for students), are designed in a way that assumes everyone using them is an expert and doesn't need a tutorial. Tutorials usually exist "somewhere", but you have to look for them online separately. As someone who might want to design programming languages someday, this seems really good to keep in mind.

[@unemilifleur]

A problem I often have with tutorials is that they think that once they told you something, you’ll remember it forever. I don’t play videos games that much and I can take a break of a game for months. Sometimes I get stuck because I forgot some command. Note: I posted that before I finished watching the video, but he talks about that, which is nice :D

[@SingeScorcher]

One of the reasons I like the Asylum in Dark Souls 1. Move around a little you get the usual prompt of "X Open Door" Move a little further and you get to read what's on the floor, and the rest of this tutorial is in the nuggets of info you get from optional to read but hard to miss orange glowing messages, both teaching you their worth, and how to basic Souls. It also gives you plenty of easy to predict (but nonetheless lethal enemies) and a tutorial boss that also has easy to spot patterns, helping you establish the combat. Most of the rest of the game is easy-ish to get the gist of thanks to simple button prompts or legends at the bottom of menus, and the game expecting you to play with what you just learned after each tutorial a little to get a feel for it. It's a great tutoiral imo. Although learning some of more nuanced but no less important stuff (damage scaling, equipment weight, pros/cons to weapon upgrades, etc.) is super vague and could probably use a little more explaining in game, maybe in a menu or a slightly less vague description from Andre. Though that might dip into the category of stepping on toes of some players.

[@aerowalker3]

The idea of having repeatable tutorials is so true! I just continued playing Okami after putting it down for about a month (playing through for the first time), and was stumped at the first level because I didn’t remember I could jump up walls. And that is one of the FEW mechanics that doesn’t seem to get a way to look back over how to do it, which was embarrassing when I looked up what I was doing wrong. Good stuff to keep in mind!

[@takatamiyagawa5688]

This probably goes against conventional wisdom, but I liked the tutorial videos from Dark Chronicle. They're pretty thorough, show off some harder combat tricks like projectile reflection, walk you through the menus for upgrading your weapons, cover how to play the minigames, and are voiced by the characters in-character. The background music is pretty catchy too. Couldn't find an English video uploaded with the music: kzbin.info/www/bejne/hHvaZpiKd9SCgJo

[@althelor]

This sounds like it can easily piss players off though. What about players who don't need this information, but are still triggering the prompts anyway? To use a couple of your examples, a person screws up the jump over the Goomba or a random pit because they just timed the jump wrong. They knew exactly what they needed to do, they just messed up the execution and are geared up to try again, but now the game is telling them what to do and it comes across as vaguely mocking, as if the game is judging them for screwing up that thing they already knew how to do. Or not using grenades. Personally, in any shooter I play, I pretty much never use grenades simply because I just don't want to. But after an hour or so of not using grenades, the game starts reminding me how to. I know how to use grenades, I just don't want to and I don't need the game reminding me what button uses grenades when I don't want or need them. Honestly it runs the risk of the devil may cry problem. Where easy mode is unlocked if you die too often, which the player inevitably interprets as the game judging them for their failure.

[@GrayGriffonKnight]

That ending was actually clever! Well done!

[@Luke_Danger]

Obviously a year late, but one tutorial set up I liked was the second and third Kim Possible GBA games. They used "Shadow Training" which basically meant that when Kim (or in the third game, Ron) ran into a context for a mechanic, they demonstrate how and the relevant controls in the real time with a shadow of the character that performed exactly the same way the player-controlled character does. However, both games also included separate training accessed by either a menu (second) or hub world (third), so you could give yourself a refresher by going through the basic commands and such as the tutorials expanded the more of the game you played. And these tutorials were very succinct with no one talking down the player, just showing them the relevant information and letting them have at it. The best part though was that they tracked whether you had done it or not - for example, if you already done the tutorial for Wall Jumping then the moment where Kim would ping that in a level won't show up when it's first necessary. By contrast, if you hadn't then the first time it's needed to progress (and the games are good about it being early in a level), then you have that there to teach you and then it's saved in the menu. Sadly, some of the later games like What's the Switch on PS2 ended up just repeating it every time you played a level, and a few of them get quite long. Though, it also depends heavily on the game design as well. RTS games tend to be better off with separate tutorials and maybe one or two missions that run you through the basics via mission objectives, ditto sandbox games. Platformers can get away with in-level tutorials, though there's always the issue of repetition when you replay the level as noted above.

