{"author_link":"\/users\/martenscedric","author_name":"MartensCedric","author_uid":"martenscedric","comments":[],"epoch":1499877942,"event":"LD38","format":"md","ldjam_node_id":28835,"likes":14,"metadata":{"p_key":"91778","p_author":"MartensCedric","p_authorkey":"1005780","p_urlkey":"304696","p_title":"Designing a game that teaches the player how to play without a tutorial ","p_cat":"LDJam ","p_event":"LD38","p_time":"1499877942","p_likes":"14","p_comments":"0","p_status":"WAYBACK","us_key":"1005780","us_name":"MartensCedric","us_username":"martenscedric","event_start":"1492732800","event_key":"69","event_name":"LD 38"},"node":{"_collation":{"body_sanitizer":"TextUtils::SanitizeHTML via existing importer","event":"LD38","removed_author":false},"_superparent":9405,"_trust":1,"author":5780,"body":"I got quite a lot of :heart: yesterday [on my post for showing the differences](https:\/\/ldjam.com\/events\/ludum-dare\/39\/$32868\/hexcity-now-known-as-hexpert-is-now-on-google-play) between my LD38 compo entry [HexCity](https:\/\/ldjam.com\/events\/ludum-dare\/38\/hexcity) and my Android game [Hexpert](https:\/\/play.google.com\/store\/apps\/details?id=com.cedricmartens.hexpert). \n\nToday I decided I'll get a bit more technical (not too much :wink:) with the design decisions and the problems I've encountered while making my first game for Android.\n\nIf you've played *HexCity*, you know the game is hard to understand and the game itself is very hard to play. It's a puzzle that really makes you think a lot of moves in advance and it's very hard on new players. \n\nI already knew I was going to implement multiple levels, so it was very important that my first three levels were designed in a perfect way. The player had to get a grasp of the core mechanics without the need of an external video or a wall of text **(Please never do this to your game)**.\n\nIn *HexCity*, my compo entry, the learning was done like this :\n![hexcity_tut.gif](\/\/\/raw\/496\/1\/z\/4a1d.gif)\n\n### Not only the fact that you can't hover on Android, it is not good design.\n\n*Hexpert* uses a lot of small things, that together, teaches the player how to play!\nMy game actually has a textual tutorial, **but even if the player skips it, he will still be taught on how to play**\n\nLet's take a look on how I did that!\n\nWhen you go in the first level you will get this screen (without the red highlight :sweat_smile:)\n\n![Screenshot_20170712-113157.png](\/\/\/raw\/496\/1\/z\/4a1f.png)\n\nThis is my *textual tutorial*, it doesn't matter if the player reads it or not, but it will help if he does.\n\nThe fact that the house is cut in half (shown by the red highlight) shows that the player can scroll down and read the rest that didn't fit in.\n\n![Screenshot_20170712-113221.png](\/\/\/raw\/496\/1\/z\/4a20.png)\n\nBut let's assume the player just doesn't care and pressed *OK* without reading.\n\n![Screenshot_20170712-113236.png](\/\/\/raw\/496\/1\/z\/4a21.png)\n\nThe player will see the content of the screenshot above. If you played *HexCity*, you will notice that there's **no score**, there's only the standard **grass tile** and the only available buildings are the **farm, house, mine, wind turbine and factory**. The first level removed useless complexities that will be introduced later.\n\nThe player will see the objective next to a shiny gold medal *Build 1 factory*. Now it is very likely that the player tries to place a factory (if he did not read the tutorial) By doing so he will click on the factory. \n\n![Screenshot_20170712-113243.png](\/\/\/raw\/496\/1\/z\/4a22.png)\n\nOn the top of the screen the building requirements are written, he will see that he does not have the required buildings. If he actually tries to place it, an \"X\" will briefly appear with a sound that gives feedback that it's an invalid move.\n\nThe player will see the *formula* : Factory = House + Wind + Mine. It will be very likely that the player tries to build the house first, since it is first in the equation.