The Xcom Tutorial

edited in General
<rant>
Has anyone played the tutorial missions in XCom? They're the most bafflingly appalling tutorials I've come across in years.

They seem so at odds with what I expected out of the game. They allow for zero player freedom (so no trial and error learning, no feeling of mastering the system or exploration), they advance the story in ways the player has zero control over (so so much for agency) that actually leave the player in a bad position (effectively the player is forced to make bad decisions). And on top of this the feedback for the mouse interface (that I've seen so far) is bizarrely lacking (so if you don't click on exactly what the designer wants you to you get no feedback on why that wasn't a valid click or even what the one click you were meant to make is).

These tutorials are worse possibly than even the Mirror's Edge tutorials.
</rant>

On top of all this: This is an Xcom game. The vast majority of players are going to be defeated and restart anyway. So no matter how long their tutorials are most players will STILL be unprepared for the game... and that's a good thing, defeating this difficulty and exploring this complexity makes winning at XCom that much more meaningful.

Lengthy prescriptive tutorials cannot be the solution here. However better feedback and intuitive controls and good early level design WOULD be a solution. I am really disappointed in the design skills of this team and am no very wary of playing the rest of this game.

Comments

  • edited
    So that this isn't a complete rant here are some tips that I feel every tutorial should take very seriously:
    http://gamasutra.com/view/news/165359/GDC_2012_10_tutorial_tips_from_Plants_vs_Zombies_creator_George_Fan.php#.UL4jnobxaUl

    and also this: (although arguably this advice cannot be as easily imposed up XCom as what can be learned from Plants VS Zombies).
    Thanked by 1Tuism
  • I must admit I hated that I lost nearly all my squad especially as an old old fan where that mission result would be unforgivable and there's no way around it. I left relief on my second run without the tutorial and I could just play as normal.

    What was annoying for me as a game designer was them showing they could do scripted events and actions in the tutorial mission and it never comes up again until the last mission and then only to open the next door and spawn enemies. And that felt cheap! Just a gauntlet :( . It was a wasted utility.
  • Tutorials are some of the hardest parts of game design... What would you guys do differently in the XCom case?

    (Note, I haven't played the new game yet)
  • edited
    Yeah, the game kinda bends you over its knee, gives you a couple of nasty smacks then send you on your way. The game designer did mention that it was super unforgiving, so maybe they are just setting you up for it?
    old xcom had no tutorial, but at least you had freedom I suppose.
    Once you do that tutorial, just start the game again, advanced options, disable tutorial. its pretty self explanatory anyway.

    Just FYI, DLC came out today and killed all the save games of like everybody. Have to start again :P
  • Now, I hate "MEGAMAN! MEGAMAN!" as much as the next (mega) man, but I'd argue it's really not suited for something like XCOM that has more abstract gameplay layers. In a platformer, it's easy to convey cause and effect visually because what you see in the world is what you get. In a strategy game like XCOM there are entire layers of mechanics going on behind the scenes that the player may not be aware of, and that cannot be conveyed without explicit instruction.

    I'll be the first to agree that the XCOM tut is definitely excessively on-rails and handholdy, but it conveys the core mechanics of play very well as a result. You follow the instruction, see the mechanic they're explaining take effect as a result of the input, and then remember it for later as they give you more and more control. By the end of the two-mission sequence, you know what you're doing in terms of core interactions, and the game opens up to fully expose its delicious, gooey random emergent centre. Player core mechanical/interface instruction: great success. From there it's all down to player experimentation to gain mastery of the game.
  • edited
    I'll be the first to agree that the XCOM tut is definitely excessively on-rails and handholdy, but it conveys the core mechanics of play very well as a result.
    No. It conveys it's mechanics poorly and only by accident of the player paying attention.
    In a strategy game like XCOM there are entire layers of mechanics going on behind the scenes that the player may not be aware of, and that cannot be conveyed without explicit instruction.
    Most of the tutorial stuff in the XCom tutorial is actually just explaining the interface. This isn't complicated multi-layered gameplay... this is just teaching players to select marines and click on enemies and crouch by cover etc.

    Again: look at Plants VS Zombies. It's a strategy game and it manages to teach the player without ever holding their hand. Suggesting that what is done in Megaman won't work in XCom because XCom is more complicated is a straw man argument.

    Another hideously hand-holdy tutorial, by a supposedly competent designer: http://www.leapdaygame.com/ (I think I'd enjoy this game as well, but I cannot make it through the tutorial)

    Recently I tried FTL. While their tutorial isn't great, it isn't completely invasive either. It tells you what to do but allows you to experiment while not doing it, so when you do do the thing they ask you to it's because you're curious, rather than having no other options.
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