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
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
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