\n\n![Screenshot_20170712-113248.png](\/\/\/raw\/496\/1\/z\/4a23.png)\n\nThe house only needs a farm. The only tile you can place it is highlighted. This is not only to show the valid move, but it also teaches the player that **the tile must be adjacent**. A few players were confused in HexCity, because they didn't understand the fact that the buildings needed requirements that needed to be *next to each other* instead of *being placed on the map somewhere*.\n\nOnce the building is placed, the player will most likely try to place the two missing buildings : The mine and the wind turbine, which both only require a house.\n\n![Screenshot_20170712-113257.png](\/\/\/raw\/496\/1\/z\/4a24.png)\n\n![Screenshot_20170712-113305.png](\/\/\/raw\/496\/1\/z\/4a25.png)\n\nNow he places his factory and has completed the first level of *Hexpert*!\n\n### But what if he misplaces a building?\n\n*Hexpert* introduced a **remove option**, by clicking on the bulldozer, you can remove the buildings not used to construct others.\n\n![Screenshot_20170712-120606.png](\/\/\/raw\/496\/1\/z\/4a26.png)\n\nYou can't remove the house, because the two mines and the wind turbine need it! You can't remove the farm either, since it's part of the level!\n\nThat was the first level!\n\n### [You can play Hexpert on the Google Play Store by clicking this](https:\/\/play.google.com\/store\/apps\/details?id=com.cedricmartens.hexpert)\n\nTime to get into the next two levels. Note that the first level used a **fork formation**. You had a farm and house being the long part of the fork and you had the mine and wind turbine being the pointy parts that allowed the factory. In the next two level, we will reuse this fork formation that the player is already familiar with.\n\n![Screenshot_20170712-122217.png](\/\/\/raw\/496\/1\/z\/4a28.png)\n\nWhen entering level two we are prompted with the **new building** : A market!\n\nNow let's get an actual look at the level : \n\n![Screenshot_20170712-122227.png](\/\/\/raw\/496\/1\/z\/4a29.png)\n\nDoesn't the level look familiar? It is basically the fork formation turned 45 degrees left with a bit added! :smile:\n\n![Screenshot_20170712-122240.png](\/\/\/raw\/496\/1\/z\/4a2a.png)\n\nThe player, already familiar with the *fork formation* is very likely to start like this screenshot above.\nNote that the fork formation is **absolutely not** the only way to make a factory, but it's definitely a decent way of playing that will help the player later on. In *HexCity*, some players really struggled to make factories, some had 3 houses to build it! **By the way the [subreddit \/r\/Hexpert](https:\/\/www.reddit.com\/r\/Hexpert\/) is available to post Hexpert related strategies**. The subreddit has no activity, because this is the first place I post it :smile:.\n\nLet's finish level 2 now :\n\n![Screenshot_20170712-122301.png](\/\/\/raw\/496\/1\/z\/4a2d.png)\n\nOnce the factory is placed, the only tile left finishes the level with the placement of the market. The player also realizes that **he can use the same wind turbine for the factory and the market**. Another strategy that the player is taught here.\n\n\nLevel 3 is quite similar to level 2 :\n\n![Screenshot_20170712-122331.png](\/\/\/raw\/496\/1\/z\/4a30.png)\n\nThe bank is introduced to the player, the first building with four requirements!\n\n![Screenshot_20170712-122345.png](\/\/\/raw\/496\/1\/z\/4a32.png)\n\nWe have again the **fork formation** preceding a market. The player already understand that you can use the same wind turbine for multiple buildings. Once again, the level is not really hard, you can place the bank at the last tile and finish it!\n\n![Screenshot_20170712-122356.png](\/\/\/raw\/496\/1\/z\/4a33.png)\n\n**The first three levels are done and the player knows how to place buildings even if he did not read the tutorial!