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Tutorial levels – Part 2

This post is part of our devblog and consists of multiple posts. See part 1 and part 3.
 

With the results of our first playtest it was obvious we had to change our tutorials a lot. Our new ideas were:

  • The tutorial should start with an introduction of the basic controls
  • “Learning by doing” not “read first then try”
  • Focus on single actions
  • Players can choose whether the message boxes are displayed
  • Message boxes should be better placed

Which we tried to implement in Prototype 2:

Level design:

  • 2 Levels to explain the basic functions (walk, jump, shift, lift and throw)
  • 3 Levels to introduce the ways of interacting with objects and the various mechanisms of the game

Message boxes:

  • Each message box shows a video clip of a single action and displays the keys the players have to press to trigger this action: for Player 1 on the left side of the box and Player 2 on the right
  • Message box is displayed as long as a designated mark (“?”) is touched
  • Message box is centered at the top of the screen

Message Box in prototype 2 of the game

Wall drawings:

  • Unique sketches of the objects
  • Size of the sketches is identical to the size of the objects they represent
  • Sketches show the exact solution to the puzzles

Wall drawing in prototype 1 of the game

Play test results:

  • Players do not realise that touching the mark on the ground triggers the display of the message box. They often think that it happens randomly
  • Markings are not always recognised as such
  • The players do not comprehend the video clips
  • Players do not understand which of the displayed keys belong to them
  • Wall drawings are still not recognized
  • The developers rarely help
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