[color=#C2B280]We’ve included a short tutorial in today’s release. We’d love to know what you think of it. Some stuff is all but set in stone – it’s definitely going to be a set of contextual tips rather than a starting quest, for instance – but we’re very much up for more specific changes.
Here are some things we’re particularly interested in:
Is there anything you found confusing or hard to figure out that the tutorial doesn’t cover?[/li][li]Are any parts of the tutorial unclear or unhelpful?[/li][li]Does the tutorial interface behave the way you expected it to? Should anything work differently?[/li][li]Did the tips appear at appropriate times? Or did you e.g. receive a tip about finding a port while in an empty expanse of ocean?
I only played for a little while on a new captain, but it looks really good! The timing of the tips is nicely anticipatory - auto-pausing the game only for combat highlights that bit of info, and other tips only appeared when I collided into something, or approached hunter’s keep, or when SAY changed and so on. (but whoa the map - for visibility?)
I just gave the game a quick try-out this morning before going off to class and I must say that there are some marked improvements. For starters the interface feels much smoother, and the tutorial is a very good addition to the game and not at all intrusive. If I might add my input, however, I did not readily see any tutorial on Terror pop-up after leaving port for Venderblight. Perhaps some advice towards that end could trigger after acquiring your first blip on the terror meter? Or perhaps it is already in place for the first full point of terror?
The tip about the ports, "the circle of lights", popped up at the right time when I first came near Venderblight. I am also quite fond of the new art for Mr. Carrow at his naval surplus shop in London, very nice indeed.
Terror’s covered when you turn the lights on/off and in the Advice for Captains, and I know hunger has the storylet when it goes over fifty, but something specifically explaining that bad things start happening when it reaches fifty and over and that it’s 5 hull points/supply when you click on the meter might be nice. [li]
[quote=fortluna]that it’s 5 hull points/supply when you click on the meter[/quote][color=#C2B280]Good point. We think the problem here is not so much that this information isn’t in the tutorial as that it’s very difficult to find anywhere. So we’re going to make some interface adjustments to help with that.
Maybe…also mention you can stop repairs when you need to…my hand to the lord I did not realize that until today, as I’m an complete idiot. (it’s so useful. cries)[li]
Were there other pop ups that only opened at more advanced conditions? I disabled it, but I’ll reset it if there were things I hadn’t seen. And I was wondering if you would ever collapse all those tips on the loading screen into a single list somewhere, as they’re quite useful. Unless it was to not overwhelm new people?
I may have to start a brand-new game at launch just to see the tutorial. But let me ask: is there ANY way to have multiple saves if you play on Unforgiving Mode? My current character still has his badge of honour for it, but I can’t start any new games unless I loose the old one!
[li]
I haven’t tried the tutorial yet, but hopefully it covers the interface for going to full power.
When I first tried this (back in the Era of Ever-Exploding Engines) it wasn’t clear to me whether it was a toggle or a single-click boost for a fixed duration. After my engine exploded the first time I concluded (erroneously) that it must be a toggle, and would try to click again to turn it off if explosions started. Needless to say this didn’t go well and I lost several promising captains to my experiments before attaching a big metaphorical DO NOT PRESS THIS BUTTON sign to the feature, and I’ve only recently been brave enough to try again.
Now that explosions are less common this is not such a big issue, but it’s still tricky as (a) the UI does not give an obvious answer and (b) some of the other hotkeyed buttons in the menu bar ARE toggles (lights, repairs).
I also had the same trouble re: figuring out whether Full Power was toggle or single-click. It’s such a risky move that I didn’t dare experiment to make certain – it took a long time before I had a tough enough ship and wealth enough to try it some more without fear of death and finally understand that it was single-click with an effect lasting for the duration of the current fuel barrel. edited by Fretling on 1/26/2015
[quote=SouthSea Rutherby]I may have to start a brand-new game at launch just to see the tutorial. But let me ask: is there ANY way to have multiple saves if you play on Unforgiving Mode?[/quote][color=#C2B280]There should be a button in the options menu that will allow you to reset the tutorial and see it in your current game.
Full power – good point about it being a different type of interaction from some of the others with the same interface. We’ll add a tutorial message for this.[/color]