**\n\n### I have a lot of other things I can talk about, if you enjoyed the efforts put into this make sure to :heart: the post.","comments":0,"created":"2017-04-28T01:22:18Z","files":[],"files-timestamp":0,"id":28835,"love":14,"love-timestamp":"2017-07-16T13:04:48Z","meta":[],"modified":"2017-07-16T13:04:48Z","name":"Designing a game that teaches the player how to play without a tutorial ","node-timestamp":"2017-07-12T16:51:37Z","parent":18375,"parents":[1,5,9,9405,18375],"path":"\/events\/ludum-dare\/38\/hexcity\/designing-a-game-that-teaches-the-player-how-to-play-without-a-tutorial","published":"2017-07-12T16:45:42Z","scope":"public","slug":"designing-a-game-that-teaches-the-player-how-to-play-without-a-tutorial","subsubtype":"","subtype":"","type":"post","version":88082},"node_metadata":{"n_key":"28835","n_urlkey":"304696","n_parent":"18375","n_path":"\/events\/ludum-dare\/38\/hexcity\/designing-a-game-that-teaches-the-player-how-to-play-without-a-tutorial","n_slug":"designing-a-game-that-teaches-th","n_type":"post","n_subtype":"","n_subsubtype":"","n_author":"5780","n_created":"1493342538","n_modified":"1500210288","n_version":"88082","n_status":"WAYBACK"},"source_url":"https:\/\/ldjam.com\/events\/ludum-dare\/38\/hexcity\/designing-a-game-that-teaches-the-player-how-to-play-without-a-tutorial","text":"I got quite a lot of :heart: yesterday [on my post for showing the differences](https:\/\/ldjam.com\/events\/ludum-dare\/39\/$32868\/hexcity-now-known-as-hexpert-is-now-on-google-play) between my LD38 compo entry [HexCity](https:\/\/ldjam.com\/events\/ludum-dare\/38\/hexcity) and my Android game [Hexpert](https:\/\/play.google.com\/store\/apps\/details?id=com.cedricmartens.hexpert). \n\nToday I decided I'll get a bit more technical (not too much :wink:) with the design decisions and the problems I've encountered while making my first game for Android.\n\nIf you've played *HexCity*, you know the game is hard to understand and the game itself is very hard to play. It's a puzzle that really makes you think a lot of moves in advance and it's very hard on new players. \n\nI already knew I was going to implement multiple levels, so it was very important that my first three levels were designed in a perfect way. The player had to get a grasp of the core mechanics without the need of an external video or a wall of text **(Please never do this to your game)**.\n\nIn *HexCity*, my compo entry, the learning was done like this :\n![hexcity_tut.gif](\/\/\/raw\/496\/1\/z\/4a1d.gif)\n\n### Not only the fact that you can't hover on Android, it is not good design.\n\n*Hexpert* uses a lot of small things, that together, teaches the player how to play!\nMy game actually has a textual tutorial, **but even if the player skips it, he will still be taught on how to play**\n\nLet's take a look on how I did that!\n\nWhen you go in the first level you will get this screen (without the red highlight :sweat_smile:)\n\n![Screenshot_20170712-113157.png](\/\/\/raw\/496\/1\/z\/4a1f.png)\n\nThis is my *textual tutorial*, it doesn't matter if the player reads it or not, but it will help if he does.\n\nThe fact that the house is cut in half (shown by the red highlight) shows that the player can scroll down and read the rest that didn't fit in.\n\n![Screenshot_20170712-113221.png](\/\/\/raw\/496\/1\/z\/4a20.png)\n\nBut let's assume the player just doesn't care and pressed *OK* without reading.\n\n![Screenshot_20170712-113236.png](\/\/\/raw\/496\/1\/z\/4a21.png)\n\nThe player will see the content of the screenshot above. If you played *HexCity*, you will notice that there's **no score**, there's only the standard **grass tile** and the only available buildings are the **farm, house, mine, wind turbine and factory**. The first level removed useless complexities that will be introduced later.\n\nThe player will see the objective next to a shiny gold medal *Build 1 factory*. Now it is very likely that the player tries to place a factory (if he did not read the tutorial) By doing so he will click on the factory. \n\n![Screenshot_20170712-113243.png](\/\/\/raw\/496\/1\/z\/4a22.png)\n\nOn the top of the screen the building requirements are written, he will see that he does not have the required buildings. If he actually tries to place it, an \"X\" will briefly appear with a sound that gives feedback that it's an invalid move.\n\nThe player will see the *formula* : Factory = House + Wind + Mine. It will be very likely that the player tries to build the house first, since it is first in the equation.