[@royblekman8186]

I love the dark souls tutorial, it only tells you the basics and set you off on your journey.

[@fbussier80]

Exacly!

[@MelodiCat753]

I loved how Deltarune tells you how to run if you haven't pressed the run button in a while. I kept forgetting multiple times so those tutorials helped.

[@somebody5114]

There is a very neat game with a great intuitive "no instructions" tutorial called Fidel Dungeon Rescue. Just wanted to spread the love

[@BeerByTheNumbers]

Custom meme thumbnail. Must watch video!

[@themettking]

One of my favorite tutorials come from Wario Land 4’s Hall of Hieroglyphs. As it is the only level before the first boss, you have to play it when you start a clean file. In it, it teaches you the actions through painting on the wall, gives marks on the floor for how to time actions preformed with a jump, and almost all enemies can’t hurt you. It also forces you to pick up the four jewel fragments you need to access the boss, and places the key that opens the next level right in your path. This is then actually shown with cutscenes of the key opening the door forward, and the jewel fitting into a slot on the door,l and causing it to shine, showing it will open up when you go to it. Finally, it ends right next to where you started the level. At the start, you see a switch and the game has an arrow pointing to it. When you step on it, the entry portal opens again and a new glyph appears above it saying exit and a timer showing 1 minute begins, with some nearby blocks swapping between solid and clear. The timer is very generous and shows you how to complete the level. But the best part is how it is handled on the different difficulty levels. On normal, it works as I said. On hard, a couple of enemies are changed but the biggest differences that the timer that activated the exit is dropped to only 15 seconds. But on super hard mode, which requires you to complete the game on hard mode, not only are the enemies changed to their hardest types, but the exit switch is moved to just after a point of no return very early on, so now you have to rush the level on a tight time limit, show just how much the difficulty has stepped up. On top of all that, the path through doesn’t give the player enough money to reach the 10000 coins necessary to get a gold rank for the stage on any difficulty, so you actually have to look for secrets that aren’t immediately apparent. This turns the tutorial into a true level as well as just a place to learn the basics of the game.

[@TheKarishi]

Your image of Mario at 4:23 gave me a cool idea: In that situation you could even split the tutorial cue, with falling on the left side of the pit after contacting the ground next to the pit triggering the "You have to jump over pits," while falling on the RIGHT side of the pit after contacting the ground triggers "You can get extra jump distance by running" and if you DIDN'T contact the ground before falling in the pit the game doesn't offer a tutorial - You were already jumping, and just need to work on your timing, which isn't something it helps for the computer to tell you; Generally you already know.

[@7rhymes599]

Sonic Adventure 2 does it right in boss battles; During your first two tries at a boss, you're sent at it on your own, but at the third try, Omochao will come out and begin giving you tips and hints about what to do. Something I always liked.

[@Sam_Hetfield]

Context sensitive It's sensitive... to context. ----- Birdy the Scarecrow - Conker's Bad Fur Day ----- best tutorial ever

[@flamester41]

that replayability is the key thing, it's both what you would need if your coming back from a long break, and for those who are struggling to grasp the whole concept. with the systems heavy games, i'd love to see a 'guidebook' on the pause screen, where every piece of information is so you always have a place to look; especially for "wiki games" like stardew valley or minecraft.

[@skynes]

One of my absolute favourite things in games, RPGs especially, is a "Journal". The journal that keeps track of every spell, every item, every mechanic, and tracks the story as well. So if I go away from the game for months, and come back later? I can just read the journal to remind myself. This could also be pretty good for taking note of all tutorials, whether you encountered them via context or not.

[@areoants9453]

One idea I had for the game I'm trying to make, is that the character would have thought bubbles pop up providing hints as to what you do if you're having trouble with a specific part of a boss you may be facing. There's a bit of timing involved with attacking these guys, so having a hint or two as to when these windows are available could help players, maybe. Of course, still try to design the bosses so these windows of opening are still clear to begin with, and give the option to turn the hint thoughts off to anyone who doesn't want them (or turn it off anyway when it's clear the player knows what to do), but a little help here and there never hurt anyone.

