RE: We chat about videogames and videogame accessories.
09-16-2013, 02:38 AM
@Superfrequency
I really do not believe that we disagree here. The type of teaching that you are extolling is exactly what I want to see. A switch that's obviously a switch which informs you that it needs plasma energy to activate, and doesn't bother to point out that you don't currently have this (due to it being obvious) is the right kind of teaching and I wish it were more common.
Most games definitely handhold too much, but going the other way is problematic as well. "Exploration" as a philosophy leads some game developers (mostly those who are trying to be "indie" or "retro") to give you, for example, a switch that does not look like a switch and has no indication of how to interact with it. This gets really bad in realistic 3D games or games with layered background elements, because there's no way to tell what is actually an interactable and what is just an interesting background element. Stuff like, for example, the glow around items in Bioshock is pretty heavy-handed, but I think it's better than the alternative of having no clue what my character is allowed to pick up and what he isn't.
What I said about telling the player controls in-game does not mean I'm in favor of obnoxious scripted tutorials (e.g. Metroid: Other M) or of windows that pop up, pause gameplay, and tell you how to do a move. I just really hate having to open settings and go into the keyconfig to figure out what my character is allowed to do because the game never bothered to tell me that "u" does a jump kick or something *glares at Dark Souls*. Admittedly this is much more of a problem on PC than console.
But anyway I believe that teaching a player button controls can be done elegantly and unobtrusively. An example I appreciated is They Bleed Pixels (which does also have an obnoxious tutorial, but you are allowed to simply never play it). Within the first few seconds of the first level, you learn basically all of the character's moves from signs on the background wall that never interrupt gameplay, and it indirectly shows you the combo system by covertly instructing you to combo an enemy. Tutorials definitely have a place in video games, it's just about doing it right.
I really do not believe that we disagree here. The type of teaching that you are extolling is exactly what I want to see. A switch that's obviously a switch which informs you that it needs plasma energy to activate, and doesn't bother to point out that you don't currently have this (due to it being obvious) is the right kind of teaching and I wish it were more common.
Most games definitely handhold too much, but going the other way is problematic as well. "Exploration" as a philosophy leads some game developers (mostly those who are trying to be "indie" or "retro") to give you, for example, a switch that does not look like a switch and has no indication of how to interact with it. This gets really bad in realistic 3D games or games with layered background elements, because there's no way to tell what is actually an interactable and what is just an interesting background element. Stuff like, for example, the glow around items in Bioshock is pretty heavy-handed, but I think it's better than the alternative of having no clue what my character is allowed to pick up and what he isn't.
What I said about telling the player controls in-game does not mean I'm in favor of obnoxious scripted tutorials (e.g. Metroid: Other M) or of windows that pop up, pause gameplay, and tell you how to do a move. I just really hate having to open settings and go into the keyconfig to figure out what my character is allowed to do because the game never bothered to tell me that "u" does a jump kick or something *glares at Dark Souls*. Admittedly this is much more of a problem on PC than console.
But anyway I believe that teaching a player button controls can be done elegantly and unobtrusively. An example I appreciated is They Bleed Pixels (which does also have an obnoxious tutorial, but you are allowed to simply never play it). Within the first few seconds of the first level, you learn basically all of the character's moves from signs on the background wall that never interrupt gameplay, and it indirectly shows you the combo system by covertly instructing you to combo an enemy. Tutorials definitely have a place in video games, it's just about doing it right.
"The parties are advised to chill." - Supreme Court of the United States, case opinion written by Justice Souter