\n\n![Screenshot_20170712-113248.png](\/\/\/raw\/496\/1\/z\/4a23.png)\n\nThe house only needs a farm. The only tile you can place it is highlighted. This is not only to show the valid move, but it also teaches the player that **the tile must be adjacent**. A few players were confused in HexCity, because they didn't understand the fact that the buildings needed requirements that needed to be *next to each other* instead of *being placed on the map somewhere*.\n\nOnce the building is placed, the player will most likely try to place the two missing buildings : The mine and the wind turbine, which both only require a house.\n\n![Screenshot_20170712-113257.png](\/\/\/raw\/496\/1\/z\/4a24.png)\n\n![Screenshot_20170712-113305.png](\/\/\/raw\/496\/1\/z\/4a25.png)\n\nNow he places his factory and has completed the first level of *Hexpert*!\n\n### But what if he misplaces a building?\n\n*Hexpert* introduced a **remove option**, by clicking on the bulldozer, you can remove the buildings not used to construct others.\n\n![Screenshot_20170712-120606.png](\/\/\/raw\/496\/1\/z\/4a26.png)\n\nYou can't remove the house, because the two mines and the wind turbine need it! You can't remove the farm either, since it's part of the level!\n\nThat was the first level!\n\n### [You can play Hexpert on the Google Play Store by clicking this](https:\/\/play.google.com\/store\/apps\/details?id=com.cedricmartens.hexpert)\n\nTime to get into the next two levels. Note that the first level used a **fork formation**. You had a farm and house being the long part of the fork and you had the mine and wind turbine being the pointy parts that allowed the factory. In the next two level, we will reuse this fork formation that the player is already familiar with.\n\n![Screenshot_20170712-122217.png](\/\/\/raw\/496\/1\/z\/4a28.png)\n\nWhen entering level two we are prompted with the **new building** : A market!\n\nNow let's get an actual look at the level : \n\n![Screenshot_20170712-122227.png](\/\/\/raw\/496\/1\/z\/4a29.png)\n\nDoesn't the level look familiar? It is basically the fork formation turned 45 degrees left with a bit added! :smile:\n\n![Screenshot_20170712-122240.png](\/\/\/raw\/496\/1\/z\/4a2a.png)\n\nThe player, already familiar with the *fork formation* is very likely to start like this screenshot above.\nNote that the fork formation is **absolutely not** the only way to make a factory, but it's definitely a decent way of playing that will help the player later on. In *HexCity*, some players really struggled to make factories, some had 3 houses to build it! **By the way the [subreddit \/r\/Hexpert](https:\/\/www.reddit.com\/r\/Hexpert\/) is available to post Hexpert related strategies**. The subreddit has no activity, because this is the first place I post it :smile:.\n\nLet's finish level 2 now :\n\n![Screenshot_20170712-122301.png](\/\/\/raw\/496\/1\/z\/4a2d.png)\n\nOnce the factory is placed, the only tile left finishes the level with the placement of the market. The player also realizes that **he can use the same wind turbine for the factory and the market**. Another strategy that the player is taught here.\n\n\nLevel 3 is quite similar to level 2 :\n\n![Screenshot_20170712-122331.png](\/\/\/raw\/496\/1\/z\/4a30.png)\n\nThe bank is introduced to the player, the first building with four requirements!\n\n![Screenshot_20170712-122345.png](\/\/\/raw\/496\/1\/z\/4a32.png)\n\nWe have again the **fork formation** preceding a market. The player already understand that you can use the same wind turbine for multiple buildings. Once again, the level is not really hard, you can place the bank at the last tile and finish it!\n\n![Screenshot_20170712-122356.png](\/\/\/raw\/496\/1\/z\/4a33.png)\n\n**The first three levels are done and the player knows how to place buildings even if he did not read the tutorial!**\n\n### I have a lot of other things I can talk about, if you enjoyed the efforts put into this make sure to :heart: the post.","title":"Designing a game that teaches the player how to play without a tutorial ","wayback_source":[]}