[@thecrb1579]

ive been having a rough few mental health days, this helped to ground me

[@sebastienlabbe4647]

Something I love is in Deep Rock Galactic, the game has explanations for core FPS mechanics built into the menus.

[@PavarottiAardvark]

Shoutout to the tutorial in Mech 4 Mercenaries, which uses the in-character excuse of "I know this is a drag but I have to take you through it for your certification"

[@Organous]

I think Arkham City is a model example of this very concept. It starts you with something like what you wanted to play, but with the twist of Catwoman. This can be a rough beginning for someone brand new, but it can be engaging. After all, basic combat is necessary to master for the game. This is not a terribly difficult fight either, but for a rookie, it could cause some struggle. Following that, the tutorial is much more streamlined, still teaching you certain concepts explicitly. Once you become Batman, the training wheels can stay on or come off based on the player's actions. You have access to pretty much everything that is Batman, but it gradually shows you what those functions are. If you start to slip, it'll bring up some of those reminders. I confess there were times when I just started derping hard, and the game actually reminded me the button I'm supposed to use in order to counter attacks.

[@scienceisanart]

I think Mario Odyssey did something neat with the moveset tutorial. They didn't bash you over the head with anything but the most basic run/jump/camera actions, but you can always go into the pause menu and check out what you've forgotten or haven't figured out. There if you need it, out of the way and unobstrusive if you don't.

[@Himbo_JayK]

I’d love if a game asked what kinds of tutorials I wanted. Dark souls 1 pissed me off because all the scaling math was invisible to me. Some of us want the nitty gritty of what’s going on under the hood and how it affects play. So let’s make advanced play an optional tutorial instead of an hour of research on the web.

[@AnimatedCarl]

So much this. Games with deeper mechanics should have some kind of way IN GAME to explain that to you. Be it some NPC dialogue or just in a Help menu or something.

[@jonathanfaber3291]

This in the "you gotta run to get past the closing door" in brinstar, (on the way to Norfair) is one of the few things that super metroid needed to make it perfect. Because my goodness that took me ages to figure out when I first played it

[@TycoonTitian01]

I like the thumbnail art for this

[@gavin7683]

you need to deliver the minimum viable information in the smoothest format. a sign saying b = jump informs new players and is ignored by experienced ones. a popup that says "press the b button to make the character jump over obstacles and enemies" will not inform a new player any more and will frustrate experienced players and you won't need to punish the player with death once for their ignorance.

[@acethefiredragon8525]

Don’t worry, I’ll make a tutorial that deliberately talks down and patronizes the player. Game: “press w,a,s,d to move around.” Player: *Moves around.* Game: “Wow, what a true genius u are. Congrats on completing that *extremely* difficult task.”

[@eyozin]

I learned to dislike context sensitve tutorials. Let's take the new Red Dead Redemption 2 as example, which does it poorly in my opionion: Most of the tutorial texts pop up in small window on the upper left side of the screen. Often it is more than a sentence, so you have to take your time and read it because a lot of them only pop up once and that's it. Not only that, some of them pop up in action heavy scenes, where you are concentrated on the action happening instead of reading the small block of text coming from nowhere. I've seen my fair share of streamers and youtubers who were to distracted to read them and stumble through the first hours of the game until someone in the community pointed things out for them via chat or comments. On the other side, I can't read the info how to fill my dead eye meter any more. It pops up as soon as it happens and stays on screen until I fill it up again. It's the most annoying thing thing and worst of all: I start to ignore it all together and miss new information which pops up even after playing the game for over 50 hours now. For example I just found out I could smash windows on locked houses to get access. Sure, there was a tutorial for it but in context of a main mission. I had no idea I could've done it all the time. I was so frustrated with every house I couldn't enter and knew something was in there but no text informed me how to get in. And a lot of times, which is the main reason I dislike this system, the game misinterprets my intent and tries to help me with useless information which angres me even more because it distracts me from what I am trying to achieve just to give me info I already got a few dozen times... I hate it. Personally, I prefer a tutorial which gives me all the necessery informations up front. Maybe in a prolog where it shows bit by bit what I am able to do in every situation. After the tutorial I know what I want to do and how I do it. If, by any chance, I forget any of it, I am happy to find a section in the pause menu where I can read it again. But please... Trying to guess what every single player is thinking in a specific situation is an impossible task. So come up with something better. Please...

[@pierrestempin100]

the problem here is not with "context sensitve information" but about its application

[@eyozin]

@@pierrestempin100 Didn't I make that clear? My point was, you can't guess when each and every player needs which information. That's an impossible task and therefore the idea of making your tutorial context sensitiv is just one of the better ideas we came up with until now but by no means is it perfect. So selling it to new devs as the way to go without pointing out it's flaws is a bit ignorant and taking Super Mario Bros as an example in the video makes that clear. First he suggests Mario would have been a better game with context sensitive tutorial, then he points out how good the actual tutorial of Super Mario Bros works and context sensitve tutorials arn't needed after all. Which is it? I would love to be given the right information at the right time when it is convenient for me and I didn't know oder forget about it beforhand... How should the game know such things? Would you care giving me an example of such a tutorial where it always knows what info I personally need at any point in the game? Of course it's about application, which is imperfect and that's the reason why the whole system doesn't work and therefore I dislike it.

[@DonWippo1]

In general I suppose having a nice in game tutorial up front that does not feel like one and uses context sensitive tutorial messages for those who need it is the best solution. No one likes getting useless information late in the game.

[@blondy2061h]

I honestly probably stopped playing RDR2 because the text was too small for me to read and I had no idea what I was doing. Just not fun.

[@SaFeXxRandomxX]

Seriously? You can crush windows on locked houses?? I finished the game and never knew

[@CouchFerretmakesGames]

Super Mario Brothers' tutorial is a masterpiece!

[@laczodani]

except the part where you have to use long jump in the lava castle without any indication.

[@wave797]

i propose we name the gamer with the power glove Keanu and would like to acknowledge his totally radness

[@jorostuff]

That ending is brilliant

[@nahnah390]

The only real issue I could see with this is when the action is somewhat tricky to pull off even if you know what to do. Like if it requires perfect timing. That's usually a good idea to put like, an indicator on the ground to give you an idea of when to jump. I remember that one jump in cave story that had the indicator added to it after a few patches. At least I think it was patched in...

[@delta3244]

Remember, games read button presses. It would not be hard to notice a player failing vs. a player not knowing what to do in most cases.

[@elrafa111]

Hey listen!

[@olivermisbach2454]

Another method of implementing tutorials that I enjoy are ones that just let the player experiment freely and without significant consequence. For example: The Great Plateau from The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild. I love this tutorial because it's disguised as regular gameplay. The moment the player steps out of the cave, they are treated to a brief cutscene of the landscape implying the world is for them to explore and experiment with, then points them to the optional story tidbit. The player is then able to do almost everything the game offers, just on a smaller scale. Nothing is told to the player until the opportunity comes up, then the game uses context sensitive pop-ups (woo). Perhaps the best thing about the Great Plateau is how it harmonizes with the core philosophy of the game. Since the game is about free exploration and discovery, the tutorial is just a relatively small-scale area designed to let the player discover the game's mechanics without fear.

[@genybr]

According to GTA3-SA: it's good to make SHORT exam hidden from the newbie, but that can be passed fast by expirienced one. Say, group of bottles to be shot and car to be exploded in one shot. If you know what to do - than you'll made it ASAP by yourself, if not - you'll go around with tutorial and only then you'll pass this exam. Next time you'll know what to do.

[@tyjkenn]

I like that I'm seeing more games are using the reload screen after death to offer alternate strategies. It's like the game is criticizing me, saying things like "Maybe you shouldn't detonate a bomb that is sitting at your feet." We all need someone who can point out how we are being idiots.

[@MiloKuroshiro]

If I got a pop-up telling me to jump after I failed, I would feel WAY more mocked and looked upon.

[@CanadianFabe]

I agree that Re playable tutorials are a great idea. After returning to Warframe after not playing it for almost a year I was glad I was able to access the tutorial from my dropship since I forgotten all of the advanced movement.

[@christhestampeder]

Press B to jump? B? Jesus , guys.

[@funa8843]

the illustrations in this are amazing lol

[@mikked01]

4:27 It's like shouting "DODGE!" After you already got hit. Hilarious, but perhaps a bit late.

[@timmyh3794]

*Game Freak furiously taking notes*

[@wanderingrandomer]

I remember playing Darksiders 2 on the WiiU and I thought the game had glitched and shut the console off because I couldn't throw the bomb I was holding. Turns out you had to press in the analogue stick, but I had never played on a console where that was a thing before!

[@nathanbrown8680]

Remember when games could ship with manuals and people would check them if they were confused? For most games everything that a context sensitive tutorial can do a single page small enough to fit unfolded inside a DVD case can do. Sometimes you may need a page for each screen if your GUI design is more focused on aesthetics than usability. If the shallow stuff is on a reference card all you need for the deep stuff is a little consistently placed button with a question mark.

[@ericlueck5838]

Copy Kitty excels at this. The actual tutorial is very short and to the point, but the game has several levels in the first two worlds that are built around teaching mechanics and throughout the game, there's messages that will pop up if a specific mechanic isn't clicking with the player. One of the best examples is when you gain a powerup that lets you do a huge jump. The heavier weight will crush the weakk platform below you, and the message will explain how to hold down jump to go higher. Or one level with an invincible enemy that chases you until you reach the detonation switch. If you attack it, a prompt flatly says, "You can't fight, just run!"

[@sirmoony5633]

Fallout 1, 2 and New Vegas are great examples of games that show the players how to play the game without insulting their intelligence. For example, if a player goes into an area where enemies are way too strong for them due to their low level, that causes the player to know that right away and they get encouraged to get stronger just to eventually get through that path without any issues later down the road. This is excellent game design because not only they didn't use any level-scaling at all, they also allow the player to immediately learn how dangerous all of the worlds could be.

[@jsc6x751]

I remember dabbling with this in one of my first class level projects. Made a pit that required jumping and double jumping that waited to give a prompt. On the one hand, this can't on it's own solve all of the traditional neophyte problems (how to hold the controller or position on the keyboard), but on the other, being creative with this context gives an opportunity to reinforce the world, rather than pulling the player out of it. The Deltarune demo does something really cool with this in regards to the run button, having characters react to the player being slow, and some informing the player of the key to use for running. Granted, making this part of specific moments like that does mean either risking the player's forgetfulness, or adding in a lot of writing to repeatedly reinforce this later.

[@mxcascade]

One of my favourite things in tutorials is just putting it on a wall/floor or on an optional sign

[@Ouvii]

The problem is when these context sensitive clues are triggered when the problem isn't information, but dexterity (another problem with those new to games) Then they still feel condescending. "Oh, I know you aren't THAT bad, you just have the memory retention of a goldfish!"

[@Seadalgo]

When I first played the original Diablo by Condor/BNorth twenty-something years ago, I had no previous experience with what the words 'Level Up' meant. I thought it referred to difficulty level so when I reached level 2 I was afraid to allocate skill points using the level up button until I was a little more sure of my skills. When I found steps down that also increased the difficulty I was even more trepidatious about hitting the level up button. I was on level 6 with no allocated skill points and in dungeon level 4 before I went back to town and started playing with the character pages and saw unused stat points

[@LordCarledo]

This is why I play tutorials when I pick up even games I love again. I've very often forgotten some minor mechanic like how to block. It's usually how to block...

[@Gahanun]

Gotta love that Mattel Power Glove.

[@erylaria398]

reeeeeally feeling the "coming back to a complex game after 6 months" - i've started over on so many games because i just couldn't remember how to DO stuff anymore. also a plot synopsis would be great for this, especially when it comes to large (j)rpgs.

[@CYTBlitz]

1:32 Hey! This EC character is back! I was wondering where he’s been.

[@offandsphere6788]

Which one? The old person, or the master gamer?

[@Elodeme]

One very interesting way to show mechanics without a tutorial was with the cinematic for left 4 dead. If you watch the video (which play before you even started to play), you'll learn almost everything about the game : -Sound attract zombie -Witch is very dangerous if disturb (with light) -Smoker grab you from a far -Hunter jump on you -You need someone if attacked by a special infected -Stay together -Pipe bomb attract zombie to it before it blast -You need to run from tank and they can throw car at you -Some car alarm can attract zombie (those car have a flashing red light) -This is a cooperative game -You can found safe spot to rest The only thing missing was the boomer, but you need one time to understand them. Or you can do as Conquer Bad Fur Day and have a drunken scarecrow talking to you about the wonder of "context sensitive'"